At one of the boundaries of the kingdom of Erela, beneath the light of then on its peak sun. The third prince of the kingdom of Erela, Leal Durmada furrowed his eyebrows while his right hand was over his eyes to prevent the sunlight from hindering his vision.
In front of him was a thick forest with a path filled with thorns and tall grasses, located just beyond the barrier of the kingdom.
"Hmm." Leal raised the paper he was holding while narrowing his eyes and stared at it again. What was on the paper was a map. As he raised his eyes again, he scratched his head while slowly exhaling. "Is this map accurate?"
"Prince Leal!"
"Prince Leal, where are you?"
Upon hearing the voices of his attendants, the young prince ran into the thickness of the forest to avoid being seen. However, as he tried to walk through the thorny path, his loud groans immediately resonated throughout the place. Every time a thorn hit his skin, he screamed in anger but continued to his path while making a very irritated expression on his face as he stared at the map in his hand.
After a few agonizing minutes of navigating through the thorny forest while stomping on everything he passed by.
"I hate this place!" He screamed as he finally got out of the tough forest but immediately lost his cool upon seeing what was ahead. "This can't be true! Who in their right mind would live in this kind of place!" He screamed while staring at the high and dangerous cliff path just ahead.
"Oh well, this is nonsense." He said as he turned his back but immediately veered towards the cliff. "I have to get my revenge on that cursed girl."
On his very first step to the cliff, his eyes instantly shrouded in panic as he looked down and saw what was beneath. However, even while shivering, Leal managed to pass through the dangerous path despite his beautiful long, blonde hair all over his face due to the strong wind.
As he successfully overcame the obstacle, a proud smile emerged on his face while walking forward where the map was pointing him to go. "Is that all? How easy."
As he followed the path through the forest, next to a river, he reached a certain spot that was apparently cleaner than the other parts of the forest. Near the river was a vegetable garden with different kinds of plants growing in it. Mostly, potatoes, tomatoes, and carrots. An indication that someone was living nearby.
With his narrowing eyes, Leal walked forward but immediately stopped after a few seconds upon seeing what was ahead. Several meters away from him was a cave under the shelter of the massive trees beside it. And a familiar image came out from it, the same beautiful young girl with black hair and pair of jet black eyes she met a few weeks ago.
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The main reason why for the first time in his life, as a child he employed his power as a prince of Erela and sent multiple scouts to investigate her, find where she lives, and make a map for him to locate her.
Upon seeing Cahira again, Leal hid in one of the thick trees while observing her. Cahira walked toward the river at the lower part of the forest while gracefully jumping. On the other hand, upon confirming that Cahira was finally gone. He immediately ran toward the cave where she came from.
As he entered, what greeted him was a slightly lit-up chamber thanks to the light coming outside. What was inside was a blanket that already almost resembled a rug. Clean, but almost completely worn out.
Leal's face grimaced upon seeing the scenery. "She's living like an animal. Fitting such a filthy monster like her."
He walked deeper inside the cave and found a wooden bucket, a wooden plate, and a wooden cup lying on the ground.
"This place is disgusting, I have to get out of this place before the stink gets on my clothes." He was about to go out when something caught his attention.
Lying on the blanket was a piece of paper that Leal immediately picked up. Thanks to the slight light coming from outside, he got a glimpse of what was written in it.
'For my dear, Lei.'
He did not have to read the letter any further, with great anger on his face, he ripped the letter off to pieces and screamed very loudly.
"She is not Lei! She is Cahira! And she is a curse! I refuse to believe this! My sister is not a curse! That monster is not my sister!" He screamed loudly as he kicked the blanket on the ground and swept the dirty ground with it. The next thing he did was to stomp the bucket, wooden cup, and plate until they were completely destroyed.
Upon destroying everything inside, he ran outside while expressing great anger on his face. He rushed all the way to the vegetables planted in the garden and trampled all the vegetables to the ground while screaming loudly.
"That monster is not my sister! She never was! And she never will!"
He continued rampaging and destroying all the plants. Until none left. After demolishing the plants, Leal kneeled to the ground while aggressively chasing his own breath.
"A curse is not my family." He slowly said while wandering his eyes throughout the area.
However, his eyes instantly widened upon seeing a familiar face hiding behind one of the trees while staring at him with sadness on her face. Her jet black eyes were dwelling in Leal's eyes. The sides of her face were twinkling as tears fell down. She was sitting beside the tree as if her knees could no longer support her body.
Both of them stared at each other. And despite the devastation apparent on Cahira's face, she just stared directly at Leal without any hint of anger.
Cahira slowly stood up but her knees were shivering uncontrollably. "Hearing those words coming directly from your mouth really hurts more than when other people say it to me. It hurts more because you have proven to me that all this time, they were right... I was delusional for thinking that you would like me too."