The expensive figurine broke as Elena threw it on the wall.
She gritted her teeth and her entire body was trembling from anger.
'How could he...' She thought while thinking about the white-haired noble who embarrassed her so much right in front of every noble representative.
She did not even get to retort nor respond to any of the young master's accusation.
Elena was called stupid and a pervert.
Two words that made her blood boil and her entire body shake in anger.
'He... He even kissed the prince right in front of me!' She seethed while panicking in her head.
Pier Belmiunde totally changed and she could not get a hold of him. Not even a strand of hair was touchable on the young master.
The firm grip she had on him before completely disappeared like a bubble in the air.
Instead, she was completely obliterated when she tried to hold him again in her palms.
She could not believe what was happening.
The aura, the confidence, the aplomb!
She knew Pier had changed but she was still expecting that the loser she was playing with before was still there.
But no! Any word she tried to say was completely blocked off and instead ricocheted back on her and brought so much damage.
What's worse earlier was that the prince did not even speak a single word and followed the young master outside leaving her alone in front of the sea of audience!
What was happening?
She had been living life in luxury for the past months without any interruptions and she did not care what the young master did. She was the future queen and her place was already secured.
However, she was starting to feel threatened right after what happened earlier.
Asher chose to go after Pier than console her.
It sparked a sign of threat inside her immediately when the prince did not even hesitate to look back at her and completely went outside.
She bit her nails as she paced back and forth.
Elena was trying to think of anything that she could do. Right now, everyone's talking about her and what happened earlier.
It was even more surprising when many nobles sided with Pier and only a few sympathized with her.
It was infuriating.
"Argh!" She screeched while sitting back down on the bed of her assigned chambers in the palace.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
She turned her head towards the door of her room when she heard consecutive knocks on it.
"Who is it?" She asked, masking the irritated voice she just had earlier.
But silence responded to her question.
Standing up, Elena pushed back her messy hair and soothed out her wrinkled dress. She combed her hair for a few times until she looks presentable enough again.
'Who could it be?' She thought while walking up to the door.
"Who is it?" Asking for the second time and still getting no response, Elena thought that the person must have been to shy to respond to her question.
The lady rolled her eyes as she opened the door.
Putting on a smile on her beautiful face, she greeted the person.
However, when she opened the door, no one was there.
"Maybe I was imagining it." She sighed tiredly before closing the door again.
Having all the stress gather from the event earlier must have probably taken a toll on her consciousness.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Elena did not even get to take a few steps away from the door when the knocks resonated again.
This time, she quickly turned her head at the door and her eyes widened.
Her spine shivered and she felt an unpleasant premonition about the knocks.
Not bothering to speak up again, she quickly opened the door.
The servant behind it was about to open her mouth and give her greetings but because Elena opened the door without speaking, she was stunned in her spot.
"M-My lady..." She stuttered while holding a few boxes in her hand.
Elena stared at the lady for a few seconds before popping a question.
"Did you knock on my door earlier?"
Confused, the servant slowly shook her head.
"I did not, my lady. It was my first time knocking on your door." She responded and Elena took a few more seconds of observing her before nodding her head.
"Place them on the drawer beside my bed. Don't carelessly handle them since father would get mad if any of the jewelry gets damaged." She warned and the servant's hold on the heavy box tightened.
"As you wish, my lady."
Elena rubbed her temples.
The first knock must have been truly her imagination.
Once the servant got out of the room, Elena closed the door and she tiredly walked towards her bed.
She needed to think about ways how she could get back at the young master who embarrassed and insulted her at the gathering earlier.
Gritting her teeth with a mixture of frustration, Elena wanted to yell and destroy everything.
"Are you tired, my lady?" Elena screeched when a voice called out to her.
"WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE?!" She asked in a loud voice.
The servant cowered when she started screaming.
"I... I just placed the box of jewelry on your drawer, my lady..." She spoke while terrified. She was scared of the displeased lady.
"What...?" Elena turned her head to look at the drawer and indeed, there was a box of jewelry there.
She then turned her head back to the servant to ask her about what she saw earlier.
"But I thought-"
The servant disappeared and Elena was the only person left in the room.
Shivers started to creep up her spine again.
She hated anything that is scary or unpleasant looking.
"What... what is happening..." She asked while both confused and scared.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Elena froze in her spot when she heard the knocks again.
'No...' She did not want to open the door.
"Lady Elena, it's me." She stared at the door for a full minute when she heard the voice.
'His highness!' Relief washed through her entire body when she heard the crown prince's voice.
She quickly opened the door. She wanted to get out of the room.
"Your highness! Please help me, there's something wrong with my-"
"Huh..." Elena was dumbfounded as she stared at the empty hallway.
There was no crown prince there.
No person.
"But I heard his highness' voice..." She trailed off her and her entire body started trembling.
Tears started to brim in her eyes and fear crept up her sleeves.
Her fear was being triggered and it was making her panic.
'I need to get out of here!' She decided before going back in the room and wearing her winter clothes.
All the while, her hands were shaking and she kept on looking from left to right. She constantly inspected the surroundings too.
Many stories of spirits of the dead were encircling throughout the kingdom and it mostly focused on the palace.
Previous kings were said to haunt the hallways and deceased queens were said to visit ladies who are improper with their conducts and manners.
She was afraid of those and she did not want to be alone for a moment.
Once Elena was done wearing her winter clothes, she quickly turned her head to go towards the door.
However, she stopped and froze in her spot.
A dark entity with a monstrous face was standing right behind her.
Her ear-piercing scream was heard throughout the palace.
---
The crown prince gritted his teeth as he held his sword tighter and defended against the dark entity's sword too.
It had been all too sudden.
He was walking back to his study after confiding with his men and making arrangements for the opening of the Winter Nights Festival.
But suddenly, the dark entity appeared right in front of him and immediately started attacking him.
He was caught off guard.
Clanging noises were heard as the dark and shadow like entity forcefully attacked him with so much power which made Asher stumble a few times.
'Strong!' He clenched his jaws and added more force in his hands.
The golden sword he possessed slightly shook at the pressure the creature was giving him.
Asher did not have any time to ask who or what it was. The moment the dark entity started attacking him brutally, he knew its intention was to kill him.
"Y-You..." The dark entity spoke with its hoarse and weak voice.
"My... master... kill... you..." It continuously spoke and Asher was left confused yet struggling.
He slashed his sword and the dark entity was pushed back in the process.
"Haah..." It had only been a few minutes but Asher was already getting tired.
The entity was too strong.
The last time he felt something like this was...
'Pier's knight...' He thought as he remembered the duel him and Gideon had before.
He was in this state too.
'No... this one's stronger.'
He stood in a defending stance while staring at the dark entity.
"K-Kurkh... fulfil... master... order..." It groaned while swaying back and forth.
It resembled the figure of a human body but its face was that of a monster. There were bits of bones appearing from the entity's thin scalp and the skull on half of its face was also revealed.
What could it have been? Asher was wondering.
The hallway they were fighting at was covered with the remnants of their battle. Dents on the walls, cracks on the floor, everything was about to be destroyed any minute soon.
The prince's jaw clenched again.
He was being attacked by an unknown entity in the vicinity of his own palace.
Red aura started to surround every outline of his body and his eyes started to emit a reddish glow.
He had to kill this invader as soon as possible.
It was the middle of the knight and everyone was probably asleep. The knights guarding the halls all retired to their posts near the entrances and exits so no one was left in the halls.
Feeling his power rise towards numerous times, Asher glared at the dark entity.
"Whoever your master is, he shall be killed for attacking me." He stated and stood on his battle stance.
His sword propped in an attacking manner and he stood his ground.
"Kurkh... kill... master...?" The entity asked and Asher kept silent at it.
"No... master... live... you... die!" It raged and Asher was about to take the opportunity of its distraction. He took a step and all it needed was another one for him to quickly approach the dark entity in a single motion.
However, before he could take the second step, Asher's entire body froze in his spot.
"MY... MASTER... ORDER... KILL... YOU... GAAARGH!" The dark entity screamed and black aura started to surround it.
'No way...' Asher trembled when he realized what it was doing.
The same wavelength, the same feeling, it had the same structure.
'Sword aura?' he asked with wide and surprised eyes.
He was dumbfounded.
The dark entity was using sword aura?
It can't be! Sword aura are only for humans who closely reached the epitome of swordsmanship!
The dark entity's entire magic started to burst out from its body making the surroundings shake.
Asher could not believe what he was seeing.
A dark entity was using sword aura and was releasing it like it was the most proficient in handling such power.
What's even worse was that, as the sword aura was released, anything it touched started to decay and rot.
Even the cemented halls and the tiled floor started to disintegrate in a disgusting manner.
'A dead swordmaster...' For the first time, Asher feared another creature.
It was stronger than him.
It had complete control over its aura.
He was just a novice. A beginner who started manifesting his own sword aura.
However, he had no time to be scared. Asher was hoping someone would contact the priests residing in the palace to exorcise the dead swordmaster.
He cannot leave it alone because it would continue releasing its sword aura and destroy more places if they were to move at another spot.
"ANYONE WHO HEARS THIS, IMMEDIATELY CALL THE PRIESTS OF THE TEMPLE AND LET THEM HEAD ON THE PALACE'S EASTERN HALLWAY!" He spoke at the top of his lungs. His announcement resonated throughout the other places and people started to wake up.
"Kurkh... priests... kill..." The dark entity spoke before it took another step towards Asher.
"I'll just hold you until they arrive." The crown prince glared before he took on his battle stance again.
Good thing was that there were no rooms on the eastern hallway that nobles were residing in. It was simply allotted for his study room.
"Y-Your highness!" A voice called out and Asher turned his head at the source.
There, he saw a person he knew.
"Mage Huxley! Immediately follow my command and call on the priests!" He spoke in urgency and Noah who was in his slumber clothes nodded his head.
The mage turned his head towards the entity that the crown prince was facing.
It emitted a strong decaying magic that even him who was standing from a different side of the palace felt its putrid magic.
But instead of Asher doing the first move to attack, the dark entity took the opportunity in using his distraction with Noah to attack him instead.
Clang!
Their swords collided and Asher was barely able to defend himself.
'Ugh!' He groaned as the now stronger pressure was felt by his body.
"MASTER... TOLD... KILL... PRINCE!" It screamed and did another set of attacks while Asher defended.
Each and every single time the dark entity struck him, Asher felt a huge portion of his own sword aura being consumed.
It was so strong that he needed to use so much sword aura to mitigate the damage lower.
"MASTER!" Slash!
"ORDERED!" Slash!
"KILL!" Slash!
"YOU!" Slash!
The attacks were too ferocious.
Asher was being shown with the power of a complete swordmaster and it was making him frightened of it.
Even after death, the swordmaster still had its overwhelming aura that he could not rival at any aspect.
A minute passed and Asher was at the last drop of his sword aura.
Once it disappears, he would no longer have the capacity to defend himself from the dead swordmaster.
"Fuck!" He cursed as he backed off.
"YOU... DIE! GAAARGH!" The dark entity spoke before focusing all of its sword aura in its sword.
Asher's body shivered at the sight. The dark sword aura was emitting an ominous feeling.
Using also the last drop of remaining sword aura, Asher focused it on his sword.
Who would have known he would be faced off with a dead swordmaster at such an unexpected time and place?
He gritted his teeth for the last time and pointed the sword at the dark entity.
"Either you die or I will, that's it." He spoke before taking a step.
"Die again and this time, you shall never rise." Asher spoke before he took another step.
Instantly, he disappeared from his spot and reappeared right behind the dead swordmaster.
Immediately, the prince stabbed his sword on the dark entity's chest.
But it did not seem to work as the dead swordmaster rotated its head towards his direction with a laughing expression.
It raised its sword in the air and Asher saw his life flash before him.
"THE BLESSING OF THE SUN SHALL DEVOUR THOSE WHO ROSE EVEN AFTER DEATH!"
White magic filled the entire hallway as the priests arrived on the scenario.
The entire bright light filled the hallway and lit up the dark surroundings and Asher who froze in his spot saw the dark entity struggle against the priest's magic.
"Master... I... fail..." It spoke before black smoke started to arise from its feet and it fully engulfed the dead swordmaster before the entity disappeared.
Asher was left catching his breath when the priest's holy magic dissipated.
"YOUR HIGHNESS!"
---
Ciaran caressed the young master's soft white locks as he leaned on the prince's chest.
A second right after, black smoke started to arise right beside the bed where the two were laying.
A dark entity holding a sword appeared and it was shaking after receiving a considerable amount of holy magic.
It groaned as it kneeled beside the prince without making a sound.
"I... fail... master..." It spoke while bowing its head.
Ciaran's eyes glowed red as he glanced at his shadow.
"You did well. You still completed my purpose." He responded in a low voice not to wake Pier up.
The dark entity nodded its head before staring at the other person that was beside its master.
"He's your other liege, greet him." Ciaran ordered and the dead swordmaster bowed its head again.
"My... liege... I greet..." It spoke in incomplete but comprehensible sentences.
"You can go back now." Black smoke rose from the entity's feet until it was fully engulfed and disappeared in the wind.
Ciaran had a sinister smile as he stared out the dark window of Pier's room and went back to gaze at Pier after a few moments.
He caressed the young master's porcelain skin and rubbed his finger on Pier's cheeks making him groan slightly in his sleep.
"They should know that I can destroy everything if I wanted to, Pier."