I grabbed the leg of the armored man in front of me. It was a desperate attempt to stop him. Those eyes of his... they were familiar. Those eyes were also cold. He wanted to end my life. I knew that with my very soul. Between us, a wordless exchange occurred, and I learned many things. No amount of begging would save me. To him, my fate was already certain. Death. Fear permeated through my being as he lifted his arms into the air to strike me with his blade. Panicked, I turned my head left and right for a solution. I didn't want to die. There was nothing there except for an open window. His blade glimmered in the light of the sun that shined through. My mind... fell apart at that moment. I was going to die. My face was an ugly mess. Why did I, a prince, have to die like this? No amount of screaming would save me. Those kinds of thoughts plagued me. My hands... they started to feel strange.

As the knight's grip on the sword tightened, so did my desperate grip on his leg. I winced at the blade and closed my eyes. Resigning myself to reality, I left my eyes closed. I was not going to die old. I was going to die now. However, that 'now' never came. After a tense moment of silence, I felt compelled to open my eyes. I will them open and saw an illogical sight. His blade... hovered directly above my head, unmoving. It was completely still.

I looked beyond the blade and at the expression of the armored man. He seemed to be just as perplexed as I was. Clearly, it wasn't just his blade that could not move. The knight's entire body had completely halted. My lip quivered silently. I glanced back at my hand. It was still grasping tightly upon the ankle of the man in front of me. That strange feeling... felt like a force that was pulling the man into a plane in which he could not move.

The man seemed to strain himself to move. Shortly, he seemed to start to break free of the stillness. I yelped quietly when I saw him tighten his grip. Soon, he moved as if he was stuck in thick molasses. He could barely move. An infant could be considered more mobile than him. At most, he could move his fingers and mouth. Swinging his sword was an action that was simply impossible. He looked at me with a tiny bit of fear. He must have felt weak in this moment.

Why was he looking at me with that kind of face? Even behind his helmet, I knew that an expression of fear was behind his mask.

"Is... this... your... doing, Kyren?" I knew that voice. This man... he had betrayed my family. For the time being, I ignored the realization. I thought about the words he had just spoke. His question was simple, yet impossible to answer. After all, I had no idea what was causing him to be immobile. If anything, the only thing that I knew was that I was the cause of it. His voice was the volume of a whisper. He must have been struggling to even speak. He attempted to inch away from me. It was a pitiful sight. Seeing the knight become desperate to escape me was pathetic.

A different thought was forced into my mind. This thought... I could not resist it. Without any kind of consideration of whether or not it was the right thing to do, I accepted it as such.

'He must die.' He is weak right now. This is my only chance. That thought was blasted into my mind. It seemed so right. This knight was trying to kill me. If he died, then I would feel normal again. Upon this thought, my intense instinct of survival became a weapon. I stood up, still grasping the man's body. If I stopped touching him, he might regain his competency and start moving normally. I forced the knight's sword out of his hand and picked it up off the floor once it dropped. The next thing I did was done with shocking clarity. To me, that was the most terrifying thing. It felt so simple, so easy.

Terror started to show in the man's eyes. My vision tunneled onto his helmet. He was hiding his face. This was not an issue. After all, I could just take his helmet off, right? I took off his helmet with my free hand.

"Adam?" I addressed him. I knew this man. Indeed, he was one of the knights that was responsible for the safety of the royal family. He was responsible for the safety of my father, the king. Adam's face made a strange motion upon hearing his name. His lips opened but said nothing.

I began to lift the blade. It was quite heavy. Adam's armor was quite cold. I noticed many things I had not thought about before. To Adam, my face must have looked calculative. In this moment, I only saw right and wrong, life and death, and black and white. That is to say, I no longer could see the in-between anymore. In this kind of state, I could only think simply.

"Adam, I will kill you." Nothing else felt right. An eerie pledge was made in my mind. It was imprinted into my mind. The next words that I said, I would be forced to obey.

"Those who try to kill me will die." Those words became a permanent mark on my identity. Perhaps, murdering Adam would make my identity collapse. I had considered myself a prince capable of archery and hunting. After this, it would be difficult not to believe that I am not just a murderer. Right now, I didn't care.

I would hate my actions later. Murder... morality... none of that mattered to me in the face of death. I didn't want to die, just like everyone else. That carnal desire for life, why is it that it is so potent? While I thought, I realized something. The blade in my hand was ready for use.

"May the founder himself bury you." An old saying of the royal family. It was a proverb to show respect to a loyal servant or member of the family who had perished. Clearly, Adam was not loyal by any means, but the proverb felt fitting.

The man in front of me... he had been broken. While I had been consumed by my thoughts, Adam must have fallen into despair. The moment that his helmet came off while he was unable to resist, he was left only to think about his death.

I ran the blade down the knight's neck and found a nice spot to allow the blade to sink. The blade was very sharp. It must have been sharpened this very day. Once it pierced the man's throat, it was easy to pull back out. The man in front of me... he could not even suffer freely. I only saw his lips open and close repeatedly. Once his pain seemed to come to a stop, I backed away from him, letting go. Adam's death was a pitiful one. Most of the knights had surpassed the human limit... Adam was one of them. He must have believed he was untouchable. In truth, Adam was correct. However, it seemed that even Adam couldn't defend himself against mystical forces. Eventually, the knight drew his last breath. His body fell against a bed I called my own. I don't think I could ever sleep here peacefully again.

"This is your punishment, Adam," I said to Adam. Perhaps, he could still hear me.

Adam's death... it had happened in the span of half a minute. Just moments ago, I had accepted death. Funnily, death had come. However, it had not come for me. Death came for him.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

I had no idea what the situation was. I had been attacked suddenly. I was afraid to leave the room. If a knight had attacked me... he almost certainly was not alone. The royal family was in immense danger. First and foremost, I closed the door to my room. It was open. I needed time to think.

"What was that?" I asked myself. I looked at my hand. Just what was that phenomenon? I hadn't realized it before, but I had felt an otherworldly feeling within me channeled into my hands when that knight stopped being able to move. I tried calling to that feeling again. No luck. nothing happened.

'An otherworldly feeling... I wouldn't describe it as such if I could so easily recall it.' The feeling remained unfamiliar to me even though I had just tapped into it.

'I don't have time to waste.'

I peeked my head out and looked toward the bedroom of my brother. His door was closed tightly. It was probably locked. Cyrus locked his door often. Only he had this habit. After all, all of the rooms on this floor, the second floor, could only be locked by a master key. Only the king and those who he deemed appropriate could have a master key. Only Cyrus was deemed fit for a master key because he was the heir to the throne, the crown prince. I had asked once. My father chuckled at me and shook his head. He did not permit me to have one of those keys. It was ridiculous. He favored my brother over me. I knew that well. My father's differing treatment of us two... was one of the things that kept us apart. I stayed away from him because it seemed to be expected of me. If I approached him, I would be overstepping the bounds that my father had imposed upon us.

"Cyrus... so he is still alive," I said blankly, masking my emotions. If an outsider asked, I would say that Cyrus and I were related only by blood. It was much easier to say that than explain our strange relationship. This false apathy toward my brother... had become a habit.

I looked at the armor behind me. Adam's body had bloodied it. The sight was horrid. I felt a little sick looking at it. Not because of the blood pooling around him, but because of the fact that I caused it. The blade was still stuck inside his neck. I looked down at my hands. They were trembling. I tore my gaze away from the body and closed my eyes. I never looked back. I couldn't handle the sight. I couldn't handle the consequences of my actions. I felt like if I was forced to consider it, my identity would collapse.

I saw a figure approach my door. I closed it shut. It looked like a woman. However, I knew better. This man was Iris. He had many feminine qualities. His skin was pristine, and his body was slender. Yet, under that exterior, Iris was fiercer than a beast. Not only that, but he was also faster than a beast. He would maul me to death in battle. He didn't even need armor to do it. He didn't have an armor suit on and he probably preferred it that way. After all, armor would only hinder his movement. He was stronger than me. That was certain. I could imagine the bloodbath that might occur if I carelessly left my room. I would die the moment he laid eyes on me. Of course, this was assuming that Iris was hostile. It was entirely possible that Adam was working on his own. Possibly didn't mean likely. I could leave my room boldly. If Iris was on my side, I would have nothing to be worried about. The dangerous situation would be over. Iris would almost certainly be able to protect me from anything that could threaten me. His strength was supreme.

'That's the exact reason I am scared of him!' Iris' ability could certainly be considered supreme. That was only a good thing if he was still loyal to the royal family! If he was an enemy, and I opened this door... my life would end there. Eventually, Iris reached the front of the door.

I stood frozen, unsure of what to do until my body acted on its own. Before I had known it, the door had flung open and a fist was flying toward Iris' face. I felt an impact and I readied my other hand for another attack. I drove my fist toward his gut. Another impact was scored. Internally satisfied with the success, I pulled my arms back. Yet, I could not. Once the hands had impacted the beast in front of me, they would never leave. I realized what had happened.

'He blocked both of my attacks with his palms?!' He hadn't done just that. He had grabbed both of my fists and now I was unable to run away. Desperate, I recalled the force that had immobilized Adam just minutes before. It came naturally just when I needed it to. Flowing through my fists, I felt it course through Iris. For a moment, we were both silent. I tried to pry my hands out of Iris' grip. Although Iris could not move, he could at least maintain his grip on my hands. Even that was temporary, as if he was working on overdrive, Iris' expression hardened. Suddenly, he began moving I could only describe as sluggish. It was like he was moving at half-speed. Half of his speed was more than enough to tighten his grip on my hands and cause me to yelp in pain. Seemingly cautious about my use of a mystical force, he kicked me in the gut and let go of me. I was knocked two steps back. Iris started to move normally once more. He drew his blade and eyed me. My suspicions were all but confirmed. Iris was an enemy I had to eliminate. If he wasn't working with Adam, he would have retreated after he had kicked me away. He was not permitted to attack me. Although I understood that, that didn't mean that I could suddenly gain an increase in my ability. Even when he was slowed drastically by my special ability, though I admit I don't understand how it works, he outclassed me. How could I defend his attack when he was at his full ability? The answer was quite simple. I couldn't. It was impossible.

It was only then that I noticed something peculiar about his blade. It was dyed red with blood. Iris had used his blade on someone already. I looked back at Iris. His clothes were clean, with not a drop of blood in sight. Whatever he had done, he had done it cleanly. Either it was a short battle, or there was a victim who was unable to resist. I suppose that anyone who had to fight Iris could be considered a victim. However, that was not what I meant.

'Did he stab someone in the back? In their sleep?' Truly, being stabbed in the back by the strongest knight of the kingdom was not an honorable end.

He bent his knees and he appeared to be about to lunge toward me. He stood still in that position. He looked behind me and stood right back up. He saw no more meaning in continuing to attack me. I looked behind me. He looked to be about thirty. His bottom lip was scarred terribly. His hair was dark brown. He was a knight.

"Firmi!" I cried in joy. Firmi did not look back at me. He only looked at Iris. Iris simply stared at us. He seemed to be considering the situation. After a short silence, Iris made a small smile. His smile was unnerving to me.

"You think you have prevented disaster? Laughable. I have already done what I needed to." With those words, Iris turned his back to his and walked away. Firmi made no move to cut him down. Perhaps, Firmi did not believe to have the confidence to kill Iris, even with his back turned.

I would later learn... Iris' words were said to spite Firmi. After I had been escorted out of the castle and brought to a safe place, I stared dumbly at the letter I had received. In particular, I read one line over and over again.

The letter informed me of a couple of things. Apparently, three of the knights had turned against us. Three of the six of them. How could that have happened? Adam, Iris, and one more. The knight's name was Burley. He was the oldest knight of them. He could be considered elderly. His vision was declining but that did not make him weak. In fact, Burley would often say that he considered it a strength. He would often praise his uncanny hearing. He attributed his uncanny ability to hear to his inability to see. His senses sharpened because he was robbed of the sense of sight. He was also the knight that was responsible for teaching me archery. Even without the ability to see, he was a better archer than me. Also, Cyrus was confirmed to have been able to escape danger and had found a safe place to hide as I had. However, I didn't care about any of that. I stared dumbly at one particular line. In my head, I read it multiple times. It read:

'The king has perished.'