It has been several days since the elf kingdom Malatas fell into disarray. Talks of a plague have thrown the people into fear. The worst of all it wasn’t a normal disease. Rumors had it that those infected with the disease became violent and attacked indiscriminately everyone they saw. Their eyes also changed to a bright red colour. The symptoms were fever, headache, hearing voice even though nobody was there and vomiting a black substance.

The king has offered a generous amount of treasure and promised the position of the court mage for anyone who could find the cure for this strange disease. If you wondered why the king didn’t ask the royal mage already, it was because there wasn’t one. The last court mage was the sage Theoron who valiantly perished at the hands of the demon lord more than ten years ago, or so the legend said. The old sage was renowned for his wisdom. If he was here perhaps he could have a solution to save the kingdom. Alas the vacant seat he left was too much of a responsibility for anyone to take or even deserved to replace him. And so the position was left empty for years.

Yet that person might not be very far. A young elf woman who spent the last couple decades of her life into researching magic could still be considered as an apprentice as elf usually lived for centuries. However in her case, she compensated her inexperience with her effort and enthusiasm. While being far from powerful like the great Theoron was, Astrea had a vast knowledge pool left behind from her master combined with her unusual curiosity for magical phenomenon. And like every mage at this moment, her goal was to find the cure for this strange epidemic.

Astrea, wearing a dirty witch robe but with feathers almost crow like, unwashed for days and a cone hat, was going through books after books in her sanctuary, a small room filled with dust because of her neglect to clean up her own house. For days she looked at these books but so far there hasn’t been record of any similar disease in the archive. Indeed such a malady would have been registered in history. Did that mean this was intentional and someone was behind all this?

“What am I missing? Perhaps I should change my approach. If it’s a new disease then I won’t find anything here.

Any epidemic must have a source. If I can find the source and study it, I can at least find a way to limit its propagation then find a cure later.”

The young witch took out a mass of documents. They were scrolls containing information gathered by the Adventurer Guild and the King made public to facilitate the research. The people were already in panic. Rather than keeping it as a secret, the King thought it might a better idea to share with everyone the knowledge they had so at least it would appear that they did something. Also who knew people with talents could be right out there but just didn’t have the proper intelligence?

Next Astrea took the map of the elf kingdom and decided to mark all the infected areas along with the date of discovery. With both the time and location, she could trace back to where the epidemic began. And she found it.

The first case started right in the capital Galahad. A day later it spread to the surroundings areas but not all of them at the same time. In fact the closer the areas to the main river, the earlier the date of discovery. Could it be that something was in the water? It would make sense that if the water was contaminated then the disease could spread across the land in such a short time. But there were so much places to cover, where could the source be?

At that moment an idea came up to the apprentice. First of all, the first victim discovered was in the capital. Secondly it travelled by the river to others part of the country. This could only mean one thing: the Sacred Fountain, the source where all rivers in Malatas originated from.

There couldn’t be another explanation. Immediately Astrea packed up her things and travelled to the assumed source of the epidemic. She couldn’t hide her excitement as she ran across the town. Although she realized it was rude to take advantage of other people’s suffering, it was her chance to become the next court mage for the royal family, a position which was unthinkable for someone as young and with a rather lesser background such as her.

And so by herself she arrived at the Sacred Fountain. She did not want to invite others people nor did she tell anyone else because she feared they might steal her well-deserved reward. After all she did find it by herself. Why should she share her hard working result with anyone? It was something from her own personal experience that in face of greed, people could change a lot.

But something was weird the moment she stepped into this place. The Sacred Fountain resided right outside the Capital and was surrounded by a forest protected by the Sentinels, warriors and beasts who dedicated themselves to protect the Fountain. Because it was one of the most important and holy places of the entire kingdom, to make sure that no one could use it for their personal motives, the Goddess of the Elves Elemyr has entrusted this task for a small group of her most loyal followers, the Sentinel Covenant.

Yet so far Astrea has not encountered a single one of them. Normally they would have stopped her by now for trespassing their sanctuary. Something was amiss. The forest was so quiet to the point of being eerie. How come there were no sound of insects or critters? Where have they all gone?

Despite all these anomalies, Astrea continued forward into the temple. Her mind was clouded by the glory ahead, making her blinded to her surroundings: someone was watching her, following her every step.

Opening the stone door into the temple, the witch was stunned by the sight: the interior walls of the temple was covered by a black sludge, moving as if it was alive. Yet despite all this, the water remained pure, or so it seemed.

“Did this black thing cause the water the disease? Whatever the case I must report it to the regime. I could probably fix things with magic or potion but this seems more like a monster, a dangerous one.”

However, as she slowly took a step back, she realized someone was behind her. Two knights in golden armours and a beast with a lion head and a goat head, a serpent for a tail and two wings. The beasts guarding this place were supposed to be majestic and divine creatures, how could such baneful thing be here? And the knights, they had red bright eyes shining even in darkness just like the infected.

“Look I know how it looks but I am here to investigate the source of the plague haunting Malatas on order of the king himself. And I think I found it. Look it’s right….What are you doing? Let me go!”

Before the naïve witch could even resist, the two knights have captured her and dragged her further in the temple. They were bringing her to the Fountain.

Now in front of what she was searching for, the young witch could only fear what was happening to her. The Fountain was supposed to be crystal clear filled with holy water. Yet what was once a sky blue pool of water was now a filthy pool of sludge. If the Fountain was corrupted, how come the water outside remained its colour?

“So it purposely changed back the colour of the water to make it look normal? It is no normal monster if it has that kind of intelligence.” Astrea muttered to herself.

Then suddenly they brought her even closer to the Fountain. At that moment Astrea understood what they were trying to do to her.

“No!!! No No NO!” but no matter how she struggled, she couldn’t fight back.

One of the knights grasped her head and drowned her into the Fountain. She tried to hold her breath as long as she could but it didn’t work. The water surface vibrated heavily as the woman tried to resurface but the knight was too strong for her.

By instinct the woman opened her mouth to grasp some air. However it was all it was waiting for. In an instant the black sludge entered her mouth, almost making her choke on it.

The knights released the woman. There was no need for restraining her any longer. They accomplished what they wanted.

Strangely the witch no longer tried to escape. She calmly stood up, looked around as if she has never seen this place through her eyes. She slowly fixed her cloth before realizing that she actually smelled a bit.

“Does this woman never take a bath? She has such nice figure too….But then she died like the vermin she was. Ho ho ho! Now time to begin the next step. But first I should take a shower and clean up this place!”

* * *

“What? You actually found the source of the plague?” shouted the king.

The next morning, Astrea has already gone to the palace to report her discovery, with some small alterations to the truth.

“Yes, Your Majesty! From my investigation, the plague originated from the Sacred Fountain itself then spread across the country using the canals and rivers. The evidence can be easily seen if we use the map and the intelligence gathered by the Guild.

Yesterday I have visited the Fountain and thanks to the Sentinel’s cooperation, we have found the cause behind this plague.” Astrea took out from the bag she brought with her a moving black sludge. “This is what caused the plague!” she held it high for everyone to see.

The creature made a squishy and squirmy sound as it tried to find a way to escape Astrea’ hands.

“What is that thing?” the king asked.

“It’s a slime but a mutated one. Somehow it managed to bypass all the guardians of the temple and found its way to the Fountain before making it its nest. This thing secretes a toxine which caused the symptoms like what you saw from the victims. While I think it was by chance this thing was in the Fountain, this creature unconsciously caused the plague just by being in the water source of our kingdom.” Proclaimed the witch.

“Poison? But you are holding by hands without using any protective equipment even though it’s poisonous.”

“That’s because I found the cure to this disease Your Majesty. Every poisonous monster has something to counter the poison itself and in this case using the gland of this creature, I have produced an antidote right here!”

Astrea took out a small vial containing a purple substance. She handed it to a retainer to give it to the King. As he held the vial, the King was convinced that this was the cure. Why else would the woman be able to hold the slime like that? But most of all, he was desperate so right now if you had evidence he would believe everything you said. What a gullible man!

“My lords, I think we have found our court mage. Let the kingdom know that from today, Lady Astrea is our saviour and the next Minister of Magic.

Astrea, in place of our people, I thank you for your contribution and name you Baroness Astrea of Malatas, Court Mage of Eregron and Minister of Magic.

Does anyone object?”

Why would anyone object in this situation? They found the cure and the plague could be considered dealt with. And now they gained a capable Court mage to serve the kingdom. Everyone inside the court hall agreed with that statement, all except one.

“Your Majesty, I think that’s a little hasty to decide the next Court mage like that. Certainly young lady Astrea deserves a reward for helping us solving this case but I think she might be too inexperienced for such a heavy responsibility. I propose we make her a noble and considers our options.”

It was the chancellor who spoke. True Astrea was too young to be even considered as a master of magic, not to mention a sage. What the chancellor said was perfectly reasonable. That was if he spoke it without hidden motives.

In fact he was very angry toward Astrea. He had planned to have his daughter, the Priestess of Solana, the sun Faction of the Elves, to find the cure and so to even strengthen his position further in the court. In needed he could just appoint someone else for the position of court mage, someone he could control.

It was that not necessary as the King has already favored Solana for years but the chancellor would take no chance. However now his plan was shattered and an outsider, an unknown factor has joined the game. If somehow this person was to be with the Priestess of Luna, the Moon faction, it could mean a total disaster for him. As a worried father, as an ambitious man but also a member of the Council of Ten of Sanctus, he must eliminate this possibility.

“Options? What options do we have chancellor Finor? She may be young but she found the cure when nobody else did. It already means that she is superior to them in that aspect. I don’t need someone powerful like Theoron was. We have the army for that. Who could? But rather I need someone with wisdom, someone who could assist me in the affairs of our kingdom.

This matter is not up to debate. I have made my mind.”

With that the court was adjourned and the chancellor had no choice but to swallow his defeat.

‘You think you can beat me at this game? Let me show you how a master of strategy plays your little game!’ a voice spoke in the void.

* * *

The news quickly spread across the country along with the new antidote. The common folk hailed the name of their savior “Lady Astrea” in the street to congratulate her new position. Now only did she save the kingdom but also she represented hope for the lowly. She who was of common birth, the low class, has surpassed all obstacles and became the next court mage.

Now in her new position, the woman had everything a person could dream for. Richness, power, everything. Many has sought to meet this new member of the court, to ask for favors, to make acquaintance but most of all to determinate which side she was on. So far she seemed to be on very good terms with elder princess Elena and has been tutoring the young second prince Aldol. However both of these people were not related to any faction. Actually only first prince and heir to the throne Tanor was known for siding with Solana like his father but Astrea hasn’t spoken with him much aside from a few formal greetings.

To put things simple, the court of Malatas has always been a place of power struggle between two religious factions: Solana the Sun faction and Luna the Moon faction. Solana worshipped the Sun while Luna the Moon. Yet both represented the two aspects of the Goddess Elemyr. How could they not get along with each other? But it simplified things for the court mage. She would take advantage of this for her plan.

Astrea remembered a conversation she heard when she was in a different form looking for intelligence.

…..

“Damn that woman! She played us all. I thought I can at least get her on our side but she rejected right in my face. She must have been in cahoots with that moon bitch.” Raged the chancellor

“Calm down father! We don’t know that! So far she has not make any move against us. Perhaps she is still considering her options before taking sides. She is still young after all.” A woman spoke softly. It was the Sun Priestess Eris, daughter of the chancellor. A rather gentle looking woman, unlike her father, at least from appearance alone. In fact she was quite cunning, playing as a kind hearted woman to lure in her followers.

“Options? Even an idiot would know that we are the one in power here! In a few days when prince Tanor will be officially announced as the next heir and our position will be secured. The prince has long listened to my every word. More importantly I need to hasten the plan before reporting back to the council.” Said the chancellor.

“Are you talking about Sanctus? I am not sure if we should associate ourselves with those guys. What do we even gain from that anyway?”

“Shh. How many times have I told you to not speak of that name? You are still young, not seeing the whole picture here. We do not just aim for Malatas. We want to unite the world. But these idiot royalties will never be able to stay in peace. They only know of power and greed. That’s why we as Sanctus must guide them to the righteous path.”

‘So he belongs to Sanctus…Another one to add on my list! You will pay for what you have done to Mother!’ a voice whispered.

…..

‘Solana has all the political power in the court. At this rate it would not be long before the Moon faction perishes. And that’s not what I want right now. Perhaps it’s time to clean up the table!’ thought Astrea.

“Astrea, are you alright?”

The witch was so deep in thoughts she forgot that she was sitting with princess Elena. The princess has invited her here for a tea session.

From an outsider’s point of view, it just looked like two women making small chat. Since day one, Astrea has shown to be share a close friendship with the princess. Perhaps it was due to their age being young adults in this palace where the game of power struggle took place. They might only want to get away from that affair, seeking refuge and consolation together.

Usually when someone approached a member of royalty, it was to ask them for favors, to be in their good grace. But the princess herself was not associated with any faction nor political power. This was due to her being a woman while the elf had a patriarchy system. The only case of a woman in power was when the King died without a son then the Queen would take over until the next heir was chosen. Or when the King only had girls for children then the elder princess would take his place.

But that was not the case here. Not only did the King have two sons, he had already chosen in his mind his next heir. This meant the princess was very far in the lines for the throne. This led to her pitiful life despite being part of the royalties. The people who showed her respect only gave her empty words because she was seen as the King’s daughter or the sister of the future King, not Elena herself.

Nonetheless Elena was not the weak woman everyone thought she was. They said a smile hided away the sadness and spite of a person. What would it be for someone who constantly smiled then?

“Are you thinking about our exchange the other day?” asked Elena.

“Please don’t worry princess! I have sworn my allegiance to you and you alone. To make this plan work however I will need your assistance. But I want to make sure that you are prepared to do what must be done. This is not to be taken lightly…” said Astrea.

“Long have I been considered as a tool for political marriage, something to be given to when the time comes. I won’t sit down idle any longer and watch my brother takes away what is mine. He is an ignorant fool who was just being used by the chancellor to gain more power. And my parents, a load of lies, taking me for an idiot. I despite the whole lot of them.”

“I sure hope you are up to your words princess. In that case I need you to hold onto this.” Astrea handed a small black vial to Elena.

“Is that what I think it is?”

“Just what you ask for princess. A drop will suffice to send ten men to their graves. When the time comes, you know what to do with it. I will assist you with everything I have.” Astrea made a bow toward the princess.

* * *

It was the King’s birthday, just a few weeks after Astrea received her new position as the court mage and minister of magic. Many nobles and lords from across the country have come to celebrate the King but also it was the chance for some to see the court mage in person.

Despite being young, Astrea has proven to be a very capable and resourceful woman for the short time since she became court mage. She has not only received affection from the royal family but also from the people. It was rare to have someone with those qualities.

As soon as the party started, the music, the smiles on everyone’s face, fake or not, could only add to the atmosphere of festivities. Yet it could be seen that only half of the people present really enjoyed it and there was a reason for that.

“Truly this day will be written down in history. Soon our prince will be crown and Solana will be forever in prosperity! Hahaha” One of the nobles laughed.

“Of course it would. Serve those moon elves bastards for opposing us!” said another fat noble.

Poor members of Luna could only swallow their built up anger. They really couldn’t do anything. If they tried to make a scene it would only humiliate them even further. Well all except one member of Luna, the priestess herself. It was strange for the leader of a losing party to be able to remain so pleased this evening, the day when her faction would probably lose their stance forever. Yet her smile and her constantly looking at Astrea seemed to indicate something else.

The ceremony continued with the usual queuing of everyone competing to bring the best gift to the King. But that was not the main event of today. What everyone was waiting for, or at least half of the people here, was for the announcement from the King about his heir. For long Solana has rooted for the first prince Tanor to become King as it would assure Solana’s future. The Luna faction however has not been able to gain favor from anyone of the royal family, could only watch as their hope vanish.

Both of the Priestess were present as a tradition to give their blessings of the King. But everyone knew it was just a formality so no one even paid attention to them.

Gift after gift, none so far has impressed the King. Certainly being the leader of a country, he has seen a lot of present ranging from unusual to luxurious. And now it was chancellor Finor’s turn.

“Your Majesty, to search for this present, my men have traveled across the entire continent to look for it for years. I present to you, the bottle of Bacchus, containing the best wine in the world. Legend has said that it was a bottle that fell from heavens on earth. Therefore I think that alone can justify the value of this item. And I believe such thing is destined to a great King such as you.”

Or so bla bla bla. His words were so sweet even candies could not compare.

“Hum. Really? Then I must taste it to know.” The King turned to his queen and his children sitting next to him. “You should all have a taste. If it’s truly a godly drink, I would rather share it with my family than drink it all alone. Remember my children! Family is the most important thing in life. It doesn’t matter if you are a king or a commoner. At the end of the day everyone seeks a home where they can be their true self. Treat your family well!

I can see that everyone is dying to stop listening to my blabbing. Let me delay you no further. Bring me this wine, Finor!”

“Father let me pour it for you and everyone!” the princess stood up and took the bottle from the hands of the chancellor. But no one suspected a thing. In their eyes, she was the image of a well behaved daughter. This was merely a gesture of a child who wanted to thank their parents for raising them. It must be right?

Yet none would expect what would happen next nor how it would change Malatas forever.

Just before taking the bottle, Elena has soaked her hands with a specific substance. As she touched each glass of wine, she made sure to coat the mouth of the glass with it without anyone noticing.

“Here is yours father!” the girl handed the cup to the king then the queen and her brothers.

“Dear, don’t you think Aldol is a bit young to drink? He is only fifteen.” The Queen expressed her concern for her youngest child. He was the most timid of her children unlike his brother.

“Nonsense. I would say that fifteen is too late to even start drinking. Don’t you agree?” the king laughed out loud toward the audience, making everyone laugh.

“Wow, this is truly delicious! Truly worthy of its title!” applauded the first prince Tanor.

“Are you alright dear?” the Queen spoke to Aldol. He didn’t like it that much judging from his expression.

“It’s a bit bitter for my taste. If you don’t mind, I will drink my own drink.” The young prince took out a bottle containing a red juice. “Grape juice, always my favorite!”

“Hahaha. Look at him! Can’t even drink properly!” The king joked at his son. “But never mind that chancellor. He is just too young to know the value of wine. Truly a wonderful gift!”

“It’s an honor your Majesty! Please enjoy!”

The party continued with the gifting ceremony. People danced around with their hearts content. What a wonderful night!

Now it was time for the main event. The King stood up from his throne and addressed everyone in the room.

“My friends, I thank you for gathering today to celebrate my birthday. I want to use this opportunity to address an important subject to you all. As you have probably known, I am more than three hundred years old now. My bones are screaming each time I go up these stairs.”

The people laughed again. Why not? The king of Malatas has been known for being rather casual in terms of formality and such. Something who was benevolent and loved its people. Although he might be a bit susceptible to flattery.

“EHem. I have had a wonderful life, a beautiful wife and loving children. I don’t think I can ask for more. But like every king there is a time to step down and entrust the kingdom to the next generation. And for me that time has come.

Tonight I present to you, the next heir to the throne of Malatas, princ……”

Suddenly the King felt a sharp pain in his heart. He started sweating and coughed heavily.

“Your Majesty, are you all right?” asked the chancellor.

“I…am fine. I just need to…..ARGHHHH”

The pain intensified. The Queen, seeing her husband in agony, quickly rushed to his side but not even halfway there she too felt a great strain in her heart. But despite being like that, she still tried to crawl toward her beloved husband and so did the king toward his queen. But fate was cruel. They both fell down, making their last breath as blood dripped out from their mouth.

The people, horrified by what they just witnessed. The women screamed as some lords tried to get away fearing for their own lives. But it didn’t just stop there.

“Father…Mother!!!” the to be crown prince Tanor turned blue as he coughed of blood. His eyes, filled with fear as he reached his hand toward his dead parents before falling down the stairs.

“Prince Tanor!!!!” screamed the chancellor Finor. But his scream was overshadowed by an even louder voice.

“Someone helps prince Aldol!”

It was Astrea. The court mage held the young prince in her arms as he too seemed to be on the verge of death, writhing violently.

Following his instinct, the chancellor looked at the last remaining member of the royal family: princess Elena. The girl seemed just fine, although a bit shocked by what just happened to her family. Finor was no fool. Immediately he made the connection of the princess’ behavior when she took the bottle from his hand.

“Guards! Capture the princess! She is the one who poisoned his Majesty!” yelled Finor.

But that didn’t scare Elena a single bit. In term of power, the court mage and the chancellor were of the same rank, right below the royalties. Having Astrea on her side would put her in safety, or so the naïve girl thought.

The court mage remained silent. In fact she seemed to be more preoccupied with the dying prince on the floor than the princess herself.

“The chancellor is right. Capture her! She must still have the poison on her!” yelled Astrea angrily.

Receiving orders from both of the now most influential person in the court, the royal guards immediately seized Elena. The poor girl, confused by Astrea’s actions, realized that she had been deceived to be the scapegoat of this whole charade. But she would accept no such thing. If she went down, she would make sure to take down that witch with her.

Yet nothing came out from her mouth. Not a single word of defense. In fact she couldn’t even control her body. What was happening to her? A voice rang in her head.

“Kill him! Kill him!”

She didn’t even understand what was going on. Why would she follow this strange voice? But in the end she did anyway, without knowing why. Perhaps because of her shining red eyes. However everyone was so shocked to even notice this small yet crucial detail.

Suddenly Elena, as if receiving an incredible boost in strength, managed to throw down the guards and rushed toward the one person responsible for her demise, the chancellor Finor. She quickly grasped the sword from one of the fallen guards and plunged it into the poor chancellor.

The other guards tried to subdue the violent princess but they failed miserably as she slaughtered them all single handedly. And so she continued with the next person she saw: priestess of the Sun Eris.

The girl fell down on her knees, cowering in fear from seeing her father being killed just like that. As the murderous woman raised her sword toward her, someone stood between them and in an instant slashed Elena’s neck open. Someone whom no one would think to be willing to protect Eris: Cynthia the Luna priestess.

Elena, released from her berserk as her eyes became normal again, regained her sanity in the brief moment left of her life. As she felt the warmth leaving her body, she looked toward the ceiling. Tears fell down on her face onto the pool of blood she created. But it was no tears of regret of what she had done. It was tears of pity for her own self, being a tool till the very end, unable to achieve what she always wanted. Not the throne, not the power but something so simple.

‘I just want to be happy!’ the girl thought as she drew her last breath.

* * *

“What an outrageous thing! To think the princess Elena was capable of something like this!” shouted a fat man as he hit the table.

Right now the council of nobles, regrouping the most influential lords of Malatas, was having a meeting about what would happen next to their Empire after such tragic event.

“Calm down milord! Elena is already dealt with. What is important now is to determinate what to do next. In a single night we have lost both the King and the crown prince. Who would lead us now? Even the chancellor has perished under the princess’ hands.” An old elf explained.

“Well under normal circumstance, if there is no heir and the chancellor is not an option, then I suppose it would be the court mage to take control of the kingdom until the rightful heir is chosen.” Another man spoke.

At that moment everyone looked at Astrea who was strangely silent since the beginning. They hoped that she would take control now, not for good reasons of course. Since she was young and not affiliated with any of the faction, if someone could invite her into his favor, it would be a great chance of promotion of even further. And mainly they thought she was young so it would be easier to manipulate. In any case who in their right mind would refuse such an offer?

However her response was not what they expected.

“Milords, I thank you for your trust in me but in my opinion I am too inexperienced to be considered a candidate. Being the court mage chosen by his Majesty was already a great honor for a humble servant like me. Yet I was not able to save him. Everything is my fault!” Astrea suddenly cried, surprising everyone in the room.

“What are you talking about Lady Astrea? You have nothing to do with this.”

“I was supposed to be Elena’s friend. I noticed her strange behavior lately, talking about how she would want to be crown instead of prince Tanor. But I disregarded that as merely jokes. If only I have paid more attention I could have prevented this tragedy from happening. If only I have been a better friend to her, she might not have to resort to this.

Please milords! I can’t live with this sin. You have to execute me for my crimes.”

Such words could make anyone to cry for the poor woman. She must have tormented herself so much for this. Even the lords with hidden motives now felt ashamed of their own conduct, thinking for only themselves while right in front of them such a person existed. She must be a saint in her past life if she was not already one right now. Such were the thoughts of the council.

“Please Lady Astrea! Do not blame yourself for this. What the princess did have nothing to do with you. She shocked all of us. If what you said was right, then we too share the blame in this tragedy. Am I right milords?” an old man talked to the council. Everyone could only nod in agreement.

“See lady Astrea! You are not the only one with this burden. Instead of torturing yourself, we should together find a solution to this problem. That’s what the King would have wanted.”

“You are right. I apologize for my shameful behavior. I couldn’t hold it in me. About this problem I believe we have a much better candidate than myself.”

“Really? Who? Tell us quick!”

“The young prince Aldol!” said Astrea.

“But isn’t he still in critical condition? I know it’s rude toward his Majesty but I am afraid we need to prepare ourselves for the worst.”

“Milords!!! If we as the king’s loyal servants could not put our trust into the prince, then how can we face the king when we see him? Please postpone this matter while we wait for the prince’s recovery. Both lady Eris and lady Cynthia have spent the last few days praying to Elemyr. Now it’s the time to put our faith in the royal bloodline.”

“…Very well! If you say so lady Astrea. I think everyone here agrees with your opinion. Let’s us wait for the prince’s recovery. May the blessing of Elemyr guide him!”

“If you excuse me milords, I need to attend to the Prince’s injuries.” Astrea stood up, bowed to the council and led her way out of the room.

Now Astrea was in the room with the prince Aldol lying unconscious on his bed. If for some reasons he died tonight, then she would be the next leader of Malatas.

“You can wake up now. No one else is around!” said Astrea.

“How is everything Astrea?” the prince slowly opened his eyes.

“Everything is according to plan. Tomorrow you will miraculously recover and be the next king of Malatas. Congratulations your Majesty!” the maiden bowed her head.

“Only thanks to you. I never thought that this day would come this soon. I was scared when you told me to drink the poisoned glass my sister prepared but no one would expect you to give me the antidote right after. I was right: grape juice is definitely my favorite.”

“You seem strangely calm after killing your whole family. I didn’t know you were such a heartless man.”

“I didn’t kill any of them mind you. It was all Elena. And she only did that because you tricked her. Still how did you make her kill Finor anyway?”

“Using what caused the plague in the first place. That thing makes a person violent and kills the first person they see. All I did was to increase the dose a little bit, giving her a boost in her power. And trick is a strong word milord. I merely gave her a chance at the crown. But with such naivety she would not last long. Trust is a dangerous thing.”

“So then I shouldn’t trust you should i?”

“It’s up to you milord.” Grinned the woman.

* * *

“Malatas is now under my control!” a disembodied voice spoke in a dark place.

“Congratulations sister! But such a twisted way to do it. You could have just massacre them all in one go don’t you?” another voice spoke. The formless Sinforma.

“I could but I prefer this. This kind of betrayal, father against son, brother against sister, it gives me a certain thrill, exhilaration. Pitiful creature all of them. Killing each other for a simple chair. Don’t you think it’s funny?”

“In the end they all died didn’t they? To me it’s all the same. Death is after all the end of everything.”

“You don’t understand Sinforma. This is art! But anyway how about you? Doing anything interesting these days?”

“Just the usual killing, recruiting and killing again. It’s quite stressful to control this many at once you know.”

“Be careful of how you do things brother! You might attract their attention. We are not ready to take on the Six by ourselves yet. We are merely the vanguard!”

“Vanguard? Is this another plan of yours?”

“Just wait till you see it. I aim for the most powerful army in the world, no, in history."

"Are you talking about them? The Dark Ones?"

"Yes but they won't listen to me and to release them, I need Father’s help to achieve this. And he is not available right now!”

“Is he still wandering the Void? You should drag him out of there before he gets lost in that place! Among all of us you are the one with the strongest connection to him after all!”

“I don’t think I am the one he wants to see right now. As much as I hate it, the women around him might be able to do this better than I.”

“I see….then what about Kaiser? What has he been up to?”

“I don’t know….Kaiser is different from us two. Unlike we who are the manifestation of Mother’s negative emotions, her spite and her loneliness, Kaiser is created from something very peculiar, the thing that helped Mother survive this long.”

“Courage. The enigmatic thing that helped Mother to keep going. Even in face of death, she embraced it with all her heart. Such thing I could not understand. Perhaps because I have never felt death. But Kaiser, he is relentlless and powerful enough to make his ideas into reality. He is like a straight arrow that doesn't know when to stop. But he has a crucial weakness however." Odium continued.

"Really? Kaiser has a weakness? What is that?"

"He is an idiot!"