He is just a human boy in isolated in the world of gods, dragons, angels, and devil. But as his world shattered that night, a single resolve is born from the ashes and blood. Guiding him into the path of grief, darkness, and loneliness.
" I s...
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On the northern outskirts of Maramureș, a region that serves as a border between Romania and Ukraine, there stood a fairly small orphanage on a mountainside. The building was very old, its crumbling structure making it seem as though it might collapse at any moment. Not far from the orphanage stood a small, aging chapel. Aside from that, there were hardly any houses, let alone a village anywhere nearby.
It was a very isolated place, a sharp contrast to Maramureș's reputation as a fairly popular tourist destination in Romania.
Klank. Klank.
The sound of a metal bell clanking broke the peaceful silence surrounding the orphanage as the sun rose in the east.
"Guys, wake up. It's already past six. It's time for morning prayers. Sister will scold us if you don't wake up soon."
The voice belonged to a teenage girl, around fifteen years old. She had a typical Eastern European appearance, with beautiful brunette hair tied neatly in place.
She said this as she opened the door to a room containing seven people, all of them still sleeping comfortably despite lying on nothing more than thin sheets of fabric. The sheets were too flimsy to even be called beds, yet it was as if the coldness of the floor did not bother them in the slightest.
"Five more minutesssss..." muttered a seven-year-old boy, half-conscious, drooling all over the sheet.
"Dracula is cute," came the voice of a little girl on the other side of the room, speaking in her sleep.
"Ghhhkkkk... ghkkkk..." An ugly snore came from a chubby boy around ten years old, sleeping with his arms spread out as if he were being crucified, a rather strange sleeping position.
Hearing their responses and seeing that no one even bothered to wake up after the irritating clanking of the bell in her hand, she clenched her fist in frustration.
"Y-you guys..."
Her gaze then shifted to a boy sleeping in the corner of the room, facing the wall.
"And you, Jay. As the oldest among them, you should be setting a good example for your siblings. You should be the one waking up first and leading them to morning prayers," she said.
The boy named Jay then turned around, as if he had not been sleeping at all and had simply chosen to ignore her.
"I wasn't even sleeping though," he said, looking at her with deep black eyes and noticeable dark circles beneath them.
"You didn't sleep all night again, even though Sister already scolded you a few days ago?" The girl, whose name was Elena, let out a sigh of disbelief.
"Well, the book Sister gave me yesterday was really good. I couldn't help reading it all night. So technically, it's her fault, right?" Jay replied as he yawned, closing the book in his hand before standing up and walking toward Elena, only to snatch the bell from her hand.
