The Path of Ruin

Kael crawled behind the railing into the corridors of the second floor. He had made it past the entrance hall, but he had no time to relax, and he knew it.

Finally, when he actually made it out of the entrance hall and stepped into a corridor, he took a deep breath.

'Okay, I made it to the second floor, so... what should I do now?'

If he had had the chance, he would never have left the first floor. But circumstances had forced him to move forward, and now... he was on the second floor.

But... it was dangerous here too. And probably much more dangerous.

His best chance was to find a room where there were no creatures and hide there until morning or until the palace was out of this situation. In short... his goal was exactly the same as on the first floor.

He looked down the corridor. Just like on the first floor, it was curved. He couldn't see beyond a certain distance. But he had no complaints, curved corridors suited him, after all.

'One room, just one safe or empty room.'

With this thought in mind, he began to move slowly and silently. It hurt sometimes because he took off his shoes in the entrance hall to avoid making noise. Moreover, it felt really disgusting to step on dried blood. Still, he didn't mind, at least tried to do so... and just moved forward.

After a short while... he found the room he was looking for.

It was a room with no blood stains at the entrance and no sound coming from inside.

He checked his surroundings, made sure he heard no footsteps, and that he was indeed alone. Finally, as he reached for the door handle... he couldn't help thinking.

He could sometimes see corpses of creatures around. Humans were not the only ones killed. But... where were the people who killed these creatures? There were only two people he had ever met. One was the servant he had pushed to his death with his own hands, the other was the old nobleman. The state of the palace was indeed dire, yes... But wasn't it strange that he had met so few people?

'Though... the knights and soldiers must have run straight upstairs to the king.'

The palace, if he was not mistaken, had six floors, and the king was naturally on the top floor. Those who had fled during the incident had either flown outside, causing the scene he had seen in the entrance hall, or they had run to the upper floors, to the king, more specifically to where the vast majority of his soldiers and knights were, a potential 'safe spot'.

Couldn't he have gone to the upper floors himself?

It wasn't that Kael hadn't thought about it. It's just... he was a frail boy. He couldn't easily do anything if a creature appeared in front of him. The journey to the upper floors was dangerous. On top of that... he was a slave. So he was one of the first to be disposed of in the event of a possible situation. Even if he reached the upper floors, he would be among the first to die.

So it made more sense to hide somewhere, at least to him.

With that thought, he opened the door, his mind clearing quickly at the same time and focusing on what was in front of him.

The room looked like one of those designed for personal use, just like the old noble's room. The placement of furniture was different, of course, and the room looked a little bigger and even simpler than the old noble's room... but the contents were exactly the same.

Kael stepped inside and closed the door. The first thing he did was to approach the wardrobe, which he opened without a second thought. This time, however, he took a step back.

The wardrobe was... surprisingly empty. There were only clothes inside, as there should be.

'Tunics and good quality pants... A nobleman's room again.'

Sighing, he left one door of the wardrobe open. Then he turned around, this time taking a good look around the room. And... all of a sudden, he just stood where he was.

His eyes locked on the only bed in the room. It was almost parallel to the wall and in the far corner of the room. The cover was flat, no one was there.

But... Kael could have sworn he saw movement there.

He moved slightly closer to the bed, but not too close. The first thing he did... was to lean down.

And... just as he expected, he found a pair of eyes staring at him from under the bed.

Neither of the two moved. They were completely silent.

The person under the bed... was a woman dressed as a maid. She looked to be in her early twenties, quite young.

"H- Hello?"

Kael tried to be the first to speak, but when the woman quickly brought her index finger to her lips, he stopped with a sigh.

"Sorry... Then... I'll pretend I didn't see."

He didn't even look at what she was going to do next. He simply stood up, walked away from the bed and her.

He had not expected to find someone in the room. But... it wasn't as bad as he thought. He didn't even need to communicate with her.

He approached the wardrobe where he had left the only door open. Without caring too much, he pulled the clothes aside and sat down inside. He could have closed the door in one move, but he left it open so as not to be out of breath for too long.

'Now... I'll just wait, I guess.'

Sitting in the wardrobe, he began to think. How long had it been since he woke up in the greenhouse?

'An hour or so, huh...'

When he thought about everything he had experienced in just one hour... it was like being in a surreal dream. Even if he added up everything he had experienced in his fifteen years of life, he had never experienced as much action and tension as he had in this last hour.

He paused for a moment, his eyes squinting as his lips curled up slightly.

'Well, I guess I have.'

The day his mother died... it was a much more tense, much more fearful day. He had no idea what was going to happen to him. He was only eleven years old at the time, he didn't know anything. So he was afraid that he would be thrown away, that he would simply be used as a... as a source of entertainment. Just like his mother.

But if there was anything else he dreaded, it was the absence of his mother. Every day, he felt her warmth, her tenderness, and then suddenly... just like that... she was gone.

It left him with a great sense of emptiness. It took him almost a year to recover. It was only after that year that he was able to find a 'purpose' for himself, even if it was impossible, and take it upon himself to hold on to life.

Kael closed his eyes and just waited. He replayed his past memories over and over again, trying to memorize his mother's truly beautiful face... as he always did.

But then, his eyes opened again. The faint smile fell from his face.

For a while, he just stared into space.

He turned his head, looked at the bed. Apparently, the maid had no intention of getting out of there. It was fine with him. As long as it was quiet, he didn't really care. She didn't seem to realize that he was a slave either, so he didn't have to worry... at least not yet.

He looked ahead again, this time thinking of the old nobleman on the first floor.

'I wonder if he is alive?

Frankly... he hoped not. He had spent the last three years bowing softly to people like that. He had done it willingly, in a completely emotionless way. But that didn't mean he was emotionless. He always imagined what he could do to the other person if he didn't have the restraint around his neck.

'Anyway...'

Should he sleep? It was too dangerous to sleep, but... he was really tired. What would happen if he took a nap after closing the wardrobe door? He doubted the creatures even checked the rooms. Unless they saw someone, they were just wandering around like idiots.

His eyes began to close on their own, faintly... weakly. He yawned, but it was such a yawn that sleep seemed to multiply in an instant.

'What would happen... if I took a nap?'

Slowly, his eyes began to surrender themselves to the darkness... seconds passed, and he slowly lost consciousness...

'Uh... what is that?'

He paused as he saw something out of the corner of his eye.

It was something shimmering with a white glow. It had come through the window of the room, floating in the air like a feather. But... it wasn't a feather.

It was a flower. A snow-white flower with five petals. Just... like the one he had seen in the greenhouse just before he woke up.

Kael's sleepy eyes focused on the flower, watching it float in the air. It was slow, delicate, and... beautiful. He locked all his focus on it. All his sleep had just dissipated, but at the same time... he still felt tired. Even then, he wanted to get up, to go towards the flower. He wanted to... give himself to it.

Which he was going to do. He got up from where he was sitting in the wardrobe, he was going to get ready to walk towards the flower.

But... there was someone faster than him. The woman who had been hiding quietly under the bed until now was already on her feet and approaching the flower before he realized it.

Kael felt himself getting angry. He should have been the one approaching the flower, not that maid! He was so angry that he clenched his fists, he would punch her if necessary.

He tried to speed up his steps, but... it was too late. The woman opened her hands and took the floating flower in her palms. She looked at it with wide, mesmerized eyes.

And then... the flower withered and disappeared.

Her expression became uglier than ever. And Kael's expression... suddenly changed more than ever. His eyes widened as he looked at the young woman in horror.