"Some for me, sister?"

The young princess Canari stuck out her hand, only to have her elder sister give her a small pop.

"Tea is for adults, sister. Young little things like yourself hardly need help going to sleep. You’re supposed to smack your head against the pillow and fall into dreamland after counting a few sheep."

Canari pursed her lip cutely as her older sister continued pouring. "I haven’t had to count sheep since I was eight years old. And I only did it back then because I was trying to stay awake."

"Yes... I forget what an unruly little thing you were. Fighting even the sleep your body so desperately needed."

Canari shrugged. "No one likes someone who just lies down and accepts their fate."

"No one likes urchins who don’t adhere to bedtimes either." Saarfi flicked her sister on the forehead as she began to stir her tea. The sound alone made Canari feel all nice and calm inside.

"I’m very inclined to agree." A new voice said.

Both girls looked toward the doorway to the kitchen, where they found a large figure staring at them from the cover of darkness.

Canari became slightly rigid, bowing before she even realized it.

"G-Greetings, Emperor...!" She bowed so deeply and so suddenly that she nearly fell over.

Emperor Jorre stepped into the room with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Hmm... Formalities often strike me as cumbersome. But I don’t believe it has ever been more than right at this moment."

Canari swallowed. "My apologies. I simply felt it was what I should do to be polite."

Emperor Jorre had thousands of children. It was sufficient to say that he didn’t get to interact with them all.

He only took an interest in the children who’d inherited his onyx and gold skin tones, either partially or in full. Those children seemed to be the ones who had inherited at least a partial amount of his power.

For some reason, he kept his eyes on them much more than he did the others. Saarfi was well known to be one of his favorites, as she seemed to be one of the strongest.

Perhaps it was because of this favoritism that Canari so idolized her elder sister.

"It is... rare to see you outside of your room without an attendant, Father." Saarfi noted.

Jorre scoffed haughtily. "Am I a small child in need of supervision?"

"N-No, of course not! I just-"

"Hahahaha! Pay it no mind, Saarfi. Light-footed though you may be, I’d much prefer that you didn’t use the talent to walk on eggshells around me."

The monarch stepped into the room, lingering over the sweet-smelling teakettle with a fairly pleased glint.

"Hmmm... A rather expensive brew. Is there an occasion I am unaware of?"

Saarfi swallowed nervously. "I-I was actually coming to discuss some matters with you.... and I thought that this might have helped them go over better?"

Jorre might not have been the kind of father who saw all of his kids all the time, but he did know how the ones he had seen operated.

"Oh my. It sounds like tea will be the very least of my extravagant expenses in the near future. I should make adequate preparations."

Jorre proceeded to pour a non-insignificant amount of rum into his tea. Courtesy of an import acquired by the knight commander, whom he hadn’t seen in some time now. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Go on. I am listening." He sighed once he had already taken a few ’sips’.

"That..." Saarfi kneaded her fingers together anxiously. "Mother said that I am of age, and it is past time that I start considering candidates..."

Jorre seemed a bit relieved that this wouldn’t cost him as much as he thought it would. "I see her point. You will be thirty this year."

"R-Right, well, I believe that I may have come to a solution. The Ostego kingdom seems to be putting together some very promising scientific advances, and from what I hear, the second prince is quite handsome as well... Perhaps it may be worth considering...?"

Canari had been listening to her sister and her father talk without uttering a word this entire time. But at the mention of Declan Ostego, her stomach turned, and her eyes surged with wrath.

"Young one. You seem to have something to say." Jorre noted.

Canari immediately corrected her expression. "N-No, no. I just..." The princess bit her lip. Lowering her head, she went back on the word she had expressly given her brother.

"Back at the Academy... Duncan Ostego, he..."

Canari felt sick. So, so, very sick.

Contrary to what those who knew her might’ve thought, Canari was a young woman with a lot of love in her heart. This love was usually reserved for her twin brothers.

Recounting how her brother was violated and abused made her feel sick to her stomach. She wished with all of her heart that the gates of hell would open up and spit out the soul of that noble bastard so she could torture him at her leisure.

"...Those urchins.."

Every single scrap of glassware in the kitchen suddenly shattered.

A golden aura surrounded Jorre Na-Inna Eirbane like a fog.

"How dare he lay hands on a gold of all things..! A recognized heir! I should like to see him flogged!"

Canari felt as if she were going to choke. Urine spilled down her knightdress and onto the floor.

However terrible the natives painted their emperor to be, the reality is that his power was 10 times as bone-chilling.

It was easy to forget, since the Emperor was hardly ever enraged. But he was a kind of titan-blood the world thus far seemed unable to re-create. A monster in every sense of the word.

"Their entire kingdom will pay dearly for this... Mark my words...!" Emperor Jorre began to stumble away angrily.

Canari looked toward her sister, intending to apologize for ruining her potential marriage to a handsome prince.

But all of her words became caught in her throat. Saarfi didn’t look recognizable at all; rather, her eyes were deeply dark and frustrated.

"That’s... What I’ve always hated about you."

A tail whipped out from underneath her knight’s gown.

It’s hard, bladed point, shot across the room and pierced the emperor’s back as he was walking away.

Canari screamed, but she could barely get the sound out before her sister grabbed her by the neck hard.

Jorre let out a pained noise of anger as he tried to pull the weapon out of his back. "What... Is... This!?"

"Do not bother struggling. It’s only taking this long to work because you had to go and add liquor to it."

The Emperor couldn’t figure out what his daughter could have possibly meant until it hit him.

It was not a weakness. Nor was it a feeling of being corroded.

It was a paralytic. And apparently, a very powerful one that had been added to the tea without his prior knowledge.

The substance was unmistakable.

"You... Where... Did you... Get... Basilisk... Venom...?"

The term was one that Saarfi looked surprised to hear. "Oh, my... He said you wouldn’t know what it was. How old are you really, father? Three hundred simply can’t be right."

Jorre answered by collapsing to the floor. His muscles felt as if they were becoming as heavy as ten-ton boulders.

Canari struggled to fight against her sister’s grasp with tears in her eyes. Saarfi finally turned to address her, with the darkness in her expression only continuing to grow.

"Shh, shh, shh... It’s alright, little sister.... Everyone has a part to play, I promise. For now, just... Get some rest."

Saarfi picked up the spoon she had been using earlier and clinked it against the countertop.

It was the very last sound Canari heard before her mind went dark.

-

Canari awoke to a series of loud bangs.

Slowly, she sat up, plagued with the worst headache of her life while a foul odor assailed her nostrils.

"Emperor! Emperor, there has been an emergency; If you don’t answer, we will have to break down the door!"

Canari’s eyes finally focused to get a better grasp of where she was. As well as the smell in her nose.

Blood soaked her hands, thighs, and multiple parts of her nightgown.

A figure lay still underneath her. The swirling gold and obsidian skin were the hallmarks of his identity.

In the bed with her was a long, black sword with a wicked, demonic edge. As well as the bodies of numerous other women.

Canari knew the sword well. It was hers.

Slowly, Canari looked around, and she retched at the room’s contents.

Official wives. Concubines. Even whores.

They were in so many pieces that one could almost put them back together like a puzzle game.

Tears rushed down Canari’s face. Her chest rose and fell in quick, dramatic increments.

Finally, she released a horrific screech just as a battalion of knights kicked in the door, and beheld a scene that made even the most seasoned among them retch.