Aaron pushed open the heavy door of the mysterious and dark castle and stepped inside. Upon entering, he was first met by guards who escorted him towards the hall. He found a chair and sat among the crowd gathered around the large table. Amidst the rising voices, whispers echoed, but it was hard to decipher what was being discussed.
At the far end of the table, a man with an authoritative appearance pounded his fist on the table. Instantly, silence fell over the room and everyone jolted. The man began to speak in a commanding tone: "As you know, we've given the organization a few signs that the Great War is imminent. However, there is still someone alive. Although considered one of the Chosen, his reputation is low, but he poses a danger to us. We must find a way to eliminate him or make him surrender to us," he said.
With the man's speech, the tension in the hall increased. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the authoritative man, listening intently to his words. Aaron felt the weight of being among these mysterious and powerful individuals gathered around the table. With determination in his eyes, he resolved to prepare himself to take on this dangerous mission.
The crowd began to talk again, but this time the man did not stop them. On the contrary, he focused on trying to listen to what was being said. Aaron, who was excited, was among the servants of the Lord of Darkness for the first time, and this was a great opportunity. Therefore, he acted as cautiously as possible, striving to make a good impression on them.
While listening to the meeting, he was also thinking about his own plan. He knew it was an opportunity to prove himself to the Lord of Darkness's men. As he carefully surveyed the room, he decided to put his plan into action. "May I say something?" he said in a loud voice. Seeing the man nod in approval, Aaron excitedly stood up and, after taking a deep breath, began to speak.
Feeling the atmosphere of the room, he carefully chose his words and strengthened his voice. He wanted to catch the attention of the powerful people in front of him and earn their respect. This was a critical step to solidify his position among the servants of the Lord of Darkness.
The room fell silent and all eyes turned to Aaron. With determination, he continued to speak to grab the attention of the powerful individuals in the room.
"Are you aware of the girl the master is in love with? I believe you are," he said, with unwavering determination.
"Yes, we are," someone replied.
"Then why don't we use her? We can kidnap her and threaten Stephen. He wouldn't be able to do anything against us," Aaron suggested.
However, he was quickly met with resistance. "We can't do that," came the response.
"Why?" Aaron asked, curiously.
"I said we can't do that, and that's final!" the man replied, once again pounding his fist on the table. But Aaron wasn't planning to stay silent. "Can you at least tell me why?" he insisted.
After these words, the atmosphere of the room became even more tense. The room was engulfed in silence, and everyone waited tensely. Aaron, maintaining his stance with determination, awaited the answer. However, the man's words were harsh, and there was a sense of anger directed at Aaron.
"Get out of here!" the man shouted angrily.
"What?" Aaron repeated, in shock.
"I said get out," the man repeated, in an even harsher tone.
Aaron stood silently in the room, maintaining his determined stance. Events had unfolded so quickly that he was unsure of what to do, stunned. However, his determination and curiosity kept him standing in this tense atmosphere.
Find himself abruptly in the castle's corridors by the man's command, Aaron felt a mix of confusion and anger at this sudden change. He had never encountered such an event in his life. Angrily, he passed through the castle's gate and headed towards his room. But as he was about to go upstairs, unexpectedly, his brother stopped him.
"Where were you?" his brother asked, with suspicion in his eyes.
"With my friends," Aaron replied angrily.
"Do you expect me to believe that?" his brother continued, with a stern voice.
"I owe you no lies. You're questioning the prince," Aaron retorted, with determination in his eyes.
"I'm not a normal prince like you," his brother said confidently.
"Our father still hasn't announced who the heir is. I'd like to remind you of that," Aaron replied in a sharp tone.
"Anyway. You, who rarely left the castle except for training, are now constantly outside. One naturally wonders why," his brother said seriously.
"Maybe I've gotten tired of being antisocial and decided to socialize. Is that not possible?" Aaron replied with a sarcastic smile.
"Fine, you win, but my eyes are still on you," his brother said, looking at him intently.
This short but tense conversation revealed the tension and complex relationships within the family. Although Aaron was aware of his brother's constant surveillance, he would continue to move determinedly towards his own goals.
Aaron took a deep breath with frustration and walked firmly towards his room. He left without saying anything more to his brother. To calm his nerves, he went to his room. However, today both his brother's and the Lord of Darkness's servants' attitudes towards him were very strange. Why was his brother suspicious? Aaron wondered if his brother might have learned that Stephen was being taken over by the Dark Power. But that thought seemed illogical. How could he have learned that? Unless the dark energy was extremely powerful, such a thing wouldn't be felt by just anyone. With these thoughts, Aaron read a book in his room for a while. Later, he went downstairs for dinner. After eating, he went back to his room, but suddenly felt nauseous. Unable to hold himself, he abruptly vomited while walking up the stairs.
Everyone gathered around Aaron, watching him with worried eyes. Aaron was quickly changed and laid in his bed. Suddenly, he also developed a fever, which further worried those around him. Aaron's face was pale, and his eyes were weak. The room was silent, with only Aaron's irregular breathing audible. His eyes were half-closed, and he lay motionless in the bed in discomfort. Those around him, worried and waiting silently, were lost in anxious thoughts about Aaron's condition.
The palace doctor was immediately called and quickly came to Aaron's side to examine his condition. The doctor applied a series of spells to try to understand Aaron's condition, but no matter what he did, he could not determine why Aaron was in this state. All the tests and spells performed yielded no results.
It was thought that the problem might be the food Aaron ate, but if that were the case, others should also have been poisoned, which would have caused general panic in the palace. The doctors tried to find another cause, but they could not reach a conclusion.
The palace doctor brought emergency treatment supplies and applied a series of ointments and potions. However, the spells and medicines used did not improve Aaron's condition; on the contrary, it worsened. Aaron's condition was rapidly deteriorating, and a feeling of helplessness began to spread in the room.
The silence of the palace was broken only by the doctor rushing around Aaron and the faint whispers of the spells he was casting. Suddenly, Aaron fell silent. When the doctor checked Aaron's pulse as a last resort, he realized that there was no heartbeat...
⚔️⚔️⚔️
In the palace corridors, a silent transaction took place between a woman disguised as a servant and a man. The woman indicated that she had successfully completed her task, and the man handed her a purse of coins. The woman thanked him and quickly left, leaving behind silence.
After the woman departed, the man's assistant entered the room with permission. He had been listening to the dialogue between the woman and the man for a few minutes. Then he approached the man and curiously asked, "Why did you kill him?"
The man replied with an ambiguous expression: "He went against our orders. Anyone who defies my first command is of no use to us."
The man continued, thoughtfully: "It seems there are other underlying reasons as well."
"Yes, indeed. When we wanted to destroy the internal freedom of that boy's country, he could have leaked our information to the organization. He was unreliable. That's why I took immediate action."
"A sensible thought. I never trusted him anyway."