The sound of birds chirping filled Do Kyungsoo’s ears as he slowly opened his eyes. The clear blue sky greeted him, followed by the tickling of the grass beneath his body. Slowly sitting up, he saw that he was in a field of flowers. Butterflies danced above the flowers and flocks of birds flew together as they sang cheerfully.

Just as Kyungsoo wanted to get up to figure out where he was, a small, yellow canary cautiously hopped towards him. The bright, yellow feathers of the small bird caught Kyungsoo’s attention and he stretched his hand out towards it. The canary gave Kyungsoo’s hand a curious look before hopping on. As Kyungsoo brought the animal closer to him, it sung happily, bringing a smile to his face.

The bird suddenly flew away, as if it has been startled. Kyungsoo got up and watched it head to its next destination. He does not know why, but he felt like he had an affinity with the small animal. Looking around once more to find his way out, he saw a girl not far from him. Her back was facing him, and he noticed that she was squatting down, plucking the flowers in front of her.

Her long, straight, raven black hair landed right at her waist and she was wearing a baby blue dress. There was a flower crown on her head and she hummed to a soft tune as she focused on what she was doing.

“Excuse me,” Kyungsoo said, and the girl stopped her actions.

“Good morning, Soo.” Her bell-like voice filled his ears and Kyungsoo swore he was never heard such a soothing voice before. It made him want to listen to her talk all day.

The girl stood up holding another flower crown that she just finished making. Just as she was about to turn around to face him, a loud crash from behind him woke him up.

--

“Sehun-ah!” Kyungsoo’s best friend’s loud voice filled the house. Kyungsoo blinked at the white ceiling before realising that it was all a dream. Groaning, he sat up and ran his hand through his thick, black hair.

That was not the first time he had dreamt about her. She was always in this baby blue dress and hair was a lovely shade of black. Yet, he had never saw her face. But he was sure that it was the same girl he was dreaming of again. Although it creeped him out that he had been dreaming about the same stranger, he wanted to see how she looked like. Kyungsoo was sure she would be as pretty as her voice.

“Sehun! Over there!” Sujeong let out another yelp.

Kyungsoo shook his head as he got out of bed to his backpack. It was a habit for him to sleep only in his track pants. Grabbing a random shirt, he headed to the bathroom to washup. He stared at his reflection in the mirror and his eyes trailed down to the chain that was lying on his chest. Connected to the chain was a white coloured key with rubies attached to it. The key was designed with a pair of wings at the top.

It was the same key his mother gave to him before she passed away. It was the key to prove that he was the rightful heir to the White Empire. Looking at the key every morning served as a reminder to him.

A reminder to get revenge for his parents.

Not a day has gone without him thinking about the many ways he would destroy his parents’ killer. There was only one goal in his life and it was to have revenge. He was all ready to put his life on the line just to achieve it.

Wearing his shirt, he quickly washed up and headed downstairs to where his best friend was.

The first thing that greeted him was Sehun, who was sweeping up the reminding glass pieces that once used to be a bowl.

“Let me guess,” Kyungsoo said as he leaned against the stairs. “A rat?”

“It was a humongous piece of rodent. Not just a ‘rat’.” Sujeong scrunched her beautiful face. She was not a fan of anything that crawls on four legs.

“Be careful of the glass, Your Majesty.” Sehun said when he saw his King heading into the kitchen. Kyungsoo waved off his personal guard as he went to get himself a cup of water.

The three of them had been fending for themselves for as long as Kyungsoo could remember. They would always watch each other’s back. And the last thing they would want was to inconvenience one another. But Sehun, being trained to be like Kyungsoo’s shadow, could not help but to always worry for his King.

“Breakfast will be done soon.” Sujeong said as she closed the lid to the pot. Kyungsoo patted her head as a form of thanks before heading to the dinning table. As Sehun helped Sujeong set up the table, Kyungsoo reached out for the key that was hidden behind his shirt.

Remembering what happened on that fateful night, he clenched the key tighter in his palm. Many people had died that day, including his parents. And because of that, the survivors had to run. And that was also how Do Kyungsoo was forced to be a young King with no one to guide him and no army to support him. He has no idea who murdered his parents and he has no idea how to get back his nation.

But he was going to accomplish it.

A smaller hand was placed on top of his and he looked up to see Sujeong giving him a sad smile. She too, had lost her loved ones on that day. “I’m okay.” He assured her, and she gave him a nod before taking a seat at the table, Sehun following behind her.

It has been 10 years since then. At first, there were other survivors, but their attackers never gave up searching for them. And now, it was only the three of them. The rest had done everything they could to protect the last bloodline of the Royal Family, even if it means giving up their life.

“So, have you found out anything about Nam Gahyun?” Kyungsoo directed his question to Sehun.

“Yes, Your Majesty. She is currently residing near the Red Empire.” Sehun informed his King. Sujeong rolled her eyes at the title Sehun gave Kyungsoo. She has never called her King by his rightful title but that was because they are the best of friends. Sehun, on the other hand, was an unwavering loyal protector of Kyungsoo and found it normal to call his King by his title every time.

“Hun-ah.” Kyungsoo spoke and the younger male looked at him. “You have to change that habit.”

Sehun quickly nod his head. He understood what his King was trying to tell him. Now that they are not in their own nation, they must be very careful. Sehun always made sure to call him ‘Your Majesty’ only when they are alone but Kyungsoo was afraid there might be a time where Sehun might have a slip of tongue.

“How long do you think it would take us to reach there?” Sujeong asked. She was usually the one to stock up on their necessities. They were currently living in an abandoned house at the outskirts of the Black Empire. The Red Empire was just beside the Black Empire.

“I think it would take us three days the most.” Sehun answered.

“Then, the Red Empire is where we shall head to next.” Kyungsoo confirmed their next location.

++

The empty street was dead silent. There was no one in sight and the only thing lighting up the dark area was the full moon soaring high in the sky. This was one of the more abandoned parts of the Red Empire only because sometimes wild animals would attack the humans.

Yoo Jiae strained her ears to hear for any movements. She was trained to do this. Something small and easy like this mission was almost an insult to her profession.

If slavery was even considered as a profession. She grimly thought.

Just then, a slight noise could be heard from her right. Her target was running as quietly as he possibly could, but he was still clumsy because he had allowed himself to be heard by her. As her vision could adjust even to the darkest places she had been to, this place was not even a challenge for her. Standing straight up, the wind gently brushed past her. She was right at the rooftop of one of the houses there and could see her target easily.

He ran. He ran like his life depended on it because it does. If he gets caught by her, she would easily end his life. He does not know how long it has been since the incident happened. He never wanted this to happen too. He had just joined the illegal trading association and his first job ended in a massacre.

And the killings were all done by one girl.

“Can you please stop running?” Her voice was soft, yet it seemed loud enough to easily fill the whole place. “I just want to go home and have a shower.”

Just then, he saw her right above him and she was looking at him with such lifeless eyes that seemed as dead as his partners when she killed them. He stared back at her and saw no emotion in her eyes.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know where I did wrong.” He got down onto his knees and beg, knowing that it was useless to run anymore.

“I’m sorry.” She stood in front of him. “I’m just doing my job.”

“Please, just let me repent.” He started but got silenced with slash across his neck. Choking on his own blood, he fell to the ground and Jiae watched as the life left his eyes.

Jiae had never felt pity for any one of the people she had killed with her own two hands. She was not allowed to feel any sort of emotion. Being born as a slave, her brother and her were immediately separated from their parents. At the young age of seven years old, she was trained to be an assassin for her empire.

But Jiae did not want to be violent. She did not want to hurt people. Killing was the last thing on her mind.

But she had to, if she wanted to keep her brother alive.

Opening the doors to the common room for assassins, the others gave her a cold glare as they cautiously watched her walked past. Nobody was friends with one another in this place. They would usually move as a small group or work alone. There was no peace and laughter. There was only the lingering stench of fresh blood.

Jiae ignored them as she searched the crowd for her younger brother. She was not afraid of any of them. She did not need to be. None of them had the capability to even hurt a strand of her hair. This was how good Jiae had turned out to be. She was the best in the field, even among the adults.

“Noona!” A 12-year-old boy ran up to Jiae the moment he saw her returned unharmed.

“Jiwoo!” She hugged her brother, glad that he looked healthy. Because they were slaves, they could not say anything or fight back when anyone above their status abuses them. It was against the law to defend themselves. “Jiwoo-ah, did you practice hard today?” Jiae patted his head and he eagerly nodded.

Jiwoo was her younger brother and because she was older than him by seven years, she took up the responsibility of acting like a mother too. Just like her, Jiwoo was a slave but because he had no talent in assassination, the association pushed Jiwoo to be part of the intelligence group that provided information to the association. Jiae was glad, because it would mean that her brother would not get injured.

“Boss said to meet him when you get back.” Jiwoo whispered, as if he would get punished if he said it too loudly. Jiae gave her brother a short nod and asked him to wait for her in their room before heading up to where their Boss’s office was at.

Knocking on the door twice, a deep, gruff voice asked her to enter. As she went into the room, she saw her Boss sitting at his desk, looking through some paper work. Without looking at her, he threw a file to her direction and she easily caught it.

“Count yourself lucky, Jiae. If you please him, he might even want you.” Boss said as she opened the file to study her client’s profile.

You got to be freaking kidding me. Her eyes grew wide when she saw who her client was.

“He specifically asked for our best. And you are one of the best.” He nonchalantly said but Jiae could heard the warning in his voice. “His Royal Majesty Yongguk does not want too many guards following him, so he requested for you to protect him in the dark.”

Jiae nodded and listened carefully to Boss’s instructions. This was not a mission she could afford to screw up. If a mission was not done properly, the most they would receive was a beating but never to the point of death. In the Red Empire, slaves were common, and some people abused their slave till death. Jiae was glad that her brother and her were not one of those slaves.

But this was a mission that involved one of the members of the Royal Family. If she was not careful, Jiwoo and her would be the next to go.

Heading to the common washroom for the girls, she stripped out of her current outfit and headed to the showers. The hot water hit her skin painfully, but it served as a distraction from her guilt. She was trained to do this. This was what she was. There were innocent people who died by her hands. Even if those she killed had done unforgiveable things in their life, she knew that it was always wrong to kill someone. Yet, that was what she was doing on a daily basis.

She was a murderer.

Reaching down to the slave mark on her left hip, her fingers traced the jagged edges that was caused by the hot iron. A lone tear escaped her eye. If only she was not born a slave. If only she did not have the talent to kill. Then she would have entered the intelligence department like her brother. She would not have blood spilled on her hands. She would not have to kill and live in guilt forever. She hated her birth. She hated her life.

And she hated herself.

Author's Note

So the first chapter is up hehe. As you can see, this story has a slight angst to it. I know that there are some confusing parts but everything will be slowly revealed.

Those who are familiar with me will know that it's my writing style hehe :3

btw the Yoo Jiae here is my original character but I somewhat based it off Lovelyz's Jiae. So it's up to you if you want to imagine it like Lovelyz's Jiae or just have a different character in your mind.

BTW this is how Kyungsoo's key looks like, except that it is white in colour. Not like white-white but more of a silver/pearlescent white