Ray decided he had enough.

It was a small decision. One that he should have made a long time ago, the very first moment he heard the Princess’s heartbeat and it was abnormal.

He really should have done it much sooner.

Deep down, his guts twisted with guilt and faint sense of excitement.

This was something he hadn’t done in a long time, mostly because of how taxing it was on his frail body, and also because of how invasive it was. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

He had vowed to never use it. To never resort to such debased means of obtaining information. And for the two years he was married to the Princess, he had upheld that vow.

Today, he was breaking it.

The palace was waking up. The sun was out, and it was already bothering him. He stuck to the shadowed parts of the palace as he made his way to the Princess’s room. Once he was close enough to hear her, but not too close that he’d be spotted, he flew up to the rafters and listened.

His ears flicked, twitching in all directions as he closed his eyes and focused.

First, all the sounds came rushing at him at once.

The loud, overwhelming sounds made him groan and squeeze his eyes tightly. The palace waking up, the servants running about, the voices talking over one another, heartbeats of every frequency melded together and overshadowing each other.

Sweat dotted his brow. Nausea built in his throat. He opening his eyes, gasping softly, his vision blurring in and out of focus.

He hated this.

Hated every second of it.

At the back of his mind, he could see his father standing over him with a corded whip, yelling at him. "Again! Listen! What can you hear?!"

Ray grabbed his chest, right where his heart raced out of control.

He didn’t want to do this. But at the same time, he needed to be absolutely sure. The poison worked, but it didn’t give him the absolute confirmation he needed that something was different about his flower wife.

He needed to know, without a doubt, that he was making the right choice.

So he closed his eyes and tried again.

The sounds rushed in, making his ears ring and his heart pound. He kept pushing, shoving aside every unnecessary voice and heartbeat till he arrived at the one he was searching for.

The Princess’s sounds were different.

Every person Ray had met had a specific frequency to them. He doubted they knew about it. But at the base level, they all sounded the same. Even the meekest of all servants had a specific frequency of violence in them.

The Princess had none.

Or better put, Ray couldn’t hear hers anymore. It wasn’t diminished, it just wasn’t there anymore.

Listening closer, past her heartbeat and frequency, Ray could hear blood rushing through her veins. He could hear her body working, sounds that no person was meant to hear.

And past that, he could hear her thoughts.

Prior to this moment, Ray had never listened in on her thoughts. Mostly because he was afraid of what he’d find.

But nothing he heard was what he expected. Or even feared.

Her thoughts were...something.

Did I die?

Wait, I died already. What am I saying?

How is she here? A ghost? No she looks too solid to be a ghost. But it’s Princess Orchid! The real...oh my gosh I sound like a fucking idiot!

But wait, how is she here?

What is going on?

I want to go home! I don’t like this place anymore. She’s just going to make me do more evil things. Fucks sake she looks evil as heck too!

And she’s not even listening to me. Hello, Princess?! Fuck she’s rude.

Ray frowned. "What..."

Confused, he continued to listen.

Her thoughts had no pattern. They scattered off in her head without rhythm, rammed into one another and bounced away. It was like a hundred different voices talking in her head all at once, and they all pointed to one thing.

She was dead.

But how could that be? Dead people didn’t have thoughts.

Ray listened even more.

The minutes passed. He heard things he shouldn’t have.

By the time he returned to his room, pale, drained, his limbs weighing millions of tons, he had his answer.

His flower wife was dead. And a sweet ghost was now in her body.

A ghost that was very different from the real Princess. As different as day from night.

Ray touched his cheeks. They were flaming hot. He chalked it up to a fever, he always had dreadful fevers whenever he listened to thoughts. Like the universe was punishing him for violating a persons most private place.

But this time, he knew the heat in his face wasn’t a fever.

Slowly, a smile took over his face.

His legs gave way and he slid down against the door. Laying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, his limbs spread out, he began to laugh.

He laughed till his sides ached and tears flowed from his eyes.

Relief washed over him. It was like the tight rope around his body loosened and melted away.

On instinct, he touched the collar on his neck. It didn’t feel so tight. It felt like an accessory, much like the silver he loved to adorn himself with.

"She’s dead." He whispered to the empty air. "She’s truly, finally, dead."

The woman that constituted half his nightmares, that lended a hand only to drag him into a pool of acid, the woman that married him and treated him like dirt beneath her shoes, she was dead.

Gone.

Forever.

And in her place was a woman who didn’t have an ounce of violence or evil in her. The only thing they shared was the same name.

Anna.

Ray laughed even harder. What were the odds? He thought the Princess would never die.

Suddenly, everything fell in place. Everything made sense. From the beginning, the very moment he saved her from Leon’s blade.

Everything made perfect sense.

Excitement built inside him.

He’d never felt so happy in his entire life. He wanted to talk to her. Learn about her. Ask her questions.

Especially, he wanted to ask what a "System" was, and why it was so important to do its bidding.

Oh, so many things he wanted to ask her.

***

Somewhere in the Eastern Empire.

A vast expanse of land. Trees as far as the eye could see blocked out the sun. Deep into the Ruins where no sane beastperson would dare enter.

A beastman moved. His massive body silent and swift as he cut through the air. He carried a metal spiked bat which he used to strike down anything in his way.

A dozen humanoid beasts surrounded him. Their bodies resembling human skin, their faces a mass of human features and staticky computer screens. Their movements were jerky and awkward, but they moved fast.

One of them lunged forward. It’s arm raised, and became a scythe. It swung at the beastman, aiming for his head. The beastman was faster.

His bat struck out, hitting the beast square in the face.

Bright red blood and dark oil spewed out of the beast’s face. It shrieked and collapsed.

The others charged.

In thirty seconds, they were all dead.

The beastman shook the bat, shaking off the blood and oil. He let out a soft sigh at the sight of his hands stained. The white fur coat hanging from his back wasn’t spared either.

He looked around him, icy blue eyes scanning for potential threats. The sun shone in his face, and he quickly sought some shade. He wiped sweat off his brow, before looking at the dense overhead canopy. How many hours till the sun went down? He didn’t do well with the heat and was starting to feel dizzy.

"That was record time," a soft feminine voice said from behind him. Followed by the sound of a car.

Azul turned to see Mae, his twin sister. They were a splitting image of each other. The same white hair and icy eyes. She was shorter and more slender, her delicate face had a sharpness about it that came from exposure to a cruel world. Yet to Azul, she smiled warmly.

She hopped out of the car and tossed a giant container at him. "You should take better care of yourself, don’t die before your time." She said. She walked over to the dead beasts and whistled. "Empaths. They’re very rare, and with this number? Twelve? We’ve never seen more than three Empaths at a time. What are they doing so far East?"

"I don’t know. It can’t be anything good." Azul replied. He opened the container. Inside was water chocked full with ice cubes. He drank it in two gulps and ate the ice. Only then did he feel some relief.

"These are gonna make so much Nutrient Pills. We can even make other food from them," Mae watched him from the corner of her eyes as she inspected the corpses. "You’re not looking good."

"I’m fine."

"Lies. You should come back home. I miss you, everyone misses you."

"Hmph."

"I’m serious. And divorce your wife. It’s been two years already, isn’t it time yet?"

Azul met her eyes. "I’m not divorcing her."

She gracefully stepped over a corpse and walked up to him. She had to crane her head back to meet his eyes. With a loud huff, she marched back to the car and returned with a small stepping stool. Finally at his eye level, she glared at him.

"Don’t tell me you’re falling in love with her."

Azul resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"You know that will never happen. I promised father I’ll never fall for her."

Mae’s eyes cut to the fur coat. "Before you killed him?"

"Yes. Before I killed him."

She rubbed the back of her neck. "I don’t like this. You’re spending more and more time here. And it’s not even good for you! You know this. What does she even need you here for? Just...come home. Come with me. We’ll—"

He shoved the water container into her arms."Go back home, Mae. Keep the clan safe, I’ll be back soon. The heat isn’t good for you either, don’t stay here too long." Azul turned to leave, balancing the bat over his shoulder.

"Azul!" Mae yelled, her voice carrying through the forest. "You can’t keep switching between empires! You need to choose! You can’t be with her, Azul!"

Azul paid her no heed.

He didn’t want to think about choosing, he knew where his heart laid. There’s a lot that Mae doesn’t understand, a lot he’s keeping away from her. He wants it to remain that way. It’s best if she and the clan doesn’t know.

The fur coat suddenly weighed down on him. Like it was a living thing. Well, it once was.

Azul ignored it and kept walking.

The first time he announced his intention to marry the Eastern princess, the clan elders had looked at him with rage and horror.

How dare he, a true Nothern son, marry an Eastern woman? As if that wasn’t appalling enough, she was a beastbloom? Abomination.

Yet, Azul went ahead.

Whoever stood in his path met their death. Not even his father was spared. The elders left him alone out of fear.

It was best that way. Best for them not to know.

And now? He was close to his final goal. Just a little longer.

Somehow, he found himself pausing. Just for a bit. The Princess he came back to meet wasn’t the same person he’d harbored a festering hatred for.

He needed to hurry up.

Before his heart changed.