Eric dragged himself to the cabinet beside his bed, his steps unsteady. He searched the cabinet's drawer to find a wooden box filled with little pouches of his pills..
His shaky hands fumbled with the pill. He poured a glass of water and swallowed it down. He leaned against the cabinet, waiting for the pill to dull the storm inside him.
"That was a close call. I need to make sure it never repeats," he whispered to himself.
He staggered across his room, each step echoing through the cold stone floor. He reached the carved archway that led to the bathing chamber - an extension of his quarter, yet it felt so far in the world.
Inside, the bath was a shallow pool of obsidian stone, fed by a gentle stream of water heated by the enchanted stones.
Eric stepped forward, unfastening his coat with trembling fingers. He stopped in front of a full-length mirror carved in the stone wall.
Bit by bit, his body revealed. Not perfection, but the imperfection he desperately hides. His gaze ran over his now bared torso.
His chest, once meant to be as unblemished as his face, was instead a canvas of a curse. The hideous black scar from his upper chest down to his midriff, like a crack in his torso.
He ran his palm over the scar. A painful reminder that pushes him back to his nightmare. Eric Leonardo, a golden prince blessed by a dragon, was born to rule the golden land.
Yet, tragedy struck. Before he could even learn how to use his blessing, a curse took over him when he was barely five. Beginning of his misery.
A mark he could never show, a truth he could never slip. To survive, he must endure. The shame, the pain, the neglect - everything.
"If only I hadn't been like this, everything would've been fine today," he mumbled with grief.
Eric tore his gaze away from the mirror in disgust. He strode to the pool of water and lowered himself into the warm sensation.
He wished he had nothing more to do today, or he didn't need to face Nashia again. But duty called, the celebration was far from over.
He lay his head back on the edge as he soaked for a few more minutes, until he rose back up to get ready for the rest of the evening.
He rang the bell once he had gotten primarily dressed. He needs to get ready for the evening's festivities, determined not to ruin their reputation.
The valets scurried into his chamber. He stood firm, letting the valets assist him in changing into another fine attire. His mind focused on putting on a brave and confident face for the remaining festival night.
He couldn't shake off the feeling that he was walking into a storm without an umbrella. His ocean eyes looked like a blank ocean where no life was to be found. A mixture of uncertainty.
Meanwhile, on Nashia's side. After the door slammed shut behind her, she found herself lost in emotions without a way out.
Her chamber turned into a stormy sea of emotions. The room echoed in her ear with furious whispers and tremors of the past.
She paced back and forth as she navigated through her memories. Her crimson eyes blazed with a fire that seemed to consume her very soul.
As she stormed around the room, her mind reeled back to that one unfortunate day 15 years ago. That year, her younger sister had been brutally murdered by humans.
Nashia's memories were still vivid in her mind, a scar left in her soul. The loss of her younger sister, her only family. It left Nashia in an abyss of darkness.
She had spent years nursing that wound in that abyss of darkness. A deep hatred for humans. As she stopped pacing and her eyes stopped at the mirror, Nashia's eyes seemed to bore into her own reflection.
Searching for the answer to a question she had avoided from the beginning of her marriage. Why? Why did she care about Eric at all? Why did she feel compelled not to hurt him?
When torturing him, her only intention all along? Why does his scent annoy yet please so much? It was illogical, yet undeniable.
Was it his innocence? His reserved personality? Or was it simply me not being able to punish him for someone else's crime? Yet I can't forget that his father is the cause of my suffering.
"I'm a mess. How do I avenge you? I'm a complete mess without you. Why did you leave me, Novia?"
She muttered to herself as she stepped toward the dark corner of her room. A big portrait hung on the wall, fully covered with a curtain.
As Nashia pulled the curtain down, it revealed a big portrait of her deceased family. A few drops of tears rolled down her cheeks as she gazed at the happy family portrait.
Her mother was sitting in the chair while cradling little Novia in her lap. Her father stood tall behind her mother while young Nashia stood beside him with a smile.
Nashia's palm grazed the surface of the picture. Her gaze focused on Novia. She had long accepted the death of her parents, but she. Her little sister. A death she still couldn't accept.
She still remembers that day completely when Novia was born, even though it was 270 years ago.
"Huff! Huff!. Mother!"
Nashia called out to her mother as she burst into her parents' master chamber. Her body was dampened with sweat as she ran all the way there after she heard the news while sword-practicing.
"Hia. My darling. Come here."
Her mother, Noelle Grace, called her toward her as she leaned on the headboard of her bed. Her gorgeous white hair was tied in a thick braid as she stared with her crimson eyes.
As Nashia approached her mother, she saw a little creature whimpering in her father's big arms as he was sitting beside her mother. She stared at that little creature curiously.
A tiny, yet so lively creature. Her little sister. Novia. Novia Rosario.