Chapter-2

A young man woke up in the middle of the night. He doesn't know why but he always wakes up like this every night. He gets out of bed, leaving his warm bed, and he looks at himself in the mirror.

            He has clear porcelain likes skin and long, ashy blonde hair. And beautiful emerald green eyes.

He is the eldest son of Duke Ruben Van De Veld and Lady Britt presented as Cyril Van De La Veld.

           The biggest difference between him and his parents is his pale complexion. Although he inherited his father's ashy blonde hair, his eyes are green like shining emeralds and his skin is as white as clouds, unlike his parents.

          There's also another difference between him and them. And he is also different from his younger sister, Eline.

           Eline's blue eyes were just like their father's, and her hair is brown just like their mother's. He barely looks anything like his parents.

            His parents convinced him that he looks like his late grandfather. So the different appearance between them is not a problem anymore yet Cyril still thinks about it often. His parents said that since the day he was born, his appearance reflected the features of his grandfather.

            Cyril left the room quietly and walked barefoot to his balcony. From here he can see the entire area surrounding the castle. There was a dark, thick forest nearby. On the horizon stood mountains full of snow. Then he took out the telescope from his bag.

              He focused it carefully and scanned the landscape.  His eyes caught on a small figure sitting by the edge of the cliff. For a second, he wondered if it was a ghost.

            But then he realized that it was just a man. Sitting there alone in the middle of the night, staring into nothingness with no expression.

            There was something oddly familiar about this stranger. Like he has a close connection with that man. But what does it mean?

           Cyril sighed and went back inside his room and returned to bed. To fall asleep again he thought about his sister. She is around 4 years younger than Cyril.

            She is such a sweet girl. She always tried to cheer him up whenever he was sad. He always liked spending time with her and playing with her, even though they were children and they were never allowed to go anywhere outside the walls without the adults.

            She is his best friend,  the only one who knew about his condition. They grew up together, played together, and laughed together. Their mother told them many stories about their father's adventures and adventures with his family. Sometimes, when she is free, they would tell stories together. One memorable story included how she once fell off a tree in the forest.

             It happened during the winter. It was snowy and icy cold, but she was still brave enough to try and climb the tree even though she didn't think it was possible.

            She managed to stand on the first branch of the large oak. She grabbed the trunk with both of her small hands and pulled herself up higher and higher.  Suddenly a branch broke from underneath her and her foot slipped off the trunk.

            It happened so fast and she started falling backward, but she was lucky that Cyril was there to catch her. When she landed in his arms, they both fell to the ground as Cyril couldn't handle the sudden weight. Luckily for them, they weren't hurt. 

            Cyril smiles when he thinks about these precious memories. Eline was the only one who has always been there for him. And she is the only person who truly understands him.

As Cyril is the son of the most powerful duke of the empire and he's also a nephew of the chief commander, there has always been a lot of pressure on him. He was trained to be a tough person from a very young age.

When he was seven, his parents bought him a telescope. That was when he started having an interest in stars and constellations.

            Strangely, he could understand the stars. The position of the stars seems like they were talking to him every time he looks at them. Cyril loves watching the stars whenever he feels lost.  It calmed him somehow.

            As Cyril continued to lie on his bed, thinking about all the things he got through. He finally fell asleep after some time.

To be continued...