"Why?!" Mako bellowed at the top of his lungs from the platform where his head awaited the guillotine's fall.
His brother, with a stern face and crimson eyes glaring at him with disdain, began walking toward Mako.
But he didn't address Mako's question. Instead, he turned to the crowd.
"People of Galandria!" His voice silenced the murmurs rippling through the audience. "We gather today, before the eyes of commoners and nobles alike, to condemn Mako of the House of the Sun for attempting to assassinate the king."
With his ankles and wrists aching from the shackles, Mako stared through tears of rage and helplessness at the person he once trusted most.
He tried to kick, to struggle in some way, but…
It was futile.
"How far the House of the Sun has fallen," muttered one of the guards stationed by the guillotine.
"Quiet! Someone might hear you," his companion hissed.
"The crowd's roar drowns out everything back here. Lord Erick Sol is too busy delivering the sentence."
The guard paused, shifting his gaze from Erick's broad, imposing back—adorned with a flowing red cape—to his older brother, moments from being beheaded.
"Look at him," the guard continued. "Generations as the kingdom's most powerful, wealthiest, and loyal house. Not only did he fail to awaken his system, but he sank so low as to try to kill the king."
Mako wanted to scream, to unleash the searing pain in his chest, but weeks in the dungeon had left him with only enough strength to direct his fury at one person:
Erick.
Following the prince's words, nobles and commoners alike raised their fists to the sky, their voices uniting in a single cry:
"Kill him!"
Mako's furrowed brow softened as he saw that sea of people shouting in anger, baying for his death.
"They're going to kill me…" Mako whispered, his trembling lips fixed on the wooden boards beneath him.
Was this truly his end?
But as Mako stared defeatedly at the ground, Erick felt a hollow pit in his stomach as he turned his back to the crowd to face him.
Suddenly, the guillotine released prematurely.
"Damn it!" Erick shouted, lunging to warn the guards, but the distance between them was too great. "I haven't given the order yet…!"
The guillotine dropped like lightning, severing Mako's head. As his world spun, everything faded to black.
◇◆◇
"Mako!" A familiar voice—one of the few friendly ones in his life—pierced through. "Get up!"
'What?' Mako thought, chuckling inwardly, as if it were a cruel joke. 'Shouldn't I be dead?'
In that moment, he realized not only was his head still attached to his neck, but he could taste dust and earth on his lips.
Mako was on the ground, clad in his winter training gear: a high-collared jacket, black boots, and gloves.
Mako opened his eyes, as if waking from a nightmare. He stood and saw Ana, a woman whose long black hair flowed like an elegant cape down to her thighs, gleaming in her polished silver armor.
"Come on, Mako," Ana pressed. "Get serious. You haven't even picked up your sword."
Mako glanced down and saw the training sword lying beside him.
'I remember this. Last winter, before… Erick betrayed me.'
"Ana," a sharp, deep voice cut in, "this isn't even fun anymore. It's obvious I'm on a whole different level than my little brother."
It was Erick, not a drop of sweat on him.
Mako's face was a mask of shock and terror.
"Come on, Erick. Show some respect to the heir of the House of the Sun," Ana replied.
Mako's stomach churned with nausea, the sensation of waking from a bad dream overwhelming him. Confused, he studied Erick's face, catching a fleeting scowl when Ana spoke.
'No, this isn't a dream…' Mako thought.
Fueled by rage, unable to control his emotions, Mako grabbed the practice sword, which had always felt heavy and unwieldy before.
"What?" Erick dropped into a fighting stance. "Got something to say, little brother?"
Reliving the hell he'd endured, Mako seized this second chance and charged at Erick with all his might, swinging a slash that Erick dodged effortlessly.
"Too slow!" Ana scolded.
Mako let out a guttural scream, raw with fury.
Erick started to laugh.
"Come on, you should be used to losing to me by now. Why so pissed off all of a sudden?"
Mako didn't hear the taunts. Blinded by anger, he kept swinging his weapon, missing every mark.
Erick wiped the smirk off his face and, with a more serious expression, planted his foot firmly in the dirt. In one swift motion, he struck Mako's chest with the hilt of his sword, knocking the wind out of him.
"Don't ever try something that stupid again," Erick said as Mako collapsed to his knees. "The last of the kingdom's greatest house can't act like a rabid beast."
Mako's fists trembled with impotence.
'Why…?' he thought, lifting his gaze. To Erick's surprise, those blue eyes—always so dull before—now burned with an unusual gleam that caught him off guard.
Then he realized it wasn't his imagination.
It was, literally, a near-neon glow radiating from Mako's pupils, brimming with intense emotions.
Rage, hatred, the purest form of anger.
Before Erick could step back or summon his powers, his eardrums were pierced by his brother's bloodcurdling scream as Mako lunged at him once more.
"Impossible!" Ana shouted, watching the scene unfold.
From the ground, Mako threw an uppercut that connected squarely with Erick's jaw, sending him flying several meters through the air.
"Well, well…" a bearded figure in the shadows grinned, observing from a nearby balcony. "Little Mako has finally awakened his system."