CHAPTER ONE

The power of truthfulness doesn’t come up easily to wreck vision of every individual who decided to cover themselves with a mask that no one could even familiarize and trace its own origin. And here’s the world of a dark mysterious land that means to only pursue vengeance after all the terrible encounter occurred right after betrayal comes in their way. Versailles coped itself to pave the way towards the most intimidating norm that everyone should’ve discipline themselves in order to continue to breathe with a peaceful dwelling place.

And this woman who just walks in the huge door of dining hall of palace with a bun and crown upon her head was slowly sitting on Lavelle-like armchair. She took a glimpse to a child who’s wearing Marie-Chantal’s dress wear. The dining hall was usually quite and only the sunrays of the sun couldn’t let in to put a light amidst the heavy atmosphere beyond royal family.

The queen spoked while sipping on her red wine. While staring to the princess, she motion her hand gesture beside her. “Why don’t you sit beside me, young lady? Don’t you think you’re being too distant from your mother?”

There’s a doubt running through her head as she was trying to make a decision. The war, it was the big trauma for the princess after witnessing how impactful the chaos were. It’s quite hard to consider for this young lady to accept the Queen after those bloody night occurred in front of their living room.

The man who seems a person that experienced imprisonment was trembling as he’s trying to reach the knife after it was thrown by the King of Versailles while they’re doing banquet in their palace. The man utter in stammering voice, “Why are you cutting us off our rights to live a life without any of conditions, Your Highness?”

It was yet to perfectness, but this old man lives in poverty, thus he wanted to guard his own dignity over the foolishness that this King might thing was correct. King of Versailles named Elandro Clus took a big decision and to make it happen urgently in order to keep the promises he had made to one of the ghost-witch—to let his child to be alive till they’re be gone in throne.

“What are these chaos about? You ruined my important event for my daughter!” Elandro exclaimed while he’s looking behind and make a hand gestures showing the people watching them by the caused trouble.

The man was almost crying when he’s forcing himself to make the conversation to undo the friction between them. But the words of the king humiliates him as he announced, “This man standing right in front of you was betraying his King due to his own personal interest. Have you seen this one around you all? Beware, he might pushes you all to the edge and make you more so overwhelmed in embarrassment.” King Elandro properly fixed his garment and stood straight with his eyes secretly glaring to the man while the crowd was laughing boisterously.

The man couldn’t help but to attack the King because of his arrogance. He get the knife down the tiled floor and secretly stab him on his waist as the King was pretty chitchatting with the Queen beside him. King Elandro groan from the pain, he strongly pushed the man and lift up the knife when it almost deepen to his skin. The blood continuously flow while making an act to do the same—hitting the man too and getting his own hands to choke him till he’s out of breath.

“You deserve to starve out and rid in my land! You’re pointless right now for bringing that selfishness of yourself in order to protect and survive yours,” said the King not allowing the people to help him out of this bloody fight. “What I tell you was done and done.” Elandro’s thumb deepen on the man’s neck where his veins are tightening already and couldn’t resist already the clogging of passageway.

The facial expressions of the King suddenly change when he clearly heard the man voice uttering the words saying, “You really didn’t learn yet. You shall burnt that or rather burned yourself down to end this cruelty you’re doing to us!”

It seems that there’s nothing wrong happened while in between the catastrophic scenario. That makes King Elandro to hardly punish the man that interrupts his majestic persona. “Who are you?” He asked, almost triggered about what he had observed. He feels his hand seems not touching him at all and it was only his own strength that he’d deny for losing all the power to defeat this man, as he had it all.

“Are you going to stay like this as you actually never liked?” He teasingly asked with his face already grinning, that he could find the King amusing. King Elandro, the man with peace, humility, and risk-taker personality gone to become a crisis one with a secrets untold in order to make his reputation remain clean after committing a lot of sacrifices for his daughter who suffers a 50-50 lifeline.

“What do you actually know about me? You just knew me by name. But never the authority I get to take a pace for discipline. I am the King of Versailles, not to mean as dictator but born to rule this with all of my strategies and effort to remain an ordinance of my Royalty,” he blurts out while getting off from the top of him and tried to stop the wound on his body that he almost forgot.

“Well then, your arrogance couldn’t make you stronger enough. So do I,” said the man who get all well and never been marked with any signs of bruise. “You deserve it.” And that makes King Elandro to fell on the floor after making a last glance to the man. His mouth was in a pure bubbles, seems he had sipped poisonous drink that already leads him into fatality.

The daughter of King Elandro couldn’t try to picture her father getting unjust death and exactly on her fifth birthday. The memory was vivid and couldn’t get erase in her mind as she never laid an eyes to an executed person. She couldn’t believe the world lf monarchy, the lifestyle, personality, and power aren’t enough to get you powerful enough leading the people who only wanted to get some hospitality at the very crisis.

“Are you still afraid to become part of this Royal family? You’re powerful, honey. They are the one who must’ve fear and respect you at all times,” said the Queen, Leandra Clus, who was keeping herself calm after three years death of her husband. She also feared the safety for her daughter, since she wasn’t that under self-defense, but only getting the nod and sitting on her throne with full of Majesty. She also tried to comfort herself with those aforementioned words that isn’t effective to bring her royal blood forth.

Her daughter merely glance at her with a sadden look. She truly wanted to speak her opinions even at her very young age. But little did they know, she made to open her visions widely, philosophically understanding the world of people, historically examining the differences and similarities occurred long time ago and till now. Her perspectives no longer equipped to be spilled but to be keep inside her head for this time.

If she could’ve take over the throne and will rule the world. She wanted to alter all the filthy pavement of Royal families milestone after decades passing by. She took a sip on her juice beside her plate and formally address the reply about it, “I will, Mother. I will going to bear that in my mind. People aren’t just desperate, but also pretentious as well.”

“Great, honey. You have to keep your head high. We live in Royal family, and we have to handle it in any way,” said to her after plastering a fake smile after all the consequences obtained in the castle.

The princess get inside her room and picked the book that she had stole from her father’s study table. There are listed names of royal family that ruled the other towns and making a secret way of pursuing abundancy of their royalty. The nightfall ritual.

She tried reading a few phrases of ritual that was written in an odd letters. The book suddenly flipped to next page after a key words was mentioned by the princess. The page contains the feature of skull that are kept inside the cube. Surrounding it was red blood that are obviously made to stab the cheeks and widely opening it to get an access for the blood flow out and drained the head.

“What’s with the blood?” She examined the picture after asking her self in reaction about how the picture couldn’t make sense to get Royal’s abundancy by just forming creepy ritual. After she turned to next page, she realized how that ritual really was getting an exchange of advantages be valid. She heard echoing voices inside her head shouting for help and screaming in pain.

The book fell on the floor while she couldn’t manage to rid off the blatant voices coming repeatedly inside her head. There it was a sudden flickering of her lampshade with her shivering body that only knows nothing after reappearing the execution to her father in her mind. It was unbearable that she absolutely lose all the power to get up, but then she tried to fit in and listen with unequal complaints of people that are mostly told to be living a poorest state.

The princess put her hands above her head while slowly processing all the hatred of each of them. Moaning in pain, as it continuously throbbing. She was getting dizzy and unable to make a step away from the book as it was expectedly consuming all her energy till her soul finally get in the mysterious book.

There’s a thrice of knock on the princess’ door. She tried to get up and reach the door that it took a ten step to already touch it. But then she failed with her actions as she got collapsed on the floor and finally getting unconscious. All the chaos happened on her was unknowingly interrupts by the Queen.

Queen Leandra was standing straight in her porch while looking to the vast of Versailles land. She feel the burning on her palm symbolizing how her daughter was in danger as the red pearl on the cube glisten erroneously. “Where’s my daughter?” She asked the headmistress who also wearing a worried look. Headmistress, Danie Feroj, already understand why the Queen will going to react like that after there’s something wrong with the kept red pearl.

“She’s in her room, Your Highness.” The Queen stride step towards the huge door of her bedroom and head straight ahead the princess’ bedroom. She knock her door three times and call her name countless times. But it seems impossible to hear her from here. Thus, she order the headmistress who’s also following her from behind to get the keys from housekeeper.

The Queen was left alone in the hallway. And that’s the moment the dark spirit stop getting near her daughter but instead to her who used to live a decent, peace, and guarded life. But also the one who deserves to suffer delicacy to keep the right of human who also loses the opportunity to defend themselves from threatening declaration of these royals.

“So you’re going to adapt a child that doesn’t run royalty in her blood? I mean, you wanted to hide your daughter much than yourself that is in a red warning. You supposedly have to think open-mindedly concerning consequences, huh.” The woman in her angelic disguise but the moral was out of her shown character makes a smirk on her face with automatic spent of powers upon the Queen who couldn’t do any ways to guard herself.

“How are you going to believe that? You’re not that person who easily get trick with my tactics. But you seemingly fear my plan to adapt a child for there’s a promise to be happen only when she’s already eighteen?” She teased and stay with Majestic aura. There’s a power of her tone that she could sense how this ghost-witch will be knocked out about.

The ghost-witch chuckle assuring her opponent that she didn’t just mistakenly say a word. “Are you that narrow-minded? I’ve been meaning to get your daughter no matter what. So, you shall live a place in the world of unknown. Where people aren’t listening to the one who’s impoverished because of low rank in state. Just you do,” she informed while forming the another magic to her.

A glazing fire rush to her crown, but it wasn’t effective enough to get really burned. The red pearls on it was trying to turn into a shield for this crown comes from the ritual that keep the strength of their royalty secure. “So, were you really curing the people who are deadly sick?” The woman asked while getting a close pace to her. She suddenly get her crown that she slowly picked all the pearls on it.

The headmistress abruptly kick that woman’s back that causes her to kiss the floor and never got the chance to get rid all of the red pearls. Danie get her crown but she was froze in a moment and feel how her neck was strangling powerfully. The Queen put one red pearl that she picked on the floor on her head and it effectively causes her now to move freely.

The crown was placed already in her head then the Queen makes a last statement saying, “Make sure you never did filthy things again. And I’m going to take after you all the mess you’re waiting for.” And that is when the Ghost-witch disappear herself.

Queen Leandra already inserted the key to her daughter’s room and saw how the princess lie on the floor unconsciously. She rush towards her trying to wake her up. Her eyes are almost teary when her breathing stops as she listened to her heartbeat. But suddenly it backs to normal with her cold hands getting a bit warm. But still, the princess was unconscious that she couldn’t even dare to open her eyes after inexplicable collapse.

“What does that ghost-witch really need, Your Highness?” The headmistress Danie asked the Queen about an inconvenience occurred earlier. Some housekeeper already managed to the princess’ body and transfer on her bed. The point took a peck on her forehead and make a thin smile.

She shrugged while saying, “I don’t exactly know what her problem is. But she usually appearing when the book is flipped,” she answered while pointing her index finger to the study table of the young lady where the book was laying, but it’s now closed as how the ghost-witch vanished.