Prologue

STRUGGLE for power that justifies any means and cannot be separated from bloodshed has become common among people in power since ancient times. It has been countless how many lives have to be sacrificed, how many people have had to suffer the consequences of war, how many victims have to be given up, or how many areas have been damaged and abandoned by war.

I'm the one who did it all.

Had the blood of the people I had killed been pooled together—it might have formed a large deep lake. My record of sins has probably taken up many books. God is probably fed up with me. Swearing from those who have died or are still alive may no longer be accommodated.

Both the living and the dead have cursed me.

Nevertheless, I, the mad emperor, am alive and well. No matter how much hate I receive and how many people want to kill me, I still live and rule this country, Adenium.

Until this second, I thought that even if a god hated me so much, he couldn't kill me.

However, all that slowly changed when the little girl appeared.

"Papa!"

I still remember the day she called me with a smile as bright as the sun. She ran towards me, jumping around me, sometimes holding his arms up high.

"El loves you so much, Papa! This sucks!"

"El likes Papa! El loves Papa very, very much!"

She is the last gift and hopes that God sent to me who do not know myself.

On the day this hand robbed her of her smile, that child still pulled the corners of her lips up, looking at me with narrowed eyes and a look that endured pain, giving me the sweetest smile for the last time.

On that day, the god I thought couldn't kill me killed me indirectly.

From that second, I was dead.

&&

Playlist:

Elora: my little princess.

1. Morricone - The Falls

2. Morricone - Gabriel's Oboe

3. Morricone - Gabriel's Oboe Orchestra and Cello

4. Rachmaninoff - Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27: III. Adagio

5. Bach - Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068: II. Air on the G String

6. Grieg - Holberg Suite, Op. 40: II. Sarabande

7. Tchaikovsky - String Quartet No. 1, Op. 11: II. Andante Cantabile

8. Arvo Pärt - Spiegel im Spiegel

9. Bokura Dake no Shudaika (From "Given") piano version

https://open.spotify.com/user/3ivsr4u9d8yysy2c8tqlbj0yb?si=cc6654967a014109