Heart Burn

The Story Starts...

~ Chapter One ~

The Story Starts

Every morning, the young Zoldyck prince is destined to wake up when it strikes dawn. No sign of light was anywhere in the castle, except for a few flickering candles lit throughout the dim, long hallways. Every window is as soulless as the members of the royal family that roam about that dark home.

A soft and sudden knock at a bedroom door was enough to stir the sleeping prince awake, and rather immediately a groggy groan is eliciting from the man all sprawled in his bed, his white hair a mess on his pillows and his legs no longer buried under the tucked sheets as they had been last night.

"His highness, Killua?" A gentle, female voice asked from the other side of the door.

At that, Killua begins to slowly sit up, realizing that it's that time of day again. He raises a pale hand to his face and rubs the bridge of his nose, eyes still shut as he tries lazily to wake himself up. "Mmn, come in," murmurs the young prince, running a hand through the mess that is his hair all over his face.

The bedroom door slowly falls open, and standing with her hand still on the knob is a tall woman, pausing with slight hesitation to make sure that the prince is decent before she makes her way into the bedroom. There's a warm smile on her face, and as habit she bends over just slightly in greeting. "Good morning, royal highness. How was your slumber?" Asks she, her long, black hair falling down over her shoulders as she bows.

Killua's smiling a little at the maid, shaking a hand dismissively before beginning to mumble once more. "What even is sleep at this rate..." He huffs, shaking his head and pushing off what covers were actually left on his cold body. He kicks his feet out of bed and winces slightly as they touch the cold and tiled floor of his bedroom. "And what have I told you about the entire... bowing gesture, Liz? It's rather meaningless to me."

Liz, also more properly known as Elizabeth, straightens back up, her hands running down the white apron of her black dress and smoothing out the wrinkles. "Pardon, royal highness, but I'm afraid I must follow kingdom standards," Replies her softly, giving a half smile as Killua huffs again and soon ends his disapproval of his own kingdom rules with a short nod. He sighs softly, pushing his aching body out of his bed and sliding his feet into the dark blue slippers that were resting at his bedside.

"And what might we have on today's list of utterly insufferable chores?" Asks Killua with such usual dread, arms raising up slowly into the air as he holds a stretch, groaning quietly. He comes to the conclusion that it be best he ruin his day before it has the chance to start; what a better possibility of doing that than to ask of what his day consisted of? Now, as Killua summons up his energy and commences to get out of his bed, he considers that little sigh that Elizabeth gives before she responds; A rather sign clearer than crystal that this day is going to be as dreadful as the young boy has already imagined.

"Well, your highness, your father has arranged for you to go into the village today... He asks that you—"

Interrupting her voice is a heavy sigh, and Elizabeth isn't given the chance to finish, as Killua does it for her. "—To collect the taxes, of course. I should have expected as much... As if he can't ever do such for himself," he mutters, that last part hasty and harsh under his breath. He's marching his upset little self over to the large and wide doors that are his wardrobe, pushing them open and walking right into the spacious closet. The male sighs again as he continues his rave.

"What irks me most is how he's always assigning me to do that chore! Of everyone else, father know how I feel about the debt of the village. Ugh. Sometimes my hatred for this family expands past what I thought as the limit."