The Curse of the Svatú Covenant
"Stop it, Cole, are you out of your mind?" Ivar lunged toward me, trying to halt my excavation. But facing my childhood companion, I simply coldly shoved him away. Continuing like an emotionless digging machine, I kept on digging deeper into the grave in front of me, one shovel after another.
"Ivar couldn't take it anymore. He swung a punch, knocking me down to the ground. He screamed at the top of his lungs, 'She's already dead! This is a fact you should've accepted ten years ago!' I sat in the mud, my vision blurred by the heavy rain. All I could see was a dark silhouette – her tombstone, engraved with: 'Flora Artemia Alston, 1916-1944.' She never escaped the curse that plagues Alston women, never living beyond 28 years. And I, due to my enlistment in World War II, missed bidding farewell to her—the love of my life.
"When I returned to my war-ravaged hometown after World War II, I had lost almost everything. I used to be the heir of the local golden family, known as the 'Tudor family.' Our family controlled almost all the mineral resources in the Womir Valley. Yes, 'golden family' was merely a metaphor; in reality, we possessed a unique local gemstone resource exclusively for the royals, known as the 'Holy Maiden Stone.' This gemstone shimmered with a serene blue hue under moonlight, surrounded by a faint mist. It was said that using this gemstone in specific circumstances allowed the wearer to communicate with spirits in the spiritual realm. Regular wearers were believed to retain their youth.
The mystical effects naturally attracted royal nobility and made our family the most mysterious, wealthy, and powerful existence among British families. However, this garnered fear from the monarchy. They clandestinely supported the local Ems family, opening new mining areas, expanding their guard forces, and seizing disputed mining resources. During World War II, my father's two sons—my brother and I—were conscripted. Eventually, my brother died on the Berlin battlefield, and all communication between me, my father, was deliberately blocked. In my father's eyes, I became the only son with an uncertain fate. The grief of losing a child, coupled with the invasion of our family's territory, led to my father's decline. Without a leader, the family business became lifeless, akin to a withered tree in the desert. Servants and guards dispersed, the castle was overtaken by the Ems family, and upon my return, I found myself a disregarded beggar in my hometown.
What added to my sorrow, apart from my father's departure, was the curse that befell Flora. Ten years ago, Flora arrived at this secluded place, and no one knew where she came from. In reality, no one cared. After all, she was so beautiful; her eyes were captivating like moonstone, her nose reminiscent of the sun-kissed Womir Mountains, and her hair the color of warm wheat fields. Despite being an 18-year-old girl, her expression held a resolute quality, carrying the gentle yet primal essence of Mother Earth. I had never encountered such a complex temperament in someone my age.
What intrigued me most was the eye-shaped ornament she wore on her head, adorned with peacock feathers. This pattern matched the one on the sole sword carried by her elderly servant, and I assumed it was their family's totem.
At that time, hardly anyone would visit Tudor. My father, as the lord, welcomed them. After a secretive conversation that lasted an hour, my father decided to allocate one of our family's vacant estates to accommodate them. I didn't know what prompted my father to suddenly be so hospitable, but I was delighted to see Flora every day. After becoming acquainted, Flora confided in me about the secrets she bore.
The Alston family, also known as the "Temple Guardians," were believed to maintain the world's balance through seven major temples: the Ruins of Fury Sea, the Land of Bitter Cold, the Desert of Death, the Emperor's Mountain, the Haunted Forest of Poisons, the Dragon's Breath Cave, and the Unknown Territory. The ability to gain ruling power was said to lie in reaching these locations and successfully traversing the magical realms. The exact coordinates of these seven temples have remained an unsolved mystery. The only clue was on the bodies of Alston family women—strictly speaking, "physically."
Flora's headdress was not an eye but rather a covenant called the Svatú, an agreement made by the first generation of guardians with the "Unknown Territory." This covenant required the sacrifice of the guardian woman's genitalia and bestowed upon them the power of eternal youth and breathtaking beauty. Alston women were tasked with finding the "World Sovereign" and guiding them to the final Unknown Territory. There, they would unite with the chosen "World Sovereign," allowing them access to the power to control all living beings through the "eye" on the guardian's body. However, if they failed to find the "World Sovereign" before the age of 28, they would suffer under the curse of the covenant and perish in agony.
Afterward, "Dream Speakers" from the Unknown Territory would continue selecting destined Alston women as the next vessels for the Svatú covenant. It's said that notable figures like Alexander the Great and Napoleon from the West, Tutankhamun from ancient Egypt, and Qin Shi Huang from the East had all met Alston women, gaining power over their realms as a result. However, without exception, they all failed to completely conquer the seven magical realms. Therefore, the power they acquired was incomplete, and they never became true rulers of all living beings. Generation after generation of Alston women spent their lives searching, failing, and being enslaved by this quest.