Chapter 11: The Red Phoenix Blade

If someone told me this morning that I’d be sitting in a villa with a woman who once ruled a kingdom—and once fed me soup when I had nightmares—I would’ve laughed in their face and gone back to contemplating my tragic, ramen-less life.

Yet here I was. Sitting on a polished crimson couch. In a hall lined with dragonbone pillars and banners so old they probably remembered the fall of empires. The villa smelled like sandalwood and faint ash—fitting for someone called the Flame Queen.

Thalira Reinhold moved across the room like fire pretending to be human. Her armor was gone, replaced with a flowing scarlet gown that didn’t belong to any battlefield. It clung where it shouldn’t, flowed where it shouldn’t, and made breathing feel like an optional feature.

“I didn’t know queens did the whole ‘invite ex-orphans for tea’ thing,” I muttered, because sarcasm is the last defense of the emotionally cornered.

She smiled faintly as she poured wine into two crystal cups. “I stopped being a queen a long time ago, Kira. Now I’m just… someone trying to live with her mistakes.”

“That’s a lot of mistakes,” I said.

Her hands stilled. Just slightly. Then she looked at me with eyes that didn’t burn—they bled. “Yes,” she whispered. “It is.”

The air thickened. My sarcasm shriveled and died like a moth in flame.

---

We sat opposite each other, the firelight painting her hair in molten shades. I sipped the wine cautiously. Sweet. Expensive. Definitely wasted on me.

“So,” I said, because silence was worse than awkward small talk. “What happened to the boy you saved? The one you promised to protect?”

Her lips curved, but it wasn’t a smile. “He became a man who doesn’t know when to stop walking into fire.”

“…Fair,” I admitted.

She studied me for a long moment. “You’ve changed. Not just stronger—you carry something. Something old. Dangerous.”

“Yeah. It’s called trauma.”

That earned a soft laugh. Short, bitter. “And power. I can smell it on you, Kira.”

I shrugged. “Don’t get too excited. The last people who smelled my potential threw me in the trash.”

Her eyes darkened. “Rein.”

The way she said it wasn’t a question. It was a wound.

“Yes,” I said flatly. “Rein.”

She exhaled slowly, like someone breathing out ghosts. Then the words came, quiet but sharp enough to cut.

“She’s my daughter.”

Time didn’t just stop. It laughed in my face and broke every clock in the room.

“…What?”

Thalira set down her cup with the grace of a queen and the weight of a sinner. “Rein is my blood. My only child.”

I laughed. Because what else do you do when the universe throws a boulder at your skull?

“Oh, perfect. Absolutely perfect,” I said, voice dripping acid. “So the girl who dragged me through mud, mocked me for breathing too loud, and dumped me in the Ravine of No Return is your little princess.”

Her silence was louder than my laughter.

“Do you want me to apologize?” I asked. “Because that’s not happening.”

“No,” she said, her voice low. “I want you to understand that I’m ashamed of what she’s become.”

That stopped me.

She looked at the fire, her face carved from guilt. “I raised her to lead. To be strong. But strength without kindness…” She trailed off, then whispered, “It turns into something else.”

For a moment, I saw her—not as the Flame Queen, not as the woman in red armor, but as someone’s mother. Someone who wanted to raise a hero and instead created a tyrant in training.

And for some reason, that hurt more than my own betrayal.

---

“Why are you telling me this?” I asked.

“Because,” she said, lifting her gaze to mine, “I think fate brought you back for a reason.”

“Fate’s an idiot.”

Her lips curved—not quite a smile, not quite despair. “Perhaps. But even idiots change the world sometimes.”

Then she stood, moving to the far wall. Her hand rested on a weapon mounted there—a blade long and slender, its edge gleaming crimson in the firelight. A phoenix etched along the hilt, wings spread as if mid-flight.

“This,” she said softly, “is the Red Phoenix Blade. My relic. It chooses its wielder, not the other way around.”

“Don’t tell me it likes me.”

Her eyes glimmered. “It hasn’t sung for anyone since I laid it down.”

The system pinged in my head.

[New Quest: “The Phoenix That Waits”]

> Requirement: Achieve maximum affinity with Thalira Reinhold to unlock hidden trial.

Reward: ???

Of course. Of course the system would turn this into some affection-based quest. Because why not mix parental trauma with romance and sprinkle in divine weaponry? Perfect recipe for emotional breakdown.

---

Thalira turned back to me, steps slow, deliberate. When she sat beside me this time, the couch dipped, and my pulse went feral.

“You’ve grown into someone I barely recognize,” she said, fingers brushing the rim of her cup. “But… the boy I knew is still there.”

“That boy was weak,” I said.

“That boy was kind.” Her voice softened like embers cooling. “Don’t lose him, Kira.”

And then—because the world enjoys torturing me—her hand touched mine.

Not in a grand, seductive gesture. Just a simple, lingering warmth that said a thousand things and none at all.

I should’ve pulled away. Should’ve made a joke. Should’ve done anything but sit there like a statue while my heart played percussion with my ribs.

“Thalira…” I started.

She smiled faintly. “You’ve stopped calling me Lady Reinhold.”

“I’ve stopped pretending titles mean anything.”

Her laughter was quiet. And beautiful. And dangerous.

“You like her,” Seras murmured in my head, her tone dripping jealousy.

“Shut up,” I thought back.

“She smells like ash and secrets. Be careful, little Master.”

Yeah. I knew. But knowing and caring are two different things.

---

As the night stretched on, we talked—about nothing, about everything. Her battles. My failures. The war. The silence between words felt like something alive, something waiting.

When I finally stood to leave, she walked me to the door. Her hand brushed my arm—light, fleeting, but enough to burn.

“Be careful, Kira,” she said softly. “The world isn’t kind to men who carry gods in their blood.”

“And women who play with fire?” I asked.

Her smile curved, slow and sharp. “We’ve always burned. That’s our nature.”

The door closed behind me, but the warmth on my skin didn’t fade.

---

[System Notification: Emotional Resonance Achieved!]

Candidate: Thalira Reinhold

Affinity Level: ★★★☆☆

New Passive: Blazing Bond (+15% Fire Resistance, +10% Mature Affinity)

Memory Core Progress: 2/3

“She’s thinking about the boy you were… and the man you’re becoming.”

Great. Just great.

I walked into the cold night, Seras slithering close, her tail curling possessively around my wrist.

“Careful, Master,” she whispered in my mind. “She may love you. But some loves burn too bright.”

I didn’t answer.

Because maybe—I wanted to burn.