“...The weather is terrible I tell you, the rains have destroyed my crops, the winds have....”

The audience chamber was a majestically large room made for civilians and militants to get an audience with the king. In the middle of the room stood a large golden throne, decorated with red tapestry and timeless jewels. On the throne sat the king himself. Clad in red, he was listening to a civilian complaining about the bad weather. There were only three people in the room: the king, the civilian and a woman.

“Are you done yet,” interrupted the king, looking bored. “What on earth can I do to make the weather better?”

The civilian looked up, disoriented by the sudden interruption. “Y-you could e-employ magicians to manipulate the weather, right?” stammered the man.

“Pointless, your bad crops are a result of your own ineptitude. My sources tell me your neighbor was able to produce twice as many crops as the year before. Go learn from him. Next!”

The civilian’s face showed signs of anger as he walked back out of the room.

“Hi hi hi.”

The man turned to the side and saw the beautiful woman sitting on a couch. She was playfully waving her bright green fans around, her pitch black hair swaying in the wind these tools made. She was smiling at the man as he looked at her.

“Do not fret,” said the woman. “Next time around you will make the same mistake again.” And her smile broadened.

Not knowing what she meant, he simply walked out of the room, past the next man to gain an audience.

The new civilian knelt in front of the king and saluted.

“Greetings, great king,” said the man as he bumped his fist to his chest. “I have come here with a very simple request, one that is of a fairly personal matter.” He eyed the woman on the sofa, meaning that what he was about to say was not meant for her ears.

“Alright,” said the king and allowed the man to come closer.

The man walked up to the throne and bent over towards the king’s ears. “I wish for you to die.” The man immediately thrust a knife in the king’s head. Feeling as though it made contact, he quickly took a few steps back to observe the result.

“Oh my,” said the king. “Looks like you pierced my skull, how neat.” The king took the knife with one of his hands and pulled it out. Blood spattered onto the red tapestry and half the king’s face was covered in gore. His eyes had changed from the gentle blue eyes he usually wore to a deep dark crimson that revealed bloodlust. He took a look at the knife he was holding and observed the pink colored gem.

“Anthropofagos?” asked the king with disbelief. “You’re the first white cannibal I’ve ever met, congratulations.” He swung the little knife around to clear off the blood. The wound on his head had already healed completely.

The man, not knowing how the king had just survived, was ready to act at any time. He had other methods to finish the job, and more to finish himself.

But the king paid the man’s wariness little heed. “You know what?” The king looked at the man,” I’ll be keeping this. A nice souvenir, thank you.”

The dagger immediately lost its form and in the king’s hand lay the pink color gem. He put the gem to his mouth and swallowed it whole.

The man turned pale. He immediately tried to recall his soul but he found that he couldn’t. He looked at the king and asked:

“What kind of monster are you?!”

The king sighed. “You guys are all the same…. Aren’t you going to try to take your own life next?”

The man was indeed planning to do just that.

“I won’t allow that,” said a soft voice from behind him. The man quickly turned around and found the black haired woman standing right behind him. He had no time to admire the revealing black dress the woman was wearing as her hands were already squeezing the air out of his lungs. He struggled desperately against the woman’s hands but she was surprisingly strong. She whispered a few unknown words into his ears and the man’s body went limp.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“There there,” she said as she laid the man on the floor. “I can’t have you die on me just yet. I have far too many experiments I need to run on you.” She was carefully checking his pockets for any hidden weapons or contraptions.

“Do with him what you want, he lost my protection the moment he tried to kill me,” said the king as he watched the woman do her thing.

The woman looked up at the king and smiled.

“Am I glad that I found you, my king. How is the wound?”

The king snorted. “That minor scrape? You know mortals can’t hurt me.”

“You, maybe not, but your human host is another story.” The woman continued to work on the unconscious man. He’d already lost most of his clothes.

“You have a room for that, you know,” said the king. “I need to continue with the public meetings or they might suspect something.”

The woman stopped. “That is true…” She quickly got up and dusted off the dirt from her dress. She looked at the half naked man on the floor and held out her hands. With a quick burst of energy she summoned two green fans. She closed her eyes and murmured some kind of incantation. The man’s body started to glow green and then vanished into thin air.

The woman was gasping for air once she finished her incantation.

“You could just have fused, you know,” said the king.

“I’m not….like you…” puffed the woman between breaths. “I can… only fuse for… 4 minutes….”

“And what would you need those 4 minutes for?”

The woman smiled. “Dancing....”

The king sighed. “Incorrigible…. Still got enough energy for a cameo spell?”

The woman didn’t waver. “Off course.” She put her fans in front of her again and started to do a pirouette. As her body was turning her physique changed drastically, her dress turned into civilian clothes, her hair shortened, and once she was done she looked like the man who just tried to assassinate the king.

“What do you think?” she asked as she pumped a first to her chest.

“Looks good, now get going.”

The woman walked towards the door and right before she opened it she turned around. “Oh, and just a small remark. Your eyes are still red.”

She then opened the door and walked out. There was a row of civilians standing in a row in front of the door and guards were keeping a close watch on them. At first she’d wondered why there were no guards inside but she quickly found out that this king was anything but normal. He didn’t want people to know about his secret.

I mean, who would want to protect an immortal king?

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Author's Note: Here's the lady from the prologue, as some have asked about her. She will, along with the king, appear in intermissions and interludes. They usually happen at the end of every arc :) Also, Mia's coming back next chapter. WOOHOO! (Sorry, she's my favorite :P )

Notice: It was pointed out to me that some chapters were unreadable with the white background. I've fixed that.

Edited by: 1Jayds, Paradox