In the capital, in the year 1242, in a small wooden house behind the great white castle, children ran from one side to the other, playing tag.
Inside the house, a woman named Amelia, with shining black hair and dull green eyes, wore a gray dress with beautiful embroidery.
In her hands, she held a book she studied enthusiastically, a tome about fauna and animals.
She closed the book, satisfied with what she had read, and headed outside, where the full moon shone like a white sun.
Her emerald gaze rested on the child who was running without restraint.
"Svend!"
Svend heard her, but chose to ignore her and keep playing.
"Svend!" she called again, a bit annoyed at being ignored.
But Svend kept playing, smiling and sweating, just like the other children, while their mothers began calling them home.
Seeing that he wasn't paying attention, Amelia sighed deeply and forced herself to calm down. She touched the grass with the tips of her fingers and closed her eyes.
Suddenly, a small tremor shook the plain, and all the children fled like adorable rabbits to their burrows.
Svend stopped dead in his tracks and looked at his mother. A second later, thin vines, like arms, wrapped around his ankles and wrists.
He widened his eyes. He recognized that power: he had seen his mother use it on other people, in different forms.
"I'm… I'm gonna fall…"
He raised his arms in surrender, but before he could finish his sentence, the vines yanked him toward Amelia.
He cursed silently as he was dragged.
Once in front of her, fear overtook him.
Amelia gave him a "gentle" smack on the head, making a lump form.
"Ouch!"
He could only complain to himself. It was his punishment for not obeying. She reprimanded him, pointing her finger at him:
"I've told you plenty of times, Svend! We stay inside when the full moon comes!"
Svend massaged his head while looking at her with watery eyes.
"But why? What's so wrong with the moon, Mom?"
Amelia let out a tired sigh, shook her head, and they went inside the house. Svend continued:
"Besides, isn't my dad the king? What do we have to fear?..."
The atmosphere changed with those words. Amelia, her back turned, slowly turned to her son.
"Svend! Never say that man is your father! Never! He is not your father!"
The once cheerful Amelia had vanished. Now her face was irritated, and to Svend, that was worse than any punishment.
"…Do you understand?" Amelia asked, her emerald eyes fixed on his.
He nodded, swallowed hard, and looked away, dejected.
Amelia approached him with a hint of regret and pain on her face. With her heart tight from her reaction, she embraced him warmly.
"I'm sorry… It's just that… the relationship between your father and I is complicated. I don't expect you to understand it today, but maybe, later on, you'll see it with your own eyes, okay? For now, it's just you and me. Alright?"
Her emerald eyes trembled, as if holding back a cascade of tears. She didn't allow her voice to break.
Svend didn't know how to feel. He had seen his father on occasion, but they had never shared real moments. He didn't know his true personality.
And yet, with that embrace from Amelia, he felt like she was the only thing he needed.
He didn't want anything else as long as he had her, and that made him the happiest child in the world.
Later that night, in his small wooden bed that creaked with every movement, with lamps on the sides, Svend was being tucked in by Amelia.
He wore a mischievous expression as he covered himself with the blanket, eager for the next day to go to the academy and meet someone special. Amelia noticed his look and smiled:
"What's with that grin?"
Svend covered his face with the blanket, embarrassed.
Amelia looked up at the ceiling, confused, until an idea crossed her mind.
"Don't tell me… My little boy already has someone he likes?"
She let out a teasing smile and tried to uncover him. Svend was as red as a tomato.
…
In a completely dark room, with a bed and wooden furniture, Amelia rested in the embrace of sleep. Her long hair spread out on the pillow, and her body was wrapped in a white blanket.
She breathed calmly, with no hurry.
Suddenly, the creaking of wood broke the silence.
The sound came from the entrance of the room.
Amelia opened her eyes wide, alarmed. She sat up in bed and looked toward the source of the noise.
She managed to calm her fast-beating chest, remaining completely still.
She sharpened her senses. She tried to detect any presence nearby, but there was no one.
She didn't trust her sight, so she activated a sensory ability to detect anyone approaching.
Nothing.
'Am I becoming paranoid?' she thought.
For days, she had been hearing strange noises at night, but she never found the source.
She relaxed her body and lay back down.
Her eyes, still, fixed on the ceiling, shrouded in shadows.
"Who are you?" her voice echoed in the room, breaking the silence.
There was no response.
"Who sent you?" she asked again, in a hollow voice, without emotion, directed at nothing.
Still, no response.
But Amelia knew someone had invaded her space.
What she didn't know was their intentions.
She got up to grab a thin dagger hidden under the mattress.
"Alright, as you wish—"
And a second before she could reach it…
A humanoid shadow appeared behind her, stabbing a blade into her back.
The blade sank into her flesh without resistance, all the way to her heart.
"H-how…"
She didn't understand. Her sensory ability should've warned her if someone was getting close, especially if Svend was in danger.
But this time, it didn't. And that mistake cost her life.
Blood began to spill, and the blade was removed cleanly.
Amelia let out a groan, worried about waking Svend and him seeing that scene. She turned slowly, trembling, her face pale.
She gazed at her attacker.
Black hair, neatly combed, and a refined appearance.
He wore a butler's uniform.
Amelia couldn't hide her surprise.
She knew him very well.
"Doss!... Why?"
The blood seeped from her mouth as she spoke.
Her emerald eyes slowly dimmed.
"I'm sorry, my lady. We'll take good care of your son."
Those were the last words Amelia heard. She collapsed to the cold floor and slowly closed her eyes, with a look of remorse and sadness.
'Forgive me for not being able to see you grow, my child.'
Amelia Rogers, mother of Svend and wife of King Arthur, was murdered by a man with lethal abilities.
His whereabouts are unknown.
The king, furious, works tirelessly to find him.
That's what the news reported days later.
Of course, no one knew the truth. Except for the king… and Mr. Doss.
And the next morning, with the warm light of the sun illuminating the kingdom, Svend went straight to the kitchen, still sleepy, expecting his mother's breakfast.
When he didn't see her, he went to her room. Without suspecting what he was about to witness.
A great smile appeared on his face, imagining teasing his mother in revenge for all the times she had woken him up.
He entered the room.
"Ma~ma, it's time!"
The smile vanished as his eyes landed on the floor.
What he saw…
Would mark him for life.
…
"Svend…"
'What happened?'
Svend wondered, completely stunned, with blurry vision.
"Svend!"
The silhouette of a young man, with black hair and golden eyes, became clear in his vision.
Bill's face was filled with great desperation and fear.
'Bill? What… happened?'
Svend wanted to say something, but the words didn't come out.
It was then that his vision cleared, and he glanced around.
A large portion of the trees were chopped down; others burned, reduced to ashes.
Blood was dripping from Bill's body.
Harris lay a few meters away from him, with arrogance on his face, no visible wounds. But his arm was completely soaked in blood.
Svend tilted his head downward, where a burning sensation pierced his stomach.
He looked at the large hole that had formed. Streams of blood ran to the floor from the wound.
The hole in his stomach went all the way through to his back, leaving a horrific scene.
'Right… this happened.'
He looked sadly at the hole. His eyes, similar to his mother Amelia's, were slowly fading.