𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐗 ⟼ g. satoru

040

THE CURTAINS OPENED to the scenery of a castle. Puppets of a king and a girl with a pretty dress stood in front of the background.

"Once upon a time, there was a king who told his eldest daughter to marry for love. But the princess came from a small kingdom, which had many years ago been the strongest country on the continent! She was embarrassed to be the princess of a small kingdom. She wanted to be the princess of a grand empire!"

The two puppets slid out of view. "The ambitious princess began to form a group of followers who thought the same. Slowly, they drove anyone who didn't think the same out of the castle."

Two new puppets slid into view: the princess with a crown on and a boy with red hair. "Eventually, the king died and the princess became the new queen. She met a poor boy, and she saw an opportunity. His magic was weak. She had strong magic, and he had weak magic, so their children would inherit her strong magic!"

The red-haired boy slid out of view and out slid in two girls with dark hair, one dressed in a glittery dress, the other in a potato sack. Both had red eyes. "So that's what happened. The queen had two daughters. The first one was just as strong as her mother! This fire magic was what kept the royal family on the throne."

"But the second one...didn't inherit any magic. But the second daughter adored her older sister, who was so awesome unlike her. The queen hated her second daughter, and wanted nothing to do with her!"

"The second daughter was beaten all the time, dressed in tatters, and kicked out of the castle many times! Eventually, the second daughter, who wasn't even called 'princess', unlike her older sister, even though it was her right, grew bitter."

"She swore that one day she would get revenge on everyone who treated her horribly. She promised herself that she would become the next queen. She was sure she could convince her sister to give up the throne! It was right! She would make sure no one would be treated horribly again!"

"One day, the older daughter was attacked by demons! And they were too strong for her! She died, with her younger sister watching it all. You guys probably think the younger daughter is going to be the next queen, right?"

The children nodded as a new puppet slid into view. It was a girl with her red hair in a bun. She wore a black jacket, white shirt, black pants, and shoes.

Gojo immediately knew who it was. Kazuya. Even if her hair was different, it was Kazuya.

"But she's not," the man said eerily. "The queen doesn't want her younger daughter to become the next queen. She would turn the whole kingdom upside down and change it so it was unrecognizable. The queen could never allow that!"

"So the second the youngest daughter pays off the debt, the queen is going to send assassins to kill her!" the man said strongly, making the children gasp. "But the youngest daughter is going to be protected!"

"How?!" the children yelled out.

"You see, the youngest daughter has always had me- I mean, a prince by her side," the man said, bringing out another puppet that looked like him. "When the assassins come, I'm going to send my three best warriors to protect her."