The dawn of the Crown Festival had finally arrived.
Since sunrise, the entire capital of Valerion had transformed into a sea of people.
The main streets were decorated with red and gold fabric.
A statue of Caelan Veyrion, the King Without a Crown, stood proudly in the center of the town square, his sword pointed toward the sky as if he were still watching over the world he had once united.
Merchants filled every corner of the city.
Children ran through the streets carrying miniature wooden swords.
Mages performed light magic to entertain the people.
That day was supposed to symbolize peace among the five races.
Yet...
No one realized that peace was nothing more than a mask.
In the throne room of Drakenhall Castle, King Magnus Drakenhart welcomed the honored guests.
Representatives of the elves arrived in emerald-green robes.
The dwarves came carrying ceremonial mithril hammers.
The beastfolk were led by a warlord nearly three meters tall.
Meanwhile, from the Empire of Nocthazar, only an old diplomat and several guards had come.
Relations between humans and demons had always been cold.
Although the Eterna Pact was still in effect, mutual trust had faded long ago.
In the middle of the hall...
Prince Cedric stood proudly in white armor layered with gold.
Every eye was fixed on him.
He was the symbol of the Kingdom of Arkanor's future.
Unlike someone sitting alone in an old building behind the palace.
Kael.
He had been ordered not to leave until the festival was over.
There were no guards.
No servants.
Only an empty room and a small window overlooking the distant forest.
Kael stared at the sky.
"Do I really have no place here?"
The sound of footsteps broke through his reverie.
The wooden door slowly opened.
"Kael."
He turned around.
His visitor was his older sister.
Princess Seraphina Drakenhart.
She carried a basket of food and a simple black cloak.
"I know you haven't eaten."
Kael gave a faint smile.
"You really went out of your way to come here, Sister."
Seraphina sat beside him.
"Father... isn't as cruel as he seems."
Kael smiled bitterly.
"Then... he's very good at hiding his affection."
Seraphina fell silent.
She couldn't argue with that.
For sixteen years...
She had never once seen their father embrace Kael.
Not even once.
Meanwhile...
In the royal hall.
The festival reached its climax.
King Magnus stood before all the guests.
"Today, we commemorate one thousand years of the Eterna Oath."
Everyone applauded.
Magnus continued.
"But peace can only be maintained through strength."
His gaze slowly shifted toward the envoys of every race.
"And Arkanor will ensure that peace remains under human control."
The statement made several elven envoys exchange glances.
The beastfolk warlord frowned.
The demon diplomat merely smiled faintly.
The words sounded like an ordinary speech.
But to them...
It was a threat wrapped in elegant words.
Suddenly...
BOOOOM!!
A tremendous explosion shook the hall.
The ceiling trembled.
Black smoke filled the room.
The nobles' screams rang out everywhere.
"An attack!"
"The enemy is attacking!"
The knights immediately drew their swords.
But when the smoke began to clear...
Everyone's eyes widened.
The small statue of Caelan Veyrion that symbolized the Festival had been shattered into pieces.
And...
In the middle of the rubble...
Kael stood there.
His body was covered in dust.
He himself looked utterly confused.
"I-I..."
He didn't even know how he had gotten there.
In truth, a few minutes earlier, the floor of the building where he had been confined had suddenly collapsed from the force of the explosion. Kael had fallen through an old underground passage that happened to connect to the royal hall.
But no one knew that.
All they saw was...
Kael appearing exactly where the sacred statue had been destroyed.
One nobleman immediately shouted.
"He's the blasphemer!"
"He destroyed the symbol of the Unifier!"
The scene descended into chaos.
"Traitor!"
"Curse upon the kingdom!"
Even some of the people joined in the shouting.
Kael shook his head in panic.
"It wasn't me!"
But his voice was drowned out by the uproar.
King Magnus slowly descended from his throne.
His gaze was so cold that the entire hall fell silent.
"Kael Drakenhart."
Kael looked at his father.
"Your Majesty... I've been framed."
Magnus didn't answer.
Instead, he drew his royal sword.
The blade stopped right in front of Kael's throat.
Everyone held their breath.
Seraphina stepped forward.
"Father! Please hear him out first!"
"Silence."
A single word from Magnus plunged the entire hall into silence once more.
"A member of the Drakenhart family would never disgrace the kingdom."
His gaze grew even sharper.
"Therefore..."
"...you are no longer part of this family."
Kael's heart seemed to stop beating.
Magnus raised his sword high.
"For the honor of the Kingdom of Arkanor."
"For the safety of its people."
"I strip Kael of all rights to the Drakenhart name."
"Effective today..."
"Kael is exiled."
"Should he ever set foot in Arkanor territory again..."
"...he will be sentenced to death."
The entire hall froze.
Tears slipped down Seraphina's cheeks.
Cedric lowered his head without saying a word.
Kael stared at his father with empty eyes.
Not anger.
Not hatred.
Only... emptiness.
For sixteen years, he had struggled to be acknowledged.
And it all ended with only a few sentences.
Several hours later...
The main gates of Arkanor opened.
Two knights threw a small bag of tattered clothes onto the ground.
"That's all you have now."
The massive gates slowly closed.
THUD...
The sound of the gates closing seemed to mark the end of Kael's entire life.
He stood alone.
Without family.
Without a destination.
Without a home.
Accompanied only by the cold afternoon wind.
Kael turned one last time toward the castle where he had grown up.
No one came out.
No one called his name.
He drew a long breath.
"If the world truly doesn't want me..."
"...then I'll find my own place in it."
Then he set off along the only road stretching before him.
The road leading north.
Toward a forest that even veteran adventurers were reluctant to enter.
The Forbidden Vareth Forest.
Inside Vareth Forest
The sun was beginning to set when Kael entered the forest's edge.
The atmosphere changed drastically.
The air grew colder.
Ancient trees towered overhead, blocking out the light from the sky.
Thin mist crept between the massive roots.
They said the forest had existed since the age of Caelan Veyrion.
Many entered.
Few returned.
Kael clutched the cloak Seraphina had given him more tightly.
"I hope I can make it through one night..."
Before he could take another step...
GRAAAARRR!!
A thunderous roar shattered the silence.
A red-eyed dire wolf emerged from behind the bushes.
It stood nearly two meters tall.
Drool dripped onto the ground.
Kael slowly backed away.
He knew...
With a body that possessed no mana, fighting the monster was impossible.
The wolf lowered its body.
Ready to pounce.
Kael closed his eyes.
"So... this is where it all ends?"
But...
Just as the dire wolf leaped—
KRAAAK!
The ground beneath Kael's feet suddenly collapsed.
He fell into a large hole hidden behind the roots of an ancient tree.
The dire wolf missed its pounce and could only howl from the surface.
Kael kept falling.
Deeper and deeper.
Until finally...
CRASH!
He landed in an ancient stone room covered in circular carvings.
The air there felt different.
Warmer.
Calmer.
In the center of the room...
A stone altar stood.
On top of it...
Lay a silver ring set with a blue sapphire that emitted a soft glow.
As if it had been waiting for a thousand years.
When Kael's hand unconsciously touched the ring...
The entire room shook violently.
Blue light filled every corner.
And an old, authoritative voice echoed inside his mind.
"At last..."
"I've found you..."
Kael froze.
"Who... are you?"
The voice answered calmly.
"My name..."
"is Caelan Veyrion."
"And starting today..."
"Your destiny... will change the world."