This day marked the 13th of the 7th month in the year 540 since the death of the founder of the Kingdom of Kayvan. This new calendar began on the day of her death, for, according to the rumors that had reached him, on the day of her death, the goddess wept, and it rained nonstop for 40 days, as if the gods were mourning the departure of their beloved, who had refused to ascend to godhood and had chosen instead to live and die as a human.
The boy Athtar opened his eyes calmly, gazing at the ceiling that was so familiar to him. He lifted his body up and stretched a little; he was a boy no older than 8 years old.
He looked around and saw before him a very beautiful woman with thick, soft black hair that mischievously hid her facial features and eyes, scattering across her face, but the boy didn't care; he knew the contours of that woman's face by heart.
Beside that woman were two children younger than him: a girl who looked about six years old, with long blue hair, and a boy about four years old, with red hair. The two children were hugging that woman, and the three of them were sleeping peacefully.
Tenderness filled the boy's face; smiling, he got up quickly, leaving his small, simple home. He looked around after stepping a little past the door and saw his house, located near the edge of the city. He gave a small nod of his head, then continued walking toward his destination. It took him only five minutes to walk until the market came into view. He heard the conversations of the people around him, but he wasn't paying attention, so he didn't remember anything he heard at the time.
....: "They say the prince's powers have finally awakened. He's been powerful since birth—so powerful, in fact, that he absorbed his mother's strength the day he was born. His mother died immediately after giving birth. And now, his powers have finally awakened completely."
....: How scary is that? Isn't this prince just a demon? "
...: Shhh, if someone hears you, you might end up with your head hanging in front of your door... "
....: The current king is really just a failure, and now he has a prince with this much power. Why do these people come from the royal line? They're just bringing shame upon Her Majesty... "
....: Sale... a sale on bread! "
When Athtar heard about the bread sale, his eyes lit up as he hurried toward the source of the sound. He saw an elderly woman standing in her shop, shouting in a slightly weak voice; her voice barely rose above the whispers of passersby, so not many people were stopping by her shop.
Athtar felt lucky and walked toward the shop, holding several bronze coins in his hand—four, to be exact.
"I'd like some bread, Grandma…" Athtar said with a small smile as he tossed a bronze coin onto the shop counter.
"Oh, Athtar, you're very early today… Here's some bread, and don't forget to send my regards to Elizabeth," the elderly woman said kindly as she handed him a basket of bread and some copper coins.
Athtar thanked her, then left and walked on, looking for a vegetable stand to buy some.
He didn't spend much time at the market, and as he left to return home, both his hands were carrying a few bags in addition to the basket of bread.
After returning home, Athar found his younger brother and sister playing in front of the house. He smiled at them and said softly, "I'm back!"
The two children turned to their older brother, and both smiled at him, saying in almost unison, "Good morning, Athtar."
Athtar entered the house and headed toward the kitchen, where he saw his mother, Elizabeth, preparing breakfast.
"Good morning, Mom… "
"Good morning, dear. Did you bring the bread and vegetables?" Elizabeth replied with a small smile, her eyes hidden beneath her tousled, silky hair. Her full, milky breasts jiggled as she turned to look at her child.
Athtar handed her the basket and the food bags, nodding his head, and Elizabeth set everything aside, then bent down to him and began patting his head with a smile.
"What a good boy you are, Athtar …"
...
In an area somewhat distant from that small house.
A huge, opulent palace. Inside that palace, an important meeting was taking place right now. The blond-haired king sat arrogantly on his luxurious throne, holding in his hand a piece of paper bearing several women's names, among which one could make out the name 'Elizabeth Jones.'
The meeting was more secretive than any ordinary meeting could be, as there were only about five people present, all of whom appeared to be high-ranking and important men, with only one woman among them. She had long, dark blue hair, Her luxurious attire highlighted her status; her blue dress was open at the chest, revealing a magnificent and beautiful cleavage. The woman seemed to be flaunting those full, milky breasts.
"Since Arthur's powers have successfully awakened, we no longer need the reserve women we kept in case this prince failed to awaken. And to keep our bloodline pure, we must eliminate anyone carrying our royal blood. Therefore, I will issue a decree to dispose of them under the pretext of their attempting to use demonic magic and sorcery. Let us kill them before any rumors spread."
"As you command, Your Majesty."
The four men and the woman replied, bowing slightly.
"Also, bring Arthur to me. I will take him on a little trip to see just how strong he is…" "
...
After finishing breakfast, Athtar was now in the living room with his mother and his two younger siblings, who were playing together in front of them.
Athtar was lying down, resting his head in his mother's arms, who was slowly stroking his hair, looking a little surprised by the words Athar was now saying to her.
"So, your dream is for the four families to unite into a single family?" Elizabeth asked, staring at her son, who seemed a little more mature than his age.
"Yes, because when the four families unite, and we all become friends, we can just live together in harmony and peace, can't we? Then those men won't be able to bully you and make you scream those strange sounds anymore…"
Elzabeth was surprised, and her cheeks flushed as she said, "You were... eavesdropping?" She coughed and then said, as she began to brush Athtar's hair, "Spying on others is a bad thing..."
"Sorry..." Athtar replied, feeling a little guilty.
Elizabeth coughed a little. "Hmm, it's good that you understand… Mama does this because we need the money. You don't need to understand anything else, okay?"
"Okay, Mama…" Athtar replied, looking a little frustrated.
Elizabeth looked around calmly and found the water bucket empty. An idea flashed through her mind as she lifted her son to help him stand on his feet, and she said in a questioning tone, "It looks like we're out of water. I wonder if there's a hero who can go to the pond and fill the bucket for us…"
Athtar smiled as he headed toward the water bucket, saying enthusiastically, "Leave it to me, Mom. I'll fill it up and be back in the blink of an eye!"
"That's my hero, Athtar..." Elizabeth said gently, giving her son a thumbs-up with a small smile. Happiness filled Athtar's heart, Then he left, running toward the river. On the way, he saw a child with blond hair and red eyes walking, followed by several men, among them a man who looked very important. But Athtar lowered his head, because his mother had always warned him not to bother important people—they were bad people.
Athtar paid no attention to that and continued running toward the river. When he got there, he could see someone else filling their water bucket. Athtar recognized that person immediately and called out to them as he slowly approached.
"Oh, it's you, Gloria… I haven't seen you in a while."
Gloria heard the voice calling her and lifted her head to look at Athtar, who was smiling at her. Gloria was ten years old, with red hair and green eyes. She smiled back at Athtar and said, "Oh, it's you. It's been a while."
Gloria was a friend Athtar met from time to time at the river while filling water buckets. Their relationship wasn't close—just friends who met once or twice a week—so Athtar didn't linger long while talking to her and left in a hurry because he wanted to earn his mother's praise.
Athtar was walking down the road smiling, imagining how his mother would pat him on the head and tell him he was a good boy, but suddenly he began to smell a strange odor, like a burning match, as he neared his house. He looked around, and when he raised his head, he could see smoke rising from the direction of his home.
He grew anxious and quickened his pace, but carrying the bucket of water, he couldn't run. Nothing bad crossed his mind; he was used to seeing smoke like this rise whenever trash was burned in the incinerator near their house.
He took one last turn, and when he stared at the scene of his house being consumed by flames, he could only open his eyes in utter shock as tears began to stream down his face. He screamed frantically as he ran toward his house; the flames were devouring everything.
He felt the intense heat, but that didn't stop him from trying to enter the house. He didn't care about the large crowd around him, and he wasn't thinking about why no one had gone to help. He was too young to think about all those complicated things at that moment, even if he was smart.
After entering the house, he saw three bodies lying on the floor in front of him. His sister and younger brother had been consumed by the flames until their bodies were charred. His mother—she still retained her features almost entirely—lay on the floor bleeding, as if she were injured, but Athtar wasn't thinking about any of that.
"Mom… Mom… What happened? Why is the house on fire? And what happened to Naoya and Mira?"
His mother seemed to respond to him; she turned and said in a weak voice, "Athtar, is that you? I can barely hear anything now…"
Athtar's tears continued to flow as he approached his mother. He knelt beside her and looked at her; he found half her face charred, as if someone had deliberately burned her features and left the other half intact to torment her.
Athtar was shocked by the sight and said, trembling, "M-Mom… "
"I must be scary now, aren't I, my little one? I'm sorry… I couldn't protect Naoya… or Mira… and it seems I won't be able to protect you anymore either…"
"I… I don't understand anything… "Protect us from what?" Athtar asked, looking at Elizabeth, but she didn't seem to want to answer him. She raised her hand with what little strength she had left and placed something in Athtar's hand.
"This is all I can give you now… my poor little one… You must run away… Run far away, as far as you can... You mustn't stay in this place any longer..."
"And what about you?" he asked foolishly, refusing to accept the reality before him. He was a child; he couldn't be blamed for the rosy thoughts that crossed his mind, such as that his mother might somehow survive because he had found her before she died.
Elizabeth shook her head from side to side with her eyes closed, then smiled as she whispered, "I'm leaving now… You mustn't stay and watch me die… You have to hurry and leave; the bad people might come back for you…"
"I don't want to… I don't want to go and leave you… I don't want to be alone…"
Elizabeth coughed, then gathered herself to put on a firm expression and said, "Athtar... You're a smart boy, and I'm sure you can take care of yourself." Her features softened into a small smile, then she whispered, "It's Mama's last wish. Won't you fulfill it for me? Won't you live… for us?"
Athtar closed his eyes, then stood up and wiped away his tears, but a new wave of tears welled up in his eyes. He put on a determined look, but all he saw was Elizabeth smiling. "Go… Athtar… live… "
Those were the last words he heard from his mother. Athtar turned and began running away, not knowing where he was going; he was simply fulfilling his mother's last wish: to live.