Keirian was born so long ago that no one remembered when.
Not historians. Not kingdoms. Not even the oldest records.
Time erased it all.
Even he had stopped trying to remember.
How long had it been?
Centuries?
Thousands of years?
More?
He didn't know anymore.
At some point, the numbers stopped mattering.
His life had become a cycle.
The same thing, over and over again.
Living.
Watching.
Losing.
Again and again.
Everyone he met, everyone he cared about they all disappeared eventually.
But he didn't.
He kept going.
At first, he tried to fight it.
Tried to find a way to end it.
Tried to break the cycle.
He failed.
Every time.
Eventually… he stopped trying.
That was when it got worse.
Because it wasn't just endless life anymore.
It was endless emptiness.
But he wasn't completely alone.
There were four who stayed with him.
Not followers.
Not servants.
Family.
The dragons.
They had been with him longer than anything else in this world.
They saw everything.
His victories.
His failures.
His slow descent into something… quieter.
Colder.
Tired.
They understood what he would never say out loud.
He was suffering.
So they made a choice.
A desperate one.
A selfish one.
A loving one.
They decided to end it.
Or at least… try to.
They couldn't kill him.
Nothing could.
They had already learned that the hard way.
So instead—
They sealed him.
And themselves.
Away from the world.
A cage.
Not made of iron or stone.
But something far stronger.
Something that could hold even him.
The cost was high.
They would sleep.
For a long time.
A very long time.
Long enough that the world itself might forget they ever existed.
And so—
The king disappeared.
The dragons vanished.
Time moved on.
History buried them.
The world forgot.
Until now.
After what felt like eons—
Keirian opened his eyes.
The king who had lived longer than any living being…
Had returned.