epilouge || fate's hands

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There is something missing

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There is something missing.

This is what the crown prince feels like: a plucked flower that has lost all its radiance. Something tangible—something he has loved, deeply and truly—is absent. How else can Arion explain the torn, hollow feeling in his heart, that something to fill? How else can he explain the fact that the world seems so frighteningly mundane? So frighteningly boring?

But Arion just doesn't know who.

It feels like the gods have forcibly ripped someone from his hands. Like this is redemption, somewhat.

The prince dreams strange dreams.

Someone calls his name affectionately: Ari, he says softly, like it is a name to be treasured—something to savor on a tongue: please. Come to me. I beg of you.

Other times it is a ravaged, pained sound. Grief, Arion recognises. Directed at who? Him? Why? Who? Calling his name with such agony—such bitterness—that Arion wakes from it, suffocated and numb.

Something.

.

Is.

.

Missing.

Someone.

Marriage prospects come and go. He never once looks at them. Arion feels the same bored contempt whenever he looks at them—they are mere replacements, he thinks—but then he stills.

Mere replacements for who?

Names flit through his head. Angelina. Angelina. Angelina. Then it quickly turns to Livio.

Livio.

Angelina's brother? But he doesn't even...

Then a spark of light flashes in his head, and his mind bathes in a vibrant color: Y/n. Y/n. Y/n.

He inquires numerous times. Speaks to nobles, historians, and at last, Angelina. Even Livio, and somehow, that appearance feels so endearing to him. Yet it is never the same person. That appearance visits him in dreams, calling his name with a sweet, sweet voice—but this Livio, that he meets, is vastly different.

He doesn't...he simply...isn't him.

(Who?)

How do you describe the feeling of losing something you never knew existed? The feeling of losing something you don't even know you possess is like chasing shadows; you try to touch them, but they never return. It's as if a piece of your soul has slipped away. He searches the recesses of his mind, desperately trying to put a name to the longing that has taken root in his heart; he tries desperately to put a name to it — but it never works; it is to no avail. He sifts through his memories; he goes through fragments of his past; faces and names flicker, but they are out of reach. A yearning for something; someone; undefined.

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⏰ Last updated: Dec 16, 2025 ⏰

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