Emerald simply stared at the floor, his mind trapped in a loop of panic and clarity. Runa remained silent, observing him. After a long moment of suffocating stillness, she stood, taking a slow, measured look around the magnificent throne room. Emerald, meanwhile, was counting the intricate patterns on the stone floor, a low, unsettling chuckle escaping him—the sound of a man on the brink.
"You're the woman who I met at my room," Emerald said, his gaze finally lifting to her.
"Yes, I am. And I'm Runa Ådal," she replied, her voice soft but steady.
"You know, you remind me of someone I used to know."
"How do I know that?"
"Well, that's right. What am I even thinking? Oh my God, why does it have to be me? What's so cursed about me?" He was questioning the universe now, his voice cracking with desperation.
"I heard you're kind," Runa said, trying to anchor the conversation. "Kind enough to keep from falling into Genna's bed."
"Must be Eva, I guess."
"You're quite acquainted with Eva, I see."
"It's just she is the only one I can see as someone sane in this country."
"Is there something you want to tell me?" Runa's expression was one of deep sympathy. Emerald looked at her, his strained eyes begging for understanding, and asked her to sit beside him. She did, her posture attentive.
"Everyone in the nation is wondering why I chose to come here, even though I only knew her for a week or two," Emerald began, leaning forward.
"That's called being a kid," Runa dismissed gently.
"You're wrong. When I was thirteen, I started to dream about a certain woman. She always came to my room and asked a question: 'Do you feel guilty about your doing?' At first, I couldn't reply to it."
"Of course, you could never reply in your dream."
"But one day I did. I said I don't feel guilty. And she took me somewhere—so many talks about so many things. When I woke up, everything just faded away from my memory. But everything became clear after I met Genna."
Runa's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"It was at that moment I understood what the dream was. Runa, I know it's hard to believe this, but the dreams that I started seeing are what's happening right now. I knew Genna would come to me one night. I knew I would be given one year, and even this talk."
Runa was visibly shaken, her pale skin draining slightly. "You're drunk, kid."
"I'm not. If you don't believe me, I can prove it…. The next thing you're going to do is offer me lunch, and you'll send me off with Eva Brown."
Runa sprang to her feet, her eyes wide with fear and confusion. "You… Who are you?" Her voice was barely a whisper. "Just how far do you know?"
"I knew all of your names even before I met Genna. I even know how you're going to live your next year—not just you, everyone…" Emerald's voice dropped, carrying the weight of inescapable fate. "Why do you think I've been trailing on the path without any worry? It's because there's no escape. What I dreamed is happening, and it will continue… just as it needs to be."
A raw, animalistic scream tore from Emerald's throat. He began violently hitting his head on the floor, the sickening impact echoing in the chamber as blood instantly bloomed on the stone. Runa rushed, pulling him back and delivering a sharp slap to his cheek.
"What do you think you're doing? Have some self-respect, Emerald!" she cried, her kindness hardening into desperation.
He looked her in the eye, his voice trembling uncontrollably. "Even those words you said… Why does it have to be like this? What did I even do? Ever since I met Genna, my life is a complete mess. Nothing is changing, nothing is changing…" He collapsed into loud, gut-wrenching sobs.
Runa gently pulled him against her, offering her shoulder. "Don't take it on yourself, Emerald. You're not alone. You have me. We will get through this together."
"Emerald, this is something that I cannot have in you."
Emerald went utterly blank. The world had dissolved again, and he turned to find Zinan standing right beside him.
"Why are you doing this?" Emerald asked, his voice drained of energy.
"Those dreams were never meant to be a future for you. It was all just a mere coincidence. Including you, I had twenty-four vessels over a thousand years."
"Why am I the only one to be bothered by your madness?"
"Hear me out first. It's not because you're perfect; it's just that you're the final piece. Frankly said, nobody managed to even see me."
"What if I die?"
"You won't. Be grateful for what I gave you."
"What you gave me? What did you even give me? This fucking messed-up drama when I was having a normal life?"
"Immortality."
"What?" Emerald's tone instantly changed, all defiance calmed.
"Strength, power, superiority, a loving wife. What else do you need, Emerald?"
He fell silent, unable to form a single counter-argument. Zinan gently took a strand of his own silvery hair and placed it over Emerald's head. Instantly, Emerald's hair completely turned white. He saw his own reflection in Zinan's ruby eyes.
"She doesn't need to know or accept any of our pain. And 'she' can be any woman—Genna, Eva, Runa, or even your mother. We are men, and we don't tell a woman that we are hurt. Even if you're dying, never make a sad face. If the leader of a nation cannot withstand the loss of his dear ones, how can the people trust him to put their life on the line for him? When the people look up to you in agony, pain, or loss, what do you think that they want?"
Emerald was crying freely now, silent tears rolling down his cheeks.
"It's simple: a man, a brother, a husband, a father, moreover, a leader. You can cry all you want, but never let yourself know that you shed those tears."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Let the girl be free. Just go back to your old life. When you run out of it, I will do the honors of taking your body."
"Such hard, pleasing words. I guess you're an interesting person."
"Once you get to know my life, you'll know I'm not that interesting." Emerald lunged, holding Zinan in a tight, desperate embrace.
"You resent me, do you?" Zinan asked, his voice low.
"Of course, you bastard," Emerald replied, still clinging.
"That's good."
Emerald's head lifted sharply, snapping back into place as if yanked by an invisible wire. The deep, guttural despair that had seized him minutes before was gone, replaced by an unnerving stillness. He looked up at Runa Ådal, who was standing close by, her face etched with concern.
Before Runa could voice the question hovering on her lips, Emerald's eyes met hers. The lingering moisture of his tears had dried completely, and the look of terrifying hopelessness was masked by a calm, blank intensity. It was as if nothing had ever happened. The chaotic, vulnerable boy was gone; only the cool, detached shell remained.
"The lunch is being served. You better get there," Runa Ådal said, her voice strained, mirroring his own prophetic words.
"Yeah, I know," Emerald replied with a hollow face.
They both walked out of the hall. As Emerald stepped into the sunlight, his hair, now completely white, shimmered like silk.
Miles away, Patrick, walking around the castle with Eva, suddenly felt a bone-deep shiver. His enhanced senses, which could register every whisper and nuance in the castle, were overwhelmed by the invisible seismic shift that had just occurred in the King's chamber.
"What's wrong, Patrick?" Eva asked, noticing his sudden stillness.
"Nothing. It's just my thoughts from the castle grounds."
"You and your dirty thoughts." They walked on, their familiar bickering masking the profound, chilling change that had just turned a desperate boy into a vessel for the First Emperor. Emerald had left the chamber, carrying the immense, silent burden of a king and a destined future he could not escape.
(To be continued)