Nox felt his heartstrings being pulled by an invisible force as he admitted his honest feelings. The princess’s gentle voice reached his ears again. She chuckled, "You’re being unusually quiet, Prince Nox?"

The prince sighed as he got up, extending a hand to the sitting princess and saying, with some hesitation, "You’re wrong."

The princess became confused, "Wrong about what?"

Nox stated with a soft gaze towards her, "I think you’re most beautiful when you’re in battle, killing the enemies with a ruthless expression, because... that is the real Yasmin."

She was momentarily stunned by those words and did not know how to respond. Prince Nox, at this moment, made a request, kneeling, his hand still extended, "Princess Yasmin, would you come and visit my Blackvale palace? Our crystal lake is quite beautiful, I am sure you... You will like it."

By the end of it, he almost stammered, but the shock in the eyes of the beautiful princess became even more apparent. Until she showed a heart-melting smile, and just as she was about to grab his hand.

CLAP!!!!!

CLAP!!!!!

CLAP!!!!!

CLAP!!!!!

The sound of theatrical applause pierced the hearts of the Prince and Princess, who were broken out of their romantic state. The expression on the faces of Nox and Yasmin instantly changed, turning cold and cautious.

To their utter shock, a wave of deep mist more than 100 meters wide surrounded them, and they did not sense it in the slightest.

An impending sense of danger washed over the hearts of the two royals. After all, they were both gravely injured. With only a fraction of their battle prowess remaining.

The sound of clapping did not stop; it grew louder and more intense until it became unnerving to the extreme.

A cold voice reached Nox Blackvale, giving him goosebumps, because it was a voice he recognized, the voice of his own half-brother, "Tsk, Tsk, tsk..."

"The mighty Nox Blackvale is flirting with the Princess of Samartan."

"You are shaming our family, dear older brother."

"Even asking her on a date?"

"What a fucking surprise!"

Eventually, the figure of Thorian became visible in Nox and Yasmin’s vision, and right behind him, Enrick followed.

Thorian, who was always the calm and collected type, with a poker face, had a completely different expression at this moment.

His lips were twisted into a hideous smile, his eyes filled with a murderous rage that had been contained for the entirety of his life, now burst forth like an inevitable tide.

Nox’s eyes were cold, "Have you finally lost your mind, you fucking low blood. Do you even realize that we are in the open, all the 5th phase seekers, and even our father is likely watching?"

But Thorian laughed in an unhinged manner as if he had heard the biggest joke, "Don’t worry, brother. No one will see anything."

"Relax, my dear brother. I will not kill you, not until you see the woman you fell in love with die right in front of your eyes, while you are unable to do anything but watch in agony," he chuckled with a bright smile.

"YOU WILL KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO SUFFER, I WILL MAKE SURE OF IT," declared Thorian Blackvale as his killing intent burst forth.

There was nothing that would stop him from exacting his lifelong revenge for all the humiliation and pain he had suffered for his entire life.

***

Meanwhile, Enrick and his older sister, Yasmin, had created a bit of distance between Nox and Enrick so they could have their own conversation to settle this hatred.

Yasmin sighed, "Enrick, my brother, in the end, you choose this? Please think about it and stop. I don’t want to kill you."

There was a genuine look of sympathy in the eyes of the princess when she looked at her younger brother, though Enrick and she were not of the same mother, but she always loved her siblings until...

Enrick laughed at her comment, "Sorry, Yasmin, the day my little sister was killed by our father. A part of me had already died on that day."

Enrick’s gaze became intense as he looked towards the skies, a part of it having turned crimson from the sheer amount of blood vaporizing every second.

His expression became wistful, as if he were reminiscing about the long-lost past. "I never really told you what happened that day, did I?"

"How did my little sister, Nino, die?" he questioned, more to himself than to Yasmin, perhaps.

The princess remained quiet, her gaze sad and complicated. While Enrick continued, his voice turning unnervingly deep, "Actually, it happened in just a few seconds."

"Our mighty 6th phase father. Suddenly one day, barged into my room where Nino, when she was just five years old, was playing with some toys."

"And our father just waved his hand, a form of energy wrapped around Nino, making her float. I still remember how she smiled in that moment. The very last sentence she uttered."

Enrick smiled brokenly as tears fell from his eyes unceasingly. She said, "Father, did you come to play with meee?"

"She sounded so cute when she said those words. But the King did not even respond, his expression did not change, as the energy surrounding Nino crushed her body, exploding it into a cloud of blood and flesh."

"But not a single drop of her blood reached the floor, not an ounce of her flesh touched the ground, because the sphere of energy continued to compress it, until my living, breathing sister was turned into a FCUKING BLOODY PILL and all for what?" he questioned with an unsettling calm voice, looking at Yasmin. "To feed you that human Pill, right before your first trial. Just to increase your potential."

"Because you, Yasmin, were his favorite child. Nino’s life was as worthless as that."

The once-brave and bright princess, who had an unshakable will, felt as if her world were crumbling. With every word she heard, her mind spun in terror, "No, impossible, you....you are lying."

Enrick turned towards her, then took a few steps closer until their faces were but a few inches away.

He eventually whispered into her ears, the sheer amount of rage contained in his tone was enough to send a chill down her spine, "I was right there. Sitting on the couch, as it all happened, I watched in impossible silence. Unable to believe my very own eyes."

"Father obviously then sealed my memories of that moment through some cheap magic, after coming back from the academy massacre. I remembered it all. The memories locked by our wretched father."

He sneered, "Why are you pretending? I’m sure you already knew that Nino was killed for your sake, don’t pretend otherwise. My brave, righteous sister."