The sky was soaked in the crimson light of the setting sun that glared
angrily from the horizon onto the Grand Square of the Imperial City. At the
center of this famed square loomed a guillotine, its crude and rusty blade
dripping red.
The sole Princess of the Tearmoon Empire, Mia Luna Tearmoon, stood
before the deadly instrument and gazed blankly at her surroundings. Voices
assaulted her ears, sharp and relentless. They were full of fury and malice,
attacking and condemning her with words that cut deep into her heart.
"...How? How did it come to this?"
Why, she wondered, did she — Princess of the proud Tearmoon Empire
— have to suffer such a terrible fate?Was it because when she was told there
was no bread, she laughed and said to let them eat meat? Was it because
when her advances had been rebuffed, she'd vented her frustration by
slapping her rival, the daughter of a poor noble? Was it because when she
was brought a
dish that contained ambermoon tomatoes, which are
disgusting, she'd fired the cook on the spot?
She continued to ponder the matter — ostensibly oblivious to the fact that
she'd pretty much answered her own question — as she looked at the masses
of people and the hatred that filled their expressions.
At the front of the crowd was a young man who, with his silver hair and
refined air, cut a striking figure as he gave instructions to the surrounding
soldiers. He was Sion Sol Sunkland, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of
Sunkland. To his side stood a young girl of equal presence. Known as the
Saint of Tearmoon, she was the daughter of a poor noble who ruled a remote
domain near the edge of the empire. With Sion's help, she had started a
revolution to save the people from their suffering. She was Teona Rudolvon,
whose own scorn had once ignited the flames of Mia's hatred... But now,
those flames had sputtered and died, leaving nothing but ashes of emptiness
and resignation
"How... did it come to this..."
The same words trickled weakly from Mia's lips. Soon enough, a soldier
walked up behind her and forced her to her knees. She looked up and saw her
hands being forced against the semi-circles carved into a coarse plank of
wood. Then the top half was slammed down to keep its condemned captive in
place. The crude surface bit into her skin, leaving painful splinters.
"How... did it come to this..."
The third utterance of her question was met with a reply.
"It's for the sake of the empire. Now, be a good princess and die."
She looked up to find the soldier who'd brought her here looking down at
her, his eyes cold and hostile. They were eyes that wished for her death.
Something seized her from the inside. A chill of terror ran up her spine, but it
failed to find her head. The heavy blade of iron had already fallen.
There was a dull thump, and the world began to spin...
A well-used diary, the only personal article she had been allowed, fell to
the ground. Slowly, its tattered pages began to turn the color of the blood-red
sky.
Thus did Mia Luna Tearmoon die.
That was how the dream went.
"Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Mia screamed. It was a scream that was a tad lacking in the refinement
that would befit a princess of the empire.
"M-M-M-My head! My head my head my head my heaaaaaad!"
She frantically patted her own head, checking every angle and surface to
make sure it was all there. And then she checked again. Just to be sure.
I-It's there! I'm fine. I'm all right.
Next, she nervously looked down at her body. The
stiff, ragged cloth that
had covered her was nowhere to be found, instead replaced by a lavish
nightgown made of a fine material that was lovely to touch. It was soft,
comfy, and almost excessively frilly. Her skin, once
marred by scars big and
small, was again smooth and unblemished. She held up her hands. They were
smaller than they'd been in her... dream.
As though they belonged to a child...
Still feeling rather heavy in the head, she slowly got out of bed and
walked in front of the full length mirror. When she peered into it, her blue
eyes went wide with surprise. Her argent hair was neatly trimmed to shoulder
Slowly, ever so slowly, she flipped open the cover to reveal a page soaked
through in something dark and red. It was filled from top to bottom with
bitter scribblings that matched her dream word for word. They described her
long and harrowing experience in vivid detail, from her agony in the dungeon
to her terror of the guillotine.
"Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Mia screamed again. Then, her eyes rolling back, she fainted on the bed
right then and there.