✦ The Chorus Sanctum Crownkeeper ✦
One of them stepped forward —
a woman robed in white and gold, eyes glowing with soft hymnlight.
The Crownkeeper of the Chorus Sanctum.
Her very presence felt like warmth woven into sound, like the world was listening to her breathe.
She knelt and smiled,
her voice carrying through every corner of the arena without shouting once.
"Oh, beloved prince — born beneath the first dawn of the Heart.
Your cry will echo through Heaven's melody.
May your heartbeat never lose its rhythm —
for when it does, Heaven itself will listen."
Her words floated like prayer and command at once, turning the silence holy.
I didn't understand them, but something inside me stirred — a faint echo that felt… familiar.
✦ INNER THOUGHT ✦
Haise (Thinking):
My old life was miserable enough, and now this
Gods, light, crowds cheering my baby face like I'm some kind of celestial poster boy.
If this is peace, it's loud.
Still… maybe this time, I'll get it right.
✦ Closing Beat ✦
The crowd roared again —
a chorus of cheers, prayers, and awe.
The Heart pulsed once.
Light rippled outward like a shockwave,
washing across the city in a single breath.
Every tower glowed.
Every wing caught fire.
And for the first time in this new life…
I realized the world had expectations of me.
Far above, the Crystal Heart shimmered —
faintly out of rhythm,
as if it already knew my story wouldn't fit the song it was writing.
✦ WEIGHT OF A CROWN ✦
As the ceremony ended, banners rippled like veins of fire.
The Legions departed, and the Crystal Heart pulsed once —
sending a warm shimmer through the air.
Every eye still watched me.
Somewhere below, a mortal servant whispered to another:
"He smiled."
"Maybe he'll be different from the last."
Their hope was small —
but the Heart pulsed once, as if it heard.
Every whisper carried expectation.
Big glowing gem = everything.
Big scary people = order.
Me = somehow stuck in the middle.
Except I wasn't just stuck.
I was the Prince of Heaven.
Even as a toddler, I could feel it —
the weight of every gaze pressing like invisible armor.
Below, couriers glided across wind-bridges,
scholars crossed silver causeways,
and mortals bowed as the Heart's pulse echoed through the city.
Each light below had a story.
Each home, a prayer.
And everywhere I went,
the Heart's glow followed me —
humming faintly, like it was keeping score.
✦ MY THOUGHTS AS A BOY ✦
To adults, the Legions meant politics and duty.
To me?
They were bedtime stories with swords.
A dragon's roar.
A warden's chant.
Shields clashing like thunder.
Heaven wasn't safe because it was perfect.
It was safe because people refused to let it fall.
Because curiosity was safer than fear.
So, naturally, I tugged on Mother's robe.
"Do I get to join one?"
She smiled softly.
"One day, Haise. But first… your New Moon trial."
Right — the Element and Soul-born Awakening Trial.
Before Heaven judged my potential,
it first needed to see if my soul could even hold its rhythm.
Before I could choose my destiny,
Heaven would test if I even deserved one.
Of course. Always the trial.
For a moment, I forgot Earth.
Forgot headlights, rain, the voice that told me not to die.
Then the Heart pulsed again — harder.
A sharp ache behind my ribs.
Like something broken inside me wanted to remind:
You were not saved… you were repurposed.
Above the spires, something watched —
patient, familiar, far too knowing.
The Heart exhaled; the world shifted.
And I realized I'd been placed
between a promise… and a danger.
Far below Heaven's glow,
the dark sigil pulsed once —
like it had just found me.
✦ Morning in Heaven ✦
Heaven's dawn wasn't quiet.
It sang.
When the first rays of gold bled through the sky, crystal bells rang in every sanctum.
Colors rippled across the horizon —
crimson, azure, violet, silver —
each hue marking the Heart's morning pulse.
Clouds drifted in lazy curls, and the divine gardens shimmered with dew that looked suspiciously like stardust.
Somewhere between the melody of birds and the Choristers' hymns…
I caused small chaos again.
"Prince Haise! Please stop running!"
"Your Highness — the Divine Hound is not a suitable mount—!"
Guard (panting): "Your Highness! Please slow— we are not built for this speed!"
Maid (desperate whisper): "Why does the pastry fly… why…?"
Too late.
I sprinted barefoot through the marble halls of the Celestial Palace,
robes half-tied, chasing a floating pastry that had gained enough sentience to flee for its life.
✦ Servants' Whispering Panic ✦
From somewhere down the corridor—
Servant 1 (panicking in whisper):
"Is the Prince… using magic!?"
Servant 2 (shaking head fast):
"No—he has no powers yet. That's just raw Ryvane leaking again."
Servant 1:
"But he's only five! The New Moon Trial isn't until he's fifteen—
awakening earlier could shatter a child's soul!"
Servant 2:
"He's not awakening. He's still a Seeker—he has no Ryvane at all.
This is just resonance surge… nothing more."
Servant 1 (worried):
"Still… last two years, so few children awakened.
Why does the Prince stir Ryvane this early?"
Servant 2 (quietly):
"That's what frightens me."
My reflection flashed in the polished floors —
crown crooked, hair scorched upward like I'd hugged lightning.
Somewhere in the palace, the Royal Resonance Monitors probably panicked again.
Queen Yumi (passing by with a sigh):
"The palace light reacts to him.
He has no abilities, just… chaos."
My Ryvane resonance never charted normally —
it fluctuated like a storm.
"Breakfast should not require this much cardio!" I yelled, leaping after the runaway pastry.
My foot slipped.
Behind me, two maids were near tears, one guard tripped over his halberd, and the royal steward quietly muttered about resignation letters.
The pastry finally landed on a divine cushion shaped like a cloud.
I pounced — missed — and face-planted.
The pastry, smug and untouched, floated upward again on the morning breeze.
"...traitor," I muttered.
Divine Hound (tilting head): "Rrr?"
Servant (whispering): "Is… is he arguing with breakfast?"
It wasn't me — at least, I don't think so.
The air around me always hums a little too loud; sometimes, the Ryvane currents forget what's supposed to stay on the table.
It wasn't my fault.
Mother says the palace's light likes to play with me — personally, I think it just has terrible aim.
✦ Enter: The Queen ✦
"You've caused ten divine incidents before sunrise, my son."
Mother's voice was gentle —
the kind that sounded like bells and warnings at once.
I turned slowly.
There she was — the Queen of Heaven.
Serene, radiant, the kind of beauty that made flowers bloom just to stare.
She was holding a teacup.
I was holding a shoe.
One of us clearly had life figured out.
"I was just… testing wind resistance," I said.
Yumi (tired smile):
"You tested it on the royal chef yesterday too."
Me (Haise):
"That was science, Mother."
Her eyebrow rose.
"On breakfast?"
"It's research!"
Her sigh could alter scriptures.
"Haise, my love, you're supposed to inherit Heaven, not give it a headache.
When you run, even the Heart listens."
✦ Small Moments of Peace ✦
Later — washed, combed, re-robed, and gently scolded —
I stood at the balcony overlooking the Crystal Heart.
The entire capital stretched below —
towers glimmering, rivers of light weaving through them,
angels sparring in courtyards like sparks dancing on wind.
I pressed my palm to my chest.
That faint thrum — that soft, second heartbeat — was there again.
Ryvane, not wind. Not nerves.
THRUM.
It wasn't loud — just a quiet pulse under my ribs.
But every time it echoed, the air around me seemed to breathe.
Like Heaven itself remembered me.
For the first time that morning,
I went quiet.
✦ End of Chapter 4 — The Prince of Heaven ✦