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dandruff........... 3

A painful silence dominated the spacious room adorned with colorful oil paintings on its walls, but even their bright colors were not enough to dispel the disturbing gloom. All eyes were cast down as the brown coffin, carried on the shoulders of four three-meter-tall black creatures with large bodies, six arms, two legs, and small heads with a sharp, large pink crystal growing behind them, passed through the crowd that had gathered to the sides. They ascended a few steps with the coffin, placed it down, and retreated from in front of the tall, bearded blond man… a tall man with prominent muscles visible through his wide clothing. He advanced steadily towards the coffin while everyone anticipated his reaction, the reaction of the emperor who was indifferent to his son as he bid him farewell for the last time.

He placed his hand on the coffin lid and pushed it open, looking inside for a moment before smiling broadly, followed by a loud laugh that silenced those not already hushed by the funeral atmosphere. Yes, everyone knew the prince was a disappointment to his father, but… not to this extent!!

The white, forty-something woman with black hair cascading down her chest, touching her black mourning dress, screamed: _“Enough David!!.. At least respect his funeral…”

The emperor interrupted her, looking at the coffin with excitement and eagerness etched on his face: _“shut up woman… your damned son is alive and well.”

The woman fell silent, shocked, while noise filled the room. The emperor raised his head to the audience, restoring silence for a moment before turning his gaze to the coffin. He approached his son’s face, placed his hand on his chest, muttered some words, then said as a pink light emanated from the prince’s chest: _“Activation magic!”

The pink light gradually faded as the emperor, playing with his beard, said: _“I thought it was suppression magic…” He added, with a broad smile on his face: _“This is fun!”

A woman moved from among the guards standing aside, a woman in her thirties with a long face and black hair tied in a ponytail, exuding a rare masculine beauty. She approached the emperor, leaned her spear against the coffin, and said in astonishment: _“Isn’t he dead, master?”

The emperor, with a lost smile: _“No, you probably didn’t notice his faint crystal clouds, but I did. As you know, everyone in this world lives by the crystal that emits a faint energy that grows in the body with training. I’m sure he’s alive… but…”

_“But…”

The emperor, looking over his son again: _“In what form of crystal magic did they do this…”

_“What do you mean?!”

The emperor, lost in thought, looked at the floor while everyone waited in silence. His wife approached, crying softly: _“I beg you, Dav… don’t play with my heart, What’s… What’s happening here!!”

He looked at her for a while, still lost in thought, and said: _“he didn’t intend to kill him; this is a sign from him, and he want to see how clever we are. It’s like a game of chess… make your move and wait for your opponent to make theirs… What I don’t understand is whether he is just opponents or enemy, it doesn’t matter, we will find out in the future…”

The woman interrupted, agitated: _“Alive?!.. Is he alive!!! That’s all I want to know!!!”

The emperor sighed: _“Yes, he is, so let me focus here a little…,” he added, shouting: _“We’ll consider my son in a coma and try to find a solution. We don’t know who did it, as you know, but we will find out, so thank you for coming, and we will inform you of any updates.” He added, gesturing to the knight beside him: _“Take them out.”

_“Yes, sir!”

............

The knight ascended the stairs, carrying on her shoulder a man in shackles, dressed in tattered white clothes. She reached a large door and pushed it open, entering a spacious room. She approached the emperor, who stood before a coffin, and said as she placed the man in front of the coffin: _“A man sentenced to death, as you ordered.”