POV – Kim Dae-ho
Ahh… my head!
Why is my head suddenly hurting so much!
I don't know what's happening, my consciousness just returned after seeing an endless darkness and now my head is suddenly throbbing intensely as if a nail is being slowly hammered into my skull.
What really happened? Is it because I stayed up late?
My body's reflex was to rub my head hoping the pain would go away, but from the tips of my hair to the tips of my toes, everything felt paralyzed – I couldn't even open my own eyelids!
I tried to find a logical reason and think calmly amidst this throbbing. Maybe I'm just having sleep paralysis, right? Haha, maybe.
My last vague memory is; I was with my friend Park Ji-hun in my apartment. He brought an old book with a faded black cover. After that… We performed a ritual? Uh, that was the stupidest thing I've ever done; following a strange mystical ritual, if it weren't for him I definitely wouldn't have agreed.
Wait! I froze internally, remembering what happened after performing that ritual – the candles we lit suddenly spun and turned a dark purple color. Then… The apartment floor beneath our feet suddenly disappeared!
Is it because of that ritual? It's impossible, right?
The throbbing in my head kept increasing every second as I tried to move my body.
Grr!
Even so, I couldn't just let my body lie still. It was terrifying. My thoughts kept drifting to death – Am I dead?
My efforts yielded no results at all, instead, it made me panic even more because I couldn't move my body.
Then I moved what I could move; my fingers – which I could finally feel again. I felt around the place where I was lying. What I felt was a soft, plush silk. My mattress?
Since when was my mattress this plush? This is clearly different from my apartment mattress that always made my body ache. So where am I?
After a few seconds of my fingers feeling the place I was lying on, this time my sense of smell returned and the first thing I smelled was; The fragrant smell of flowers that are a faint purple color but glow at night, Nightshade and Ebony wood incense.
Huh? Why do I recognize Nightshade flowers and Ebony wood? I could see them in my mind; the shape of the flower as if I had seen it often. It confused my thoughts and made me forget the pain in my head for a moment due to the dizziness.
I want to see it! Where am I?! I tried as hard as I could to open my eyelids. After I don't know how long – I just kept trying to open my eyes…
Then, as if lifting a weight as heavy as a mountain, my eyes slowly opened – my vision was blurry and spotty as I stared at the ceiling of the place I was lying in;
Where am I? This is clearly not my room.
The place was dim. The only illumination came from a strange light on my right side, which might have been from a large window. The light was a mix of silver and purple. I still wasn't strong enough to move my neck to look at it. And also, my right eye was dark as if something was covering it. What is it? Am I blind in one eye?
Never mind that. In my spotty vision, I saw; A large dome that was my current ceiling, it was covered with paintings of art or literature – in the center was a sun emblem with an eye and a mouth. Further down – on the sides of the sun were strange depictions like white winged creatures like a Bird or an Angel?. Then at the very bottom was land colored green, yet it was filled with dark dots like people prostrating. To the winged creature?
Is this a dream? I hope this is just a dream! This is so frightening, waking up in a strange place with a paralyzed body.
I calmed myself so that my breathing became more stable. With great curiosity; I moved my neck, which I could now move, to look to the right.
My eyes widened in disbelief. Two moons?
Beyond the large stained glass; It turned out the light illuminating this room came from two moons hanging in the sky. One, on the right – was a moon that looked normal with a silver color. However, on the left side was a smaller moon with a faint purple glow, and it had a black side like an eclipse.
This is starting to be unbelievable. Where am I really? I couldn't stay calm, my breathing became heavier; how can someone stay calm when they see strange things happening consecutively like this?
Creeak…
I blinked upon hearing the sound of a door slowly opening, then a Crash! as if it hit a wall.
Tap… Tap… Tap…
Those are footsteps! Who?! Who is coming here?!
The footsteps were even, like a drunk person's. I positioned my head to be straight again. From the corner of my eye, I saw a woman.
A woman?!
The woman was wearing luxurious red clothing, but some of her buttons were open, and her jet-black hair was stuck to her pale face and her neck, which was wet with sweat.
She was getting closer! The smell of wine alcohol assaulted my nose. This woman is drunk!
I strained to move but this damn body was still paralyzed! The woman had reached the side of my bed and sat down. Then, without asking permission, she weakly climbed onto the bed, then her light weight pressed down on my body.
"Eh…?" The woman seemed confused as she looked down at me. Yet her face gradually got closer bit by bit – I could see the iris of her eyes which were a faint red, and her face was truly very beautiful with a straight nose and her red lips which were faded because…
Tears?
After I looked at that face more closely; It turned out it wasn't just sweat wetting her face, but tears that kept falling endlessly from her eyes, a few drops fell onto my face, she also smiled bitterly at me.
This woman looked broken… as if she had just experienced a heavy problem.
Before I could think further, the woman closed the distance between us! Her cold lips met mine, her hand moved to open my mouth and she inserted her tongue. I could taste the Wine she drank and her salty tears.
My body tensed. Not from arousal, but from fear shooting through my entire body – after this, what other strange thing will happen to me? This isn't a dream, this is too real.
The pain in my head increased due to the pressure, accompanied by something that seemed to be trying to enter my head. It was like a wave… A wave of memories?!
Asta Ravencrest. Age seventeen. A citizen of the Veridia Kingdom living in Rusty Village.
Huh? This time I didn't even finish thinking, it just appeared in my head.
Then I saw a vision of Rusty Village; A village with gloomy clouds, with fog almost obscuring the view, then barren and dry land. Strangely, I felt like I was walking in that place and some kids my age whom I didn't know were throwing stones at me.
The next wave began to attack me like an electric current, not just to my head but to my soul. I felt feelings; sadness, despair, and resignation to bad fate. It felt like it just crashed onto my soul, drowning all my fear.
A moment later, an even stronger feeling came; A hatred and Rage so incredibly strong that my eyes widened wide.
I saw my father standing holding a bag jingling full of coins while my body was being dragged by someone. No-no! That's not my father by any characteristic, he's not my father; he was a tall figure with hair as white as snow, how could I possibly have a father like that? I denied it, but from the bottom of my heart, or whoever he was, he was my father and I hated him. But why? On one hand, I just saw this person, but on the other hand, I felt closely familiar with him.
Does this have something to do with Asta Ravencrest who just suddenly entered my head? Or is that me?
"I was the one who killed your mother, Asta"
That was the voice uttered by the white-haired man named Damian Ravencrest before I was finally thrown into a cart, the door closed, leaving a small gap to see my Father.
So you were the one who killed my mother?! these words kept echoing in my head, directed at the man named Damian Ravencrest. I swear, I, Kim Dae-ho, have no relation at all to that man. But why does it feel like I hate him so much.
Swallowed by confusion, I froze… not understanding even a little bit of what was really happening to me, I was feeling emotions and memories as if they were my own.
Who am I, really?
The pain in my head peaked, more painful than anything I had felt before. That woman still hadn't finished kissing me, the world spun and grew darker bit by bit until finally…
Complete darkness.