The snow in Oakhaven always seemed whiter, as if the purity of the place rejected the stains of the outside world. But this morning, Rainnes Juoi felt something was wrong. The air didn't smell of fresh pine; it smelled faintly of copper—the smell of metal, the smell of war.
Rainnes stood before a cracked mirror in her room, her trembling fingers combing through her long white hair. Around her neck, the wooden Sainticous rosary no longer felt warm; it felt heavy, as if the wooden beads were absorbing her body temperature.
"Rainnes! They are coming!" her mother's voice shrieked from downstairs, filled with a fear she couldn't hide.
Rainnes ran to the window. At the end of the quiet village road, a troop of cavalry in glittering silver armor emerged from the mist. At the very front, a man rode a massive white horse. His dark blue fur cloak billowed, and his blonde hair shone like a crown under the pale morning sun.
It was Prince William de Croul. The Prince of the prophecy from seven years ago.
Ourem Capital, House of Duke Vain.
"He has departed," Anne Marie Vain's voice broke the silence of her study. Before her stood a man dressed as a servant, yet his eyes were sharp and alert—one of her Silent Choir agents.
"Prince William took two hundred holy knights, My Lady. They are moving at full speed toward Oakhaven," the agent reported.
Anne sipped her bitter tea, her eyes fixed on a map of the empire now riddled with red ink marks. "William always loved drama. He doesn't just want to fetch a girl; he wants to create a spectacle. He wants the people to believe he is the hero bringing salvation."
Anne picked up a silver wax seal. "Give instructions to our contacts at the harbor. If Harold replies to my message, we must be ready to transfer the Duke Vain's financial assets to the military accounts in the North overnight. If William gets that girl, the Church will immediately raise the 'Blessing' tax to fund the ritual. We must choke their cash flow before that happens."
"But My Lady," the agent hesitated for a moment. "What if Prince Harold refuses this contract marriage? He is a man of high pride."
Anne smiled thinly, a smile devoid of warmth. "Pride cannot feed starving soldiers, and pride cannot blunt the swords of monsters. Harold is a realist. He knows that in this dying world, an alliance with me is the only way he can remain human."
Oakhaven, Forest's Edge.
William dismounted his horse with graceful movements, every step upon the snow looking like a choreographed dance. The villagers knelt around him, intimidated by this foreign grandeur.
William walked toward the small wooden house of the Juoi family. The door opened, and there stood Rainnes.
For a moment, William's breath caught. That white hair, those deep and clear ruby eyes—she was the perfect embodiment of the Pope's prophecy. In his eyes, Rainnes was no longer a human; she was the golden ticket to the eternal throne.
"Do not fear, Saintess," William's voice was soft, yet there was a cold undertone of possession. He knelt before Rainnes, took her small hand, and kissed the back of it. "I am Prince William de Croul. I have come to take you home, to a place where the light will never fade."
Rainnes looked into William's sky-blue eyes. In them, she saw no salvation. She saw a reflection of herself drowning in a black sea.
"Is this... is this God's will?" Rainnes whispered, her voice trembling.
William smiled, a smile that didn't reach his power-hungry eyes. "This is destiny, Rainnes. A destiny that has been written since the day you were born."
In his cloak pocket, William felt the small vial of 'Holy Blood' the Pope had given him. He felt so strong, so holy. In the distance, deep within the darkness of the forest, thousands of black rats stopped moving, as if saluting their new conductor who had just arrived.