Chapter 03: The good and the evil

Evelyn's POV:

"What's the hell with them? Are they insane? How could they torture the crown prince of the Empire?" Miss Ann said, wiping her rolling tears from her cheeks.

"W-Wait!" she screamed, after a moment of silence.

"You! Are you really the crown Prince of Euphoria? That Prince who recently awakened the powers that were bestowed by the goddess "Euphrosyne". Not even the great kings could revive those powers that got lost several generations ago. The one, who gave all the wretched souls of the empire a ray of hope. The one who will save the people from the pit of darkness and bring them into the light. That royal prince!" she asked with surprise and awe evident in her voice.

"I think it's a bit exaggerated. I don't remember doing something worth this much praise," he gently voiced.

"Ooh! I apologize, His Highness. I didn't mean it in a bad way. It's just that this is what I heard most people talking about recently. I have a lot of people coming to my clinics nowadays, as you know, because of the unleashed demons wondering here and there, so I guess it got stuck in my mind and I blurted it out without thinking," She responded.

"It's Alright! I am fine. Instead, I should be the one to apologize for troubling you in saving my life," he replied with a smile.

"Ohh! My silly brother! What should we do now? He turned out to be a prince rather than a slave. Don't you think you would be put behind jail bars for insulting the royal family?" I whispered to Isis, teasing him about yesterday's remark.

"Only an idiot like you would think of putting his own family in jail," he mumbled.

I chuckled. Then I suddenly noticed everyone staring at me.

"I'm sorry. I was thinking of something else," I said with my hands scratching the back of my head in frenzy and turmoil. This was something I often did whenever I had to hide my embarrassment. And guess what? It helped me every time in escaping from such upsetting situations. "By the way, your highness, do you remember those people who tried to attack you? We can immediately begin an official investigation to apprehend those criminals," I tried to change the topic upon bringing myself back together.

The prince's face turned pale. I felt like l hit something that I shouldn't have.

"I'm afraid, you can't arrest those criminals," he responded, in a sad tone.

"Why?" I blurted out without thinking. Now what? Silence became the answer of my question. I gulped hard thinking about the mistake I made. He probably realized what was going on in my mind and spoke after a while, breaking the ice and relieving the tension.

"It's because they are no longer alive. As you have already heard that I got recently awakened and that power is something completely new to me. I don't know how to control it but I had the feeling that it was trying to find its long-lost home," he stopped and after a moment of silence, let out a big sigh.

"That is why when they tried to kill me, something inside me got busted and destroyed everything in its sight," he said with his eyes down.

Silence engulfed the whole room in its den. Everyone could feel the burden and sadness those words carried. Still, the atmosphere was not as scary as it seemed. The gleaming light of the blazing sun, peeking through the half-opened glass window, made his handsome face shine even more brightly and dashingly. His blond hair waving along the gentle wind made all the other things in its presence worthless. Every word coming out of those beautifully crafted scarlet-red lips in a honey-like gentle voice filled the room with a sweet and treacly aura. Those long eyelashes, hiding his aesthetic and alluring golden irises from all the evils of the world, held themselves proudly before the crashing waves of the ablaze sun. I was mesmerized by the beauty of the scene that my eyes caught hold of. But that was not everlasting. My brother's miserable attempt to snap me out of my fantasies by clearing his throat indeed turned out to be fruitful.

"I guess it's time to say goodbye. I'm sure I won't be able to admire such captivating and beautiful art of God ever again," I thought in my head and let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry," my mouth blurted out, not knowing what it meant by those words.

"Don't tell me those people were referring to this power when they asked you about the crystal of life? Maybe they thought that the "crystal of life" was in your body so they tried to kill you in order to obtain it," Isis' eyes darkened as he spoke.

"What do you mean? Brother! Why would they try to kill the only hope of the empire?" I asked, confusingly.

"My silly sister! It's because they don't want peace and harmony in the empire. There are some people who get benefits from all that war and fighting, and are hiding their true fangs behind the curtains of darkness. Haven't you heard of the saying that "where there is good, there is evil?" Besides, no one know what this "crystal of life" is? And what do they want to do with it?" he replied.

"Does that mean they will not stop pursuing until His Highness dies?" Miss Ann, asked with a trembling voice.

"I hope it turns out to be wrong," Isis said. "So, what are gonna do now? Your Highness!"

The prince's face turned pale. "I don't know... I have never faced this situation before... Ohh! That doesn't mean I wasn't threatened or kidnapped before, you can say that's a given when you are a crown prince, but this time it's different. Cause now the thing at stake is not my life but people's hope. The mere thought of it frightens me. Just how am I supposed to protect my people when I can't even save myself from danger?" he said with his furrowed brows and clenched fist.

The room turned into silence. Everyone could understand the feelings behind those words. The feelings of unfamiliarity, the gusts of frustration, the agony of helplessness, and the weight of the responsibilities that come along with the great power, on top of that, all of this on young weak shoulders.

"Don't worry! Your Highness! Everything will be alright. Ohh! Now I know how your wounds recovered so fast. I guess it must be the work of that new power that is trying its best to save your life," Miss Ann said.

"W-What?" the prince inquired, in surprise.

"I guess you don't know that all of your wounds are fully healed. They were recovering at a very fast speed, yesterday. I was also surprised by it. I had never seen something like this before, even though I treated many lives uptill now. You should really thank your little friend who was the most desperate of us all in saving you," she said with a smile.

"I guess I should!" he chuckled.

Then suddenly, a heavy knock echoed throughout the room. Miss Ann answered the call but it still continued on without stopping.

"Just who in the world, desperately wishes to go to the hell for breaking my door?" Miss Ann yelled.