CH 1

Strangely, she couldn’t concentrate. Cezanne looked up, taking her eyes off the book.

A candle fell as the chandelier, which shone brightly in the room, tilted.

Before moving to the carpet, she stepped on it and extinguished it, but anxiety continued to strike her.

Cezanne frowned and opened her mouth.

“Is there anyone out there?”

She couldn’t hear the answers of the maids, who had to wait in front of the door. They were a bit bothersome, but she never ordered them to disappear.

Krrr!

Soon, a strange roar began to be heard from outside. Moreover, the entire palace was shaking.

“…What is it?”

Cezanne got up from her seat and approached the window. The panoramic view of the imperial palace was clearly seen through the dense bushes.

‘Wait, you can’t see the Imperial Palace from here…?’

Bang.

By the time Cezanne thought something was strange in her head, Mel, her personal lady-in-waiting, came in as if she was being chased by something.

She collapsed on the floor and cried.

“Pri, pri…princess! Out, out, outside…Oh, my gosh. What should I do… How, how can this happen!”

Mel couldn’t even properly say what she was surprised by. Cezanne approached Mel, despite her strange attitude, and asked.

“What’s wrong, Mel? Please calm down. What’s going on out there?”

Mel murmured like a crazy person.

“Yes, the, the man…it, it’s hardened like a stone!”

“A man is hardened like a stone?”

“I, I don’t know exactly. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I’ve seen it.”

Mel said while swallowing the tears. Cezanne rose from her seat.

“I need to go out and see for myself what’s going on.”

Mel shook her head, holding onto Cezanne’s collar and stretching it.

“Pri, princess. Ugh, n, no… You can’t leave this room. It, it’s dangerous outside!”

“Even if you say that, I have to go. Hurry. Please get ready.”

“No. You, you can’t. Never go outside. There must be something scary going on. You can’t go out, Princess! Sob! Sob!”

Cezanne still found it hard to understand Mel’s behavior as if she had become a broken person.

She was so surprised and scared by something that she lost her composure and the usual calmness was no longer present.

Cezanne said, shaking the trembling Mel.

“Mel, if that’s what really happened, then I really should go to the main palace. Father and mother are there.”

“…no, no. No, Princess! There will be no maid left to serve you…”

Mel continued, crying.

“Monster, someone screamed that a monster had appeared! Princess, please…!”

Cezanne felt sorry for Mel’s appearance, but she was not convinced.

“If you’re really scared, stay here. I’ll go alone.”

“N, no! Princess! Princess!”

Cezanne shook Mel off and ran straight out of her room.

“Princess! Princess!”

Despite Mel’s desperate cries, Cezanne kept on walking and almost jumped at the sight she encountered.

It was exactly what Mel said.

The hallway was already in chaos.

There were statues that were hardened that looked like they were running away with all their might as if being chased by something.

They were all familiar faces. They were the maids who were serving her a while ago.

They seemed to have been petrified while trying to tell her about it. Cezanne was so afraid of the truth in front of her that she wanted to close her eyes.

“This is ridiculous…”

Even though Cezanne *didn’t blink a single eye for most things, her heart dropped. She was flooded with terrifying thoughts.

*not showing any reaction to something

One day, she remembered a phrase she read in an ancient book.

– When Basilisk, the king of darkness and snakes, wakes up, the world will finally come to an end. All the fools in the world will turn into a stone statue before Basilisk.

She couldn’t imagine the ability to turn people into statues. There was someone with such power?

Cezanne hurriedly laid her palm on the back of her hand. As the mana flowed, the sign shone brightly, and a large golden figure was summoned in front of Cezanne.

An elegant dragon with straight hair and large wings. It was Elan, the Summoner of Light. Elan rolled her golden eyes and stared at the knee-high Cezanne.

“Did you call me?”

Elan asked in a low-pitched voice.

“Elan! This is a big deal. Everyone in the palace seems to be in danger! I need your help. First, go to the nearest palace!”

“…There’s a lot of dark energy on that side, so it’s better not to go there.”

Elan was reluctant to move as she read the energy.

“Is that monster really there…?”

Elan nodded.

“Yes, it’s dangerous to approach.”

“But still go. I need to check from afar.”

I wanted to check with my own eyes whether the cursed thing really appeared or if my family was safe.

“I understand, hop on.”

Elan lowered herself as if she could not help it. Cezanne climbed on Elan’s neck and grabbed the scales.

Elan carefully flew up with Cezanne on board. The distance to the First Princess Palace was close, so they were able to get there quickly.

The almost collapsed palace looked miserable. She could see the hardened stone statues and fallen bodies. Was there anyone alive?

Even if there were, there was no one outside. Maybe, everyone was hiding carefully.

“Cezanne, I think…there’s someone nearby.”

As soon as Elan’s words fell, a scream pierced through her eardrums.

“Aaaaah!”

This was certainly the voice of Cezanne’s older sister and first princess, Vivian.

“That’s the room.”

It was Vivian’s favorite mirror room, and a room that had not yet collapsed.

At Cezanne’s words, Elan approached the room carefully.

Krrr, boom!

It was an unbelievable situation.

Some parts of the Imperial Palace’s walls were broken, causing a large black body to protrude to the outside.

‘What the hell is that?’

Surprised, Cezanne looked inside quietly.

She felt her breath stop.

Something filled the room

Spraying the eerie dark energy, a huge snake like a pillar raised its head.

It was so big that the head occupied half of the room.

Vivian’s body was wrapped around its long, thick body.

Ssst! As the scales collided, the snake tightened its heavy body even more, and Fletta was riding on the back with a blank expression.

‘Fletta summoned that thing?’

Fletta was an unlucky child born with the energy of darkness and was not a pure blood of the imperial family. She was also not recognized as a princess.

Kyaa!

The black, hideous giant snake, Basilisk, spread its legs as if agitated.

Scared, Vivian trembled with her ears closed. She was so afraid that she started screaming like crazy.

“Sob! He, he, help me! Sob, Fletta…please, please!”

The child with the energy of darkness would not be kept alive by the natural power of the imperial family. But for some reason, Fletta was the exception.

Vivian considered Fletta more terrible than a bug. She had always been at the forefront of bullying Fletta, and many things had been done under her command.

Soon after, she looked at Vivian’s messy appearance, who kept on shedding tears, and spoke as if she was possessed by evil.

“Vivian, I’ve been waiting for this day.”

“F, Fletta…Eek, I’ll, I’ll do anything. Please do something about this monster!”

Vivian said with a crazy look.

“You’re already hurting with this much?”

“…Eek!”

“You harshly tormented me, a young and innocent person. Every day was hell. I’d rather die.”

Fletta spat out every word. The anger that she couldn’t resist came out of her lips.

“The real devil is you.”

“Flet, eek, Fletta, you’re a good kid. Ah, ca, can you forgive me just this once?”

When Vivian begged, Fletta stared at her with cold eyes.

“No. I’ll never forgive you. It’s all over now.”

Vivian’s pupil shook terribly at Fletta’s words.

“Now, remember your last moment well. Vivian.”

As Fletta’s eyes turned red, the basilisk’s eyes turned red as well.

“Aaaaah!”

The basilisk moved his torso, bringing Vivian closer.

The moment Vivian’s frightened image appeared on the red retina. She began to turn black from the tip of her toes.

Only then did Vivian, who belatedly saw the situation, screamed.

“Eek, no!”

Fletta moved the basilisk and put Vivian down in the middle of the three-sided mirror so that she could see herself clearly.

“Watch your last moment with your very own eyes.”

Fletta laughed coldly.

“Hiii, ugh!”

Vivian had a bloody face, but her body, which had already begun to harden, gradually climbed up to her upper body. It was a sight that gave Cezanne goosebumps all over her body.

“Eek, no…!”

Vivian, who was screaming, became a rock without finishing her words.

Fletta, who was leading the Basilisk with Vivian’s stone statue in its mouth, noticed something and turned her head.

She looked out of the window, but there was no one.

Elan, carrying Cezanne, flew up and headed to a nearby forest. She put Cezanne down there. She couldn’t even breathe properly like a frozen person.

“Are you okay, Cezanne?”

“This is absolutely ridiculous…”

A day with a particularly unstable energy that did not go away. The Imperial Palace, which was dazzlingly beautiful that day… Cezanne’s world was completely shattered.