Chapter 272: A Tyrant In Making
"Your mother’s grave?" Ivan repeated softly before asking, "I am assuming it is in Luminear....in the Palace of Light?"
Eve gulped lightly, "It is..."
She saw the apprehension cross his face at the thought of taking her there. As Luminear was not the safest place to be, especially with her father being hell-bent on bringing her back. It would be like throwing herself as a piece of meat to a pack of hungry wolves.
She then spoke again in a quieter voice, "But the Palace of Light does not hold her true grave. What rests there is only a monument, a place built to honour the late Queen and give others a space to bow their heads in respect."
Ivan’s brows knitted together, "Then where is she truly buried?"
"At my mother’s request, she was laid to rest in the snowy mountains behind the castle." Eve’s voice trembled as memory tightened around her chest, "She told King Solan that from there, she would be able to watch over all of us."
Ivan saw how deeply she was still affected by her mother, and rightly so. He could feel her immense yearning to visit her mother, and he wanted nothing more than to fulfil her wish. However, there was a challenge he needed to make her aware of.
Closing the distance between them, he brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers. "Eve, I would be more than happy to take you there, but there is a limitation to my abilities. I cannot teleport to a place accurately unless I have been there before."
Her eyes widened as she remembered the first time he had explained his powers to her.
"Oh....right. I am sorry, I forgot about that."
Then realisation struck her, "But....you have been to the Palace of Light before, when you were a child."
Ivan opened his mouth to protest, but she caught his wrist, "Hear me out, alright? What if you teleport us to the back side of the palace? From there, I can show you exactly which mountain her grave is on. We can visit quickly and come straight back."
"Eve, we could be discovered. What if there are people at the back of the castle?" Ivan countered.
She shook her head immediately. "No. No one ever goes there. It faces the mountains, with nothing really beyond them except an empty courtyard. I know because I used to wander there whenever I needed to....get away from everything." Her voice softened as memory washed over her.
It had been her refuge, the one place where she could breathe, where she felt closest to her mother, knowing the mountain that courtyard faced was the very one where she was buried.
Her eyes suddenly filled with remorse as she whispered, "I....I was never allowed to go there."
Her heart grew heavy, and as she swallowed the lump forming in her throat. Yet she continued softly, "I was never allowed to step outside the palace....not even to visit my mother’s real grave."
Ivan felt stunned upon hearing that she had never been permitted to visit her own mother’s resting place.
He could not fathom how twisted those people were, that they not only blamed her for her mother’s death, but also denied her the grace of attending her funeral, of saying her final goodbye, or ever allowing her to visit where her mother was laid to rest.
The more Ivan thought about it, the more his blood boiled. His resolve hardened with every memory of Eve’s suffering.
For all that she had endured, he wanted nothing more than to return it a thousandfold to those responsible. More than anything else in his life, this was what he would begin working towards the moment he returned to the palace. His heart would not know peace until he witnessed the downfall of those crooked people.
But for now, there was only one thing that mattered to him. He wanted to give her this moment, to finally let her visit her mother’s grave and, perhaps, help heal the wound that had been aching inside her for far too long.
Fully aware of the danger they were inviting, he said firmly, "Alright. I will take you there."
"R-really?" Her eyes flew back to his, hope blooming instantly. "You will?"
Ivan gave her a small nod and gently adjusted her hood, pulling it forward until only the lower half of her face remained visible. "I will take you to the back of the palace. Once I can see the peak of the mountain where she rests, I will teleport us there. But on one condition," he added quietly. "Under no circumstances are you to remove your hood, alright?"
Eve nodded eagerly, her eyes shining. "I will not. I promise."
"Alright," Ivan was about to wrap his arms around her to teleport them when she suddenly said, "Wait!"
"What is it?" he asked.
She quickly glanced around and spotted a cluster of white flowers blooming near the edge of the forest. She hurried over, plucked a small handful, and returned to him.
Ivan smiled at once, understanding what she intended to do.
She was about to explain when he spoke gently, "I know."
Offering him a soft smile, she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed a grateful kiss to his chest. Ivan drew her close, holding her tightly as fire swirled around them, and in the next heartbeat, they vanished into thin air.
...
Surrounded by towering snowy mountain peaks stood a beautiful, pristine ivory palace. Its architecture was intricately crafted, as though lifted straight from a painting. The cool winter sun slipped through pale clouds, casting a soft glow upon the white stone and making it gleam like gold.
Inside, however, the palace was anything but warm, its halls inhabited by cold-hearted people. One of them was none other than the notorious Prince Ryan, who strode through the deeper corridors with his head held high, as though he were already the ruling monarch of the kingdom.
Even at the tender age of thirteen, he believed himself above everyone else. This warped sense of entitlement had been instilled in him since birth by Queen Elara. In Ryan’s mind, he was already king, destined to rule the realm, and so he often skipped his lessons, spending his time bullying the palace staff whenever he saw fit.
No one ever dared to oppose him, for everyone knew that the backers of the spoiled prince were none other than the Queen and King of the kingdom. All they could do was suffer in silence when they crossed his path, while the more sensible ones avoided him altogether, turning away and fleeing at the mere sight of him.
Like any other day, Ryan was out on one of his leisurely strolls, disguising it as an inspection of the palace grounds rather than attending to his studies.
With Eve gone for months now, he no longer had an outlet for his daily dose of sick games. He could no longer slip dirt into her meals or watch her suffer as his mother struck her behind closed doors.
He missed having her around, not out of affection, but because it allowed him to indulge in his cruelty, to remind her that he was the one destined to rule the kingdom, not her. Hearing her whimper while his mother "disciplined" her had once given him a twisted sense of superiority. But as Eve grew older, she stopped crying, stopped making a sound whenever those punishments were inflicted upon her, adding to both his mother’s and his displeasure.
When his mother was not around, Ryan would use his developing powers on Evelyn, turning her into a test subject to measure how far his control had progressed. Though he was still young, he was Solan’s son, the strongest lumen known, and had naturally inherited a considerable portion of his father’s power.
Even so, he was nowhere near Solan’s level. Yet when those abilities were used on others, they were more than powerful enough to cause harm. Of course, all of this was kept strictly hush-hush, ensuring that the court officials remained unaware of the extent of his cruelty.
But those with true insight into palace life knew that Ryan was a tyrant in the making, which was why they refused to support him.
For once, Ryan found himself at the back of the castle, his blue eyes roaming restlessly as he searched for prey to amuse himself for the day. Soon enough, he spotted an unfortunate soul approaching from the opposite direction. It was a maid, carefully carrying a vase of flowers meant for one of the console tables along the corridor.
A cruel smile played on his lips as he began walking towards her. With the flowers blocking most of her view, she failed to notice the notorious prince approaching. As he drew near, Ryan casually extended his leg to the side, causing the maid to lose her balance and tumble forward.
