Dark. Cold. Hunger. Pain.
That's how the beautiful woman in the red dress who sat in the corner of the cell felt. Her eyes were closed, and her hands were clenched – she was praying.
TAP TAP TAP
There was the sound of approaching footsteps.
Hearing that, she smiled.
"Finally, you came, Rion." Her eyes opened. She gazed calmly at the man standing outside the prison cell. The beautiful woman rose from the floor and walked over to the man. For five seconds, her clear brown eyes met with those hazel eyes that threw her a piercing gaze. She smiled and spoke with her sweet voice. "Have you regretted what you did? It's okay, I forgive you."
She smiled widely, her eyes sparkling. However, those two beautiful things disappeared in an instant when she heard him speak coldly.
"Lucas has been executed. Tomorrow is your turn."
Her eyes widened, and her bones seemed to tremble at the man's shocking words.
"W-what…? Y-you really did it…? Why?" Her voice trembled. Tears welled up in her eyes. Her chest tightened. She froze, staring at the cold face of the grey-haired man in front of her.
"You know exactly why," he replied curtly.
"What did you do, Rion?! Lucas is innocent."
"You're right. He's innocent. It was my fault for loving you and trusting him."
"So you believe that Lucas and I betrayed you?" She stared intently at the face in front of her. That face seemed to have no trace of emotion at all. Five seconds later, the man still did not give any answer.
"I understand." She realized it was futile to change his mind.
"Say your final wish."
Those brown eyes stared deeply into the pair of hazel eyes, that had always looked at her with love and warmth. Now those hazel eyes really had nothing but hatred in them.
"I... I have two requests," she said quietly.
"Every death row inmate only receives one."
"I know, but do you remember when we got married, you gifted me with three wishes? I already used two, meaning I still have one left."
"Say it."
***
On a cloudy morning, people gathered in the town square to witness a great event that was about to go down: the king would execute his queen.
The news that the king sentenced the queen to death had been shaking the palace and its surroundings since the past week. The uproar got more intense when, last night, the king said that he would behead the queen with his own hands.
On the execution altar, he, the man with hazel eyes and sturdy body, was unmoved, looking at the crowd below with an expression that was hard to decipher. The wind at a height ruffled his long grey hair.
[For my first request, I want you to be my executioner tomorrow.]
The sentence was repeated in his head. No one knew that at this moment, his entire body was covered in a cold sweat that even the tips of his fingers turned pale.
"Traitor! Traitor, booo!"
"You traitor!"
The screams from the crowd below snapped him out of his thoughts. Now his eyes were focused on a woman in a red dress who was led to the altar by a brown-haired knight and a soldier in uniform.
"Your Majesty… Please, have mercy on the queen. We beg you... Please… spare her life....!!"
"No!! Traitors must be punished!"
The noise from the crowd below was split in two. One half wept bitterly, pleading for the queen not to be punished, while the other half demanded that the queen be punished. It was obvious that this was going to mess up with his mind.
"Your Majesty."
"Uff--" His breath hitched. He was dazed and lost in his own thoughts again that he didn't realize the three figures he had been watching were already close.
For a moment, he glanced at the brown-haired knight, then turned to the woman in the red dress. For a few seconds, their eyes locked.
"Thank you for fulfilling my first request. I hope you will also fulfill my second wish."
"Trish, take her."
The noise from below grew louder as the queen's head was placed on the hole of death. Those who did not want the queen to be executed, burst into tears and shouted hoarsely for the king not to continue the beheading.
Meanwhile, those who wanted the queen punished, screamed at the top of their lungs, provoking the king to continue under the pretext of enforcing the law.
"Your Majesty." Trish was worried about his king's condition, as he knew very well that his king was currently very stressed.
The king didn't say anything. He started to raise his hands to hold the hilt of his sword, as his hands shook.
Trish was getting worried.
Five seconds passed and the king was unmoved. He was staring at his hands that gripped the hilt of the sword.
Heavy, it felt very heavy. It hurt. It hurt so much. His heart was bleeding.
[Why did you do this to me, Rose? I love you so much, but you... why?!] He felt like screaming.
He was upset, angry, disappointed, sad. His emotions were all mixed up.
"Your Majesty, punish the traitor!"
[Ah, that's right. Traitors must be punished.]
He tightened his grip on his hand and made up his mind.
[Goodbye, Rose.]
He closed his eyes and struck down. The sword swung down and...
SLASH!
The queen's head fell off in one clean slash. There were cries and screams from below.
"Your Majesty!" Trish quickly held his king's retreating body with staggering steps. The king would have fallen to the ground had he not arrived in time.
"Your Majesty ...." He hugged the king's body tightly. The body was trembling badly and cold as ice. "Oh, God."
Trish looked up at the sky, desperately trying to keep his tears from falling. He had never seen his king tremble like now.
***
Hundreds of roses sprang from the ground and grew unnaturally in such a short time after the queen's body was buried.
Of course, this phenomenon shocked and confused those who witnessed it. The king was no exception. He looked the most surprised.
Quickly, the red rose petals bloomed, and, no one know how it happened, the petals shone and showed something that made the king's eyes widen.
[This is my second request. Please bury me in the place where you proposed to me. If the land there becomes barren, then it means I am guilty. However, if the land is covered with many roses, it means I am innocent. My love for you is true, and my death will be your deepest regret.]
Thus, the rose petals showed a flashback sequence of the queen's truth.
"W-wh… what have I done?" The king fell to his knees. His eyes looked blank.
[I hope you can forgive yourself, my king. Your queen asked permission to leave.]
The queen's soul smiled and then disappeared, leaving the rose petals fluttering, dancing with the wind, and opening the story of "Loving The Mad King".
In the background of the green hills, an area used for cemeteries, a woman with waist-length brown hair was running while carrying a bouquet of roses. The white coat she wore made her look like a swan. Beautiful, but not so beautiful as to be able to make the flowers green with envy.Bump!"Oh, I'm sorry." Odette accidentally bumped into someone, causing the bouquet of roses she was carrying to fall to the ground. Because she was in such a hurry, she didn't pay attention to who she bumped into.Today was the anniversary of her mother's death. At first, she planned to visit her mother's grave but was told that one of her patients had run away. She then went down the hill, got into the car, and raced the vehicle like the devil.Many times she almost hit other motorists and pedestrians. Her nefarious behavior in driving had really put the grim reaper in a dilemma. It was not her time to be brought to the underworld yet, but her driving was alarming.After a few kilometers
The screams of thousands of people broke the silence of the night as the two armies charged at each other.This was a war where human lives fell like dry leaves in autumn.The number of troops in black was far fewer, but they were able to fight back the troops in red. In the middle of the crowd, a man with long grey hair from the black camp seemed to dominate.He stepped into the crowd of red troops and slashed at his opponents like a frenzied threshing machine. He was Arion D. Panther, the king of Panthera, the demon slayer.Time went on, and victims continued to fall from both sides. Corpses and body parts strewed about. The rancid smell of spilt blood wafted when the wind blew.STABSTABSLASHRion had just overthrown three soldiers in a row. But after the attack, he suddenly fell silent. Of course, the opportunity was immediately taken advantage of by the enemy.An archer from the enemy's side took aim at him. However, before he could shoot an arr
Rion fell to his knees with both hands resting on the ground. A few seconds after the needle struck his shoulder, he felt stuffy, he felt stuffy. His heart was pounding, and his body temperature rose drastically as if a fire was burning him from within.By the second, his condition was getting worse, as he started to sweat, his ears were ringing, and his vision was blurry.Ten meters from him, from behind a tree, a purple-eyed girl was watching."Yeah!! It worked!" She smiled triumphantly. "I'm sorry Big Brother, it would feel a little bad, but all of this is for my future and the future of the Panthera Kingdom.""Princess Anwen?""Huh?" The girl's eyes and mouth widened when she heard a voice from behind. She pressed her lips when she saw the king's wild dog appear behind her. "Tri-Trishy? You? Hi, how are you? Hehe."Anwen smiled awkwardly and started to get nervous when Trish looked at her appearance in a Panthera soldier's uniform. He saw a vial and a small needle-thrower device s
Odette woke up from her stupor and found herself in a river in the forest.She was quite surprised that she was still alive and her limbs were still intact. She didn't suffer any serious injuries but only a few abrasions.She was relieved. At first, she thought that she had been eaten by a crocodile but apparently not. Pfew…Then what did she see when she almost lost consciousness? The surrounding water was red and shining?She inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly. What she saw was definitely just a hallucination. The girl straightened her clothes, then stood up and looked around. In front of her was a river, and behind her were trees.Where was she?Aish, she must have been stranded very far away. She knew for sure that there were no forests around her town.After Odette was silent for a while and regained her composure, she felt better. She decided to leave the place. If she drifted all the way here, then she could definitely find her way back to where she came from."Arrgh!"Odette
Odette had given up hope to fight back! Tears started to leak out from the corner of her eyes as she lost hope that she would get out of there as a virgin. Who cared if the man was handsome or not? This was against her will! She started crying.Rion, who was already preparing to carry out the final execution, suddenly froze when he saw tears flowing from the corners of the women's two eyes. He immediately pictured Rose's eyes crying when he looked at her from behind the bars of the cell.Rion was stunned. He quickly pushed himself away from her and stepped back, as if he had just received a no-parking warning from Rose. With staggered steps, he continued to walk backward until he accidentally fell into the estuary behind him.GULP GULP GULP.The cold sensation of the estuary extinguished the fire within him and removed all the aphrodisiac effects he was feeling.Meanwhile, Odette had taken a seat on the ground. She panted very hard. Her whole body was shaking and she felt numb. She wa
Odette entered the thicket as she chose the route she had previously decided. In her opinion, it was better than going up the slope following Rion.Which fool would follow the one who nearly harmed him?The girl walked through the tall bushes that obscured the view almost like a show curtain. She used the branch in her hands and swatted it against the vines that blocked the way.Odette really hoped to find a way out of the forest, but the more she walked, the darker and darker the surroundings became.For a moment, she stopped and looked around. For some reason, the place felt unsafe, and the hairs on the back of her neck suddenly stood up when she felt a gust of wind pass by.The gust of wind was as warm as... someone's breath behind her ear.Something went wrong.Odette turned her head back stiffly and instantly froze. Her heart felt like it had just fallen into her stomach when she saw the face of a big bear plastered clearly and distinctly in front of her face.ROAAAAAARRR!The bi
Night fell and stars spattered the sky. It looked so beautiful. However, there was a more amazing sight.Hundreds of red roses grew on the land that lay wide. A gust of wind gently swayed the petals of the flowers. A sweet fragrance perfumed the air while the golden coloured moonlight gently shone on the flower and made its beauty shine even more.Surely anyone who saw this thought that the roses were not from the earth but from the garden of heaven.Among the flowers, Rion stood and stared at one of the rose petals that was there. A petal that was still a bud and had not yet opened. Maybe when the sun rose tomorrow, then the bud would open?Rion's hand moved slowly and touched the flower petals gently and carefully.Rion smiled, but his eyes stared sadly. His hazel eyes were a mist of sadness.From a distance, two servants and a soldier looked at their king who was in the middle of the rose garden.Call them servant A, servant B and the soldier."Even though it has been six years, th
Slowly Odette began to open her eyes. The first thing she saw was a silhouette of a person's shadow until a few seconds later, it became clear."Huh?" Odette was surprised to find the face of a purple-eyed girl so close to hers."You finally woke up," said Anwen with a sweet smile."Wh-who are you?" Odette immediately got up. The hunching Anwen looked at the face of Odette, who looked like she was about to wake up. She thus stood up straight.Odette's eyes wandered, and she found herself in a very strange place again. She was in a golden room. On the walls, there were decorative paintings, that if one looked closely, they all looked like… roses?Odette's blue eyes shifted to the grey-haired girl standing next to her, then to the two women standing behind the girl. The clothes worn by the two women reminded Odette of the maid outfits she had seen in the colossal dramas her mother always watched.Where was she now? And who were these pe