The letter in my hand felt heavier than any blade I'd ever lifted.
And yet it weighed nothing.
Only ink.
Only words.
But it crushed something inside me that no monster ever could.
---
> "Seraphina Silva… gravely poisoned by a Cockatrice…"
> "...condition critical… divine intervention required…"
---
The words bled through my eyes and echoed down into my chest.
I didn't cry.
I didn't scream.
I simply… collapsed.
My knees hit the stone of the castle courtyard.
I barely felt it.
All I could feel was the world twisting into a hollow shape.
---
My Heart Turned to Ash
> Is this what it means to lose?
Not a war.
But someone who fought beside me.
Someone who smiled behind a scowl.
Someone who trained until her palms bled just to keep up.
Someone who leapt in front of death for someone else.
---
And I wasn't there to stop it.
I wasn't there to protect her.
I wasn't there to say goodbye.
---
The world around me faded.
The murmurs.
The footsteps.
Even the sunlight dimmed.
All that remained was the storm in my chest.
Grief.
Rage.
Madness.
They wrapped around my soul like chains — pulling tighter, hotter, deeper.
---
The Troops Break
Around us, the knights and soldiers had heard the whispers.
> "What happened?"
"Is the evacuation safe?"
"Did something go wrong…?"
My father stood before them, shoulders heavy beneath his cloak.
He did not hide the truth.
He never did.
> "The convoy was attacked," he said, voice deep and broken.
"We lost many. Some still fight to survive. And some…"
He paused.
> "…may not make it."
The crowd fell silent.
Hope—once a candle in the darkness—shrank to a trembling spark.
Some of the knights sank to their knees.
Others gripped their weapons tighter, jaw clenched in helpless fury.
---
> "They were supposed to be safe," someone whispered.
> "We let them go… to escape the war," said another.
> "And now—"
> "Now it follows us wherever we run."
---
The very air of the capital weighed heavier that day.
We had survived a battlefield.
But hope… was dying.
---
And I Still Couldn't Breathe
My fists clenched on the stone floor.
My body trembled from more than pain.
> "Seraphina…"
I whispered her name like a prayer—
Not to the gods.
To myself.
So I wouldn't forget.
Not now.
Not ever.
---
My breath—
It felt like iron scraping through my throat.
I couldn't feel my legs.
My vision shook.
Not from pain.
Not from blood loss.
But from something worse.
Something no healer could soothe.
---
> "Seraphina…"
Her name echoed again in my heart like shattered glass grinding into bone.
I pressed the letter to my chest.
As if holding it tighter would make it lie.
But the ink didn't fade.
The truth didn't change.
She was hurt.
Poisoned.
Because she chose to protect someone.
Because I wasn't there.
---
Grief into Fire
I gritted my teeth.
A breath… caught.
Another…
Then it happened.
---
> "AAAAARRRGHHHHHHH!!!"
My scream tore through the night air like a blade through silence.
A sound born of rage.
Of helplessness.
Of shattered promises.
Of drowning in guilt so deep it felt like I would never breathe again.
My fists slammed into the stone.
Again.
And again.
Until my knuckles bled, and still I kept going.
Because pain couldn't hurt more than this.
---
All around me, soldiers turned.
Their eyes wide.
Shaken.
They saw a prince on his knees—broken.
They saw a boy.
But they also saw something else—
A fire in my eyes.
A storm rising in my chest.
---
> "She believed in me…"
> "She trusted me…"
> "And I wasn't there to protect her."
> "I've trained every day, in shadows, in secret, for a moment like this—AND I WASN'T THERE!"
---
I wanted to run.
I wanted to burn the forest down.
I wanted to cut through the monsters and drag the poison from her veins myself.
But above all—
I wanted to protect what she fought for.
This kingdom.
These people.
This home.
---
Doubt Spreads Like a Plague
Meanwhile, at the edge of the courtyard—
Whispers.
Doubt.
> "What if the Drake returns?"
"Do we even stand a chance?"
"Should we… should we surrender?"
The words made me want to scream again.
To shake them.
To beg them to remember.
---
But then—
The one voice I never expected rose through the night air.
My father.
---
The King's Words
He stood tall upon the battlements.
Cloak fluttering in the wind.
Eyes shadowed by firelight.
He looked like a statue carved by the gods.
And when he spoke—
It wasn't loud.
But every man and woman heard him.
> "Alein."
I looked up.
He didn't smile.
He didn't frown.
He simply met my gaze with the full weight of a king—and a father.
> "This world will try to break you a thousand times over."
"And every time it does, it will ask you to kneel."
"But the measure of a prince…"
"Is what he chooses when his heart is in pieces."
---
> "Will you kneel?"
"Or will you rise?"
---
The silence that followed was heavier than steel.
He turned to the gathered troops.
> "You all heard it. The Drake gave us a choice. Fight. Flee. Or die."
> "I won't force any of you to stand with me."
> "But if you do…" his voice lowered, but burned hotter,
"If you do… then do so not as survivors—"
> "But as those who would burn down the end of the world itself just to protect one another."
---
Something ignited in me.
Not sadness.
Not grief.
Resolve.
I stood.
Covered in blood.
Eyes burning.
Hands trembling.
But I stood.
And I raised my sword.
---
> "This place is home."
"And no one—Drake, demon, or death—will take it from us."
"Not while I still draw breath."
---
Around me—torches lifted.
Weapons rose.
Voices shouted.
> "Long live Airillesta!"
> "We fight!"
> "We stand with the prince!"
---
The fire inside me no longer burned me.
It fueled me.
---
I would not kneel.
I would not run.
Because she didn't.
Because I promised I'd return.
And to do that—
I had to survive.
And win.
Let the god see how angry i am in the battlefield just to make on this point.
---
Chapter 10 end.