When Miko first heard about the Crown prince of moon kingdom visiting the empire, she never gave it any attention. However, once the news of the falling lana kingdom fell into her ears, it alarmed her consciousness. The idea of world unification had always been seeded deep inside her consciousness. The reason why she never spoke of it was because of the historical foundation of the empires laid down by the will of the god ever since ancient times, so she naturally felt that if she were to ever speak of this idea, it would equal to challenging the foundation of history itself.
Nevertheless, world unification under a single monarch had always been an ideal thought in her mind.
Yesterday, she had heard of the special envoy representing the newly annexed kingdom being the man himself who had conquered the lana empire. So, naturally she had departed for the palace.
There were two reasons.
First, she was curious to see as to what kind of man the person who was striving for world domination was.
As for her second reason, it entirely depended on her first reason.
She had to see the man with her own eyes.
When she reached the palace, she requested an audience with the Crown prince. Of course, she had heard of the rumours. So she was a bit startled when the young man received her with respect.
Right now, he was sitting across the table facing her.
They had been sipping tea calmly as both of them studied each other from head to toe.
Shand never read the entire novel thoroughly. The old woman in front of him was the very same royal lady who had introduced the idea of world unification to the protagonist. She was a major key figure of this world. This he knew. Although he did not knew about this character in depth just by meeting her once he could tell the other was a formidable character. Her persona even reminded him of a certain woman who he had encountered a few times when he was on earth. Both that woman and this woman gave off the same air of uniqueness.
Miko, on the other hand was pleasantly surprised. The young man had a tint of playfulness in his eyes, but they also had a bit of ruthlessness coming from the soul deep within. He held an air of aloofness yet at the same time gave off an air of royalty. The aura she could perceive from this crown prince felt extremely similar to the aura of that lovely young boy. Thinking of Hitomu, her eyes went soft. She had been mourning his loss. Even now she still couldn't accept the fact thay the boy had been killed so unreasonably.
"It is the pleasure of this crown prince to have the chance of meeting Lady Augreal in person." Crown prince Shand spoke in a clear voice breaking th silence first.
Miko looked at him. She put down the cup of tea. "I heard the Cown prince was an incompetent individual. Turns out rumours cannot be trusted. It is a pleasure of this lady to meet prince Shand." She chuckled lightly at the end of her words.
Shand pondered if he should thicken his human mask. He felt this lady might be a bit troublesome to deal with. But after a brief moment he pushed the idea out of his head. If his pretense was to be obvious, this old woman might view him as a snake. So instead of letting the other evaluate him as a snake, he would rather pass off himself as one. In this way, the other will not evaluate him as a man who grow grasses in the open yet cut them in secret.
"May this prince know the reason for this lady's visit?" Making up his mind he decided not to beat around the bush.
"This lady was simply just curious as to what kind of person the man who was aiming for world unification was. It appears the man in question knows quite well what he is doing is against the foundation of our world set by god." She spoke. Then added looking into his eyes. "Rewriting history comes with an outrageous price of blood, war and human lives."
"Nothing in this world has ever been for free. They grow on human actions and manifest on human desires. A deed so big as rewriting history will obviously come with a great price. Nevertheless, once the world will be unified, things will be for the better. Even without it, war and blood are still being spilled , somewhere in some part of this world, even at the moment we are speaking. Just a little bit more, for a stable and peaceful future, in no big deal."
"Sounds like the prince is not a person who fears god. The almighty was the one who had laid the foundation of the world and its laws. Do you not fear defying heaven?" Her eyes held complex emotions. She needed to test this man. As soon as she mentioned God, the expression of the latter changed. Her eyes fluctuated in surprise.
"Hahaha!" Shand laughed at the sudden mention of god, his eyes revealing a ruthless look. He glanced at lady Augreal wearing a thick mask to hide his overwhelming emotions of hatred surging inside his mind. Hiding some of his true self, he decided to show half his true skin.
"God, you say. God."
As an emperor reaper, he had no ounce of faith or whatever belief in god or anything.
"When i was lying on the bed of death for these years, i was very angry at god for trying to kill me. I had barely seen the world, had not achieved anything great. It was difficult to hang onto my lifeless body. And i resisted with every ounce of my strength to fight back the creature called god and the destiny he had paved for me.
During this phase of my consciousness overtaking my body, while i fought to win my life back i suddenly remembered a song that once stung my mind. A song denouncing the existing the god, who had created drifts amongst humans, land and everything in this world that was supposedly a single mass of creation by god himself. The poem was ridiculous and made no sense when i first heard it but......, It made sense and i realised this when i was almost close to dying." These words were coming from his true experience. He had been killed off in a boom blast that was initiated by the person he had been looking for, the purpose of his life. Without having the chance to even meet him and being transported to a lifeless body he was very angry. It was like, something was trying to prevent him from meeting the purpose of his life. So he fought and finally won. Fuck to God and Destiny. Shand had always believed that everything grew on human effort, not on some divine figure.
At this point the intensity of pressure he emitted reduced greatly. He regained his calm and aloof look. The pair of yellow eyes raging with anger were now placid like the soundless sky.
"So this prince made a decision. After i win the fight for my right to live, i vowed to myself that i would surely unify the world under my royal surname, break the binding laws and historical foundation, and let the god know of my victory by engraving my actions into world history while rewriting them at the same time. The flaws the god had created, i would correct them and let him know that what he was incapable of, and that this prince was the one to correct his mistakes. Between a divine force and a physical force enough to move the world, even one without eyes can tell who is greater."
"So that brought you here today?"
"Not entirely." He replied honestly. "There had been something i had been looking for and it just happens to be within the grasp of my reach." As he said this a look of mischief flashed in his eyes.
Miko stared at him. Complicated emotions surged in her heart from deep within, giving rise to an ominous feeling. She stared at Shand with confused eyes. Her evaluation of this man was not bad but her intuition was shouting out to her that this man was dangerous. She believed in her eyes as much as she believed her heart. Frowning, she closed her eyes for a bit.
"It seems the lady is tired. Please feel free to rest." Shand gave her a meaningful glance.
Adding a courtesy smile he added. "Please feel free to visit again."
Miko let out an invisible sigh. It was better for her to leave now and take things into account.
"Well then, please excuse me prince."
He showed her out of the room to give her some face.
Getting into the carriage Miko thought about the things that had happened today. She was leaving for the village. Right after she had excused herself she had gone to meet the Crown prince who was busy courting his lover. From the conversation she had with Satatra she had realised one major change. The prince was way too deep in the waters. To the point that the purpose of his life was to conquer the heart of his bewitching lover. When Miko asked him about his views on world unification he simply brushed it off saying he was not even a bit interested in being the supreme ruler.
"Lady Miko, that man cannot be trusted. He is a bad weed pretending to be green." Satatra had warned her with these words when she mentioned Prince Shand.
Miko pinched her temples. The prince's words worried her a bit.
"This prince has already begin preparations to deal with the snake in our palace. Weeding him out here is the better option for us. Letting Prince Shand to run around is dangerous. The man himself is dangerous."
The carriage began moving. Miko was seated inside feeling even more conflicted.
Late at night a figure sneaked out of the palace. This figure was very light like the wind, melting into the darkness becoming one with it. When the man reached his destination he was welcomed with two other figures.
"Master......crown prince Shand!" A rough voice exclaimed.
Shand walked over to them. Revealing his face under the moonlight. While the two figures stepped forward to receive him at the same time.
One of them had rare pink hair, long and curly. His eyes, nose, lips and face as if it was crafted by the god himself.
While the other was a man with a sturdy body. He looked like some kind of bandit and a criminal.
This man was the very same person who was present with King Satt in that secret room. His face was shaved clean. So it was hard to link his current image with that wild man talking to the king.
If Hitomu were here, he would know the identity of this man.
This man was the small villain that had killed off the orignal soul of Hitomu before he had crossed over.
A/N: I am back. Sorry it took so long. So i finally drew a character sketch for Hitomu.
Also i am drawing an original cover for my story. Here is the sketch. Cover for The Villain's Love Grows For Him.
Once i am done with the coloring i am changing my story cover.😁😁😁