The Sapphire Serenade
The Grand Ballroom of Eldoria’s Royal Palace shimmered, a spectacle of opulence and joy.
E.g. ：I still remember the smell of cafeteria chili on my new jeans.
- 1、The Sapphire Serenade
- 2、The Serpent's Whisper
- 3、The Crimson Kiss
- 4、A Ghostly Awakening
- 5、The Echo of a Past Life
Crystal chandeliers dripped starlight onto polished marble, reflecting a thousand happy faces.
Princess Aurora, radiant in a gown the color of twilight, felt her heart swell with an almost unbearable happiness.
Tonight marked her engagement to Prince Valerius of the Northern Isles, a union promising peace and prosperity for generations.
He was everything a princess dreamed of: tall, noble, with eyes that held the sea’s stormy depths and a smile that warmed her to her core.
The assembled nobility from across the continent raised their gilded goblets, their cheers echoing through the cavernous hall.
Aurora and Valerius stood on the dais, basking in the adoration, their hands clasped in a gesture of unwavering love.
She gazed up at him, her trust in his eyes absolute, her future stretching before her like an endless, sunlit meadow.
The Serpent's Whisper
Valerius turned to her, his grip tightening imperceptibly on her hand.
He leaned in, his lips brushing her ear, as if to share a private endearment amidst the celebration.
Her smile faltered slightly as his breath on her skin felt unexpectedly cold.
“Forgive me, my love,” he murmured, his voice low and guttural, a sound she had never heard from him before.
A sudden, fierce glint in his eyes, stark and terrifying, replaced the warmth she knew.
His expression hardened into a mask of cold resolve, utterly devoid of the affection that had filled them moments before.
Aurora’s own smile froze, a chilling premonition seizing her heart, turning the celebratory music into a distant, muffled drone.
A wave of confusion, then sheer terror, washed over her as she tried to reconcile the man before her with the man she loved.
This was not her Valerius.
This was a stranger, menacing and deadly, disguised in the skin of her beloved.
A prickle of ice ran down her spine, signaling a doom she couldn't comprehend.
The Crimson Kiss
Before Aurora could process the silent scream forming in her throat, a blur of motion erupted.
In full view of everyone, yet somehow concealed in the chaotic joy, Valerius’s hand moved with horrifying speed.
From beneath his richly embroidered tunic, a slender, jeweled dagger materialized.
Its polished blade caught the chandelier light, winking with a malevolent gleam.
His eyes, now burning with a desperate, cold fire, met hers one last time.
Then, without hesitation, he plunged the dagger deep into her chest.
A searing pain, impossibly sharp and immediate, exploded through her.
Aurora gasped, a sound torn from the deepest part of her soul, raw and piercing.
The grand hall, moments ago filled with laughter, plunged into a sudden, deafening silence.
Her scream echoed, a shriek of disbelief and agony, bouncing off the vaulted ceilings.
Her hands flew to the hilt protruding from her gown, crimson blooming like a grotesque rose on the sapphire fabric.
Her knees buckled, the world spinning violently as her vision blurred.
The opulent ballroom, the glittering lights, the shocked faces of the guests—all merged into a swirling vortex of darkness.
She fell, the floor rushing up to meet her, the piercing scream dying in her throat as the world plunged into an absolute, suffocating blackness.
A Ghostly Awakening
The darkness was absolute, then fractured by a sudden, jarring sound.
A loud, strangled scream tore through the silence, raw and desperate.
Aurora’s eyes snapped open, her body jolting upright in bed, heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird.
She was in her own royal bedroom, the familiar tapestries and furniture bathed in the soft glow of moonlight filtering through silk curtains.
But the scream… it had been her own.
