1 Prologue
Tonight, the moon seemed brighter than usual.
Tonight, Annica's world split in two.
Tonight, the 14-year-old girl lost everything.
Annica laid in her mother's lap for some time, curled up with her eyes closed. Her entire body felt sore and numb. Perhaps from shivering for too long. Not because of the cold. No. She shivered because she was scared.
Her mother's hug didn't help. The woman seemed unaware of how tightly she wrapped her arms around Annica. But Annica understood; the woman was just as terrified as she was. How could she not be? When a group of people attacks your home in the middle of the night, anyone would feel afraid.
Annica didn't understand who these people were. Or why they wanted her family's death so badly. She understood her father held a crucial position in the kingdom. He was in charge of finances at the palace. They called him the financial administrator. He only dealt with bookkeeping and matters related to the kingdom's finances, though. Which was why she couldn't comprehend why someone would want to harm her family.
She lowered the hands covering her ears slowly. The screams of terror and the swish of swords that had filled the air in her room had subsided. All that could be heard now was her mother's sobbing, still holding her tightly.
Annica opened her eyes and surveyed her room. The light from a few candles, now very short, still illuminated the room, casting a golden-brown glow around Annica.
Had it all finally come to an end?
Had her father managed to drive those people away?
Were they gone now?
Annica's mind couldn't stop wondering.
She turned to her mother who stared unblinkingly at the door, her face filled with terror, making Annica feel afraid again.
"Mama...," Annica whispered. "Are we—"
The woman immediately covered Annica's mouth and shook her head, signaling for Annica to remain silent.
Simultaneously, the sound of someone's hurried footsteps approached.
Annica took a sharp breath as the bedroom door suddenly pushed open, and someone walked in. Annica could see her father running in, his body covered in blood, a few steps before his body collapsed and fell to the floor.
Annica widened her eyes and immediately pushed her mother's hand away.
"Papa!" Annica screamed.
"No, no, Annica!"
Annica's mother reached for Annica's arm again and managed to grab her daughter before she could run away.
"Mama... but papa—"
Annica's voice faltered as she felt another presence entering the room.
Annica could sense the hair in her neck start to rise as she gazed at the figure.
The moonlight, silver and radiant, illuminated the man's body as he walked soundlessly, like a panther stalking its prey. Annica could see that the man was massive, towering like an angel of death next to her father's crawling body.
Annica wanted to say something to her father, but she knew it was impossible. The scary man was right behind him, following the trail of blood her father left on the gray bedroom floor with deadly, silent steps.
"P... Papa...," Annica called softly. Her mother's grip tightened, a mix of deep fear and the desire to prevent her daughter from approaching her father.
Annica could see her father's face looking up at her. He reached out his hand as if trying to reach her.
"A-Annica... R-Rossalind...."
A flash of something bright diverted Annica's attention from her father's face. Annica looked up just in time to see the scary man lowering his sword.
Annica opened her mouth, intending to warn her father, but it was too late. The monster had already brought the tip of his sword down on her father's back, piercing through.
Annica's heart seemed to stop.
She could hear a high-pitched scream from behind her. Full of terror and horror, it took a few seconds for Annica to realize that it was her mother's voice.
Annica herself, too shocked, too traumatized, and too frightened, could only stand frozen in place with wide-open eyes.
Annica could hear her father's scream as the monster withdrew his sword. She wanted to avert her gaze from the horror unfolding before her. But she couldn't command her eyes to stop staring. She couldn't blink. Every muscle in her body felt like it had just been submerged in a cold, frozen river and was now immovable. The only warmth she felt was the tears now streaming down her cheeks.
Annica didn't even notice when her mother stopped screaming and now lay unconscious next to her. All she focused on was that sword, which was now sheathed again in the monster's waist as he stood next to her father's lifeless body.
Annica forced her face to look up. Her vision blurred by tears, and the man stood with his back to the moonlight, but the remaining light from the candles in her room helped Annica see the face of the man who had just killed her father. And as if aware that she was being watched, the man slowly turned his gaze towards Annica.
For a few moments, there was no sound from either of them. Only the constant rush of the night wind from the door could be heard.
The man stared at Annica with an icy face. There was no expression on his face, scarred and blood-splattered. Making Annica realize that only a cold-blooded demon could look so calm after killing someone.
Annica's eyes felt hot from staring for too long. But she held back her desire to blink. She didn't want to close her eyes for even a moment. She wanted to look into the eyes of that monster. His dark, intense eyes, like two cold and empty wells of hell. She wanted to remember his face. Every disgusting scar on him, every line on his frozen face.
Annica wanted to burn that image into her memory so she would never forget what that man looked like. General Daemon Sand. The monster who had just killed her father.
Annica didn't want to cry in front of that monster, but the anger accumulated in her chest now began to push her tears to flow more forcefully.
"Will you hate me, little girl?" the man asked with a flat, emotionless voice that made Annica's mouth taste bitter with fear and hatred.
Annica didn't respond. She just stared at the frozen face without blinking, ignoring his increasingly blurred gaze.
The man snorted.
"What are you going to do? This is your fate. Accept it."
The monster turned his body around and walked away, leaving Annica alone in her cold room. The gust of wind rushing in through the door extinguished the light from the remaining short candles in the room. But Annica could still gaze at the man's back.
Tonight, the moon seemed brighter than usual.
Tonight, Annica's world split in two.
Tonight, the 14-year-old girl lost everything.
