The silence in the gold-decorated guest suite was deafening as Morrigan's silver hair swayed gently in the dim candlelight. Xaria sat frozen on her stool, her molten amber-gold eyes wide with genuine shock. The defiance that had defined her posture moments ago completely evaporated as she stared at the calm, collected former Holy Maiden.
Morrigan let out a soft, heavy sigh, her silver eyes clouding over as she let the memories pull her back into the darkest period of her life.
"My family was not noble, Xaria," Morrigan began, her voice a calm but haunting whisper. "We were poor. We lived in the lower districts of Astraea, struggling just to survive. But everything changed the day I was born. I came into this world with a golden holy crest embedded directly on my chest, a legendary sign of divine favor. Because of that crest, the Supreme Church could not ignore me. My family was brought into the high ranks of the sanctuary, given holy titles and recognition. To the public, it was a miracle. To the high-born aristocracy, it was an insult."
Morrigan's hands tightened slightly around the silk veil she was holding.
"The most powerful noble in the high sanctuary was my father's supposed close friend, Duke Tharon. He was unimaginably rich, deeply connected, and came from an ancient lineage of pure-blooded priests. He tolerated my family's presence for years solely to maintain a flawless, charitable image in high society. But in reality, he despised us. He firmly believed that only pure descendants of historical saints, like his own daughter, deserved to govern the Church. He viewed us as common trash invading his sacred territory."
Xaria listened intently, her anger at the demon kingdom temporarily forgotten as the classic, corrupt politics of the human empire were laid bare.
"The breaking point came three months ago," Morrigan continued, her gaze turning distant. "The Church elders officially bypassed Duke Tharon's heavily recommended daughter and declared that I would be the next Holy Saintess of Celestrix. The Duke completely lost his mind, but he didn't launch an open protest. He did everything in the shadows."
"He used his vast network of connections to orchestrate a flawless, terrifying frame-up. Late one evening, his agents secretly smuggled a sacred, highly classified church relic into our modest estate. Then, past midnight, he paid a random common criminal to sneak into my private bedchamber, ensuring the royal guards 'accidentally' caught us together. By the next sunrise, the rumors had flooded the capital. The pure, legendary Holy Maiden was stripped of her title, branded as a thief, and accused of being completely defiled and impure."
Morrigan's voice cracked slightly, a rare flicker of raw pain passing through her calm expression.
"I was forced to watch my innocent parents get brutally executed in the courtyard under the pretense of treason. They died crying out for my safety. Afterward, I was thrown into the deepest, darkest dungeon of the high sanctuary, bound in anti-magic irons. The executioners told me I had less than twenty-four hours to live. Tomorrow, I was to be publicly beheaded to cleanse the Church's honor."
"I sat in that pitch-black cell, shivering, starving, and completely abandoned by the 'light' I had dedicated my entire youth to worshiping. I prayed for a savior. I prayed for the heavens to send a miracle. But the heavens remained silent."
Morrigan turned her head, looking directly into Xaria's eyes, a profound sense of absolute devotion filling her features.
"The miracle didn't come from the light, Xaria. It came from the shadows. In the dead of night, when all hope was dead, the heavy steel doors of my cell were silently melted away. A young man stepped through the smoke, wearing a loose robe and carrying a lazy, arrogant smirk on his face. It was Prince Raizael. And sneaking right beside him, using her high-tier elven camouflage magic to blind the guards, was Princess Sylphiri."
Xaria's breath caught, her eyes snapping over to Sylphiri, who was standing quietly by the dressing table.
"They didn't bring a massive army," Morrigan whispered. "Raizael had calculated the exact path of the guards, slipping past the high-holy barriers entirely undetected using sheer tactical genius. He broke my chains with the stolen keys. He didn't care about my ruined reputation or the sacred relic. He looked me in the eyes and told me that if the heavens wanted me dead, he would simply tear down the heavens to keep me alive. They smuggled me completely out of the Celestrix Empire, risking their own lives to bring me to this castle where I am safe, protected, and truly valued."
Before Xaria could even process the massive shock of the rescue, Princess Sylphiri stepped forward, her blonde hair catching the light as she looked down at the dark elf with a firm, serious expression.
"You called my elven species cowards earlier, Xaria," Sylphiri said, her voice steady and laced with an unyielding conviction. "You think we surrendered to this kingdom because we lack pride or shame. But you are directing your hatred at the wrong man. Prince Raizael has never once done a single evil thing to an innocent person. He didn't lock you up to torture you. It was his father, the mad Demon King Atlas, who butchered your parents and put chains on your people years ago. Raizael had absolutely nothing to do with that horror."
Sylphiri leaned down slightly, her violet eyes locking onto Xaria's molten amber-gold ones. "Raizael is fighting his own battles inside this cursed palace. Once you stay here a little longer and get to know him better, you will understand exactly what kind of man he truly is. He is a savior disguised as a villain."
Xaria sat completely stunned, her jaw slightly slack as her entire reality was violently turned upside down. Her mind reeled as the double wall of psychological truths shattered everything she thought she knew about the "brat prince." She looked at Morrigan's serene face, then at Sylphiri's fierce, protective expression, realizing that the master of this obsidian castle was an unfathomable enigma wrapped in absolute shadow.
Just outside the heavy oak doors of the guest suite, Raizael stood quietly in the dim, stone hallway. He had been leaning against the cold wall, listening to every single word of the conversation inside. A quiet, satisfied smirk tugged at the corners of his lips. Everything was unfolding precisely according to his design. Morrigan and Sylphiri were doing the heavy lifting, chipping away at Xaria's mental defenses without him having to lift a finger.
With a lazy swipe of his hand, Raizael called up his translucent, neon-blue interface.
[DING! SINFUL SYSTEM STATUS]
Host: Raizael Mana Capacity: 650 (+50 from Lilithia Core Optimization)
Physical Strength: 420 (+30 from Vanguard Assimilation)
Demonic Charisma: 310 (+20 from Matriarch Submission)
Available Sin Points: 25,000
His stats had risen exponentially following his highly aggressive, passionate encounter with Lilithia in the western wing. The sheer volume of raw, refined demonic power circulating through his meridians made him feel unstoppable. He was no longer the weak, fragile stepping-stone villain destined to get effortlessly slaughtered by Caelum. He was growing into a true calamity.
Dismissing the glowing blue screen, Raizael turned and walked down the long, empty corridor, his footsteps echoing softly until he reached the absolute deepest, most restricted sector of the upper palace.
Standing before him was an enormous, monolithic stone door. It was carved with terrifying, ancient runes that pulsed with an ominous, suffocating crimson miasma. This door led straight to the inner sanctum.
Raizael stared at the terrifying structure for a long moment. He slowly extended his long, pale hand, his fingers reaching out to touch the dark, carved surface.
ZZZZZT!
The moment his fingertips came within an inch of the stone, a violent, blinding barrier of ancient, catastrophic mana flared to life. The raw kinetic force blasted outward, violently pushing his hand back and sending a stinging shockwave straight up his arm.
Raizael pulled his hand away, his crimson eyes narrowing as he glared at the pulsating crimson seals. Even with his massively upgraded stats, the barrier was completely impenetrable.
Raizael let out a heavy, slightly frustrated sigh, adjusting the lapels of his dark robe as he turned his back on the monolith.
"Tsk. It sucks that I can't stop it yet," he muttered into the empty, shadow-drenched hallway, his mind already spinning with new, ruthless calculations for the days ahead.
(IN SCENE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE FREE TO ACCESS FOR THE LIMITED TIME PERIOD, THE TIERS ARE ON DISCOUNT TILL 15TH OF SEPTEMBER. THANKYOU FOR READING)