Once upon a time, there were a king and queen who couldn't have children. The king one day came out and said to his beloved:
“I want a child! I don't care what kind! Even if it’s from the devil itself, i'll take it!”
Not so long after this, the queen got pregnant and she birthed a little girl named Rin. She was more beautiful than anyone could ever imagine. But with beauty always comes a curse.
Once she turned 15, she announced to her father she will die the very next day. The king was mortified at her statement, begging of her not to speak of such dark things, but with that in the end came her request:
"Please, place my coffin in the midst of the church you know i adore. Once i die, hire a guard who never did harm to guard my body and then stab me after midnight. Only then will the 'dark flower' inside of me wither for good."
Her father was confused by her request, bewildered even, but dared not to question it, so he did as she told. However, night after night, all of those innocent guards would get killed before they had the chance to strike at Rin. And then, during the day, Rin would just casually get out of the coffin in her human form and walk through the kingdom as if it was a normal day for her. Or her only chance at being human again before night falls. Who knows.
The king found out the meaning behind her criptic words in the end, and understood that he really did get a child birthed from the devil. He was devastated, because he knew he can't do anything about it, and that death is the only answer.
With a heavy heart, he made the matter public and announced:
"Whoever gets to execute my daughter shall be the rightful heir to the throne once i pass."
The kingdom was stunned. Many brave men came forth but all of them ended up dying, stacked in a corpse pile one by one in the corner of the church. But even so, they were eager, and they kept coming despite their inevitable fate.
All the king could do was pray and hope as the dark petals fell to the ground one by one.
Another day, a slightly different place.
A young shepherd boy who was oblivious to the current predicament of the princess was walking around the busy streets.
Len was at the kingdom's marketplace, his head whipping left and right through the crowded streets. After a very long time of saving up, he finally had enough gold to buy a sword. A real sword he always dreamed of.
He was looking for one that looked decent enough, but then in the midst of it all, he felt somebody bump into him from behind "Ah-! Hey, watch it-!" He turned his head around with a mild frown to see who was it that crashed into him