"Azadin, I'm always on your side."
"Huh?"
"It might be strange for me to say this, but aren't I like a mother to you?"
"A, a mother?"
There was a twelve-year age difference between Azadin and Aldis. Calling her his mother was a bit of a stretch.
"But if you hate yourself, doesn't that mean you also hate me for forcing you to live? That makes me a little sad."
"N, no, that's not it…."
Azadin averted his gaze. There wasn't a single reason to like himself, and no matter how much Aldis asked, it was impossible for him to do so.
***
After the summer solstice festival ended, the number of dropouts from basic training increased. While training, the children were too busy and exhausted to bother Azadin, but the ones who had failed basic training now had time to spare.
Of course, they were supposed to receive training to become merchants or craftsmen, but since it was still shortly after the festival, the lingering excitement remained. And so, with time on their hands, they naturally turned their hostility toward Azadin.
However, with Aldis by his side, no one could touch Azadin. Aldis deliberately stayed behind instead of leaving for her post, trying to lift Azadin's spirits by reading books with him, teaching him the language of fairies, fishing together, or mending his clothes.
But as a herald, she had to leave eventually.
***
"Hey, Aldis left."
"Really? Then… today's the day?"
"Ah, that little traitor lived it up while clinging to Aldis, didn't he?"
"I'm killing that bastard today."
They were all waiting for the chance. Especially the children who had failed the herald selection process—they couldn't stand the fact that Azadin was a dropout just like them.
They wanted to confirm their 'difference' from Azadin, to find someone beneath them and crush him, to soothe their wounded pride after failing the herald selection.
That urge was what drove them.
"Tch, kids these days. Aldis dotes on him so much, do you think she'd sit still if something happened to him? If you touch him, the trouble will spread to your parents too. How short-sighted can you be?"
Watching them from a distance, a shadow muttered to itself.
***
In the end, the children never got the chance to harm Azadin. Before they could even lay a hand on him, Arael had already left him gravely injured. In the middle of an argument, Arael had left a large scar on Azadin's face.
A long, horizontal wound slashed across where his eye should have been.
The punishment the elders gave Arael for such a reckless act was blatantly biased. Three days in solitary confinement—that was all.
Both Azadin and Arael were children of traitors, but it was inevitable that people treated them differently—Arael was undeniably beautiful and adorable, while Azadin was repulsive and unpleasant to look at. More than anything, the Aragasas had never dealt with a powerless child before.
It was natural for a child to be weak and immature, but they had no room in their hearts to accept such things.
"Urgh… Aaah…."
Azadin groaned in pain from his wound. A poultice made from disinfecting herbs had been applied to prevent infection. Thanks to his special vision, he could still see, but….
It hurt.
The physical pain was one thing, but the verbal abuse and violence Arael had inflicted on him were unbearable.
"Arael!!!"
Azadin screamed his only blood relative's name with rage and hatred. He had been tormented and despised by the rest of the clan, but never once had he felt this level of loathing—only Arael, his own kin, had given him this feeling.
"I'll kill you! I swear to all the gods, I'll kill you!"
Writhing in his hatred, the wounded Azadin howled like the legendary Eyeless Evil Dragon.
***
On the day Aldis left, Arael came to see Azadin.
"You're disgusting, Azadin. Playing the weak child, hogging Aldis' attention all to yourself."
"Arael…."
"During this summer solstice festival, I barely even got to talk to Aldis. She gave me my name too, you know. So why do you get to monopolize her?"
"That's because of basic training…."
"Is that so? Not because you were whining and clinging to her?"
She held up a book—Azadin's treasured copy of The Knights of Salvation. It was a gift from Aldis.
"Ah! That's…."
"Why are you carrying around this heretical book?"
"We're not in a position to judge heresy, are we? It's not bad to learn about it, is it?"
"Is that so? The book's corners are almost worn down. You must have read it over and over again, cherishing it."
With terrifying strength, Arael tore the book apart right in front of Azadin's eyes. The pages were made of paper, but the cover was bound in leather—yet she ripped through it effortlessly and tossed the tattered remains at Azadin.
"Arael! What are you doing?!"
Azadin, furious, lunged at Arael.
Of course, he was no match.
Arael easily grabbed his arm, twisted it, and flung him to the ground. Then, she lifted her foot and stomped on his groin.
"Argh!"
"Poor Azadin. Aldis seems to think of you as her son…."
"What?"
"You like Aldis, don't you? Not as a mother, but as a woman."
"What are you talking about?"
"Not yet. You're still too immature to understand, but there's only a twelve-year age gap between you and Aldis. And she carries the blood of the emperor. You know that Harconia was the emperor's lover, don't you?"
Harconia, the legendary leader of the herald clan, was said to have been the lover of Emperor Yaeslat and bore his child.
It was an established fact among the Herald Clan, and indeed, Aldis had inherited the emperor's distinct silver hair.
"She's practically a Yaegas Divine Clan member. She'll have a long life. Even when you become an adult, she'll still be beautiful. Will you still think of her as a mother then? Though honestly, even now, you don't really see her that way, do you?"
"Stop…."
Azadin was more wounded by Arael's whispered words than by her violence.
Of course, Arael's words might be true. Beautiful Aldis, to Azadin, she was the very standard of beauty, his everything.
Before learning from her, Azadin had never known that beauty existed in this world. The wind was just wind, the night sky was hollow, and the stars were nothing more than dim lights.
It was Aldis who gave those things meaning, who instilled longing and admiration within him.
To say he felt no admiration, no desire for her, would be a lie.
But even if he did feel lust for her, he had resolved to treat it as the fate of a living being, something to be kept hidden deep within, never to surface. He loved her beyond such desires, and he did not want those feelings to taint his love.
Since it was an admiration that could never be fulfilled, he had vowed to bury it deep within his heart and live on.
But Arael took the secret Azadin had intended to keep forever and mercilessly dragged it to the surface, reveling in the act of wounding him. She mocked his resolve, toyed with his heart.
"Arael!"
"Yes, get angry, Azadin. Lose your temper. Aldis carries the blood of the emperor, so if you want to embrace her, you'll have to become the strongest existence in Aragasa! Surely, you have that kind of ambition?"
Arael beat Azadin, tormented him with cruel words, and in the end, slashed his face.
"Kuaaagh!"
Azadin writhed in pain, blood spraying.
For a moment, even Arael seemed to realize she had made a mistake, clicking her tongue. But…
She licked the blood off her hand and smiled.
"A wound suits you better than a lump of flesh where your eye should be. You should be grateful to me, Azadin."
***
Azadin fell ill with a fever, lying weak and frail. The wound itself was not severe, but he had been thoroughly beaten by Arael, and more than anything, her venomous words had ravaged his soul.
The insults and curses from other children had always been shallow, merely brushing the surface.
Son of a traitor.
Cursed wretch.
Ugly, hideous monster.
Useless, weakling.
Those words were painful, exhausting, but they only scratched the surface of Azadin's mind. But Arael… she had attacked his feelings for Aldis.
That was more precious to Azadin than his own life. It left a wound deeper and more painful than any physical blow, deeper than the wounds that tore his skin.
Azadin lay in the servants' hut, moaning and enduring.
Then, the door creaked open.
"So, this is the infamous Azadin, the Eyeless Evil Dragon?"
"Ugh…."
"Interesting. But I see you've got a wound on your eye. Does that mean you can't see anymore?"
It was a young man's voice. Azadin focused his blurred vision on the figure.
A golden-haired, blue-eyed elf.
"A, an elf… Hk!"
Azadin gasped in horror.
"D, don't eat me!"
Azadin loved elven books and myths. But did he love elves? That was another matter entirely. No, he feared them. Everyone did.
Elves were beautiful and long-lived, but they were also hedonists who craved human flesh. Despite their pure and delicate appearance, they were infamous for committing all sorts of grotesque, cruel, and perverse acts.
***
Before the Yaegas Divine Clan arrived, the dominant species ruling over Hubris had been the Nagas.
The Nagashura Empire.
The ones employed as bureaucratic administrators in that empire were the elves.
The Nagashura Empire raised humans like livestock, slaughtering them daily to soak their temples in blood. The elves had been a part of that gruesome process.
During the frenzied festivals of human slaughter and cannibalism, the elves had been just as ecstatic as the Nagas.
"Ah, so you know about the Nagashura era. I heard you like reading and that you're smart, but I see you really are quite something."
The elven man who had entered the hut smiled as he spoke.
"Don't worry. I've quit eating human flesh for a while. I had some this morning, so I won't be eating any for the time being."
"Ugh… Who are you?"
"Elder Kazas."
"Kazas? An elder? But…"
"Strange, isn't it? An elder who isn't an Aragasa? And you've never seen me at the elder council either, have you? Well, that's because I'm a hidden elder."
The elf, who had introduced himself as Kazas, grinned slyly.
"Rejoice, brat. You've been chosen as a disciple of the great Kazas. I will teach you the Beauty of Nature, the Kazas Haeseo."
"Huh?"
"What do you mean 'Huh?' This is the moment where you should be shedding tears of gratitude. Ah, but I suppose you can't shed tears without eyes, can you?"
Kazas grumbled, unimpressed by Azadin's lack of gratitude.
"But you're not an Aragasa. The Beauty of Nature…"
"Not at all!"
"But… the Kazas Haeseo?"
"Hahaha. Kid, shall I tell you the great secret of mages?"
"W-what is it?"
"Mages die when you cut off their heads."
"...."
"They also die if you pierce their hearts."
"...."
"And if you snap their spines, they die too."
"W-well, of course they would."
"And the technique to do that—that is the Kazas Haeseo."