A flash back
In the heart of the Northern Realm's kingdom, Queen Katrina raced through the echoing halls, her breaths sharp and quick. The memory of her parents' demise haunted her every step—a ghost from which she could not escape. Tears were a luxury she could not afford; she was not merely a daughter in mourning but a queen, a beacon of unwavering strength to her people.
Raised within the gilded confines of royalty, Karen bore the weight of the crown and the scrutiny of the kingdom from a young age. Her companions were few but deeply cherished: a best friend who knew her wildest dreams and deepest fears, and a fiancé who promised a future brimming with hope.
Amidst the court's splendor and hushed whispers, a secret of immense power and vulnerability was kept—a secret guarded by a sacred trust among four souls. Her beloved parents, who had nurtured her strength; her best friend, who had shared in her laughter and tears; and her fiancé, who had once held her heart.
But on that fateful day, as the light of her parents' lives was extinguished, so too was the balance of that trust. Katrina's anguish began not with her sorrow but with the realization that her power—the essence of her immortality—was now imperiled. In a kingdom where magic is woven into bloodlines, the loss of her parents meant that the secret ways to strip her of her power were known to only three: herself, her fiancé, and her best friend.
As she ran, the Queen of the Northern Realm was not merely fleeing the echoing loneliness of her chambers. She was racing against time, against the specter of betrayal, and against the palpable fear that her power—and with it, her kingdom—might slip through her fingers like so many grains of sand.
She remembered it vividly: it was two days after her parents' passing, she had been named queen, but her coronation had yet to be held. She wandered the hallway absentmindedly, reaching the royal chamber of the king and queen—a room she was meant to occupy but had avoided, for it was filled with memories she yearned to preserve.
She was about to enter when a laugh from within stopped her cold. "Who is it?" she wondered. "Liam? What is he doing here? Isn't this place off-limits?"
Cracking opens the door, she was shocked to see his hand adorned with that ring—the only ring capable of ending her. As she watched, he smiled and laughed. "See, they are finally dead. My hard work has paid off."
"What do you mean?" she asked, uncertain of what to expect.
"Can't you see?" he taunted, waving his hand before him.
There it was—her nightmare, her sole weakness: the Slaughtering Ring, which could extract her power directly from her body.
She gulped hard, her throat constricting with a mix of fear and disbelief. "W-what?" she stammered, her voice a mere whisper against the gravity of the moment.
"So, you are finally afraid now, huh? The almighty Queen Katarina is afraid?" he mocked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"But it's too late..." With a swift motion, he extended his hand, his fingers curling as if to grasp something unseen. Uttering the ancient curse, a golden mist began to swirl, a luminous light that seemed to be the very essence of her power. It spiraled out from her, drawn inexorably towards the ring on his finger.
With the last vestige of strength she could muster, she unleashed a desperate counterstrike, a surge of power directed at him. It was a gamble, a chance to escape the unthinkable betrayal.
And now, here she was, panting and gasping for air, the cold stones of the castle's outer walls pressing against her back. Her mind raced with the implications of what had just transpired. The ring, the curse, the betrayal—her kingdom was on the brink of an abyss, and she was its only hope.
Liam, her fiancé, the only man she had trusted as deeply as her parents , had betrayed her in a manner so cruel that even a foe would balk at the thought.
"Master, master... wait," panted Liliana, her sole remaining maid, as she hurried towards her with her younger brother in tow. As they reached her, Lucifer, her brother, embraced Katarina. While ruffling his hair, she turned to Liliana, "Tell me everything you've discovered."
"So, basically," Liliana began, "as you suspected, Liam has seized the throne by force. Anyone who defies him is punished severely, as the head of our army stands by his side. They are searching for you, and it is rumored they intend to sacrifice you in front of all the citizens." She paused for a moment to catch her breath.
"I see. What else?" Katarina inquired, her voice steady despite the turmoil within.
"Oh yes, the Celestial Council. I consulted them in secret, but they claim the only way to reclaim your life is to die willingly and be reborn," Liliana continued.
"What?" Katarina gasped, shocked. "What about Nicholas? Maybe he would help me... though he is my nemesis."
"I've already tried, but it's such a coincidence that your parents and his perished on the same day. His uncles have deceived him, and now he's locked in the dungeons," Liliana explained.
"What? Well, he was my last hope," Katarina mused, finding a bitter humor in the thought that the person she considered her enemy and despised all her life might be her final recourse.
"So, what are you going to do now, sis?" Lucifer asked, looking up at his sister with his innocent, beautiful eyes.
She swallowed hard, "I don't have a choice, do I?" Her gaze drew Liliana and Lucifer closer.
"What else is there to do but die... and rise again?"