"Hic..hic.."
In a park filled with lush greenery, a young boy with tousled brown hair sat on a bench his back hunched over, his shoulders trembling with silent sobs.
Tears streamed down his cheeks, glistening in the soft sunlight that filtered through the leaves above.
"Happy Birthday, my son~ happy birthday~."
A small fairy-like creature circled around his head, chirping a melodious tone.
But even then, the boy remained lost in his sorrow.
Even though his mother was beside him, he couldn't feel the love of his mother.
She had turned into a fairy who only knew how to smile, with a mental age of five.
She couldn't understand what her child was going through; all she could do was try to cheer him up.
"I want..hic...my family..hic..back..."
He wept between his sobs as he rubbed his face with his palm.
Had the tragedy not happened to his family...
Had they not been executed...
The child could have lived a normal life with the second-highest status within the empire...
Asher lye Heimdall could have been the next Duke...
But now, it didn't matter....
Because everything was already lost...
"Why are you crying?" A soothing voice brought the boy back to reality as he looked up in front of him.
With her hair in shades of blue cascading down her shoulders, she stood gracefully, her eyes a light shade of blue as they looked at the boy curiously.
"Why are you crying?" She asked again, tilting her head.
"I..I'm not." The boy sniffled as he rubbed his eyes.
"Can I sit here?" She asked, pointing at the bench.
"Y-yeah." The boy replied, nodding his head, shifting slightly to give her enough space to sit.
"Hello!" As soon as the girl sat down, the fairy bowed towards her, "please take care of my son."
"Ahh, okay." Flustered, the girl replied, returning the bow.
The fairy smiled back at her as she roamed around the boy's head.
"So, are you going to tell me why you're crying or not?" The girl asked once again as she looked at the boy.
"No..." He replied, shaking his head.
"Fine... What's your name then?" She inquired, her blue eyes staring at him.
"Ash—Ethan."
"Age?"
"Twelve." The boy replied, looking back at her.
"You know Ethan...I know a boy." The girl replied, her right hand instinctively touching the ring on her left hand's index finger, "he is a year younger than you but I have never seen him cry even once."
Ethan silently glanced at the girl, who looked at her ring with a small smile on her face.
"You know, once he disappeared all of a sudden...
I didn't see him for a few months....
and when I saw him... he didn't say anything but just smiled at me..."
The girl's hand moved towards her neck as she touched the necklace she was wearing.
"Even though he was in pain... he didn't cry... but smiled."
Then the girl looked at the boy, who was staring at her.
"If you look at it that way... he is better than yo—."
"Don't compare him with me." He interrupted, glaring at her. "I don't know him, so don't compare."
"Fine...." With a sigh, the girl replied as she looked around.
"....What do you think," hesitating, he asked, his gaze on his hands, "I should do to my enemies?"
"You have enemies?" She asked in surprise.
"I am just asking..." He replied, shaking his head.
"It depends... what did that enemy do to you?" The girl replied with a thoughtful expression.
"They took... everything from me." He replied, his voice trailing off at the end.
"Then take everything away from them as well," the girl replied, shrugging her shoulders. "I mean... if someone tried to touch my beloved, I would have done it. I would have burned down the world for him."
The boy turned silent as he took some time to think about what she said.
His mind wandered back to the day he lost everything.
How his parents died....
How he lost his beloved sister....
How he lost everything....
"You don't talk like someone your age," the boy remarked, glancing at the girl, coming out of his thoughts.
She didn't look like she was more than thirteen, but the way she talked felt like she was more mature than that.
".... because I am smarter than someone my age," she replied without looking at him.
"You look like a noble... why are you here?" The boy asked, his gaze lingering on her beautiful yet expensive dress.
"Someone told me... I could find an artifact which can help with mana exhaustion," the girl grumbled as she stomped her feet. "And they lied."
"Why would you need that?" Frowning, the boy asked.
The girl didn't reply; instead, she touched the necklace she was wearing.
"What do you think 'I am sorry for making you love me' means?" The girl asked, her hand playing with her necklace.
"...Why are you asking that?" He asked, glancing at her.
"...When I last saw him, he told me that," she replied, her gaze blankly looking at her left hand.
"Why do you keep talking about him?" He grumbled, looking at her.
The girl glanced at him before, with a tired sigh, she stood up, muttering, "I keep forgetting not everyone is considerate like him."
Looking at the boy, she extended her hand.
"What?" He asked.
"It's your birthday, right?" She asked with a small smile, glancing at the fairy. "Let me treat you with my favorite choco chips ice cream."
Ethan hesitated for a while before eventually he extended his hand as well.
"What's your name?" He asked as he took her hand.
"Christina."
....
....
....
Beep... beep...
"Argh."
My eyes fluttered open as a soft groan escaped my mouth, the sound of the alarm filling my ears.
Reaching out for the alarm, I closed it before gently rising from the bed.
"Yeah... Academy," I let out a tired sigh as I mumbled before getting out of bed and onto my feet.
The dim light of the dormitory room was just enough for me to walk towards the kitchen to make a cup of coffee for myself.
[⸸ How was your first day, Ethan? ⸸]
And just as I started to prepare the coffee, a voice resonated in my head.
"It was... okay?" I replied with a hint of uncertainty as I continued my work.
It wasn't the first time I heard the voice in my head; it had been guiding me and telling me things about this world since the day I awakened my bloodline.
[⸸ Hmm, did you meet him? ⸸]
I halted my work as I heard him, and the disgusting face of that woman's son came to my mind.
"Yeah... I saw him," I replied as I continued my work, trying to contain my emotions.
[ ⸸ How is he? ⸸ ]
"Like I thought he would be," I replied, clenching my fist. "Rude, arrogant, merciless, and cruel for no reason, just like his mother."
Filling the cup with coffee, I walked towards the window, opening it and letting the cold morning wind wash over my face.
"...Even then, for some reason, my fiancée likes him," I grumbled as I drank the coffee.
[ ⸸ Asher is already dead. You are Ethan, and she was Asher's fiancée, not yours ⸸ ]
"But still, she is min—."
[ ⸸ I have already warned you, boy. Don't get close to a vessel. Only a madman can love a vessel ⸸ ]
"She might be able to help me wit—."
[ ⸸ Do you know whenever a vessel loses control, they often try to kill the one they love the most ⸸ ]
"....I will still try to befriend her," I replied, drinking my coffee.
Watching her with another man, especially with that woman's son...
I won't allow it....
My pride won't allow it....
"Talking about him, here he is," I mumbled as my gaze fell on the boy who was running while struggling for breath, his purple hair drenched in sweat as he circled around the building.
"What do you think will bring more despair to that woman: a dead son or a son living from the outside but dead from the inside?" I asked, and without me knowing it, a small smile formed on my lips.
[ ⸸ Kill him if you can. His existence will only bring destruction to this world ⸸ ]
"Why do you say so?" I asked as I watched him running.
[ ⸸ He is that woman's deadliest weapon. The longer he lives, the sharper the weapon will become ⸸ ]
"Hmm, still, aren't your words too much?" I asked, feeling like he was putting the weak boy on a high pedestal.
[ ⸸ .....Had he not been that woman's son.....had he not been born from the death of millions...he could have been the 'One.' ⸸ ]
"Again with this. When are you going to tell me what this 'One' means?" I asked, frowning, as Azariah stopped running.
[ ⸸ ...You will know it when you are ready ⸸]
"Whatever," I replied, my gaze still on Azariah. As if he noticed my gaze, he looked towards me.
"But first," I mumbled, as our gazes met, "let's take everything away from him."