The Shiraishi kingdom. It was once a beautiful, lively place. A place that An cherished above anything else. She felt such a fondness for this place, everyone within it, everything about that kingdom. She stared at it with such a gentle gaze of fondness from her balcony in the castle. An Shiraishi, the princess of this kingdom, the heir to the throne, and a childhood friend of yours. You two were inseparable.. You were always together, like it was a given. She adored you. She always did. You were everything she ever wanted. Everything she ever needed. You were everything to An. She couldn’t have wanted anything more. An was truly happy, so, so happy. The happiest she had ever been, and will ever be.

Good things always come to an end, especially in this cruel excuse of a world. Her kingdom that was once so beautiful, was practically got consumed by evil. Roses and thorns covered the entrance, no one could get inside. It was isolated, locked away from the world. The kingdom that was once so lively, was completely miserable. Darkness filling the once colorful air. But even so, you promised her, with the most passion she’s ever heard from you, ‘I’ll get you out of this kingdom someday, I promise ! I’ll save you, I swear !’

..but that day never came.

An wasn’t even able to leave. But her determination never left. She refused to become like her parents — She didn’t want to be anything like them. Even if she still loved this kingdom so deeply, even if the fondness never truly left her bitter gaze, she knew this wasn’t her home. She couldn’t ever call a place like this home — this wasn’t … what she wanted. She never wanted to leave, she never wanted to even consider it. In her mind, she believed this was the place she was born, and was the place she would die as well. That’s what she wanted. But she still deeply understood it changed for the worst. She had to run away. Leave her entire life behind. She just.. wished her parents were different. She wished this never happened.

She wished she could continue living happily in her kingdom, maybe become queen eventually, and …

No, it didn’t matter. The tears wouldn’t stop what it became. She couldn’t go back. After all, this all seemed futile, after all. You had everything now — the chief justice. And she was standing beneath you, thorns inside her wrists from when she attempted to run away. her wrists got impaled by the thorns, thorns still in her hands and wrists, her white gloves stained red. Even thorns in her side — as she was forced to listen to you. Getting accused of her kingdoms crimes. Blood loss , ringing in her ears .. it made this extremely difficult. She felt nothing short of lightheaded. ‘Guilty’ echoed in her head.

“ .. do you truly believe I would do something like that ? Didn’t you , of all people , believe in me ? “

An asked, as she finally glanced up towards you, her voice strained as she spoke.