Key of Souls: Twisted Wonderland

Chapter 64: A Prince's Scar

Dawn's POV

I again found myself in this weird blank landscape as I opened my eyes. I looked around to see if anything was there when I heard a familiar voice behind me. "Since I was born, it felt like an immovable stone atop my head." I turned around and saw that it was Leona who was talking and just like Riddle he didn't seem to notice that I was there; I looked at him more closely and noticed that his emerald green eyes, which usually had a vibrant glow were now dull and lifeless that showed resentment and sadness.

In an instant, the landscape soon changed and we were not standing in what appeared to be an ancient castle that seemed to be made entirely out of stone. It was beautifully crafted with open-aired windows that showed the far-out lands of the savanna with the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen. As I was looking out the window, I heard new voices of other people who were a few feet away from me; based on their clothing, I thought they were the servants who worked in this castle. "Huuh... His Highness Farena is so bright and cheerful but... Why is his younger brother so hard to please...", said the first male servant.

The female servant nodded in agreement, showing a faint expression of fear on her face. "On top of that, he can use magic to change anything to sand. So terrifying..." she said with worry.

The second male servant stepped in between the two, gave them a firm look and said, "Could the two of you keep your mouths shut? What if someone heard you?" Unbeknownst to them, somebody was hiding behind one of the stone pillars and was overhearing their conversation; I went to see who it was and to my surprise, it was a young Leona who looked around 10 years old. His face showed a mixture of sadness and anger as tears threatened to fall from his eyes, but he quickly dried them, moved from his hiding spot and promptly walked down the hall. As he did, he purposely rammed through the servants and gave them a menacing stare; he didn't bother apologizing as he kept walking away. I couldn't blame him though, how else would you feel when you overhear somebody talking about you like that?

"Tch. I'm sure they'd sing a different tune if I were born first. "His Highness Leona is so thoughtful and an extremely talented wizard. Completely different from his carefree brother." But because I was born second instead, everything I do gets nitpicked, they praise the first born at the expense of the second. No matter what I do, I'll never be first.", as he spoke, I saw Leona balling his hands into fists. Hearing him say that made me think, 'Was this how he views himself in his family?' Leona was always being compared to his older brother in anything he did; no matter how hard he worked, his talents would always be insufficient since he was born second. Everything he does is worth nothing and because he is the second-born prince, he has no chance of becoming King.

The scenery soon changed again and I found myself in someone's bedroom. I scanned the room and saw someone lying on a bed without a care in the world; I got a closer look and saw that it was Leona in his middle adolescence. Just as he was about to nap, another figure entered his room. It was another male with lion ears and a thin tail just like Leona and features similar to him; excluding he had long, dark-red hair that travelled down his mid-back, golden-brown eyes, and was taller than Leona. Looking at the two of them, I thought, 'Could this man be Leona's brother?'

"Leona! Why were you not present at the ceremony today?", asked Farena.

Leona opened one of his eyes and looked at his brother with disgust. "Ceremony? Aah, that doting parent party you threw to show off your son to the people?", he said, disgustedly. "My apologies. It seems I fell back to sleep." He rolled over with his back facing his brother as he said this. Farena soon approached his brother and said, "It's an important day to show the people the face of their future king."

Leona soon sat up and got off his bed, looking at his brother with venom in his eyes; it was clear that he really didn't want to hear his brother's words. "It truly is an auspicious day. It's the day the loathed second prince forever lost his claim to the throne.", he said. Farena gasped at Leona's words and exclaimed, "Don't talk like that!"