"Liam, the story repeated itself, not just once, but twice. Nephera was betrayed by your father, and he went... insane, right?
"Y-yeah..."
"But you and your brothers were fine. I mean, you... endured his madness, but you were all born healthy, even long after your father had betrayed Nephera. The curse didn't pass onto you."
"Okay... I mean, yeah, I suppose that's true. So how do you explain the curse didn't work? Plus, you said it happened twice...?"
"Yeah, the other time is with Queen Diane."
"Q-Queen Diane? Nora and Selena's ancestor? ...I don't follow, babe. I mean, even if there was a man, Queen Diane wasn't a witch, she was–"
"A Luna. A Royal, and the reincarnation of the Moon Goddess," I finish. "The most powerful werewolf ever known, right? In that dream, Luna, the werewolf Luna, had powers akin to a witch, but she wasn't a witch herself. She was a powerful werewolf, the first female of her kind. I know this sounds insane, but... what if three generations ago, the story had been repeated? And the descendants of Luna had awakened this power she had?"
"I mean... I can totally understand that Nora and Selena are basically descendants of the first Luna through Diane, but why would they have anything to do with the curse?"
"Liam, a woman with power akin to the Moon Goddess didn't just appear out of the blue! ...If you look at it from the witch’s perspective, it all makes sense! I mean, we know there's magic, and it has its own rules, but the Royals are basically magic werewolves! Nora and Selena have powers the others don't have because of their parents, right? Because Queen Diane was their grandmother, she was the powerful Royal Luna. That curse doesn't work on them, and I'm sure they protect their partners too."
He stays quiet for a long moment, frowning and thinking about my words.
Liam takes a deep breath, and grabs his hot cocoa to empty it in one go.
"Let me sum it up," he says. "The first Luna was the first female werewolf, but she was created as... the first Royal, to counter a very, very old curse created by that other Luna, the witch on the Witches’ Ancestral Tree. Since that... story, every time a witch was betrayed by a male werewolf..."
"The curse grew stronger, poisoning her descendants, and driving the male werewolf to insanity."
"But my brothers and I weren't... poisoned."
"Because your mother protected you, Liam. I think she and Queen Diane were able to defeat the curse. Queen Diane was even stronger because she basically awoke the powers of the First Luna."
"Queen Diane wasn't betrayed!"
"She wasn't the one that was betrayed, Liam! Think about the story, for the curse to happen, Diane wasn't the one betrayed, a witch was!"
He stays mute for several long seconds.
"Wait... you mean... Danica? Sylviana's... mother?"
I nod.
"Liam, think about it. Do you seriously think Diane had children out of the blue? No matter what powers she had, even witches can't have children by themselves!"
He stares at me, completely dumbfounded for a while.
"So your theory is... the twins' father..."
"Betrayed Danica, the witch. Or, another witch, if there was one around. Maybe Nephera's father...? Well, I don't know, but in any case, if Diane forgave that witch, and they got over their hatred..."
"The curse would have been weakened again," Liam whispers.
"Exactly."
"Holy Moon Goddess, Mara, that's... a lot," he let out.
"I know, it's a lot of supposition, but it all makes sense. Diane was stronger because she made exactly the same decisions as her ancestor, Luna. She awoke the strongest part of her bloodline, the one that made her a stronger werewolf with some magic powers, and protected her children at the same time. The twins were born fine. Unfortunately, the curse probably hit her back using Nephera, but... that explains why Nora and Selena are so strong. They get their bloodline almost from the First Luna herself."
"...What about my mother, then? I don't believe she... forgave Nephera."
"Did she resent her?"
