Ahem...
"Alright, here I am, the Author, to give you all a little introduction."
I rest my chin on my right hand, rolling my eyes as I think.
"Now, how do I start this..."
"Where exactly should I begin?"
"Oh, I have an idea!"
Long ago, my beloved character...
I MEAN THE CREATOR!
Built this world to pursue a dream, while simultaneously hiding from enemies in pursuit.
He managed to carve out a time where he could live happily with his family.
However, something happened that left him trapped inside the very world he had built.
But this is not his story...
This is the story of a certain being living within the world the Creator made.
Within that universe exists a planet inhabited by ancient spirits and elves. On that planet, at its very center, sits a single kingdom.
That kingdom was named the Winter Kingdom, after the name of its first king.
However, do not make the mistake of thinking this kingdom is locked in winter. It exists in a state of perpetual spring, covered in countless cherry blossom trees that bloom fresh every single day.
Due to several tragedies that caused the Creator to seemingly vanish without a trace, the descendants of the great dimensional spirit, Winter, and his twin sister, closed themselves off from the world.
To this day, the Winter Kingdom remains shut from the outside world.
There may be a few among them who have ventured out, but such occurrences are extremely rare.
Even outsiders say that if they ever catch sight of a Winter clan member outside the kingdom, they will receive a stroke of great fortune.
They may bear a form resembling humans, a result of genetic abnormalities caused by inbreeding.
Their hair, white as snow. "Perhaps that is why they are named Winter." So people say.
Today is the day of the birth of the Winter Kingdom's long-awaited second prince.
All the citizens rejoiced at the prince's birth.
This was because they had witnessed a beautiful light descending on the night of his arrival.
A grand celebration was held throughout the entire Winter Kingdom. Dancing and music filled the island, and even the flowers bloomed in welcome of the prince.
But none of that reached the doctor, who was in the middle of assisting the delivery.
The newborn did not cry at all. The doctor even felt as though he was holding a doll rather than a baby who had just entered the world.
After the doctor cleaned the mother's blood from the infant and set him down:
He died and crumbled into ash.
The prince's name was Ichigo Winter. The moment the doctor turned to ash, Ichigo opened his eyes.
Everyone present, save for the mother who had already fallen into exhausted sleep, saw the color of those eyes.
The same eye color as the mother of the first Winter, Yuki White, the great dimensional spirit. Red, like ruby gemstones.
Everyone there shifted from fear to awe. A silence fell for several moments, until Duke Snow spoke.
"Could it be that he is the soul of the Lady that was once foretold?"
They whispered among themselves, exchanging glances.
And they made the decision to protect him, because they were certain...
The death curse that had manifested was the work of the Life Council member, Enterprise Forest.
Their relationship with him was neither close nor truly distant.
After Ichigo stopped nursing, the queen mother could no longer hold him because of the curse. An unbearable tightness took root in her chest. She held all of it in and walked away from her own son.
Until, some time later...
The first prince, Eternal Winter, vanished into an enormous time rift during what was framed as an expedition outside the kingdom, but was in truth a way to flee from the throne.
His final message before leaving the kingdom was:
"I am doing this as penance. I am truly sorry."
This forced his younger brother, Ichigo Winter, to undergo training to become king.
Ichigo had never thought about becoming king before; he was just trying to observe his surroundings so he could mimic all the emotions he was supposed to display.
"I cannot even understand a single emotion properly. How am I supposed to become king with all those responsibilities?" Said Ichigo, dragging a stick across the ground.
One week later, Ichigo reached the age of seven.
He was now lost in the forest.
As a result of the royal curse, the royal children who have not yet received the blessing will continue to wander, by which I mean they will "lose their way." All of this is the result of the incestuous marriage between the first Winter and his biological twin; that is why the royal children who have not yet received the blessing are guarded so they do not get lost or be cast elsewhere by their own powers.
"Well. It seems I am lost." Said Ichigo with a blank face.
He kept walking, and without even feeling it, three hours had already passed.
Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard. Birds flew away from the source of the sound, and screams echoed across the entire island. Ichigo made his way toward the noise, and it turned out the sound was coming from his own palace.
A woman with wavy blonde hair and blue eyes, dressed in a black military uniform, stood with her foot on the head of a mutilated corpse.
Blood pooled throughout the Winter Kingdom; the pungent scent of blood hung in the air everywhere. The blood from the bodies of the citizens and the exiled nobles flowed fresh and unceasingly. Behind the Ichigo tree, which witnessed the events firsthand, stood a figure, frozen in place. However, due to the curse that had weighed upon him since birth, he remained silent, feeling nothing.
"Huh?!!" Someone covered Ichigo's mouth with a red cloth and dragged him behind a dark tree. It turned out that the person who had taken Ichigo was his playmate, Night Snow of the Duke Snow family, who played a key role in the kingdom's security and had distinctive deep blue eyes.
"Hey, Ichigo! Since I can't hold your hand to pull you along, I suggest using this rope, so we don't get separated on the way." Night whispered to Ichigo, his voice trembling faintly, a forced smile on his face.
"But what if you are attacked by them... Wouldn't it be better for you to leave me behind and save yourself?" Ichigo's face was blank, yet the gaze he held was sharp.
"Well, I'm not the kind of person who betrays his friends. But if I die, please leave my body behind and go. Take the rope I gave you." Said Night, still smiling.
Ichigo nodded.
They ran toward the outer edge of the island, where the waters they needed to cross were the habitat of ice sharks and ice merfolk.
Night recalled that ice sharks and merfolk would not attack them. It had been written in the study books.
Feeling they had run far enough, Night decided they should rest for a brief moment.
Night stretched out his legs and looked up at the trees.
He spotted a coconut.
"Ah, drinking that would certainly be refreshing."
Night stood back up.
"I will get one for you too!"
"But Night... if you climb, they will know our location." Ichigo replied.
Night gave a brief smile.
"Relax. If that happens, given that this tree is here, we must already be close to the sea. If something happens to me, you must leave me behind." Night then climbed the tree.
He picked a coconut and held it up for Ichigo to see.
"Look, I got it!"
Then an arrow shot through the air and struck Night's leg.
He fell from the tree, crying out in pain beside Ichigo.
Ichigo examined the wound and saw that the arrow had been laced with a lethal poison. It was visible in how the wound's skin rapidly turned black. Ichigo could do nothing, as there was no medicine to treat the poison. He could only bandage it carefully and keep moving.
Five days passed.
When they were almost within reach of the waters, it became clear that the poison from the arrow had already spread throughout Night's body, and there was no longer any way to save him.
Night brought his steps to a stop.
"What is it?" Ichigo asked.
"My time has probably come. Your Highness, please go quickly.
Remember my last wish. Please carry this rope for me. Alright?
Until... we... meet again..." Said Night in his final moments, his eyes half-closed and his skin pale.
"Alright. I ask that you rest in peace. Thank you for everything you did for me." Ichigo answered in a cold tone, standing before Night's body.
Suddenly, a card emerged from Night's body. It bore the Snow family crest on the front, and a winged shield emblem on the back.
Ichigo reflexively went still, then took the card. A light poured out from it, and the light took the shape of Night's figure.
Ichigo's pupils transformed into a gem-like pattern, replacing the tears that should have been there. At the same moment, the forces of the woman who had slaughtered his family and his people closed in. It turned out the woman was a member of the Council of the Universe, the type governing warfare and armaments.
The Armament Council member pointed her sword at Ichigo.
"Surrender! You who are the reincarnation of the Miss."
The soldiers shouted to force Ichigo to give up and come with them. But because of everything he had witnessed, Ichigo knew that what the Warfare Council had done was wrong. He turned and ran, leaving Night's body behind, just as Night had asked of him.
Cold and exhausted, Ichigo was now cornered. Behind him was only the icy water, habitat of ice sharks and ice merfolk, and not a single boat in sight. Ichigo's original plan had been to craft a boat using Night's magic, since Ichigo had not yet learned it himself.
In front of him, enemy soldiers waited. In resignation, Ichigo submerged himself in the water, hoping that the ice sharks would devour him without pain.
The sharks swarmed around him, but from within that swarm, an ice mermaid came forward.
She smiled and cupped Ichigo's cheek.
"Why are you able to..." Ichigo began to ask before losing consciousness.
The mermaid carried Ichigo to the shore of the island on the other side.
She smiled, cupped his cheek, stroked his hair, and even placed a small bag beside him.
Ichigo woke in a state of emptiness.
He was the only one who had made it out alive.
Ichigo then felt around himself, and found that the Winter Kingdom's portal storage bag was right beside him.
"Could it have been the mermaid..."
Ichigo bowed toward the sea to pay respect to the mermaid who had helped him, then continued on his journey.
Two months passed since that day. Ichigo was still on the island across from the Winter Kingdom.
He arrived at the edge of a ravine that bordered the barren desert.
Ichigo looked down to check the depth.
"This is quite deep. I cannot even see the bottom through the mist."
The ground under Ichigo's hands began to crack, a sign that the soil there was extremely brittle.
Then an enormous unknown bird shot toward Ichigo.
He tried to avoid it, and instead tumbled into the ravine.
Before he could fall completely, he grabbed onto a small tree root with every ounce of strength he had.
But the root was not strong enough to hold him. It snapped, and he fell.
Ichigo's vision went dark instantly.
He asked himself: "What is actually happening?" Until Ichigo looked up at the cactus above him.
He found his own body impaled on the cactus.
His head had been split open by the sharp rocks, his brain scattered around him. His body had been torn apart by the cactus spines, his internal organs spilling in every direction.
"What happened? Is that my body? Am I dead? What is going on?" Ichigo's mind was filled with strange questions.
He turned his gaze away, then continued his journey through the desert.
"This must also be a curse given by them."
To Be Continued
Author = Nexus Venus Illustrations = Nexus Venus