Apex, I terrified your son.
I looked at the boy as he tried—hard—to hide the fear on his face.
His ferocious python had refused to finish me, leaving him no choice.
He screamed, "Obsi, return!"
The python dropped my body, and I collapsed to my knees.
It slithered back into its hidden hole beneath the wooden floorboards, disappearing like it hadn't just tried to end me.
The boy gripped his dagger tighter.
"If Obsi couldn't kill you," he said, "then I'll do it myself."
He lunged.
I let him.
Closed the distance on purpose.
Exposed myself to his blade.
I saw the dagger's tip flash behind my Veil of Glass before I spoke.
"Child… do you even know what it means to kill? Do you understand the weight of taking a life? Have you slaughtered anything before—a hen, a mouse… even a fly?"
He froze.
His silence spoke for him.
I let out a wicked laugh.
"How do you plan to kill the King of Slayers with no experience at all? Put the blade down, child."
I rose to my full height, towering over him.
"You're too young to have blood on your hands."
He knew I was right.
Why would a literal child have to be reduced to this?
This wasn't just any kid.
Rose would never have wanted this for him.
Speaking of her…
"Listen, child," I said. "Before you decide whether to kill me or not—tell me Apex told you the tale of your birth."
He stared at me, intense and unblinking, but he still answered.
"Yes. Papa told me everything."
Good.
At least Apex had been a decent father.
"Then tell me…" I paused. "I forgot to ask your name."
He answered quicker than he meant to.
"They call me Oma. Prince of Liberty. Son of Apex. Heir of Rose… and Oma's True King."
I tilted my head, impressed despite myself.
A decade-year-old royal, carrying more titles than his height.
"Aren't you the Chosen One?" I asked, deliberately sarcastic.
"Mama believed so," he said softly. "She never stopped saying it. Not until the end."
My smile faded behind the mask at the sound of her name.
I should've never told her about Death's Bargain.
If she hadn't given her life to give her son the closest thing to immortality… she'd still be here.
He stepped closer, dagger trembling now in frustration rather than fear.
"Papa said you killed Mama," he said. "He said you put crazy ideas in her head. That she started doing strange rituals, saying she was preparing for her Ascension.
"At first Papa thought she wanted superpowers… but now we know she meant Heaven.
"I can't even remember her face, but I know her tale better than anyone.
"Devil of Babel… tell me why I should talk instead of killing you where you stand."
I breathed in slowly through the burning pain.
"It would be dishonourable," I said, "to deny a dead man his last wish. Every royal knows that.
"Don't worry. I won't be greedy. I have only two desires:
Hear Rose's tale…
and visit her grave."
He took a while to begin the tale but the delay was worth the wait because...
A week after he was born…
A week, and the world had already turned against him!
Rose somehow knew. Somehow, the Queen of Oma knew she wouldn't survive the pregnancy. Every glance she gave, every word she spoke—it was like a farewell stitched into the air. Her touch, her presence, the way she lingered in moments, it all carried the weight of finality. Apex overheard her once, whispering to someone unseen, calling Death by name.
Not angrily.
Not pleading.
Simply—acknowledging.
"She had one last thing to do before leaving," the boy said. His voice was calm. But I could hear the tremor of awe beneath the words.
A week after carrying him into the world, Rose had learned of Yuda's chaos. Yuda—the supposed steward, the cousin who thought leadership was his birthright—spreading lies about Apex.
Propaganda that Apex, with his antisocial silence and walls around him, was keeping Rose like… like property. Selfish. Possessive.
The lies were half true. Apex was withdrawn. Apex was guarded. But to think he could ever cage Rose… That was a mistake. She had always been her own master. And she would prove it.
On the day before she left… she summoned Yuda. She summoned the Sons of Oma.
She demanded an assembly in her throne room, where she presented the child.
The boy—Oma—shivered slightly as he told me. But there was no hesitation in his words. He could remember.
"'Sons of Oma,'" she said, her voice careful but echoing a Queen's pride, "'you have yearned for a King for too long. Today, I present to you my son… Oma. He is not just your prince… he is the embodiment of the kingdom of Oma itself.'"
I froze inside the Veil. The embodiment of the kingdom… A newborn, and already the weight of a dynasty pressed against him. Already, a legacy was built into his bones.
Then Rose spoke to Yuda. Not with anger. Not with pleading. With precision. Authority.
"'Yuda,'" the boy recited her words, "'from now on, you shall hold the seat until Oma is ready to take it. Lead well, cousin. Your life depends on it.'"
I could see Yuda's shock from here. Even through the boy's memory. He hadn't expected this. A baby dictating the future of a kingdom before he could even speak.
But Rose wasn't done. Not even close.
"As my last gift to you, Yuda… I hand Geni the Brave into your hands for marriage."
I let that sink in. Geni the Brave. Not just a warrior, not just a general. But someone capable of bending men to her will with nothing but a glare.
Did I not witness her wrath an hour ago?
Yuda's horror was understandable. Not because she was unattractive, or soft, or anything feeble. No. She could break men harder than their mothers ever did.
And Geni herself? She made it clear. She would respect Yuda's authority to an extent.
He could take mistresses while she commanded the army.
Geni never wanted to be Queen.
She wished to be General.
This was her compromise with Yuda.
Yuda could go anywhere,wear any crown.
But Rose's throne?
Off-limits. Sacred. Untouchable.
That same night… Rose left.
She joined her ancestors. Became a memory, a ghost, a tale to be told.
Apex took the child. And Geni followed. She breastfed him. Apex taught him. Geni protected him. Even Yuda gave him a tour of the kingdom and spent time with him until Apex called for him.
He lived in the Forest of Predators where he grew, hunted, survived, and learned the laws of monsters before he ever understood the laws of men.
The boy paused, his gaze flicking toward me.
"She did it all for me," he said simply. "Even knowing she wouldn't live… even knowing I would have to grow without her. Mama… she made sure I had a kingdom, even if I didn't know how to claim it yet."
I didn't speak. I couldn't. I just watched. I felt… something I hadn't felt in a long time. Something like respect. Like fear. Like the bitter sweetness of finally knowing how Rose died.
And yet… her legacy was here.
Alive and eager to slay me.