Chapter 1: Goodbye and Good riddance

It was on a dreary Friday afternoon when the sickly King of Virnovia drew his final breath. While he was by no means a beloved King, across the streets of Virnovia, the citizens still mourned his death, waiting with bated breath for the disaster that they all deeply believed with soon to unfold. This was because of their new king. Not just any new king, but the 'Serpent Prince.' This nickname came from one of the two evil gods, the Thunder Serpent, a god shaped as a massive pure white snake, that once brought chaos and misfortune onto the human world, until it was finally sentenced to an eternal sleep.

The Serpent Prince, named Nora Arslan, was the youngest among the five princes. It was said that when he was born, just like the Thunder Serpent, he had disturbing and unnatural slitted yellow eyes, as well as pure white skin and hair. When his mother saw this, she was so terrified that she attempted to strangle her own child! When she was stopped and captured by the imperial guards, she later ended up taking her own life.

If such a morose tale wasn't proof enough to the citizens of Virnovia that this child would bring nothing but misfortune, then the subsequent deaths of every other one of his other family members was! Not only did he bring misfortune, but he lacked the talents and traits that every other noble descendant of the Azure Lion God seemed to have.

In the mind of every citizen of Virnovia, there was not a single doubt about it. Their new King was sure to bring ruin to their land!

…

On the night of the King's death, Nora Arslan had decided to open his most precious bottle of wine. He leisurely poured the liquid into a glass while whistling happily to himself.

After he had poured himself a generous serving of wine, he held out his glass to the empty room and gave a soft chuckle before saying,

"Goodbye and good riddance, your majesty."

Finally, all the waiting and scheming in the dark was over. He no longer had to endure and suffer his father and brothers torment and scorn, and that was because they were all gone! He was the only member left of Virnovia's royal Arslan family in existence!

"Cheers!"

He continued to whistle to himself, imagining the chaos and dread that must be enveloping Virnovia at that moment.

"You may mock and detest me all you like and call me the Serpent Prince, but now you shall have to call me the Serpent King and soon, the Serpent Emperor! You shall soon learn it is not wise to mock a creature like the serpent."

He was preparing to take a large swig of wine when there was a firm knock at his door.

"Erm…sorry to bother you, your Highness…sorry, I mean, your Majesty. I just wanted to let you know that the former King's secretary, Burris, has scheduled for the candidates for your personal aide's on the coming Monday's afternoon."

Nora sighed. Selecting a suitable candidate to be the King's personal aide… how tricky. In Virnovia, this position is essentially only second to the King's, and I'm sure father intends it to be even more significant during my rule. It seemed as though his father still had one more trick up his sleeve, even after he'd long gone to hell.

He spoke to the calmly messenger waiting outside, "Very well, you may go now."

"Y-yes, your majesty," came the nervous voice.

As Nora silently listened to the sound of retreating footsteps, he suddenly recalled something important he really should have done before celebrating. He walked over to a small hidden compartment below his draw and removed a small wooden vial. As he opened the vial, he slowly walked towards his fireplace. He then poured the remnants of the poisonous liquid inside into the fireplace before throwing the wooden vial into the fire.

His lips curled into a small, anticipatory smile. "I wonder what you have in store for me next, your Majesty."