Enoch turned his head towards the door that slowly creaked open.
There was nothing he could do but wait for whoever it was to enter.
He wondered who it could be. No one was allowed to enter the prince's chambers without knocking. No one...
A blonde-haired figure stepped through the door, dressed in a white gown. On her beautiful face was a suggestive smile.
It was the one person who had reason to enter the room without knocking.
Lady Larissa. Enoch's wife-to-be.
It made sense. He had just awakened, and won the mock battle for nobles, and now she wished to reward him with her body.
But instead, as she stepped inside, all she found was Enoch staring at her with wide dark eyes.
"M-my love?" she said, sensing that something was wrong. "Is everything okay?"
She stepped inside the room, and as she did, Enoch took a step backwards.
"Not now, Larissa."
"But I thought I would reward you for your victory today. The whole palace is talking about how you fought against Nero Servus. I always hated that man."
Larissa closed the door. She had now fully entered the room.
Her bare feet took her closer to Enoch, who tried to step back into the shadows of the room, but there was no use.
Her eyes suddenly went wide as they landed on the two horns emerging from his head.
At first, the pair stared at each other, neither with anything to say.
However, everyone knew what horns represented. They were one of the many signs that one had truly travelled down an evil path.
Larissa turned and dashed for the door.
Enoch cursed under his breath. Part of him had wished that his future wife might keep it a secret, but he was wrong.
Instead, she opened her mouth and screamed for help.
"Help! Somebody help!"
You foolish woman.
Enoch activated Shadow Step and closed the distance in an instant.
Before Larissa could open the door, Enoch had already returned to physical form, wrapping his arms around her neck and increasing the pressure until she fell unconscious.
Enoch cursed again three times as he gently placed her body on the floor.
My cover's been blown already, and by none other than my own fiancée. Is romance truly dead?
Pacing back and forth, he wondered what he would do next.
An immoral path was seen as one of the greatest crimes of the kingdom. Larissa was sure to spread the news if he let her free, yet at the same time, he had no desire to harm her.
He came to the conclusion that he would wait for her to wake up. Once she had, he would try to convince her to keep things secret, and they could call off the marriage and go their separate ways.
Enoch had a duty to fulfil as Prince. It could not be ruined now.
---
Larissa awoke to find herself tied to a chair, unable to move. Her mouth was gagged, but as she opened her eyes, she found Enoch sitting opposite her with crossed legs.
The two horns protruding from amidst his white hair made him look particularly terrifying. She even felt that there was now a pink hint to his once dark eyes, suggesting that they were becoming red.
Another telling sign of evil.
"Devil," she spat instantly. "Nero was right. You're a devil!"
"I am a Prince," Enoch retorted calmly. "And things need to stay that way. We can call off our marriage and go our separate ways, but you must keep my horns a secret. Eventually they will fade away."
"Keep it a secret?" Larissa let out a laugh. "So that you can destroy our kingdom?"
Enoch had expected that answer.
As he sat with a leg crossed over the other, he scratched at his smooth chin in thought, going over his few options.
I could kill her?
He found himself surprised that such a thought could even enter his mind.
The worst thing about it was that there was a part of him that wasn't against the idea at all. A part that he tried his best to subdue.
The Prince let out a sigh. "You make things difficult for me. You force me to consider things that I do not wish to do."
"Like what, Enoch? Are you going to kill me? Kill your future wife? No, I know you. I've known you since you were a child. You might be immoral, but you are not a murderer. You can still turn yourself in!"
Enoch remained silent, rising to his feet. Larissa's eyes followed him the entire time.
"If you turn yourself in, you might be able to avoid execution. You would be sentenced to the dungeon, and I would lose a future husband, but it is a price I'm willing to pay... There are always others."
Enoch showed no expression on his face. Instead, he made his way over to his bedside and lifted his steel shortsword which he had owned for his entire life.
Larissa's eyes went wide as she watched the Prince inspect his blade.
"S-surely not... You wouldn't kill me, would you, Enoch?" she stuttered.
Enoch made his way over to her. The palace was silent, as the night was well underway.
Eventually, he stood over her, staring down at her nervous form.
"Enoch?" she spoke.
The man flashed her a smile.
"For a moment, I contemplated leaving you in a state that would leave you unable to speak. I planned to cut off your hands and remove your tongue, in order to continue living as the Prince, but I realised you would still find a way to have me caught. You have always been a determined woman."
Larissa's body began to quiver. She hardly recognised the man talking to her.
Enoch continued as he picked up the sheath and strapped his sword to his waist.
"Besides, I do not wish to remain on the immoral path. If I want to get rid of these horns, I'll need to fight against my evil thoughts. I will need to become a better man."
"T-thank you, Enoch," Larissa pleaded desperately, fearful of the man in front of her. "I am t-thankful that you have allowed me to keep my life."
Enoch, who had begun to make his way towards the window of his chambers, turned back to her, an eyebrow raised in confusion.
"Keep your life?" he mused. "Who mentioned anything about that?"
Enoch clenched his fists, and the black flames of Kurohono engulfed the entirety of his room, starting with his lover, Larissa.
My journey towards righteousness can begin tomorrow.
"Ngahhhhh!" The screams began.
[Morality: The Hellbound Path]
You walk an evil path.
Moral Balance:
———————80%—
The woman's screams were loud, and would likely wake the entire palace. But by the time they got there, she would be nothing but ashes, and Enoch would be long gone.
After finding the ashes, they would believe that they belonged to Enoch. Rather than believing that the Prince was a murderer that had betrayed the kingdom and hunting him down for eternity, Enoch would instead be assumed dead at the hands of his own spell.
The plan wasn't infallible, but it was all he could think of.
As the black flames claimed his chambers, Enoch leapt from the window and landed in the gardens of the grand palace, activating Shadow Step once more and dashing through the city streets.
He had to leave Tether City.
He had to leave the Rose Kingdom.
It was the only hope for an immoral man like him.