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"What is life?"
When you feel happiness or sorrow, you reach the peak of life.
But too much happiness makes life lose its flavor,
and too much sorrow kills a person, leaving a body without a soul.
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People were gathered, whispering strange words, and at the center of the place, flames were devouring something.
"I wonder what's happening there…"
Adrian approached with hesitant steps, only to see a girl standing amid the fire, looking at him and smiling.
"Who is this girl? And why is she smiling at me? I can't make out her features… but she's trying to say something—"
And just before the flames consumed her entirely, she spoke in a faint yet clear voice:
"Goodbye… Adrian."
Adrian awoke in terror, gasping violently from the shock of the dream he had seen.
He looked around to realize he was in a strange place—cold and dark.
He tried to move, but found himself tied to an old wooden chair.
From afar, footsteps approached slowly, accompanied by the echo of sharp words:
"So you've finally woken up… you little demon."
A biting tone split the silence.
She stared at him with eyes burning with hatred.
"Ugh… you and your filthy sister have annoyed me enough."
Fury ignited in Adrian's eyes.
"Shut up! No one's more annoying than you! If only you weren't—"
A violent slap cut his words short, knocking him to the ground.
A drop of blood slid from the corner of his mouth.
"How dare you speak to me that way, you scum?" she said with deadly coldness.
Then she approached him step by step, leaning down to whisper with a crooked smile:
"When you're ignorant of the truth about what happened to your sister, you have no right to act arrogant."
Adrian lifted his gaze with difficulty.
"The truth? Isn't it obvious? You're the one who orchestrated all of this!"
The empress let out a sharp, mocking laugh.
"Hahaha… you little demon, you give me too much credit. Why would I bother doing it myself?"
She lifted his chin with her long fingers and continued in a cryptic tone:
"I pity you because you don't know… that your father is the one who killed her."
Adrian froze for a moment.
"I know he ordered her execution, but who framed her? It was definitely you!"
The empress smiled with malice and boredom intertwined.
"Me? Maybe… or maybe not. In any case, I'm going to kill you shortly, so why would I lie? Believe whatever you want."
She raised her hand with lethargic cruelty and ordered:
"Take him where he belongs."
A man cloaked in black emerged from the shadows, untied Adrian from the chair, then bound him tightly again.
He gagged him with a rough cloth and threw a black sack over his head before lifting him onto his shoulder.
He carried him away into the unknown, while the empress's laughter filled the place—long… suffocating… and terrifying.
---
After a long distance of walking through the forest, the killer arrived at a desolate place, surrounded by dead trees and suffocating air.
That place was the boundary between the world of humans and the realms of beasts and demons.
He threw Adrian harshly onto the ground and pulled the covering off his head.
"Her Majesty told me to relay something to you…"
He stepped closer, his voice cold as stone.
"Since you resemble demons, perhaps they'll accept you there."
Then he turned and left, abandoning Adrian alone—bound, helpless, unable even to scream.
Adrian tried with all his strength to get up, but a serpent-like monster dragged him violently into the darkness. He struck it with his head repeatedly in an attempt to escape, but he was far too weak, lacking the magic that could protect him.
Another creature appeared—massive and deformed, like an ogre.
Its claws rushed toward Adrian's body, tearing through his skin as the sound of breaking bones and rising screams echoed through the forest.
Adrian screamed, but his voice was strangled as his throat ripped.
Blood poured from his body, spraying with every attack.
His arms were torn off by the serpent, while his legs were ripped away by the ogre's jaws.
Every part of him became prey for the monsters.
"Why did everything turn out like this? We only wanted to live happily…" Adrian muttered in inner sorrow.
"Diana… she was the purest person in the world. How could she suddenly be painted as a criminal? And why does everyone believe these lies?"
The pain devouring his body was beyond what any human could endure.
He lost his sense of balance, his eyes drifting shut as he collapsed, drenched in blood.
"If I hadn't been born like this… would things have been different? Would Father have accepted me and protected Diana?"
He continued with bitter mockery,
"I'm cursed… I shouldn't have been born at all… If only I had died instead of my mother, maybe Diana could have lived in peace."
His heartbeat slowed—
That heart, which once pulsed with love for his sister and the hope to survive, began to stop.
"I'm sorry… Diana, for being your brother… Forgive me."
Amid the chaos, one thing remained untouched:
The necklace Diana had given him.
It hung from his chest—clean, untouched by monsters—
as though it were his final link to the world he once knew.
A final scream, heard by no one but himself, tore from his chest—
a cry of pain, rage, and despair that filled the air.
Then everything fell into dreadful silence.
All that remained was a torn body
and a single necklace witnessing that the "little demon"
had once been human.
---
At that same moment, the palace was strangely quiet, as if happiness itself had decided to depart.
The emperor sat in his office, staring into emptiness, surrounded by walls devoid of life—walls that seemed to weep silently for those who dwelled within them.
A soft knock sounded at the door before Counselor Aileron entered, bowing in formal greeting:
"Glory to the empire, Your Majesty. I have brought what you requested."
The emperor rose slowly and walked toward the window, gazing at the garden drowned in shadows.
"Very well… tomorrow I will inform Adrian of the matter."
Aileron spoke, his expression mixing respect with sorrow:
"It seems Your Majesty is still suffering from sleeplessness… ever since that day."
The emperor turned his face toward him, his eyes drifting between exhaustion and coldness.
"Counselor… do you think I was wrong?"
Aileron hesitated for a moment, then answered quietly:
"I do not dare say so, Your Majesty… but if I may, I would say you let go of the flower… and held onto the thorns."
The emperor let out a short laugh, empty of joy, tinged with sorrowful mockery:
"Hahaha… you're right."
Silence settled after his words, as if even the air paused in respect for their weight.
Then he whispered, lifting his gaze to the sky beyond the glass:
"The moon is blood-red tonight… unusual. Perhaps we shall witness something soon."
But before his sentence could fully fade, harsh pounding shook the door.
A guard burst inside, breathless and frantic:
"Your Majesty! Urgent news… Prince Adrian has disappeared!"
Silence filled the hall.
The thunder outside was the only reply.
The stillness that had settled over the palace
was not peace…
but the warning of a coming storm.