In the city of Aoura, the beating heart of the kingdom of Uruk where shadows dance with light along the edges of time there lived a young man whose beauty bore the mark of a curse. His skin was pale, as if untouched by sunlight, and his hair, black as an unborn dawn, draped quietly over his forehead, veiling closed violet eyes amethysts soaked in rain. His name was Daniel Creus, the sole heir to the supreme ruler. A boy unclaimed by childhood, unchosen by fate. Though not yet eighteen, his features bore the weight of secrets buried in tombs cursed to silence.
He lay sprawled across his regal bed, as though the world outside held no meaning, as though it burned without igniting even a flicker in his soul. Yet that stillness was but a fragile mask over the heart of a storm.
Suddenly, the chamber door swung open not as a knock, but as an intrusion. And with it, danger walked in clothed in elegance. Lina Creus, the king's current wife the serpent with a sweet smile entered the room. In her thirties, she was painfully beautiful, with hair white as poisoned snow and emerald eyes that gleamed with a cunning that left nothing but ruin. Her figure, sculpted with devilish precision, radiated a seductive danger.
She stood before him, eyes locked on him with the stare of a hunter observing a sleeping prey. Her body taut, voice sharp enough to cut:
"Daniel! Has sloth devoured your sense of time? Do you even know the hour?"
He opened his eyes slowly, deliberately as if drawing the night from his lids and exhaled with a perfected sorrow before answering with a half-mocking smile:
"Lina… the marvelous Lina. Has the sun murdered me that you awaken me with such cruelty? Let me sleep a little longer. Perhaps I shall find you gentler in my dreams."
She smirked, though it faded beneath furrowed brows:
"It's past noon. Your father waits. You know well that delay in his presence is an unforgivable sin."
She turned away, attempting to mask the faint flush rising to her cheeks. But Daniel saw it. He never missed such things. He let his gaze wander, voice dripping with insinuation:
"So… it wasn't my face your eyes were drawn to. Your secrets, my queen, are clearer than you believe."
What seemed like jest in his tone veiled a darker truth. Daniel alone knew that this woman was no innocent. Beneath her mask of warmth lay a heart nourished on blood. She was the one who had silently ended the lives of the king's three wives and his children without leaving a trace. He was the only one who held this knowledge. Those who neared the truth vanished or were found eyeless, tongueless. Publicly, fingers pointed at Sumer, their eternal rival lies walking on the corpses of the innocent.
As he rose from his bed, Kara, his personal servant, stepped in. Still blooming into adulthood, her presence was quiet and deliberate. Her hair, a deep emerald green, cascaded down her shoulders, and her eyes glowed with molten gold. She moved like someone who feared breaking the silence of ghosts.
Daniel spoke in a tone steeped in melancholy a sorrow unlike the gleam in his eyes:
"Kara, how many times have I told you not to disturb me when I sleep? You force me to repeat myself… and that… saddens me."
She bowed low, as though carrying the weight of the world:
"Forgive me, my lord… I'll accept any punishment."
He watched her for a moment, then sighed:
"You say that every time. I don't know if that proves your loyalty… or your stupidity."
Then, with a smirk:
"I know Lina despises you. Perhaps because you're closer to me than she likes. But she's a queen she's allowed to hate. As for me, I'll forgive you. Prepare the bath and the clothes. The performance is about to begin."
She nodded, a flicker of relief in her eyes, and disappeared with the softness of a whisper.
Daniel walked toward the bath, his footsteps the measured pace of ghosts confident in their fate. Kara, unable to resist, glanced at his bare back and froze. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of a tattoo an obsidian cobra coiled in fury, its crimson eyes blazing beneath his skin as if watching… waiting to strike.
She looked away quickly, her lungs trembling, as if one glance had stirred a sleeping curse.
Inside the marble bath, Daniel sat in water that shimmered like a lake of light. His body floated in fragile serenity. The water was cold enough to remind him he still lived. He closed his eyes, shoulders relaxing, his mind drifting to places untouched by moonlight… places where no dawn ever comes.
In this palace, Daniel was no prince. He was a curse walking in human flesh. The king loathed him like a man who hates the mirror for reflecting his sin. His brothers cast him glances of disdain as if his presence alone was a reminder of a shame no one dared name.
Only Lina smiled at him, leaned close, spoke of palace affairs as though they mattered. But he knew. Every word from her lips carried poison postponed. Every kindness… a debt waiting to be collected. The only question was: who would decide when? Him? Or Lina?
After his bath, he stepped out, water cascading from his body like sorrow in crystal drops. A black towel wrapped around his waist, his wet hair clinging to his forehead, accentuating a beauty so sharp it seemed almost fatal.
Kara stood frozen , eyes wide. Her cheeks burned with a shy, helpless fire.
He smiled faintly, his voice a whisper:
"Do you like what you see? If you wish… you may touch. I won't bite. Not today."
She gasped slightly, looking away at once:
"Forgive me, my lord. It won't happen again."
He said nothing. Just nodded, as if granting a conditional pardon.
She approached, dressed in black servant garb, and began dressing him. Her hands trembled lightly as he watched his reflection in the mirror. There, he saw not himself but a shadow wearing his face. A beautiful ghost, dressing for death.