HER POV
I knew it.
Getting a second life is not a gift. It is a punishment dressed in mercy.
I did not ask to live again. I never asked to be born in the first place. I asked to end. I asked for silence, for nothingness, for rest that does not bleed. Instead, the universe answered with cruelty disguised as opportunity. Another breath. Another body. Another stage prepared for suffering.
Those fucking Deities...
What did I even do to deserve this cycle? They should've given my absolute immortality to themselves or some greedy fucker. What I want is to rest. To die. Why am I here again?
Have I become a sort of entertainment to them, now?
There is an imposter wearing my name. Wearing my face. Wearing my family like stolen clothes. She walks among them easily, laughs, smiles, and sleeps on where I once beaten and bled. They look at her the way I once wished they would look at me and love her the way I begged them to.
I begged.
And begged.
And begged...
I, a royalty, stripped herself off her own dignity and pride just to be loved and held.
And now, you're telling me...a damn imposter is getting all that effortlessly?
Hah. How fucking ironic.
I got up, then looked back at the body I have now. The whole place is so bright that I could see every inch of it. How hideous. Is this part of my punishment? Since I was so evil, they made me resemble the devil itself? They should've at least tried to make me look ugly. Once this body is all grown with the right confidence, it'd be the symbol of lust. I prefer this one over my golden appearance. I hate it. I hate that golden bitch.
I left the room.
Right now, I am like a wandering soul. Right now, I am my consciousness. I thought it was impossible at first. I don't even know what to call myself anymore. I am the original, and Golden Azarese is what? A persona? Maybe. She is a piece of me. Of whom I was once.
I can move through space like a soul does, observe, hover, follow, yet I am not dead, nor alive in the way people understand it. My body continues on its own, animated by Golden Azarese like a perfectly rehearsed mechanism, breathing, walking, speaking just as perfectly. I exist outside myself, watching with clarity stripped of emotion, conscious but detached, present but unclaimed, a mind loosened from flesh yet refusing to disappear.
Rather than watching things from inside the void in her mind, I will be involved in real time.
I know my way in this Palace.
The Diamond Palace was built by the Matriarch herself during her time. It served as her sanctuary, her safe haven against her family with the same antagonizing patriarchy. Only the rightful Princesses from her bloodline can enter this Palace. People acknowledged by the Palace as no threat to the Princesses can enter, too. Or the Empress or the Princesses themselves just have to tell it to the Diamond Palace so it can give other people a pass.
I wonder why that golden bitch is not residing here yet. And the two other artificial bitches, too. Well, won't that give me the upper hand?
I finally made it outside after a long walk. This Palace is huge as hell.
Now...
I turned around to face it.
"Diamond Palace of Heart, do you recognize me?"
I received no reaction from it, but I knew it heard me. I knew it felt me. And I knew it remembered me.
"I speak...not as a lady of Heart, or a lady with the Matriarch's disgusting blood. I speak to you as your Empress. Light up if you are following."
My eyes rolled up. I stayed waiting---and fairly impressed when it did light up.
Good. That proves my theory. I may have been reborn, but my history did not reset at all in this world.
I trembled in excitement. Bet not even the greatest painter in this stupid world would be able to draw the look on my face right now.
Do you not understand what that meant?
It means I have control over everything! I may be from the past, but I am also still the present! If the Diamond Palace recognized me as its Empress, that would mean...
No, Azarese. It's too early to celebrate. It's worth celebrating for, but don't spoil it just yet.
Going back...
"From now on, only I and Gerson Liorei can go in and out of your premises. Do not let anyone go past your gates and walls. Reject Siofra Warlock's orders. Reject any other's orders other than mine. You will only listen to me...because I am your Empress."
It shone brighter. It looked mesmerizing as it do in the middle of the night with the starry skies over it. Shining so bright like that will stir attention any time by now. The knights were already alarmed. I heard their armors clanking far and near.
"The Diamond Palace is shining! Call Her Imperial Majesty at once!"
I'm right here.
But none of you would know that, because you know nothing.
And since you know nothing, you deserve---
TO DIE.
I passed them by to go that place next. One by one, their bodies fall down like the cities I have burned and sacrificed before. Their blood pooled on the ground and I made sure it won't reach the gates of my precious Diamond Palace. She's too pretty to be touched by their filthy blood and flesh. Ah, that reminds me...
Flesh.
I stopped at once and looked down to my feet.
I worry that it won't work because I have no shadow, but I worried over nothing when my shadow manifested around me.
I grinned.
"Eat, my pets. You deserve nourishment."
And so, I went on.
To the Heart Palace. My most loathed yet also my most favorite hell.
"I will remind you who your Empress is, too."
I slammed my foot on its first step---and I knew my presence shook it. The trees began to sway and I found the chandeliers inside dangling side by side. I only made a step and it already caused tremors? I guess I didn't have to scare this Palace either. It knows who I am.
As it fucking should.
I calmed down.
That's all I want to do for now. Assurance and some tests. Since I killed those knights, they will blame it on to Golden Azarese and press that she devoured them. After all, she takes after the form of a Veil. That's how the narrative will turn. And of course, there is one man who will defend me to death.
How I wish...he was my father to begin with.
"WHO'S THERE!?"
My feet froze upon hearing that voice. My head tilted to the side, looking past my shoulder to see him.
It's Izaac. The eldest son and child of our good for nothing parents who only knew how to breed.
His eyes flared up in blue and the first thing he did was set up a protective barrier all over the Palace. He immediately walked down the steps and flew to the still-shining Diamond Palace. And I stayed here. Following his trail with my gaze.
I can only count with my fingers the only people who can last long against me in a fight, and one of those is him.
After performing her duties as a God, Supreme God Siofra broke her Core Essence beyond repair and so was her health. Right now, she's nothing but a mended doll doing imperial affairs and politics, running her rotten empire as its highest monarch, and overseeing other global issues. However, only idiots would think that it's the best chance to drag her down.
First Prince Izaac Tyrant Eclipse Dragunovv-Warlock still exists. As he is the first son, he got the most 'remnants' of her or whatever they call it. He's so powerful that it's like a cheat. And he's no idiot. He uses his abilities wisely. Guess he's still an idiot since he fell into a silly brainwashing technique like that. It don't mean the caster of that technique is more powerful than him. Maybe the technique is just that potent for it to work instantly.
My foe is quite smart, I must say. The other children don't fall behind far from Izaac, too. Brother Astaroth was hailed the God Time, the third son wields Illusion Magic, the fourth and fifth can control and manipulate Gravity and Magnetic Forces respectively, and the quadruplet, from eldest to youngest, each possess the element of Air, Water, Land, and Fire.
And I, of course, is the greatest of them all.
Creation.
The other brothers came out next to see what was happening and to check the surroundings.
I feel nothing when I see them.
No warmth. No longing. No sense of blood calling to blood. Just recognition, like seeing strangers who happen to know your history better than you do. Whatever familial instinct I once had was burned out of me long ago. Pain does that. Repetition does that. Living long enough inside cruelty strips you clean of kindness and leaves you only with rage. The type of rage that is calm, because there was nothing left for me to rage for since they have all died by my hands. I wanted to resurrect them so I can torment them just the same, but the problem is---I don't know how to use my Creation Magic.
That is why I let Golden Azarese take my place in this 'second life' of mine.
I had no expectations. Expectations rot you from the inside. I will use her as a lens, a shield, a delay. I wanted to see how this world would behave if I stayed distant, untouched. I wanted to observe, not participate. To watch without hoping. To confirm what I already knew.
And I was right.
The universe does not change just because you are reborn. It only repeats itself with better lighting and sharper knives. Different scenes. Same outcomes. Suffering dressed in new costumes. Desire recycled. Loss inevitable. Blah, blah, blah.
What enrages me is not the pain itself. Pain is familiar. Pain is honest.
What enrages me is that I was denied the right to die.
Instead of granting me death, I was condemned to continuity. To feel again. To want again. To be wounded again. As if living were some lesson I failed to learn the first time. As if misery needed rehearsal.
Fuck.
They won't kill ones who seek death, but kill those who don't want it. The fuck is with that logic? The Deities of this world are so dumb. I'm gonna climb up there again and beat them up.
My compassion is gone. Not suppressed — gone. Ruthlessness, cruelty, despair, misery — they drained it out of me slowly, thoroughly. You do not come out of that still human. You come out quiet. Controlled. Empty in a way that scares people who still feel.
It took my sanity. It took trauma piled on trauma, stacked until even fear lost its voice.
Beyond evil, past rage, past grief — there is calm. That is where I am. Unbothered. Detached.
Even now, watching the same faces move around me, I feel nothing. Not love. Only awareness. I could kill them again. The thought comes easily. It always has. I suppress it not out of mercy, but curiosity.
I want to see how it ends this time.
I want to know what my imposter wants. What she thinks she is earning by living my stolen life. Does she think she will have it easy? Do they think I will let them steal everything? They can steal my family, for all I care. If it's the crown they want, they will have to take it from me. But they don't even know that.
Pfft.
I guess being an spectator will do me good.
We will see.
Let's see how things will unravel from here. Let's see how they will break Golden Azarese. I want to know what methods they will use to break her. Golden Azarese is a piece of me. She was the beginning. I wasn't born evil. No one was born evil. They made me one. Let history repeat itself. I won't even need to do anything.
A little more push and Golden Azarese will realize that it's better to be evil than to be kind.
THIRD PERSON'S POV
Prince Izaac stood motionless at the sight before him. Blood reek of iron spilled on the ground, crawling to his feet. There were bits of flesh and bones left, and armors of their knights were chipped as if bitten by some monstrous being.
"Kuya!"
[Kuya (Filipino Language) means 'older/eldest brother'.]
Eddrien halts with a sharp gasp when he arrived at the scene.
"Oh, God... What happened here!?"
Yes, what happened here?
"Eddrien, survey the environment within a mile radius and search for the Veil that did this! Ascel!"
Ascel, the fifth brother, twin brother of Eddrien, appeared beside him.
"Help Eddrien, but tell Davorin to stay at the Heart Palace and protect Mom closely. Now!"
"Aye, sir!" Eddrien gave his brother a salute and called a cavalry to go with him.
Prince Izaac clenched his fists and raises his head to the Diamond Palace in front of him. It's still shining. Could it be---
He marched forth at once, but to his surprise, he bumped against an invisible wall.
"What?"
His brows furrowed with frustration. He tried going through the gates but he can't.
"Diamond Palace, what is the meaning of this!? Grant me entry! I am the First Prince of Heart, and I order you to grant me entry!"
He placed his hand against the invisible wall and punched it. Nothing happen. The Diamond Palace did not respond to him.
"DIAMOND PALACE!"
King Liorei got up from the noise he was hearing. He was at the edge of the bed and his daughter, Princess Lorreign, took all the area for herself. She was sleeping with her hands and feet apart, snoring even.
"Princess, this is why you can't have a husband yet," King Liorei sighed and corrected the position of his daughter. He put the blanket on her but she threw it away.
"Hnnggg! Hot!"
The King only sighed and left her be. He stepped out to see what is happening outside.
"You...?"
King Liorei raised his eyebrow at Prince Izaac who was outside the open gates.
"What? What's this commotion all about?"
"Did you do this?" Prince Izaac's eyes flared blue, "Because you were defeated? How petty are you, Liorei!?"
"HUH?"
It ticked a button.
First of all, the King have no idea what the Prince is talking about. He just work up and it's evident because he's still in his pajamas with a hat on his head (Princess Lorreign forced him to wear it to sleep). Second, what does the Prince mean it's because he was 'defeated'?
"The fuck are you talking about? Come the fuck in and we will talk about it inside."
"No shit, Liorei! What have you done!?"
The King's veins popped. He's confused. He's annoyed. Everything about Prince Izaac triggers him.
Princess Lorreign rolled around the bed. She kicked her feet, pat the bed, until she opened her eyes when she felt like she was alone since she didn't feel anyone at her feet nor at her side.
"Daddy?"
She got up and walked down the hallways while brushing her eyes with her hands. She made it outside where it was so noisy and yawned.
"What's happening? Why are you so noisy?" She looked at the sky. "It's still night."
She hugged the King's arm and slept on it.
"Princess, get back inside and sleep---"
Princess Lorreign screamed when she felt something drag her away. It was the force of the Diamond Palace finally dragging her out and refusing her entry.
"Princess!? Princess, are you alright---Blood?"
Finally, the King realized the mess outside the Palace when he followed Princess Lorreign and caught her in his arms.
"What was that!? Dad, what happened!?" Now fully awake, Princess Lorreign assessed her surroundings and screamed when she saw the horrifying sight laid bare before them.
"You're in this too now, Lorreign?"
"Huh? In what!? I'm literally just got yeeted outside!"
King Liorei dropped her carefully to the ground and gave his slippers to her so her feet won't get soaked in the blood. He faced Prince Izaac with a scowl.
"We have no idea about what you're talking about. If you're thinking that we did this, then you're entirely wrong. I won't answer to you anymore. And I don't want to hear you blaming us about this."
"Knights! Honorable knights of our empire---without a single trace left but their armors! Did you feed them to your pet Princess? As nourishment?"
King Liorei's eyes shrinked from the ridiculous statements he heard from the Prince.
"What...did you say?"
Prince Izaac stood his ground despite the tension he felt coming from the provoked King.
"Izaac, if I wanted manslaughter, I will commit it right in front of your faces. Don't paint me as a coward. How dare you offend me this way? You, of all people? Disappointing."
Princess Lorreign squealed when the King made a step to the Prince. She immediately went to push him back, laughing it off awkwardly.
"D-Dad, it couldn't be---! He must be taken in the moment! He must be just shocked! Right, Izaac? There's no way you will pin the blame to us, right? We're literally just sleeping in the Palace! Ask the Palace itself! It will testify!"
The Prince gritted his teeth.
He was about to say something---when Crown Prince Claxiord of Vernignac Empire appeared.
"C-Claxiord? Why are you still here?"
After their dinner, the Vernignacs left shortly to go back to their Empire. All of them are busy people with businesses they must mind by themselves. They only gathered in one place because of King Liorei. However, as soon as they arrived at their home...
"Ah! I forgot something at the Tower!" Emperor Maxism laughed silly while scratching the back of his head. "My good son who got my handsome genes, how about you go back and get it? It's for my favorite son! Leave it at your brother's room. I have something to do. Ciao, my handsome son! Tee-hee!"
Prince Claxiord wanted to strike the Emperor with his sword but he had already gone away with his mother in his arms. That's what he's going to do. Do her. Filthy human with oozing lust.
And that's why he's back at Heart Palace, to retrieve what their stupid father left behind at the Tower. It's a weapon the Emperor created himself for the youngest Prince and also his most favorite, Prince Maxigaufeas Vernignac. He was not with them because like Watts, he was at the Academia. Prince Maxigaufeas and Watts Xirquit are the best of friends. They are also best friends with Lord Thirdy, Grand Duke Paris's third son who was named after him. A friendship that is as strong as their parents'... No wonder Prince Maxigaufeas is the Emperor's favorite.
Prince Claxiord is lonely and have no friends.
Going back, as he was about to leave with the case in his hand, he witnessed it all. Curious as to why the Diamond Palace was shining so bright and beautifully, he went there. And he was horrified when he witnessed how a pool of shadow devoured the knights. He was stunned, trembling and pale---because he had never felt an aura as malicious and seen a color as pitch black like it with streaks of the bloodiest red. What more, from that shadow rose Veils.
A portal?
He can't say. Because after eating, those Veils went back in and the shadow vanished. The experience made him threw up. It brought him to his knees, all squeasy and...afraid. So afraid that he instinctively called out his father's name.
And though while in the middle of it, Emperor Maxism stopped from thrusting and combed his messy hair back to look past the open windows. Empress Clastigaufeas whimpered beneath him, wondering why he stopped from moving.
"My wife, I think my second favorite son is in trouble."
'Dammit,' he cursed internally, 'I won't have another moment like this!'
But he still finished what he started first before cleaning up and went to where his second favorite son is.