Behind billowing black clouds, an ominous blue moon shone but no light could pierce through the raging storm. The centerpiece of an old kingdom was under fire, the castle alight with magic from the inside out.
Flashes of light; blue, vermilion, violet, white.
People shouting, screaming, chaos sown.
There was a coup.
The castle halls were thrown into chaos, old allies becoming new foes. Everyone wore the same country colors, spoke the same language and it was difficult to tell in a battle as such who was really fighting who.
Leonel pushed his way through the halls, his heart hammering against his chest, breath heaving, and legs weak.
A young man yet to blossom into manhood, it was easy for him to disguise himself as a woman. In a classic maid’s dress, his dark hair was braided into a neat bun and his blue eyes were wild as he scanned for a path through the chaos unfolding in familiar halls. He wore the appearance of a frazzled maid perfectly, dazed and confused.
Torch fire and magelights danced between stone walls and stone pillars. Leonel was used to the castle being rowdy with gossiping ladies and haughty nobles. This level of chaos, of violence, was new.
Quickly, he ducked beneath swinging blades and magic flying. Something sharp grazed his shoulder. A man shouted curses before being decapitated by an axe.
The blood fell onto his dress. The puddles of red caused him to slip. Someone had a spell on their lips. The silken drapery caught aflame and Leonel almost fell right into it.
He rolled away right before he fell face-first into the fire. Heat licked his shoulders, burning right through skin but he rolled until the flames on his dress quelled. Leonel wasted no time. He gave no mind to the squabbling men in the hall. They could kill each other for all Leonel cared.
No, he needed to go… he needed to…
Panting heavily he found the narrow winding staircase that led him up the northward tower. He could hear the storm that brewed outside, the heavy rainfall, the roaring thunder, and the violent hiss of chilling winds.
His legs burned and his lungs did too. He needed to run faster…faster…!
“P-Princess…!” Leonel’s hoarse voice croaked, “Please don’t…be rash…!”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
…
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Beneath his heel was a corpse, freshly killed and burnt to a sizzling crisp. A former friend, perhaps, a favored associate of his once upon a time.
He laughed, and it was a silvery sound, as clear as wind chimes even with the maddening howl of the brewing storm. Footsteps approached from behind.
Slowly, he craned his neck, peering at the enemy that dared to oppose him.
“Your wretched reign ends here, Amari,” a venomous voice spat. His challenger was one he knew well. Her blond hair was wild and undone, falling around her like a chaotic veil. Hatred was bright in her sapphire eyes; a trait inherited from her ethnic heritage. The dress that she wore, rich maroon velvet, was in tatters. It was once an expensive gift from Amari himself. And in her hand was a royal heirloom, a silver blade that glowed a soft blue.
King Amari lifted a sharp brow. His smirking expression was alarmingly casual, as though he wasn’t at all concerned. As though he hadn’t ingested a whole bottle of poisoned wine that she had fed him. “Dearest consort, Giselle my darling,” he chuckled wickedly, “don’t tell me that you’re the one behind the mess. What do you hope to gain from this buffoonery, hm?”
Giselle snarled. His casual tone and impassive grin only served to stir her rage. “Y-You—! I will purge the world of your evil poison!” With a thunderous roar, she lunged for him.
But King Amari only had to raise his arm, the silver blade caught on his ebony gauntlet and he pushed back against her strength with ease. If Amari was in pain, he made no show of it. He didn’t even seem the slightest bit concerned. A sickening smirk pulled his lips, pointed and condescending. He chided, as though scolding a girl, “Foolish lassie. What do you hope to accomplish by purging me? Did you believe that mankind’s poison would end with me? Then you are disillusioned. Who do you think will sit on the throne once I die? A saint?”
“Shut up!” she howled, teeth grit, “even a pig would be better than you!” With a violent burst of strength, she broke through his defense, knocking Amari off-balance—
But only for a moment.
When she tried to pivot and step in for a thrust, he caught her wrist with ease.
One simple twist and Giselle yelped, her arm pinned against her back. But no matter how hard he squeezed and twisted, she refused to let go of her blade. She thrashed like a cornered wolf, snarling and cursing his name.
Yet Amari’s smile was as calm as an enlightened saint. “Tell me the truth. Why are you so angry, my dear?” he hummed. “Oh? Are you still upset about our daughter?”
“She was my daughter!” Giselle roared, power twinkled in her sapphire eyes and the air around them froze. “And you killed her!”
Amari only laughed, the magic that sought his life was no better than child’s play. He didn’t even have to lift a finger to call upon vermilion lightning. With a bright flash and snapping thunder, Giselle’s magic was completely dissipated.
Bright sparkles littered the air, like snowfall amid the roaring storm. The rainfall was deafening but all Giselle could hear was Amari’s wretched cackling.
Although her magic was quelled in an instant, she managed to use the moment to worm her way out of Amari’s grasp and chased after him with her blade.
He danced and weaved through her attacks, amusement twinkling in his golden eyes. “I cannot fathom why you’re so angry. That babe was defective. I only put her out of her misery, it was a favor, don’t you understand?”
Giselle, devoured by wrath, swung wildly. She called upon her magic, turning the air cold, the rain into hail. But none of her attacks struck true. She couldn’t even land a single blow on this villain…!
Amari eventually grew bored of his foe, seeing that she was beyond reasoning. With one decisive strike, he caught her sword hand. This time, there was no mercy. One cruel twist was all it took to snap bone.
Giselle howled in rage and pain. Her mind was going numb. But despite the blistering agony she held on and called upon her mage circuits, drawing power as deep as her life force and—
Thunder cracked; a bright ominous rouge. With a single spell, Giselle’s body went slack. Defeated, without even a chance to unleash her magic. Amari picked her up by the collar of her dress, dragging her to the edge of the tower as though she were nothing more than trash.
Without much thought or even a word of departure, he held her over the edge and—
“NO!” A sharp, anguished cry cut through the howling storm. “DON’T!”
“…” Amari had no heart to mind the pained pleas of a stranger. He let go and Giselle fell.
“Princess!” A frantic voice followed with a mad sprint. Giselle’s little maid dashed madly for her precious princess, diving after with frenzied desperation.
Amari blinked impassively as he watched the maid dive after his worthless consort. Together, they plummeted into the icy moat below.
Amari sneered. What a waste, he thought. That little maid had quite a pretty face if he was recalling correctly, the one that Giselle brought with her from her homeland.
A narcissist like Amari could not understand the sentiments of self-sacrifice. He turned his attention to Giselle’s discarded blade and picked it up, testing its balance and admiring the way rainwater trickled down its edges. He could hear a cacophony of voices come from the stairwell.
Amari drew in a long breath, savoring the scent of autumn rain and rising smoke, copper too. Thunder obscured the sound of stampeding footsteps that approached. It was bloody cold.
“What a beautiful night,” he lamented. “Who is it that wishes to disturb my stargazing?”
A cough threatened to trickle up his throat, Amari could taste blood in his mouth but he swallowed it down. Slowly, he peeled open his eyes and found himself surrounded by his enemies. “Ah,” he hummed, “so you too, desire death at my hands.”
“Amari,” the familiar voice of an old ally spoke with deep emotion, emotions that Amari himself neither understood nor cared about. “You have gone too far.”
Amari sneered. “Says who?”
“…”
No more pleasantries were needed. No more words were said. A battle unfolded, one so epic that it was said to have sliced open the skies and shook the earth.
A crimson star fell that night.
King Amari’s reign finally came to an end.
Author: Welcome to my second story here…! Updates will be 2-3 times a week after I dump the first few chapters, I’m not too sure yet about my long term uploading schedule TT u TT this is just the prologue to give a bit more backstory for the characters! Despite the dark setting and prologue, actually, I think the story begins quite light-heartedly? S-so please stay tuned ; w ;
What do you think of Amari from the prologue? U w U
edit: I added in some artwork I made for the prologue! Please enjoy~ If you want to see a bigger version of the image, come follow my twitter @trashcanxval
(人 •͈ᴗ•͈) ohhh interesting
Thank you for the chapter!! ❤️❤️
helloo don don! thanks for checking out my new storyyyyy
HOLYSHH I’m so hype for this, this is written beautifully enough to entice us already!
(And that Godly art? Chef kiss I would gladly prostate for this :000)
Amari seems to be a ruthless intelligent ruler. Makes me think his reign all about crushing people to make himself more powerful. At the end he appears to have no allies
U__U yes…he was all alone at the top
Amari seems so lonely to me🤧
Btw, nice art✨
what he needs is
a doting loversome good old sanity knocked into his skull. But alas, who knows if that will ever happenNo but why is this so perfectly written? I loved all the details and imagery used.
Idk how I feel about Amari, yet. But, we shall see!
Thanks for the chapter <3
WAHhhhh thank youuu T__T;;
ehehe… o w o I really wanted amari to seem like your classic evil villain here…! but I guess we’ll learn more about him later!?!?!
thank you for reading!
it is time (insert hellmo gif here). Amari’s my favorite remorseless psychopath disaster (especially now that i’ve confirmed he’s also hot), I’m glad he’s here. As always, your actions are phenomenal! RIP Giselle, you did your best. And also that art, beautiful, showstopping, incredible. Thank you for the food, val. 🤩 Looking forward to the story.
🍆🍆
present.
saw your art on discord ^0^
I am witnessing the birth of a brilliant masterpiece, and I am so here for it. Amari seems pretty cold (but I’m sure that won’t last once he gets a lover to knock some heart into him — coughcoughouhg) but the art is pretty, and like, pretty cold-hearted man = I’m in love???
Anyway, I am hungry and will happily nom on this wonderful story. Thanks for creating another incredible world, Val!
Delish. (づ￣ ³￣)づ
interesting~~
the art at the end was really good
Well, so far I have come to dislike.. Giselle.
However, I am quite confused as to what is going on.