Ancestral Lineage-Chapter 245: A Longing Heart

In a place far from where anyone would know, far from where they all believed he rested, a white-haired lady lay.

Her six fox-like tails swayed slowly, mesmerizing like waves caught in a gentle tide. Her blue eyes, the eyes of a spirit fox, glinted with a soft, mournful light as she gazed upon the perfect face of the man she had come to love with everything she was.

The space around them didn't belong to the world outside. It was untouched by the neon glare and cybernetic noise of the new age. It was quiet. Timeless. Almost too normal for a world that had long since forgotten how to be still.

And there he lay. The Emperor. The Crimson Emperor. Ethan Smith. Silent and unchanged, locked in a slumber that had lasted for twenty long years.

Clara pressed her lips to his, searching for the warmth she remembered—craved. But it wasn't there.

And it hurt.

It hurt that he was right there, yet so far from her reach.

Her heart ached with the weight of that truth.

She wasn't alone in that pain. She could feel them—his other wives. Their hearts, their longing, their shared ache. Over the years they had grown together, become something more than just companions of a single man. Their bonds had deepened, their love had matured, and still, none of them could move past the ache of his absence.

To the outside world, they were unshakable. Strong. Untouchable.

They had a Dragon Ruler, a Primogenitor, a Fox Queen, a Kitsune, and beings of myth and power beside them. But only they knew how fragile they had become.

Only they knew how many tears had been shed behind locked doors and veiled strength.

And only they understood the silent agony that Harley carried.

Harley, who had been with Ethan longer than any of them.

Harley, who had loved him from before kingdoms and power and thrones.

Harley, who in her grief, had chosen to seal herself away in sleep, a mirrored coma beside the man she couldn't bear to live without.

Clara's gaze drifted to Harley's sleeping form. Her long golden hair shimmered faintly in the room's soft light, her face ethereal and heartbreakingly serene, her figure curled near Ethan's as if time itself had paused to cradle them both.

At least she had that.

She could lie beside him, dream beside him, even if it meant silence.

Clara's chest tightened. This… this was pain beyond any battlefield.

She was no longer the wide-eyed sixteen-year-old who had once fallen in love with a quiet commoner.

She was Empress Clara now. The Second Empress. A leader. A mother. A queen.

But here, in this quiet place, surrounded by the weight of longing and love—she felt like a girl again, hollow and helpless.

Her heart cried for him. For them. For the days that had passed and the ones that still would.

She lowered her head gently to his chest, her smaller frame pressed between her husband and the golden-haired sister of her heart.

"Honey… when?" she whispered, voice barely a breath. "I miss you."

And then the room fell silent again.

Still. Timeless. Waiting.

…

Trevor sat in a quiet room bathed in soft, golden light. The curtains fluttered gently from the breeze wafting in through the open windows. His long white hair shifted with the wind, trailing like silk. Crimson eyes, bright and ancient, stared out into the sky—but they weren't filled with power or command. They were heavy with something quieter. Something deeper. Longing.

High Sovereign Sanguivar, the most revered and feared figure in Anbord after the Emperor himself, sat alone, tears silently slipping down his cheeks. To the world, he was unshakable. A legend. But here, in the silence, he was just a brother mourning the absence of someone irreplaceable.

He missed him. Ethan.

His friend. His brother. The one person who had walked beside him from the very beginning.

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His mind drifted back—back to the days of their youth. The silly pranks they'd pulled in school. The scolding they got from the principal. The day of their Awakening, when the world had opened up to them. The time they first stepped into the Beast Plane, brimming with wonder and terror. Memories that felt too close for twenty years to have passed.

He was breaking inside, piece by piece. But he held on. Not for himself, but for the others—for Clara, for the wives, for everyone who still needed hope. They shared the burden together in quiet moments, secret gatherings where they could cry without judgment, where silence spoke louder than words.

But then Harley slipped away. Chose to sleep beside him. Chose to leave the waking world behind.

That was the moment it hit them all—how fragile they had truly become. How deeply the emptiness had sunk into their bones.

"Darling…" a soft voice came from the doorway, gentle as the breeze.

Trevor didn't turn. "Mm." His voice was low, tired.

The woman stepped into the room. Her long brown hair shimmered with streaks of red, the color catching the light like fire through autumn leaves. Her crimson eyes, so similar to his, held warmth and strength.

She came behind him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Her embrace was calm, steady. Her scent filled his lungs, grounding him, reminding him he was still here. Still needed.

"He'll return," she whispered into his ear. "I know it. He always does. Just a little longer, alright?"

"I'll try," he said after a moment.

She smiled softly. "That's better than not at all."

He reached up, taking her hand in his. "How is Mother?"

"She still hasn't left her chambers."

Trevor sighed, the weight in his chest tightening. "I need to see her. She shouldn't be alone."

"Then go to her. She'll listen to you."

"Mm…" He nodded slowly. Then, with a faint smile, he added, "But not just yet. Stay with me a little longer?"

"I'll always stay with you, my love."

A flicker of peace touched his face. "Thank you."

"Do I get a kiss for that?" she teased, leaning closer.

"You might get something more."

"Well then, I'll just have to do more."

She laughed, soft and bright.

And for a moment, just a fleeting moment, the pain dulled… replaced by warmth.