There he sat slouched in a massive obsidian chair, one arm draped lazily over the edge like a fallen king clinging to a memory.
His silver-white hair, disheveled yet gleaming under the flickering torches, tumbled like starlight over one shoulder.
His skin held the pale glow of moonstone, smooth and unblemished. Eyes, a cold storm gray, stared with glassy wonder at the delicate bracelet twined between his fingers.
Even drunk, Ashen looked like royalty. A statue of fallen grace dressed in deep-black robes, his chest half exposed, rising and falling slowly as if the air itself struggled to stay within him.
He smiled faintly, murmuring to the empty room. "I will find you… girl."
His fingers gently brushed over the bracelet's polished surface. "I didn't see your face clearly," he whispered, voice hoarse from drink, "but I felt your heartbeat… when you stood behind me. you must be one"
His palm pressed to his chest, remembering. That single pulse, the fierce, steady thump that hadn't belonged to him.
No one had ever sought his protection before. Not once in all the years has he even thought of helping someone since he is known as the weak one.
"She's the special one…" he murmured. A smirk tugged his lips, subtle and smug.
He was still in his deep thought when heavy chamber doors creaked open behind him, and like a flash, Ashen tucked the bracelet into his sleeve.
The mood shattered with one breathless report.
"My Lord! Someone has left the realm… and nearly killed the Kraken Beast."
Ashen sat up at once, every trace of wine vanishing from his bloodstream. His back straightened.
"What?" he blinked, scoffing. "That giant lizard? Honestly, I would pay to see it drop dead."
The aide stepped forward, panic in his voice. "My Lord… you didn't do it, right? You didn't leave the realm?" The young man Ero, the only servant who still dared speak freely to Ashen, looked pale.
Ashen raised a brow. "Come on, Ero. You have seen me. I am hardly strong enough to swat a bee." He laughed bitterly.
But the moment shattered when the chamber doors flew open again, crashing against a stone. A gust of fury swept in with her his mother, the Queen of Drakonis.
"Ashen!" she roared.
Before he could move, a bolt of searing light cracked through the air and slammed into his chest.
He cried out, body jerking as he dropped from the throne, coughing up blood onto the floor.
"Did you leave the realm?!" the Queen hissed, eyes glowing with restrained power.
"I… I didn't, Mum…" he gasped. Another bolt came, cutting his words short, and cracking into his ribs. He wheezed, folding forward.
Ero rushed to shield him, arms wide.
"My Queen! He didn't leave! He's been here, drinking himself into a stupor, like always!" His voice trembled, but he didn't back down.
The Queen's glare wavered as she gave him a long look. "How can you be certain?"
Ero stood firm. "Because my Lord is the weakest fighter among the princes. Everyone knows this. He couldn't have faced the Kraken. He can't even lift a sword."
The Queen's fury dulled and then turned to her son who now looks broken, bloody, coughing softly on the floor. His silver hair now streaked with red.
"Oh…" she muttered, and the shame in her voice was almost imperceptible. 'Almost.'
"Fine. Then make sure he never leaves this place. His elder brother's marriage to the Celestial Realm is too important. One slip and we lose everything." she warned
Ero bowed deeply. "As you command, my Queen."
The Queen lingered for a heartbeat longer, her gaze cold and unreadable… and then, with the sweep of her cloak, she was gone.
Ashen groaned and wiped the blood from his mouth. His lips curled in a pained grin as he pulled himself back onto his chair.
Ero rushed forward. "My Lord, why are you sitting again?! Aren't you in pain?!" But Ashen shoved his hand away.
"I am fine, Ero. Don't act like this is the first time I have been struck by my own mother."
He reached for his wine again, like nothing had just happened but this time the goblet trembling in his grasp.
Ero frowned, his voice quiet. "You shouldn't let her do this to you…"
Ashen sipped with his face blank. The wine couldn't wash out the truth. The ache had never been about the lightning.
It was the years… the history of rejection and hatred etched into his bones. He was the cursed son of Drakonis.
The prince whose birth stole the sky from the dragons.
The day he was born, every last dragon vanished from the realm. Some said they died. Others whispered they fled, rejecting his presence.
The royal shamans, the Keepers of Flame, had warned the High King to let the child live, that if he was killed the curse would worsen.
The high king was told to Let him live like a dead one, feed him, clothe him. But he must never be loved.
So Ashen was given a life without warmth. A shadow beside his brothers was praised for their power, beloved by their parents.
Ashen had nothing. No dragon. No strength. Not even a legacy. Even the palace maids whispered behind curtains, and most aides refused to serve in his wing.
All except Ero, he is the only soul who still saw him as something human.
Ashen leaned his head back against the throne, eyes drifting to the ceiling. "Ero…"
"Yes, my Lord?"
"I saw her… I didn't see her… but I felt her."
Ero blinked. "Who?"
"She didn't run from me But made me help her…" Ashen's fingers curled around his sleeve, clutching the hidden bracelet. "And for the first time in my life… I wanted to protect something."
"What?" Ero asked in shock, Ashen glanced at Ero and let out a big smile.
"I must look for her and make her mine."