Orion’s Wrath: Rise Of The Demon King
Orion had always been a shadow in the halls of his father's grand estate. The whispers followed him like ghosts—"the bastard," "the mistake," "the son of a maid." Born as the illegitimate child of the Grand Duke and a servant, Orion was nothing more than an unwanted reminder of the Duke's indiscretions. His father rarely looked his way, and when he did, it was with eyes filled with disdain. His seven siblings treated him as less than nothing, their sneers and taunts relentless, each one a reminder of how little his existence was worth to them.
From as far back as he could remember, he was made to feel like an outsider, an inconvenience. His place was in the shadows, where he could neither embarrass nor tarnish the family's reputation. And over time, he began to believe it—that he was a mistake, undeserving of even the smallest kindness or affection.
But then he met her—the princess. The daughter of the Emperor, a vision of grace and beauty who, somehow, had seen him. She had smiled at him, spoken to him as if he were someone of worth. For the first time, Orion felt the warmth of hope bloom in his heart, a fragile belief that he could be loved, that his life could hold some meaning beyond scorn and resentment.
He fell deeply in love with her, a love that felt like salvation. Her kindness lifted him from the dark, made him feel as if he had a place in a world that had always shut him out. He dreamed of a future where he could prove himself worthy, where he could stand at her side as more than the Duke's illegitimate son. She was his light, his reason to endure.
But in the end, that light was a cruel illusion.
The truth shattered him. The princess had never loved him. He was nothing more than a game, a source of amusement, something for her to toy with. All the while, her heart had belonged to another—his elder brother, the Duke's proud heir. She had been laughing at him alongside his family, mocking his love, his dreams.
When they had finally tired of the joke, they cast him aside, discarded like a broken toy. Alone and abandoned, he was left to die, his final moments filled with a bitterness that threatened to consume him. The faces of those he had loved, those he had trusted, swam before him, their laughter echoing in his mind.
As his vision faded, a dark whisper curled through his thoughts, offering a promise of something beyond death. It was a voice cold and ancient, a call from a place drenched in shadows.
Rise, child of betrayal. Embrace the darkness that has always lingered within.
In that final moment, he felt his humanity stripped away, his pain replaced by a power that surged through him. When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer the Duke's son, no longer the foolish boy who had yearned for love.
He was something new, something reborn in wrath and shadows, standing in a world of darkness where he would finally make his own path.
