Chapter 10: The Golden Cage

  Time Skip: 1 Year Later.Age: Elena (6), Cain (8).Location: The Royal Palace, Lumina.

  It had been one year since my brother died. Or rather, one year since he "went missing." My father insists he is alive. My mother cries every time it rains. But I don't cry anymore. Tears are salt and water. Losing water is inefficient. That’s what he would say.

  I looked at myself in the full-length mirror. I was six years old. I was wearing a dress that cost more than a small village. It was white silk, embroidered with gold thread, and heavy with layers of lace. My hair was curled perfectly. My face was powdered. I looked like a doll. A very expensive, breakable doll.

  "You look beautiful, Lady Elena," the maid said, adjusting the ribbon on my neck. "The Crown Prince will be pleased."

  I touched the hidden pocket inside my dress. Inside was a small, rock-hard piece of dried viper meat. It was my talisman. My anchor. ‘Put on the mask, Elena,’ Nii-ni’s voice echoed in my head. ‘The world is a stage. If you show them your real face, they will eat you. Smile like a predator.’

  I took a deep breath. I pasted a perfect, innocent smile on my face. "Thank you," I chirped, my voice sounding like bells. "I can't wait for the party!"

  The Banquet Hall.

  The doors opened, and the herald shouted. "Presenting the Saintess-Candidate! Lady Elena of House Valerius!"

  I walked into the ballroom. Hundreds of nobles turned to look. The room was a sea of jewels, velvet, and fake smiles. "She's the one," they whispered. " The Golden Goose." "The Church has her on a leash." "Her brother was the Trash, right? Good riddance."

  I ignored them. I walked straight to the dais where the Royal Family sat.

  King Roland looked tired, swirling his wine. Queen Isabella looked at me with cold calculation. She didn't see a child; she saw a political asset.

  And then, there were the children. The future rulers of this continent.

  First, Crown Prince Julius (Age 10). He sat tall, trying to look like a king. He had blond hair and the arrogant smirk of a boy who has never been told "no." He looked at me and licked his lips. "Happy Birthday, Elena," he said, standing up. "You look... worthy of standing next to me."

  ‘Worthy?’ I thought. ‘I am not an accessory, you little brat.’ But outwardly, I curtsied. "You honor me, Your Highness."

  Second, sitting away from him, looking utterly bored, was First Princess Elara (Age 10). She was different. She wore a formal dress, but she had combat boots peeking out from underneath. Her hand rested on the pommel of a rapier strapped to her waist. She had silver-blonde hair and eyes like steel. The "Sword Genius." She looked at me, then at my hands. She saw the calluses on my fingers (from secret training). She smirked. A real smirk. "Your grip is improving, Saintess," Elara said lazily. "But your stance is open. If I threw a fork at you right now, you'd die."

  "Elara!" The Queen scolded. "Behave."

  Third, standing next to Elara, was a guest. A girl with jade-green hair and gentle eyes. Princess Amara (Age 10) of the Verdant Kingdom. She was a Spiritualist. She looked at me with a soft, sad expression. "Her soul is crying," Amara whispered to Elara. "It's so heavy..."

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  Elara rolled her eyes. "Everyone's soul is crying, Amara. Pass me the tart."

  The Conflict.

  The music started. Prince Julius walked up to me. He extended his hand. "Dance with me, Elena." It wasn't a request. It was an order.

  If I danced with him, it would signal to the nobles that House Valerius supported the Prince's faction. It would bind me to him. I looked at his hand.

  I hated him. He was weak. He had soft hands that had never held anything heavier than a quill.

  Back when I was a toddler, spending every waking moment clinging to Nii-ni, I didn't understand. I thought that was just how brothers felt. But now? Now that I was surrounded by the so-called "prodigies" of the Kingdom, I realized the terrifying truth.

  Comparing them to him was a joke. Nii-ni’s body... even when he was just three years old... his arms didn't feel like soft flesh. They felt like rocks wrapped in silk. His muscles felt like iron cords. Whenever I hugged him back then, I didn't just feel warmth. I felt something deep inside him. Something dark. Something quiet and scary, like looking down into a deep abyss that never ends.

  Of course, I didn't know what it was at the time. But now that I had started my training, now that I knew how to sense energy, I understood. People call me the genius. They say I am blessed because I possess an enormous amount of Holy Mana at birth a feat that High Priests pray for decades to achieve. They say I will grow up to be more powerful than anyone.

  But they are wrong. I looked at the Prince, then at the other noble children. They were just humans. My brother was... something else entirely. Everyone called him Trash. But standing here, with my awakened senses, I knew the truth. He was anything but trash. He was a monster hiding in human skin. And Nii-ni would have snapped this Prince in half like a dry twig.

  "I am afraid I cannot, Your Highness," I said, clutching my chest and feigning a cough. "My constitution is... weak today. The Holy Energy is overwhelming me."

  Julius frowned. "You reject me?"

  "I reject fainting on your boots, Your Highness," I smiled sweetly. "I would hate to ruin your magnificent velvet."

  Julius’s face turned red. He stepped closer, dropping his voice. "Don't play games, Elena. You belong to the Kingdom. That means you belong to me. When you turn 16, I will marry you. The Church has already agreed to the preliminary discussions."

  My blood ran cold. Marriage? To this pig? I felt a surge of rage.

  Suddenly, a shadow fell over us. Princess Elara stepped between us. She was taller, stronger, and infinitely scarier than her brother. "Back off, Julius," Elara said, poking him in the chest. "She's six. You look desperate."

  "This is none of your business, Elara!" Julius snapped.

  "It is when you're blocking the dessert table," Elara drawled. She looked down at me. "Hey, kid. Saintess. Whatever." She leaned in close. "My brother is an idiot. But he's right about one thing. You are a tool. If you don't want to be used... get sharp." She tapped the hilt of her sword. "Politics is just war with words. If you can't cut, you get cut."

  I looked into Elara’s steel eyes. She reminded me of him. Just a little. "I understand," I whispered.

  Elara grinned. "Good. Now go sit down. You look like you're about to bite someone."

  Meanwhile: The Swamp.

  Location: The Foggy Swamp (Zone 2).Cain: Age 8.

  While Elena danced under crystal chandeliers, I was dancing in mud.

  Squelch. I pulled my foot out of the ribcage of a Rank 2 Swamp Crocodile. The beast was massive five meters long but now it was just a pile of meat.

  I stood in the center of the swamp, covered in green blood and black sludge. I was shirtless. My body, though small, was wired with dense, corded muscle. My skin was pale, almost translucent, hardened by the Bone Forging technique. My black hair hung long and messy over my eyes. My eyes glowed crimson in the dark.

  I held Nameless (my cleaver) in one hand. In the other, I held the Crocodile’s heart. It was still beating.

  ‘Happy Birthday, Elena,’ I thought.

  I raised the heart to the moon. "A toast," I whispered to the empty, toxic air. "To the lies we tell to survive." I could feel something watching me from the deep mist. Something dangerous. An Elf? A Spirit? Or maybe... a Disciple?

  I took a bite of the heart. Raw. Warmth flooded my Dantian.

  I clenched my fist, feeling the power settle into my marrow. I had finally reached the Peak of Rank 2. My Qi Cultivation had solidified at the 3rd Stage the Bone Forging was complete. My skeleton was now harder than iron.

  I wiped my mouth. I looked deeper into the swamp. Toward Zone 3.

  The mist swirled, dense and toxic. Somewhere deep inside, stronger monsters were waiting.

  "Time to grind," I whispered to the empty air.

  I was alone in the dark. But I preferred the darkness. It didn't lie to you like the light did.