The cold wind brushed against my face as I lay still on my bed. My body was tense, my breathing shallow, every nerve alert.
Drip… drip…
Somewhere in the distance, water hit stone. The sound echoed faintly through the old corridors of the Nightreign mansion.
What just happened? I could swear I heard voices… but they suddenly vanished. Was I hallucinating from using my abilities too much? Or… was someone else here?
The metallic scent of blood still lingered faintly in the air. The assassins—two of them—had been moving toward me… and then, nothing. Silence. And now, only their absence.
---
Meanwhile, under the pale glow of the moonlight, a woman sat elegantly in the family's winter garden. The air was cold enough to bite, yet she looked unfazed, her silhouette framed by the faint blue shimmer of the mansion's magical wards.
She lifted a teacup to her lips, the porcelain clicking softly against her teeth. Her eyes, however, were sharp and full of calculation.
"Those assassins… how did they fail?"
Her voice was low, carrying a mix of irritation and suspicion.
"They were personally trained by me."
She set the cup down with a quiet clink, her long nails tapping once on the wooden armrest.
"Or… is someone helping him? Inside our family…"
Her tone sharpened like a blade.
"This is getting on my nerves."
The loyal servant standing beside her lowered his head, not daring to speak. The mist around the Nightreign mansion thickened unnaturally, like a living thing hiding its own secrets.
---
Back in my room, I tightened my fists under the covers.
Someone killed those assassins before they could reach me. But who? And why?
Tap… tap… tap…
The breeze slipped through the window, carrying the smell of wet iron and the whisper of something older than the mansion's stones. Then a voice—soft, distant, ghostly—brushed my ear before fading into nothing.
> "Time hasn't ripened yet… you're not fully ready…"
My heart skipped a beat. I shot up, but there was no one there. No trace of the voice. Just the empty night and the faint hum of the mansion's barrier runes.
Am I going insane… or is someone really watching me from the shadows?
I want to leave this place… but how? They don't even allow me to step outside my room without guards. I'm completely trapped here.
-----
My body isn't listening to me anymore. This curse… it's getting stronger and stronger with each passing day. What should I do? Is this… my ending?
I, Selgor Nightreign—the one who has slain countless threats without flinching—am I truly going to die because of a curse?
"Aaahhh…"
My chest burns as if it's about to explode. Each breath feels heavier than the last. I can't let anyone see me like this. I have to deal with it before anyone finds out.
I press my palm to my chest and whisper a command I've repeated countless times:
> [Mana Cleansing]
A faint glow spreads through my veins, like molten silver. The cursed mana fights back violently, clawing at my insides. My vision blurs; my heartbeat pounds like war drums, echoing louder than the night.
I think… my body can no longer handle mana. This time was close… too close. Next time… I might not survive it.
---
In the quiet of the room, I remember something the elders used to say in the Nightreign annals, carved above the family throne:
> "Power without control is a curse; control without power is a cage."
The words chilled me. They weren't mine, but they felt like a warning. Lying on my bed, drenched in sweat and pain, I wondered which one I had become.