The manor owned by the Queen of Megaris on the outskirts of Blackhelm was famed for its sublime beauty. Though it was relatively small compared to the other properties owned by royalty, the estate in itself was developed by the Queen, turning it into her favourite place of relaxation, and throughout the years, she would often stay there whenever she needed a temporary break from her palace duties.

Especially during the night, the beauty of the Queen’s manor was said to be otherworldly, breathtaking even, just like its owner. From a distance, the white mansion seemingly resembled the soft silver light of the moon, and the countless small lamps along the pavement and the gardens were like glittering stars that had fallen on the land. The sight left even its servants mesmerized, its beauty giving off a sense of comfort, calmness and peace.

But not that night.

When King Theron reached Esther’s manor, the gate was locked without a guard, and when he forcibly passed through it, he found not a single lamp was lit. It was as if darkness had swallowed the place, dyeing everything bleak and still. Not a sound could be heard, not even from a single insect or the passing wind.

Empty, as if not a single living being was around.

Even the normally soft and gentle moonlight from the full moon felt eerily cold that night. With each passing second, even that moonlight dimmed, as if the moon itself was hiding behind the clouds on purpose, trying to make its presence discreet.

It was so dark and quiet, it made all the hairs on his body stand.

King Theron forced his discomfort at the back of his mind and forced his ride to cross the small wooden bridge ahead that was built over the stream in front of the mansion. Only the sound of the hooves of the horses could be heard in the silence. However, before they could reach the front yard of the mansion, he could feel the distress of his horse. It stopped, wanting to turn back, and wouldn’t move further.

His forehead creased. “What’s wrong?”

The horse neighed in fright and the animal nearly threw King Theron off its back. He looked at Sir Galien, and his horse had stopped beside him, showing the same reaction as well. King Theron climbed off the horse and walked on his own, but he was only able to take a few steps forward before he was pushed back by what felt like an invisible barrier.

“What the—”

The anger that the King was bottling inside him exploded, and curses so unlike him left his mouth. He raised his arms, trying to force his way in, but he received nothing else but pain with each hit. When he tried to slam his entire body against the barrier, it bounced him back and threw him to the ground. The young man didn’t give up despite feeling a dull ache over the fall. He tried to hit the barrier again and again and again, but the pain only radiated through his body as the skin on his hands finally cracked and began to bleed.

“Esther!” he called out, his voice cracking. “Esther, I’m here!”

“No, Your Majesty—” Sir Galien hurried down from his horse and tried to stop his king from hurting himself.

“Let go of me, Galien!”

“Your Majesty, please stop and calm down!”

Sir Galien went forward in his stead, and just like his liege, he was pushed back. However, since he didn’t throw his body forward like King Theron, the resistance he felt wasn’t painful. In fact, the invisible energy was gentle, and it seemed like its only purpose was to keep intruders out, not to hurt them.

The invisible energy barrier surrounded the entire mansion, and it seemed like no one could enter the residence until the barrier was lifted.

When he returned to his king’s side, Sir Galien found the young man kneeling on the ground. “Your Majesty, the invisible force keeping us out surrounds the mansion. Not even my sword works.”

King Theron looked like he had lost everything. His dark eyes only stared at the white mansion with numb frustration, and he didn’t even react to his knight’s words.

Sir Galien could not bear seeing his liege look so pitiful.

“Your Majesty, should…should we return to the palace?”

Sir Galien wanted to help him stand, but King Theron raised his hand to stop him from approaching and continued kneeling in place. The knight could only let out a helpless sigh and patiently stood by his side, not speaking another word. He wanted to comfort the King, but he didn’t understand the circumstances, and he felt that even if he did, it would be useless. Nothing he could say would remove the terrible pain in those dark eyes. As his knight, all he could do was remain by his side.

Time passed by slowly, quietly like that.

King Theron’s eyes remained lifeless. He was neither staring at the mansion nor the ground, but at something, nobody could ever guess. His face held no emotion—there was no anger or sadness or regret—yet it looked as if life was sucked out of his body. Whatever was going through inside his mind, not even his closest knight could know. Perhaps, not even Theron himself knew.

Sometime before the crack of dawn, Sir Galien felt movement around him. It was the horses that he tied to a nearby tree, because otherwise they would have run away during the night. One of the horses managed to loosen its rope and was idly eating the grass on the ground. Soon, he saw that horse walk forward in search of more grass…and it had strayed on an area that was supposedly covered by the invisible barrier.

With wide eyes, Sir Galien jumped on his feet and moved towards the barrier. When he raised his hand forward, as expected, he felt no resistance. That meant they could finally go inside the mansion.

“Your Majesty!” Sir Galien called out. “That force is gone! You can now go inside the residence.”

Hearing him call out several more times, the dazed king finally lifted his gaze to look at the mansion. He too saw the horse that was now standing close to the entrance.

Without a word, he stood up but due to kneeling for long, his legs felt weak. He was about to lose his balance but Sir Galien held him. “Your Majesty, careful.”

King Theron balanced himself and his knight let go of him. His dark eyes stared at a particular window of that mansion.

…and then he turned away.

“Your Majesty?” Sir Galien stayed rooted in place, dumbfounded at the King’s action. “Your Majesty, are we not going inside?”

He watched as King Theron went towards the other horse and removed the rope tying it to the tree.

Without even once looking back at that mansion, the King left. Only Sir Galien gave a second look at the mansion before following behind his liege.

That strong back, the back of the man that was the pillar of the kingdom, the knight found it both familiar and unfamiliar. As if the man he was following was still Theron Ivanov, but it was no longer the same Theron Ivanov. As if he had left a part of him behind in that mansion, never to get it back.

The knight’s intuition was telling him that this time, the King and the Queen had parted ways for real.

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