Tom lived his life as the Empress's dog. For years, he conquered kingdom after kingdom, bathing the land in blood under Isolde's orders. It didn’t matter how many empires fell at his feet, how many kings knelt before him begging for mercy. Nothing was ever enough.
However, Esder never left him alone.
Every battle, every sleepless night, every look of contempt from those he “protected,” the shadow was still there. Whispering. Tempting him.
Until one day, silence enveloped him.
For the first time in years, Esder didn’t murmur in his mind. Didn’t offer power, didn’t provoke him. He only left a few final words before vanishing:
—One day you will come to me of your own will. You will ask me for power. So I won’t insist. That which you believe loves you will betray you… and in the end, you will abandon your naivety.
Tom felt a chill run down his spine.
He didn’t want to hear it. He couldn’t.
He feared that if he did, he would become a monster. His father had warned him about that power, had made him promise he would never accept it. And for that promise, for the fear of losing what little humanity he had left, Tom clung to Isolde’s words.
“My mother loves me. My mother would never betray me.”
But his life was miserable.
The rumors followed him like a specter.
The Empress’s dog.
The fool who gave up his right to the throne.
Tom, the idiot.
The people looked at him with disdain, the soldiers showed him respect only out of fear.
But he would never hate anyone.
He couldn’t.
So he learned to ignore it. To feel nothing.
He fought. Conquered. Spilled his own blood and that of others on the battlefield. If he completed the mission, if he destroyed every enemy kingdom, then he could return home and be happy with his mother.
At last, with his final victory, he had done it.
Tom returned to his hometown.
He imagined a triumphant return, but what he found was the opposite.
The people received him with contempt, not with applause.
—Look, the Raven.
—The red-eyed monster.
They threw stones at him, rotten fruit.
“Why?”
“I protected you. I fought for you. I bled for you.”
A group of guards approached and surrounded him.
—What are you doing? Let go of me!
Fighting them would’ve been easy. He could’ve killed them all in an instant. But something inside him told him not to.
—The Empress wants to see you.
Tom frowned.
“Mother?”
He allowed himself to be captured.
Maybe this was just one more test.
They brought him before Isolde.
She was standing, her posture impeccable, her gaze unwavering.
Tom felt a lump in his throat.
—Mother… you don’t know how much I missed you… —he stepped closer, seeking the embrace he so desperately needed.
—Stay away.
Her voice was cold. Icy.
Tom froze.
—Mother…?
Isolde’s eyes looked at him with disgust.
—I am not your mother.
Tom felt his world collapse.
—How…?
—How dare you form an alliance with the enemy nation to destroy your own country?
—What are you talking about? I never…!
—Traitor.
Her voice echoed through the hall like a sentence.
—To the guillotine. Let everyone see how we kill the traitor.
Tom felt the blood freeze in his veins.
—Mother, wait!
Isolde stopped pretending to be sad.
And then, from the shadows, his brother appeared.
Tom’s stomach churned.
—Sister, —said the young man with a satisfied smile—, I’ve done what you asked. No one will find out it was all a lie.
Isolde smiled with malice.
—Very good.
Tom felt the ground disappear beneath his feet.
And in the darkness of his despair, a familiar voice whispered in his mind:
“I told you so.”
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