"You are not my brother."
π»ππππ ππππ πππ ππππ ππππ π ππ ππππ ππππππ ππ πππππππ πππ ππππ π πππππππ ππ πππππππ.
The banquet hall of House Valemour was soaked in golden light and drunken laughter.
Goblets clinked. Harps played.
πΊππππππππ ππ πππ π πππππππ, πππππππππ πππππππ ππππππ πππ πππ β π πππππππππππ ππ π²πππ'π ππππππππππ...
My brother. My executioner.
I staggered, blood rushing down my abdomen β dark and hot.
Red soaked through the silk of my ceremonial robes.
Not royal crimson,
but the pale gray of the "bloodless."
π»ππ πππππ πππππ ππ ππππππ ππππ πππππππ πππππ.
πΎππππππ πππππ.
Behind me, the crowd parted like smoke.
Lords, priests, and courtiers turned their heads, refusing to look.
A few smirked.
This was not a murder.
This was a sacrifice.
> "My blood will never mix with yours," Kael said coldly.
"You should never have been born."
Then he wrenched the blade free.
I collapsed.
π»ππ ππππππ πππ ππππ πππππππ ππ.
I heard my mother weeping β
not out of sorrow...
but shame.
π―ππ πππ πππ π ππππππ πππ πππππ ππππ ππ ππππππππ π πππππππππ πππππππ . π΄π.
I gasped.
The blood kept coming.
So much blood.
Everything faded...
Thenβ
I heard it.
A whisper in the dark.
> "Drink, child. And rise."
---
π° ππππ ππ πππ πππππ πππππππ πππ ππππππ...
Where traitors and monsters are buried.
It was silent.
No heartbeat but mine.
No light, except the faint, red shimmer of a seal etched into stone.
I should have been dead.
Instead...
I was breathing.
And burning.
A pain coiled in my chest β not just from the wound,
but from something inside me.
Something awakening.
Then I saw it.
A figure in the shadows β wrapped in bone and ash, its eyes glowing like coals.
It smiled with teeth made of obsidian.
> "You've been cast aside by men who call themselves gods...
But I see you. I know what you are."
"You are hunger. You are vengeance. You are mine now."
The figure held out its hand.
A cup of blackened gold hovered in the air. Inside: blood β not red, but silver.
> "Drink. Take back what was stolen. Become the first Bloodthief in a thousand years."
My fingers moved before I could stop them.
I drank.
And screamed.
---
It was not pain.
It was power.
π΄πππππππ πππ ππ πππ πππππ ππ ππ ππππ .
πΊπππππ π°'π πππππ πππππππ ππππππ ππππ ππ ππππ.
A thousand voices screamed and sang and begged inside me.
And through it all, one truth carved itself into my bones:
> I can take what others have.
Magic. Strength. Memory.
Their power... becomes mine.
But only through blood.
---
I don't remember how I escaped the crypt.
Only the scent of burning flesh behind me.
And a single thought,
pounding like a war drum:
> "He stole my future. I'll take his kingdom."
---
ποΈ Author's Note: RRyu-san
π°π πππ ππππ ππππ πππ πππ ππππππ ... πππππ πππ ππππ ππ πππ πππ πππππ ππππππ πππ?
π¬ Comment below:
What would YOU steal if you had the Bloodthief curse?
β€οΈ Vote if you want Chapter 2 β "The Girl with the Sword and the Secret" β sooner.