Fire, Angel, and King

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» 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨: 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 «

 What he could hear was only the sound of slashing swords. And the most agonizing fact was that he was the one who was using the sword. Soldiers and officials collapsed to the ground when he slashed and stabbed. Surprisingly, the warm and sticky blood didn't matter. The only thing that mattered at the moment was murder. And the most shocking fact was that even he didn't know why he was murdering those people, and he was smiling at the sight. Sure, they've done many resentful things to him, but why was there a reason he had to murder them? Why was he seeing them as monsters? This was not him. Then he reached the throne. There reigned the Queen, one of the strongest warriors in the City. He held his sword and faced her. The result was too easy than expected. Queen Valerya lay on the floor as a cold corpse, beheaded, after a few rounds of engagement. Without his own will, he sat on the throne. He looked at the blooded throne room. His bloodied body, and all those corpses. He killed them. Miraculously, he could soon control his body. Something, something must have possessed him. Tears were dropping down, but he soon passed out...

 "ARGH!" Adonis woke up from the same nightmare, every morning. Maybe it could be counted as dawn since he always woke up at three in the morning. There were no servants or maids to bring him water or sleeping pills. Actually, he didn't want them to come and try to help him, because he should not be the one who should be helped. Adonis was known as the slayer, the one who brutally murdered every high-rank official, soldier, and the royal family a year ago. And he was only sixteen, soon to be seventeen when the new year came. Everyone in the palace feared him, but he didn't even know why they even did at first. Memories only came back in the nightmares, and he soon realized after a few days of royal life that he killed every high-ranking citizen in the palace and took the throne. The law states that if someone challenges the throne, they can fight the current bearer and get hold of it if the current bearer loses their life. So that was why normal Adonis Lenarde, an apprentice official, became King in a day.

 It was still surreal, even after a year. He still couldn't figure out what was possessing him when he took the throne. But he couldn't just say like 'Oh, it was a mistake I killed the royal family, almost every senior official, and soldiers. I resign from today'. That seemed like total gibberish. Also, he was managing a royal life. Within seconds, somehow the ton of documents disappeared from his desk, and it was already evening. After dinner, Adonis always searched what had possessed him in the largest library in the City, but he could still not find a clue about possession. They were distressing but fast-winding days. It was as if Adonis lost a year of himself and acted like a crazy psychopath. What if he had multiple personalities and they just popped in and out? Those thoughts always wandered inside his head every day, as if those three to four precious hours were the only day Adonis realized he was perfectly himself, regretted, questioned, and wanted to escape what he did, and what happened.

 I just wanted to be happy. I wanted to be a high official, serving the royal family. And what in the world had happened? Was I out of my mind? What happened? And why am I living my days as I'm a normal person? I'm scared of myself. SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP ME...

 Well, groaning wouldn't help. Adonis headed to the library and kept searching and searching. The palace library was indeed vast that he had only explored a quarter of it until now. But today didn't seem to be much of an earning, though. The section he reached today was simply about botany. However, in this old-fashioned place, someone might have organized it in the wrong order (the possibility was extremely low, though). With little hope, Adonis skimmed through the section. Yes, no big help for today. Since it was time the servants would wake up, he headed back to his room, pretending he had been sleeping.

 Soon it was morning, and he had to go back to duty. You know, be the perfect, cold, yet skilled ruler of Apricus. Almost no one realized his iris turned from a warm dark brown to pitch-black color.

 "Your majesty, Michaella Bryant has come to have an audience," Adonis's secretary said. Huh, a Fallen Angel. They always made him uncomfortable. Their aura somehow managed to give him a tug inside and make him believe in... he couldn't always find the exact right word. Probably conscience? Kindness? He just merely imagined it was a positive aura, not the negative one he tried to emit.

 Michaella Bryant could be classified as a wise person. Maybe that was the reason why she was selected as a Council member, one of the most powerful ones in Apricus. The Fallen Angel had light green hair and deep blue eyes, with a shining blue halo. Her wings shone gold, green, and blue. It might have been a mysterious yet beautiful sight for people who didn't see them often, but as the king, Adonis was used to the shining ones.

 "Your majesty," Michaella Bryant started talking with the Fallen Angels' sophisticated accent. "I wanted to inform you that I am resigning from my Council seat starting next week. I submitted the necessary documents to the government."

 Adonis was quite taken aback. Michaella Bryant was an excellent Council member, and still young enough. Why would she resign her job, when Council members could reform rights, laws, and sometimes be in a higher position than the royalties? Managing to show a poker face, he asked her in a businesslike tone. "Is there a reason why you would resign from your position?"

 "I would like to appoint a more skilled Fallen Angel other than me, your majesty."