"Thomas… Thomas…"
Thomas opened his eyes. In his arms, his father lay taking his last breath. The king had been stabbed deep in the chest.
"Thomas… promise me… you will… regain our… Reister's… former glory."
Before Thomas could say anything, his father turned to blood.
"THOMAS!"
Thomas turned at the sharp scream. Then he saw himself killing his own brother and sister. A sinister smile was on his face, and his hands were drenched in blood.
He slowly turned his head toward Thomas and stabbed his sister while smiling.
"I WILL KILL YOU!"
Thomas charged at him and grabbed his collar. But just like his father, he also turned to blood.
"FATHER!"
"NO!…"
"AAAAAAA!!!"
He turned around, and there were several more versions of himself. One killed his own son. One cut off his mother's head. One was killing civilians. They all had one thing in common: a sinister smile and hands drenched in blood.
"NO! WHY ARE YOU KILLING THEM?"
Thomas shouted.
They all turned toward him and asked, "What? You forgot." Their voices echoed in the surrounding void.
"You killed your kin for the throne."
"You killed your own mother to hide your shame."
"NO! STOP IT!"
"You destroyed a small viscount just to achieve your love."
"You killed your own son just to solidify your rule."
"You destroyed many small nations just for conquest."
"I SAID STOP IT!" Thomas rushed at one of them and cut off his head, then rushed to another.
Suddenly, everyone turned to blood.
Thomas stood at the center of a blood-flooded void. His chest rose and fell with each heavy breath.
"I am you." "See yourself." A strange whisper, familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
"See yourself."
He looked at himself. Drenched in blood. A blood-stained sword in his hand. His eyes were wide open.
"Take a look at your surroundings."
He blinked, and when he opened his eyes, he was sitting on a throne placed atop a mountain of corpses. Every face was familiar. Every face stared at him with dead eyes.
Blood poured over Thomas, swallowing him whole. He thrashed upward through the crimson, desperation clawing at his chest. At the edge of escape, dead hands closed around him and dragged him back into the depths—hands he knew too well, faces he had made lifeless.
"NOOO!!!"
Thomas's scream reverberated off the empty walls of the king's bedroom. The warm, dim light of the sun peeked through the curtains.
Thomas lay on the bed, his clothes drenched in sweat. He glanced at his trembling hands. The damaged golden ring was still stuck on his finger.
Knock knock
"May I come in, Your Majesty?" A feminine voice called from the closed door.
"Come in."
The door opened slightly, and a maid entered, sliding a tray inside. It was Sera, the same maid who had saved him six months before. She was now his personal maid.
She set up a bowl of warm water and a soft towel for him to wash his face. Then she opened the curtains and let the warm sunlight fill the room.
As Thomas finished washing his face, she prepared his breakfast. Everything was perfect. Perfect timing. Perfect food. There was not a single flaw in her service.
"Sera, you still haven't said what you want as a reward," he asked while eating his breakfast.
She gave a light bow. "Forgive me, Your Majesty. But my answer remains the same. I want nothing."
Thomas paused eating and looked at her. There was no sharpness in his gaze, just a necessity, as she had an answer he was searching for.
He asked, "Why? Everyone desires something. Power. Wealth. Beauty. But you desire nothing. Why?"
As she began, her head lowered slightly, and her always warm, shining face grew a little dull. "My town was once raided by a demonic monster. He killed my parents and was about to kill me." She glanced at him. "But you showed up and slew the monster."
"I lost everything. My house. My family. I felt endless emptiness. I kept questioning myself. Why am I even alive? I should have died with my parents. Why did God show me mercy?"
"For many years, I lived lifeless. A living corpse, just dragging myself along to keep my parents' promise."
Thomas's eyes widened. He gripped the bedsheet tightly, finding his own shadow in her words.
Sera's lips lifted slightly as she remembered something beautiful. "Then I met a girl. She was suffering from a very dangerous disease that would kill her in seven days."
Then she asked, "What do you think, Your Majesty? What would you do in her situation?"
He thought for a minute and answered, "I would try to find medicine or a cure."
She smiled. "Yes, most people would do something like that or break into eternal despair. But she was different. She lived every second as if it were a whole year."
"Those seven days with her taught me one thing. We all search for bigger things, but we never see how beautiful small things can be."
A butterfly with dark blue wings entered and landed on her finger. She smiled brightly as she looked at the butterfly.
Small things… He had crushed hundreds of them in the name of something 'greater.'
Her words struck him deeply. He bit his lower lip.
She gently blew the butterfly away and turned to him. She requested, "If you still wish to reward me, then let me serve you as long as I am alive."
'Let me serve the one I love most.'
Her inner truth made his heartbeat rapid. A spark was lit in his cold heart. He stared at her with widened eyes. "Love…"
Both of them stared at each other, completely lost in their thoughts.
Knock Knock
A sharp knock on the door dragged them back to the present.
"Come in."
The prime minister rushed into the room. His face looked grim. He knelt before Thomas. "Your Majesty, there is bad news and good news."
"The good news is that we conquered three neighboring small countries in a single night. But at the same time, we lost two major forts."
Thomas squinted his eyes. "Explain."
"Our enemy nation captured one fort. And the other fort fell because… because."
"Say it quickly."
His body trembled. "Because of a gatekeeper."