Chapter 187 Twins

Chapter 187 Twins
Elara’s POV, 

Morning arrives far too gently: birds sing outside the window, the curtains sway, and somewhere downstairs, dishes clink together.

Everything feels normal, and I hate it.

I stare at the ceiling without moving, then last night rushes back so violently that I almost sit up.

Levi and Lucien. Brothers. The headline. The photographs.

And my stomach twists. I turn my head toward the other side of the bed to find it empty, and his pillow is cold.

Good.

No...

Not good.

Just...

Easier.

I don’t think I could’ve looked at him this morning. Not after pretending to sleep while he whispered against my shoulder like nothing in the world had changed.

My love is forever.

The words stab me differently now, and I squeeze my eyes shut.

No.

Stop.

Don’t think about him. Or last night. Don’t think about—

Why did nobody ever mention Levi?

The question appears before I can stop it. If Reuben had another son, and if Lucien had a brother… Why does nobody talk about him?

Celene, Nikolai, Kallian and Isolde. Even Serpahina. Not…anyone. It’s almost like—

My breath catches. It’s almost like he never existed.

I sit up slowly.

That doesn’t make sense.

Someone had to know. Even the servants should know something. Someone had to remember him.

Then why has every story I’ve ever heard about the Kórvacs only ever mentioned one son? I pull the duvet tighter around myself.

Unless they erased him. But why would they? People don’t erase the dead; they mourn them and tell stories. They refuse to let them disappear. And besides, families kill each other all the time? Was it a fight to the death? 

Unless something else happened.

Another thought crashes into the first, and I frown. 

I’ve read the family records three times over. It’s mentioned Reuben Kórvac and his beloved son, Lucien Kórvac.

I blink rapidly. 

No, that can’t be right.

I remember asking myself before, but now the question means something different: If Reuben adored Lucien, then why did Lucien kill him?

Everything I’ve ever read described them as the closest a father could be to his child. Reuben trusted him, prepared him, and raised him to inherit everything.

Then why...

Why murder the man who gave you the empire? Unless...

My heartbeat begins climbing again.

Unless the records lied.

Or...

Unless...

They weren’t talking about Lucien at all.

I freeze and sit up immediately. No, it doesn’t make sense. If the records lied, they wouldn’t have said Lucien. Except…  

My hands begin trembling.

Except his name was never mentioned.

So what if every article, family document, and interview was talking about Levi instead?

And after Levi died, Lucien simply inherited his crown?

I immediately shake my head.

That’s impossible and totally insane. Nobody changes someone’s identity like that. I mean, why would you hide one son at first, then raise him in the other’s place when he died?

The Kórvacs.

They’re the kind of family that buries scandals beneath marble floors and calls them tradition. I throw the blankets aside.

I need answers, I think as I open my laptop. I refuse to search Levi Kórvac. Just seeing his face last night nearly broke me, so instead, I search something simpler.

Reuben Kórvac son.

Hundreds of articles, business magazines, and old interviews appear. There are archived newspapers, family charity events, and photographs.

The room is silent except for the soft clicks of my keyboard.

Every single one says the same thing.

Lucien Kórvac.

The heir. The prodigy. The golden son.

I open another article, and there he is, standing beside Reuben Kórvac. Both are smiling for the cameras.

Another.

It’s a charity gala. Lucien is shaking hands beside his father.

Another.

A birthday celebration.

Another.

A family portrait.

Another.

An award ceremony.

My fingers hover above the keyboard. Something feels wrong. I can’t put a finger on it, but it feels off. Like hearing someone play a familiar song with one note missing.

I click another photograph.

Lucien’s smile is warm and perfect. His arm rests across Reuben’s shoulder. Reuben is laughing.

They’re so close.

Then another article opens.

THE FUTURE OF THE KÓRVAC DYNASTY.

My eyes narrow and I scroll back to the top to check the headline and the date. It’s fourteen years ago.

I blink.

Fourteen years ago, Lucien would’ve been seventeen. It doesn’t make sense!

Very slowly, I begin opening every article in chronological order.

Age twelve.

Age thirteen.

Age fourteen.

Age fifteen.

Age sixteen.

Photograph after photograph.

Reuben, Celene, board members, politicians, and the rest. But no name was ever mentioned.

Yet, he’s standing right there.

I frown harder.

Why would nobody mention the heir if he’s literally in every picture? That makes no—

The thought never finishes as a sharp pain blooms behind my eyes, and I gasp. The room tilts, and it feels like invisible fingers are digging beneath my skin, or my memories.

My vision flickers, and the photograph trembles. Lucien’s smile… shifts and peels away, like wet paint sliding off a canvas.

My stomach drops, and I feel nauseous. It’s happening again. The face changes.

Different jaw. Different eyes. Different smile. Golden hair catches the sunlight. Blue eyes.

My chair screeches backwards as the illusion shatters. Not just that photograph.

Every photograph, every article, and every image on the screen, like glass exploding silently.

Lucien disappears.

And all I see is Levi.

Levi.

Levi.

Everywhere.

Standing beside Reuben. Receiving awards. Holding trophies. Laughing, smiling and living.

I stare at the screen, unable to breathe.

Oh...

Oh my God.

My hand flies to my mouth.

The articles or names never changed, only the photographs. Only what I saw. And the realization crawls over me slowly in a sickening way.

Lucien.

Where was Lucien?

The illusion of his face ended when he was seventeen. His very first real appearance and mention.

It’s like he didn’t exist, until he suddenly did.

My pulse pounds in my ears, and I click another article.

Every single one begins the same way.

“Lucien Kórvac, heir to the Kórvac empire…”

Not newly introduced, or recently returned, or long-lost son.

Just as though everyone should already know him or he’d always been there. But where had he been?

If Levi existed and was the heir who supposedly died, after all they faked Reuben’s death… Then why erase him?

Another cruel thought arrives.

Why was Lucien erased first? Because if Lucien didn’t exist until seventeen, then someone had already erased him long before Levi disappeared.

My fingers begin trembling.

What happened inside that family? What happened to those boys?

I look back at Levi’s smiling face. Then I imagine Lucien’s, and I slam the laptop shut.

“No…”

The whisper barely leaves my lips, because one thought refuses to leave me. If Lucien hid the truth inside an illusion and made the whole world believe Levi was him...

Does it mean the world doesn’t know they were twins?