It was a formal banquet held at a Castle; the Royal Hall were full of guests from high-ranking families; nobles of different backgrounds filled the room with vivid chatter as they joyfully conversed with one another. Holding a glass of wine on his left hand, the King marched across the grand staircase; holding onto the golden-plated railing, caressing its smooth surface. Finally, after reaching the top of the seemingly curved, enourmous stairway, the King stopped and held his breath before speaking. With a reserved voice, he spoke.

   「everyone, I humbly appreciate your presence in this special occasion!」

   「it was truly such a luxury to hold this event as we're still in the middle of war against such barbaric renegades! however, my guests, please feel at ease and enjoy this royal banquet without worrying over such trivial matters for I had multiplied the guards patroling the area」

  After stopping for a moment to fix his demeanor, the King concluded his ramblings.

   ...「enough with the politics」

  Having enough of the current political affairs, the King enthusiastically called forth his daughter with his exaggerated hand gestures. As soon as his petite little Princess stood beside him, the King happily continued his speech.

   「today is a special day!.. it is today that my dearest daughter turns into an Lad-」

  Embarassed from the King's remark, the Princess interupted her Father's 'heartfelt' speech.

   「I thank everyone for coming here to celebrate my twelfth birthday! I deeply appreciate it... really...」

          (wait... how does my speech go again?)

  With nervousness taking over her tense consciousness, Ethel started stuttering; her mind had gone blank from the pressure of speaking in front of a large crowd. Something she's never been used to.

   「I am Ethel, Ethel Atellia... I... uhh... am... the thi-third heir to the crown」

          (what am I supposed to say again? uhh... ho-hobbies?...)

   「I-i-i... u-uhh... a-」

          (wait do I have one... uhh... I don't... well it doesn't matter, just say anything!..)

  Before she could think of another word, her Father took over after noticing his daughter's discomfort.

   「this very date marks the start of my daughter's valid elligibility for marriage; for those who dare to put a ring in her finger, you can start making your strategic advances now hahahaha!」

  The guests chuckled*

          (Father... that was extremely unnecessary!)

  Blushing from ear to ear because of her Father's second embarassing remark, Ethel descended to the staircase and walked into the heart of the celebration. She had responded with a formal curtsey to the gazes she had garnered back on her short 'speech'. Observing her beautiful, pristine image, a few boys of the same age was already captivated from her spell; she really did look like a princess, like the ones from famous fairy tales.

  Her frilly long white dress complimented her silky short brown hair, as well as her beautiful emerald eyes. On her neck was a necklace with a pendant that resembled a key, made from polished diamonds. Her feet showcased a pair of tiny black leather shoes which gently contrasted her pale, tiny little feet. She wandered across the hall yearning for a companion, someone to talk to, she didn't want to die from boredom. However, despite her attempts to strike up conversations to the kids around her age, none of them dared to speak in her presence. They only replied with the briefest of regards.

          (cat got their tongue perhaps)

  Giving up finding a companion to share her time with, Ethel walked over to find solitude at the near-empty balcony, left side of the venue. With a fruit punch on her left hand, Ethel gazed at the starless sky faintly lit by a cresent moon; sipping through her prized drink as she peered in the heavens, she was all alone in a blissful solitude.

          (nothing beats being alone afterall... A lot has happened to finally get into this point)

  Ethel gave out a faint smile as she reminisced to her past.

   ...「finally, all good memories will start from now on...」

  Growing tired of the view, Ethel made her way back to the crowd. Surprisingly, within the short time she left, people had already started waltzing across the shiny marble pavement. The room was filled with a melodious chorus coming from an ensemble amidst the crowd; they harmoniously performed their instruments with one another. The heavy strums of the violin were complimented by occasional taps of a traingle; it was such a beautiful experience, the guests happily gazed the muscisians who were enjoying themselves.

   「my deepest regards your Highness, would you mind having a round of waltz with me?..」

  A young man in his early teens approached Ethel with a faint, worried smile on his face.

          (uhh?.. I thought no one wanted to associate with me... well I guess it's fine, Anna taught me how to dance anyway)

   ...「I'm not a good dancer myself... if it's only for a bit then I guess it's fi-」

  「HIIIIIIII!!!」

  Before Ethel could finish her sentence, a loud scream bewildered everyone in the hall. The musical chorus from the enseble stopped and everyone started crowding around the staircase. Piqued by the ruckus atop the place where her Father had given such an embarassing speech, Ethel nervously rushed over to see the source of bewilderment.

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   ...

   ...*gulps

  Vile... Atrocious... Disgusting...

  If one could find a word to express such sight to someone, it would be one of those three. A huge red splatter covered a large portion of the floor with bits of what seemed like minced innards scattered around. However, that was not scary part; it was the familiar bloodied robe and worn-out crown that was lying amidst the hideous scenery which caused Ethel a self-disarray.

   ...「F-f-fa-」

          ...(what is this?..)

  Too shaken to stand, Ethel fell onto the bloodied ground smudging her white dress. Tears started gushing down her face and a moment of realisation hit her; the remains on the ground was her Father; her Father who was laughing at his own lame speech several minutes ago. People behind Ethel were just as schocked as her, even barely staying on their feet; a few even held onto the railings whilst others threw up a few meters away from 'it'.

          ...(no way...)

             ...(this can't...)

                ...(be happening...)

       ...(RIGHT?!!)

   「I-IYAAAAHHH!!!」

  A deafening screech reveberated across the large room. The pristine image of Ethel was now replaced by a weeping one; on her knees, Ethel howled like any child would after seeing their parent's bloodied dismembered corpse lying on the ground. The crowd around her, the guests, they couldn't even comfort her; they themselves were too dumbfounded to find any sense in this situation.

  A long, painful silence followed; only faint sobs can be heared in what is supposed to be a vivid birthday celebration. The chatter stopped and everyone started moving; families started leaving one after another, every single one of them left the party with a traumatising experience. Soon enough, the Kings trusted aides came onto the crime scene. After discussing the incident for a while, they deduced the caused of the King's death. His higness was blown to shreds from the insides by an 'annihilator', a small metalic orb which causes a strong explosion when exposed to a certain temperature. They suspected that it was planted onto the King's wineglass before hand, it was small enough for one to notice so the King might've consumed it unknowingly.

  Ethel, who was still knelt on the verge of despair, still not being able to think properly, quietly eavesdropped to the adults' conversation.

   「our security is tight, how could someone plant such a device to the King's glassware unnoticed!」

  A man in a red vest protested.

   「then Sir, are you suggesting that someone among the guests had executed such a traitorous crime?!」

   「being angry and arguing right now won't bring us anywhere, calm yourselves down you fools!」

  Gomon, the King's advisor angrily stated. Gripping his arms tightly as he started walking in circles to ease his pent up frustration, Gomon was stuck trying to figure out the suspect. His bestfriend, the King, whom he knew at such a young age, was assassinated. Even a level-headed person like him couldn't bear the throbbing pain in his chest; his heart is weeping, he couldn't stop shaking, he wanted to seek justice from the bastard who had ended his trusted companion's life.

   「perhaps a maid or a butler did it...」

  A short teenage boy wearing a tailcoat suggested; thus, breaking the silence.

   「that's not possible, there was none the whole party, everything was prepared beforehand because the King deemed that servants will just crowd the venue intended for the nobles」

  Gomon replied in a heartbeat.

   「your grace, are you sure it's not just you being forgetful?」

   「yes... I am certain...」

  Responding hesitantly, Gomon bit his thumb and started to run a number of simulations inside his head based on the gathered evidence so far. He himself is aware that he's starting to act impatiently however, without coming to a conclusion to investigate, he believed that this case will be far from being solved. 

   「then if it's no-」

   -crash!

  A loud sound came from the entrance to their right; the huge oak door was busted into several planks of varying sizes. With their conversation interrupted, the obnoxious crowd looked at the direction of the noise but the second they did;

   -splat!

   .

   -bash!

  A loud crashing noise echoed across the lifeless room. The seemingly uneasy atmosphere a few moments ago is now gone, the room had gone silent; only a faint, dripping noise remained. Ethel who was closely eavesdropping the whole argument suddenly found herself dumbfounded, the familiar voices that she had been listening to were now gone without a trace. Wiping her dry tears off her eyes, Ethel crawled and peered upon the gaps on the railing.

          (what was that noise?...)

   ...「mister Gom-」

  *gasps

  Before Ethel could scream, she instinctively bit down her her tongue causing it to bleed; she didn't want to make a sound, her guts told her that it's a very bad idea to do so. The salty taste of her blood and the sharp aching pain from her nearly decapitated tongue woke her up to her senses; It was only a short glimpse but it was more than enough to scar her for life. Tearing up and breathing irregularly, Ethel panicked and a jumble of thoughts started gushing on her mind; she did not want to die, no one wants to; clinging to this thought desperately, Ethel hid herself deeper on the upper floor, away from the railing. Hoping that she wouldn't be found, Ethel drew her hands closer to her her chest, tightly clasping it together as if she was praying.

          (just what the hell is going on... CAN SOMEONE JUST WAKE ME UP FROM THIS HORRIBLE NIGHTMARE?!)

  Realising that her breathing had gone off-rhythm, Ethel tried to supress her panic by covering the faint noises coming from her mouth using both of her shaken hands. However, it was futile; the sight was far too horrific to be forgotten only seconds after seeing it.

The men, the King's subordinates, they were instantly slaughtered by what it seemed like a massive ball with spikes; their upper bodies where separated from their lower halves in a disgusting manner. Mushed up intestines horrendously decorated the refined marble pavement along with blood and dung splattered all over it. However, the weapon, the 'morning star', that had pierced and dragged the lifeless bodies of the men offered a far more gruesome picture. As if it was a yoyo that was swung and broke across a wall, the bodies that was skewered by the said weapon appeared like poorly-butchered flesh. Eyes poked out on what seemed to be a head of a person, the shoulders supporting the arms were either blown off or dislocated from their designated places, and a small slab of tattered flesh were hanging off from a few torn bodies which appeared to be held by a wire of some sort; that tattered flesh was their heart, still hanging off their veins, faintly beating. The scene seemed as if it was an aftermath of a war, corpses scattered everywhere.

  The sight looked plain red, there was blood everywhere; the scenery was too horrific for a faint of heart, Ethel even wondered for a second how her stomach handled it or how her arrhythmia still hasn't kicked in yet. For her, everything just didn't make sense anymore, she just wanted this excruciating nightmare to stop.

  The person who was responsible for the massacre stood motionless in the middle of the hall. He wore a long brown robe that one can mistook as a variation of rags. The killer had massive build allowed him to swing his enormous weapon as if it was a toy; gripping its handle tightly, he silently muttered.

   「what the fuck am I doing?..」

  Having accomplished the given task, the anonymous man hastily left the crime scene with a nasty aftertaste. Knowing that her safety is secured, tears of relief rushly cascaded on her thin, fragile cheeks. Wiping it off with her quivering hands, Ethel continued sobbing. After experiencing a series of traumatising events, it left made her realise how helpless she was.