41 [Lauryn] [2] flashback.

"Ewing Viscount family."

Esmeray's emotionless voice echoed through one of the main halls of the Aljanah family castle.

Sitting on a throne crafted from the most exquisite materials, she looked down upon the four kneeling figures before her.

Among them was a crying child, no older than ten, accompanied by a teenage girl attempting to soothe the child's tears.

Beside them were a woman and a man, their hands tied behind their backs, shielding their children.

"The loyalist family under the now deceased Duke Heimdall."

Esmeray muttered with a bored expression, her gaze fixed on the four figures.

"Why did you betray the empire, Viscount Ewing?"

Esmeray asked, her gaze piercing as she fixed it on the man in the forefront.

"I didn't do anything like that!!"

Viscount Orin Ewing retorted, his voice rising in anger.

He was a man in his early fifties, with a wrinkled face and mahogany hair, glaring back at Esmeray.

"Helping a child of a traitor to escape and hiding him from the empire is in itself akin to betraying the empire,"

Esmeray replied, looking down at him from her position.

"Duke Martin wasn't a traitor. He was an honest man loyal to the empire. You are the one who framed him!!" Orin shot back, his tone filled with accusation.

"Does it matter?" Esmeray asked, tapping her fingers on the armrest of the throne. "He is already proven guilty and executed."

"M...mommy." Orin's son interrupted, his feeble, childlike voice cutting through the tension.

"Yes, son, I am here. Mother is right here," Mavis, Orin's wife, crawled towards their son, who was leaning on his sister.

"I...I don't...feel good," the son choked on his tears, breaking his mother's heart.

"Everything...will be fine, son. Don't worry," Mavis replied, leaning in to kiss her son's head repeatedly.

"Mother...his heartbeat is weakening," the teenage girl whispered, bringing her brother close to her in an attempt to comfort him.

"He will be fine, Lauryn!" Mavis glared at her daughter. "He will be fine."

"Isn't it ironic, Viscount Ewing?"

Esmeray's bored voice echoed once again, drawing their attention back to her.

"Because you saved that man's son, you are going to lose your own family," she continued, her words cutting deep.

Orin bit his lower lip until blood gushed out, his glare fixed on Esmeray, his frustration and fear clear on his face.

In a situation where he proved his loyalty by saving his master's son from certain death, it has now become the reason for his family's inevitable demise.

"I heard about your daughter's talent, Viscount Ewing."

Esmeray commented as she shifted her focus towards Lauryn.

"A talent that surpasses all others in your entire bloodline—a one-of-a-kind talent."

Lauryn trembled visibly as Esmeray's gaze bore down on her.

"What do you want?" Mavis finally broke the tense silence within the hall, her voice quivering, her eyes darting between Esmeray and her son.

"I want nothing from you," Esmeray replied, her attention shifting to the lone boy standing beside her. "Here is your first test, Azariah."

Azariah, no more than eleven years old, stood silently, his left hand heavily bandaged, hanging by his side as he looked at his mother who had called him.

"I will give you a choice," Esmeray mumbled, her eyes fixed on her son. "Choose one: the innocent family or the talented girl."

"Huh?" Azariah's confusion was evident in his voice and expression.

"The one you choose will live, while the other will be executed," Esmeray explained calmly.

But her words have adverse effect on Azariah as his eyes trembled while his breath become shallow.

"W-What are you saying?" Orin's voice trembled as he spoke, his own fear mirroring that of Azariah.

"Make your choice, Azariah," Esmeray pressed on, ignoring Orin.

Her gazed fixed, her focus on the trembling child who was growing visibly paler with each passing moment.

"Choose me!"

Azariah's gaze turned towards the teenage girl as she crawled towards him.

"Lauryn!" Orin shouted, trying to stop her, but she ignored him and continued to plead with Azariah.

"L..Lord, please choose me," she whimpered, bowing her head in front of him, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"P-please..let..them live, please," she begged, her voice trembling.

"Stop it, Lauryn!" Orin shouted at his daughter, desperate to halt her pleas.

"I..I will give you anything, my lord... Keep me as your maid.. or even a slave... beat me... kill me if you want... just let them live."

Lauryn trembled as she continued to beg him, while Azariah's face drained of color.

"STOP THIS, ESMERAY!"

Orin's voice boomed, his glare fixed on Esmeray.

"STOP THI—ARGHH!"

"Stop shouting,"

Esmeray muttered as she rose to her feet, her demeanor shifting from that of a bored woman to that of a tyrant empress.

As she stood, a beautiful silver crown began to materialize upon her head.

The crown was so magnificent that it eclipsed everything else in the hall.

It was a crown that symbolized her hierarchy in this world.

A crown that empowered her to challenge those who were of a higher rank than her.

A crown that represented her obsession.

The crown of control.

Her presence bore down on all of them in the hall, except Azariah, who remained unaffected.

And before they could react, they all lost consciousness, unable to do anything.

"So, Azariah, have you made your decision?" Esmeray inquired, resuming her seat upon the throne.

Azariah...

He simply gazed at the family lying on the ground...

A happy family, a life he had never known...

And now he was about to shatter this family...

"Azariah, make your decision," Esmeray pressed, her tone firm.

Slowly, he walked towards Esmeray and fell to his knees before her.

"P..Please, let them live, Mother," he pleaded, his forehead touching her feet as tears streamed down his face.

"P...please... d..don't kill them," he begged, his heart heavy with the burden of their fate.

"Are you giving up, Azariah?"

Esmeray Noah Aljanah...

"Are you giving up on the deal we made?"

She knows exactly where her son will get hurt the most.

"Are you going to back down now?"

And she doesn't hesitate to use it perfectly against him.

Azariah slowly raised his head as he looked at his mother.

"You just have to say it." Leaning towards him, Esmeray wiped his tears as she whispered, "just say it, you don't want to, and you can go back to your normal life."

But even as she wiped his tears, Azariah continued to cry.

"Always remember, Azariah, being my son is your greatest blessing," Esmeray mumbled as she made him look at her, "but... being my son is also your greatest curse."

Azariah looked at her without replying as she gently wiped his tears.

"If you are not strong enough, this curse will take everything away from you."

In a daze, Azariah looked at his mother as she grabbed him by his shoulder, making him stand up.

"Remember, never in your life love someone so much that you can kneel down for them," Esmeray said as she looked at her child, "and never let someone love you as well."

She looked deep into his eyes as she continued,

"Because if you care for someone, the curse of yours will take them away from you."

Having said that, she looked at the unconscious family.

"Now choose, Azariah. The innocent family or the talented girl? Which one should be executed?"

Azariah took a deep breath as tears once again fell from his eyes.

"T...The girl," he choked out those words between his tears.

Esmeray nodded her head before she stood up from her seat and walked out of the room.

"Adaliah," Esmeray called, and the door pushed open as a woman in a secretary uniform walked in.

"Yes, my lady?" Adaliah asked as she bowed slightly.

Esmeray didn't reply as she looked back at her son.

"Azariah," she called, making him look at her with his teary eyes.

"You made the wrong choice," she replied before she walked out of the hall, commanding Adaliah.

"M-mother, N..No, P...Please."

"Execute the family and leave the girl alive."

.....

.....

On that day, Lauryn Ewing lost her entire family.

And...

On the same day, Azariah lost a part of himself and his will to love.