Once upon a time, there lived a crown prince and his crowned princess in a thriving kingdom north of the God’s forest. Though there were three princes in their kingdom, it was decided that the eldest would inherit the throne as he was the most suitable candidate as King.

The crown princess was then chosen from the most beautiful and most intelligent ladies of the kingdom fit to lead beside the chosen prince. Since both are beautiful and talented, they would have no trouble in giving birth to a lovely child and soon, they finally did.

However, nobody expected that a tragedy would happen. The child resembled neither the prince nor the princess. Enraged, the prince became suspicious of his princess, so he threw away both the princess and the young prince, making it seem like they both died during labor.

The prince’s suspicions were understandable. The little boy he was waiting for was born with white hair and red eyes, whereas he bore the royalty’s golden blonde hair accompanied with their magnificent sapphire eyes and while the princess, donned a wavy chestnut-colored hair with clear emerald eyes.

Now begs the question: where could the child have inherited his hair as white as an old person's and eyes as red as blood? Thus, even though they were innocent, they were thrown away, in order to save face.

The two were then sent back to the princess’s territory, however the sweet princess, with her weak body from just giving birth, didn’t survive the journey back.

Without the princess by the child’s side, the child was kept secret and treated like rubbish. He was made to live in the mansion’s attic and he wasn’t allowed to leave.

It made the child yearn for the world that he explored before he was born with this fate, but as an unwanted child with disgusting features, the child was imprisoned and although he grew up, he was made to never leave this tiny room.

Though as tragic as life may be, there was always someone who will give pity, a hint of compassion. The princess’s maid promised to raise the child as best as she could, so from time to time, the child could at least eat a proper meal.

The meal was always cold, though she probably had a hard time trying to hide this from the other servants, the cold soup and a chunk of soft bread tasted so good to him compared to just plain hard bread and water.

She would try to come every now and then and when she visits, she would teach him words, letters and things about this country. The child treasured her visits dearly.

He then learned that he was reborn more than 500 years after his previous death as the “Hero” and that his heroic story was told as a tragic but inspiring phenomenon where the unknown pillar of light defeated the darkness that loomed over the horizon.

He knew, but he denied it. He knew that nobody remembered the sacrifices he made. Humans, even the Gods forgot the things he gave up. If so, how else did he receive such fate?

If it is true, then...

Is there any reason for me to be even alive right now?

I woke up to the bright light shining down from behind. Still covered with the warm sheets, long beams of light shone down from the floor up to the walls.

When I turned, I could see the whole wall that was covered with long heavy curtains last night became see-through. The view of the snow outside caught my breath and I stared at the see-through wall with amazement.

“Hey there, good morning.”

My savior entered with a tray on her hand and a sweet smile on her face.

I stared at her as soon as my attention shifted to her. Every time, since last night, my heart feels itchy for some reason.

“...”

I was lost in thought that I forgot to greet her back. I lowered my head feeling disappointed in myself. No, it’s probably because I haven’t spoken to anyone besides Ellie for a long time.

She then sat beside me and pulled a stand under the tray she was holding. The tray now turned into a small table.

“Here, you can’t eat solid foods yet so try to make do with this. Once your tummy’s used to eating well, I’ll make sure to feed you a hearty breakfast.”

She smiled sweetly as she set the small table in front of me and handed me a spoon. She warned not to eat to fast to avoid hurting my stomach.

On the small table, she brought was a steamy white porridge with nuts and berries, a glass of warm milk and on a small bowl, there are jiggly red cubes that have a shining red shadow. It reminds me of the slimes I used to play with.

“Come now, before it gets cold.”

She urged me to eat and just like Ellie, she patted my head as I slurped the porridge in front of me. My heart itched again, is something wrong with me?

“Hm? What’s wrong--? Did you burn yourself??? Does it hurt anywhere?!”

No? What do you mean ‘what’s wrong’?

She panicked and shuffled to look for her handkerchief. When I looked down on the porridge, I saw a drop of liquid falling onto it. Soon, my cheeks felt warm and my eyes stung with tears. After realizing that tears were flowing down from my eyes, I started wailing then I cried and cried.

In the end, I saw my warm delicious porridge go cold. My savior panicked and wrapped me in her arms. The warmer I felt in her arms, the more tears fell, but this time, instead of cursing my fate, I felt very fortunate.

Is this God’s compassion? If so, I’ll take it. Please… please don’t take it away from me…!