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What is life? When you feel happiness or sorrow, you reach the peak of life. But excessive happiness robs life of its flavor, while too much sorrow kills a person, leaving behind a body without a soul.
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People were gathered together, whispering strange words, while in the middle of the place, flames devoured something.
"I wonder what is happening over there…"
Adrian approached with hesitant steps, only to see a girl standing amid the flames, looking at him and smiling.
"Who is this girl? And why is she smiling at me? I can't make out her features… but she's trying to say something—"
Before the flames could consume her completely, she spoke in a faint yet clear voice. "Goodbye… Adrian."
Adrian awoke in a panic, gasping for breath from the shock of the dream he had just experienced. He looked around and realized he was in an unfamiliar place, cold and dark. He tried to move, only to discover that he was bound to an old wooden chair.
From a distance, the sound of footsteps slowly approached, accompanied by the echo of sharp words. "It seems you've finally awakened… you little devil."
A biting tone pierced the silence. She looked at him with eyes blazing with hatred.
"Hah… You and your filthy sister have caused me more than enough trouble."
Anger flared in Adrian's eyes.
"Shut up! No one is more annoying than you! If only you hadn't—"
A violent slap cut him off and sent him crashing to the floor. A drop of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"How dare you speak to me like that, you scum?" she said with deadly coldness.
Then she approached him step by step and bent down to whisper with a crooked smile, "When you're ignorant of the truth about what happened to your sister, you have no right to behave so rudely."
Adrian struggled to raise his gaze.
"The truth? Isn't it obvious? You're the one who orchestrated all of this!"
The Empress let out a scornful, biting laugh.
"Hahaha… You little devil, I think you overestimate me. Why would I do such a thing myself?"
She lifted his chin with her long fingers and continued in an enigmatic tone, "I pity you because you don't know… that your father was the one who killed her."
Adrian froze for a moment.
"I know he ordered her execution, but who framed her? It was definitely you!"
The Empress smiled wickedly, a mixture of malice and boredom in her expression.
"Me? Perhaps… or perhaps not. In any case, I'm going to kill you shortly, so why would I need to lie? Believe whatever you wish."
She raised her hand with deadly indifference and ordered, "Take him where he belongs."
A man clad in black emerged from the shadows. He untied Adrian from the chair, then bound him tightly again. He gagged him with a piece of coarse cloth and pulled a black sack over his head before hoisting him onto his shoulder.
He carried Adrian away into the unknown, while the Empress's laughter filled the place—long… suffocating… and terrifying.
~~~
After traveling a long distance through the forest, the assassin arrived at a desolate place surrounded by dead trees and heavy air. This was the boundary separating the human world from the realms of beasts and demons. He threw Adrian violently to the ground and removed the covering from his head.
"Her Majesty told me to tell you something…"
He approached him, his voice as cold as stone.
"Since you resemble demons, perhaps they'll accept you there."
Then he turned and left, abandoning Adrian alone and bound, unable even to scream.
Adrian tried with all his strength to get up, but the serpent monster dragged him violently into the darkness. He repeatedly struck it with his head, trying to break free, but he was far too weak. He lacked the magic needed to protect himself.
Then another monster appeared, a gigantic, deformed creature resembling an ogre. It rushed at Adrian with its claws, tearing his skin and shattering his bones until the air filled with the sounds of them breaking.
Adrian screamed, but his voice was choked off as his throat was torn apart. Blood poured from his body and sprayed with every attack. The serpent tore off his arms, while the ogre's jaws ripped away his legs. Every part of his body became prey to the monsters.
"Why did things have to turn out this way? We only wanted to live happily…" Adrian murmured with an aching sorrow deep inside.
"Diana… She was the purest person in the world. How could she suddenly be portrayed as a criminal?"
"And why does everyone believe these lies?"
The pain consuming his body was beyond what any human could endure. He lost his sense of balance and closed his eyes, collapsing to the ground, covered in blood.
"If I hadn't been born this way… would things have been different? Would Father have accepted me and protected Diana?" he continued, his voice laced with bitter sarcasm.
"I'm already cursed… I should never have been born in the first place… If I had died instead of my mother, perhaps Diana would have lived in peace."
His heartbeat slowed. The heart that had once throbbed with love for his sister and the hope of staying alive began to stop, little by little.
"I'm sorry… Diana, for being your brother… I apologize for that."
Amid this chaos, there was one thing he continued to cling to: the necklace Diana had given him. It hung from his chest, clean and untouched by the monsters, as though it were the last link to the world he had once known.
One final scream, heard by no one but himself, rose from his chest, filling the air with echoes of pain, rage, and despair. Then everything fell into dreadful silence. Nothing remained of him but a mutilated body, and the single necklace bearing witness to the fact that the "little devil" had once been human.
~~~
At the same time, the palace was strangely quiet, as though happiness itself had decided to depart. The Emperor sat in his office, staring into the void, surrounded by lifeless walls that seemed to weep silently for those who dwelled within them.
There was a light knock at the door, and then the advisor, "Aileron," entered and bowed in formal greeting.
"Glory to the Empire, Your Majesty. I have brought what you requested."
The Emperor rose slowly and walked toward the window, gazing at the garden submerged in shadows.
"Very well… Tomorrow, I shall inform Adrian of the matter."
The advisor spoke, his expression a mixture of respect and sorrow. "It seems Your Majesty is still suffering from insomnia… ever since that day."
The Emperor turned his face toward him, his eyes lost somewhere between exhaustion and coldness.
"My advisor… do you believe I was wrong?"
Aileron hesitated for a moment before answering in a quiet voice, "I would not dare say so, Your Majesty… but, if you permit me, I would say that you abandoned the flower… and clung to its thorns."
The Emperor let out a short laugh, hollow of any joy, and replied with bitter sarcasm, "You are right."
Silence settled after his words, as though the very air had stopped in reverence for their weight. Then he whispered, lifting his gaze to the sky beyond the glass, "The moon is unusually blood-red tonight… Perhaps we shall witness something soon."
But he had barely finished speaking when a violent pounding echoed against the door. A guard rushed inside, gasping for breath.
"Your Majesty! An urgent matter… His Highness, Prince Adrian, has disappeared!"
Silence descended upon the hall. Outside, the rumble of thunder was the only answer.
The quiet that had settled over the palace was not peace… but a harbinger of the storm to come.