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.