Date: February 18th, 2000
Perspective: Empress Rosaline Valentine
The Imperial bedchamber of the Asura Palace was designed to be a sanctuary of absolute power. The towering columns of white marble, the silk curtains woven with gold threads, and the enormous arched windows overlooking the capital—everything was built to remind the person standing inside that they owned the world.
But today, it felt like a cold, inescapable cage.
"Your Majesty... the results of the Aetheric Resonance Crystal are absolute," Chief Physician Alistair murmured, his head bowed so low his forehead nearly touched the velvet rug. "I have consulted with the Citadel, and High Priest Salvius has confirmed it."
I sat on the edge of the massive canopy bed, my hands resting instinctively over my slightly swollen stomach.
I was in my 5th month. I was carrying twins.
And according to the men kneeling before me, I had to kill one of them today.
"Explain it to me again!!" I demanded, my voice carrying the absolute, freezing authority of the Empress, masking the violent tremor in my hands. "Without the riddles of the Magic Tower."
"It is a phenomenon known as Celestial Cannibalism, Your Imperial Majesty." High Priest Salvius stated grimly, holding up the glowing blue projection of the crystal.
"The female child possesses a celestial mana soul of unprecedented, historical magnitude." Salvius explained. "It is so powerful that it is acting like an aetheric black hole within your womb."
"The male child... has no mana. He has no soul." Alistair added, his voice trembling. "He is a pure, magicless vessel."
"I do not care about his magical aptitude!" I snapped, my eyes flashing with dangerous authority. "Tell me how to fix this!"
"We cannot, Your Majesty." Alistair swallowed hard. "Because the boy has no mana, healing magic cannot latch onto his life force. We cannot cast protective barriers on him from the outside. And the girl's soul is instinctively devouring his vitality to fuel its own growth."
"If left uninterrupted, the boy will be entirely consumed by the end of the month." Salvius warned darkly. "He will die inside the womb. And when he perishes, the resulting necrotic toxins will instantly kill the girl... and you as well, Empress."
"You are the greatest healers on the continent! Find a medicine! Synthesize an elixir!" I shouted, losing my perfect composure.
"There is no medicine that can grant a soul mana, Your Majesty," Alistair bowed his head in defeat.
"The boy is doomed."
"Enough."
A young Noctis stepped forward from the shadows of the room, his dark blues eyes locking onto the glowing crystal. He picked up a small, golden vial from the silver tray on the table.
"If she drinks this Elixir of Severance, what happens?" Noctis asked coldly.
"It will safely dissolve the magicless boy's physical form." Salvius explained softly. "It will terminate his life painlessly, neutralizing the toxins before they can spread. The Empress and the celestial daughter will survive perfectly intact."
"No!" I stood up, glaring at the men. "I will not drink poison to murder my own son!"
"Rosaline." Noctis looked at me, his gaze pragmatic, cold, and entirely logical. "You are risking all three of your lives for a lost cause. The boy has no magic. He cannot survive. Drink the elixir."
"Get out!" I screamed, grabbing the golden vial from his hand and hurling it violently against the marble wall, shattering it into a hundred pieces. "All of you, get out of my sight!"
I left the Emperor standing there amidst the shattered glass. I stormed out of the royal quarters, the heavy silk of my dress dragging behind me like chains, and locked myself inside the dark, empty nursery that had already been prepared for them.
I slid down the heavy wooden door, collapsing onto the floor. I wrapped my arms around my stomach, closing my eyes.
For the first time since being born into this ruthless life of politics and power, I felt completely, utterly broken.
You're both in there. My little girl. My little boy.
And I am supposed to be the protector. I am the Empress of Asura. I command armies of sorcerers. I break nations with a single word. But right now... I am just a monster who has to decide who gets the light and who gets the dark.
I'm supposed to be your whole world. Your absolute protection from everything. That's what a mother is. I held you in my body, in the dark, warm place where nothing could ever hurt you. And now... this choice they've laid at my feet, it's a poisoned spear, and they are making me choose which one of you to throw it at.
How do you choose who lives and who dies?
There is no pragmatic answer. There is no Imperial strategy. You just... choose the one you can bear to lose the least. But I can't lose you. I can't.
I've already felt the silence that follows a heartbeat that stops. And now I'm here, trapped in this horrible, familiar nightmare. The world has carved a space inside of me, and it's telling me to fill it with a grave. I don't get to hold you, not both of you. I get to say goodbye before I even get to say hello.
I had a name ready for you, my little girl. Rose. I imagined watching you grow, shaping you into a masterpiece that would rule this empire with absolute grace. I wanted to see my own eyes looking back at me in your face.
And you, my son. Even if you had no magic, even if the world called you worthless... I was going to hold you so tightly. I was going to be the mother that took every blow if it meant you were never touched. I was going to raise you to be a prince, magic or not.
But I can't be your mother. I can only be your judge.
How do you choose between two parts of your own soul? This isn't a choice. This is a knife they've handed me, and they're telling me to cut off a piece of my own heart. And the worst part? I have to do it. I have to save you, my daughter, so that I can live to see you open your eyes in this world. And you, my son... I have to betray you. I have to be the one to let you go. And this time, there will be no one else to blame.
It's me. It's my hand.
Hours passed. The sun set, casting long, haunting shadows across the nursery floor. I was still sitting there in the dark, my hands resting on my stomach, my tears completely dried out.
The heavy oak door slowly opened.
Noctis stood in the doorway, his massive silhouette blocking the moonlight from the hallway. He looked down at me, his expression unreadable, holding a fresh vial of the golden Elixir of Severance in his hand.
I looked up at him, my grief morphing into a cold, venomous rage.
"Are you here to force it down my throat, Noctis?" I hissed.
"I am here to ensure you do not throw your life away." Noctis replied flatly.
"My life? Or your precious celestial heir's life?" I spat. "Because we both know you do not care about the boy!"
"Do not twist my words, Rosaline." Noctis warned. "I am making the only logical decision to ensure the survival of the Empire."
"The Empire! It is always the Empire with you!" I screamed, standing up to face him. "You ruthless, cold-hearted bastard!"
"Watch your tone, Empress." Noctis's aura flared, heavy and oppressive.
"Why should I?!" I yelled, stepping closer, refusing to back down. "You already have children! You have Iris! You have Seraphina and Zeus! You have heirs with your consorts, so you don't care if these twins live or die! You don't care if I die!"
"You stand there, demanding I murder my son, and you feel absolutely nothing!"
"You think I feel nothing?!"
Noctis snapped.
His terrifying aura shattered completely.
"You think I want to lose my child?!" Noctis shouted, his voice cracking with a raw, agonizing vulnerability I had never heard before.
"You think I want to be the Emperor who sentences his own unborn son to death?!"
I froze, completely shocked.
Noctis dropped to one knee in front of me, the most powerful man on the continent bowing his head in sheer defeat.
"I do not want to blame him for this... I don't want to blame him for being born without magic." Noctis confessed, his broad shoulders trembling.
"But I cannot save him, Rosaline. I cannot cast a spell to fix this. I am the strongest man in the world, and I am entirely useless to my own son."
"I don't want to hold his cold, lifeless body..." Noctis looked up at me, his dark eyes filled with absolute despair. "And I refuse to watch you lose your own life trying to protect a doomed child."
"Please, Rosaline," Noctis begged softly.
"I am begging you."
"Do not make me lose both of you."
"If you do not drink this, the toxins will kill him, and then they will kill you. I will lose my Empress. I will lose my wife."
"Save one of their lives, Rosaline."
"Even if it means... letting the other stop breathing."
"Save our daughter. Save yourself."
"I will carry the sin of our son's death." Noctis whispered, holding out the golden vial. "You can blame me forever. But please... drink it."
"Let me keep you."
I stared at the most terrifying man in the world as he begged me on his knees, his dark eyes shining with a grief I had never seen before.
He gently placed the golden vial in my trembling hand.
He didn't force me. He just stood up, turned around, and walked out of the nursery, leaving me completely alone in the dark.
I looked at the vial. And then I looked down at my stomach.
I began to cry again, the silent, ugly tears of a woman completely broken by the world. I gripped the glass vial, the cold reality of my duty crushing the last remnants of my soul.
I was going to hold you every single day. Every single night. I was never going to let you go. I was never going to let you go too far, never let you out of my sight.
But I can't be that. I can't be your mother.
And you, my son... I have to betray you. I have to be the one to say goodbye to you, to choose a world without your cry, without the weight of you in my arms.
Please. Please forgive me.
I uncorked the golden vial.
I closed my eyes, raised it to my lips, and drank the Elixir of Severance, knowing exactly what fate I had just sealed for my own child.
*
Time passed. Slowly, agonizingly, the days blurred into weeks, and the weeks bled into months. I spent most of my time hollow, grieving in absolute silence.
Neither Noctis nor I asked the Royal Physicians to use the Aetheric Resonance Crystal during my routine checkups. We were too cowardly. We couldn't bear to see the empty space inside my womb, to look upon the dissolved remains of the son we had killed.
But then came the 8th month. May.
"Y-Your Majesty...!" Chief Physician Alistair gasped, dropping his medical instruments onto the marble floor. "This... this is impossible!"
The heavy doors to the medical wing burst open. Noctis rushed inside, out of breath, his eyes frantic as he locked onto me. He had left a High Council meeting the second he received the urgent telepathic transmission.
"What is it?" Noctis demanded, his voice echoing off the walls. "Is the Empress's health failing?!"
"No, Your Majesty," High Priest Salvius whispered, pointing a trembling finger at the glowing blue projection hovering above my stomach. "Look."
Noctis and I both froze.
In the glowing blue projection of the Aetheric Resonance Crystal, we saw two figures.
The girl, radiating a blinding, massive soul of celestial power.
And the boy, small, fragile, and utterly devoid of magic.
He was still there.
He was still alive?
But that wasn't what paralyzed us.
Inside the aetheric projection, the celestial girl was reaching out.
Her tiny, glowing hand was tightly wrapped around her brother's frail, magicless hand.
"This doesn't make sense," Alistair stammered, his mind unable to comprehend the medical anomaly. "The Elixir of Severance should have dissolved his physical form months ago! Even if the potion failed, the girl's celestial soul should have cannibalized his life force by now!"
"Are you saying the elixir was defective?" Noctis demanded.
"Impossible, Your Majesty. It was a masterpiece of alchemy," Salvius argued.
"Then did the boy develop a latent soul? Is he fighting back?" I asked desperately, my heart pounding in my chest.
"No, Empress. He is still completely magicless," Alistair confirmed.
"Could it be a temporal mana stasis?" Noctis hypothesized. "Is the girl's soul in hibernation?"
"No... her soul is active. It is growing exponentially," Salvius muttered, leaning closer to the projection. His eyes widened in absolute shock. "By the Gods... this is Celestial Nutrient Transfusion."
"Speak plainly, Priest!" Noctis ordered.
"The girl isn't devouring him," Salvius explained, his voice filled with awe. "Her unborn soul instinctively created a microscopic celestial umbilical bridge in the womb. She is actively sacrificing her own physical resilience and mana to nourish her brother. She is keeping him alive... by holding his hand."
"Why is she doing that?" Noctis asked, his brow furrowed in disbelief.
"We... we don't know," Salvius admitted.
"Regardless of the why, this is incredibly dangerous," Alistair warned. "Birthing them both may still pose a lethal risk to the Empress. The boy is surviving purely on borrowed celestial mana. If that connection breaks during delivery..."
"There is an ancient prophecy..." Salvius interrupted, his eyes practically glowing with religious fervor. "Written by the Arch Priests of the Magic Tower generations ago. It spoke of the birth of the Heavenly Sent Fated One—a soul so powerfully tied to the cosmos that they possess the ability to sever and rewrite destiny itself."
Salvius looked at the projection. "The boy's fate was absolute death. Yet... the girl is literally rewriting the future where her brother had to die. She is defying the natural laws of magic."
I placed a trembling hand on my swollen stomach.
Why? Why are you doing this, my little girl?
"We need to know what she is thinking," Noctis stated suddenly.
"Thinking?" Alistair blinked. "Your Majesty, she is an unborn fetus. She does not possess linguistic thought."
"A celestial soul capable of complex magical transfusion is already sentient," Noctis argued coldly. "In the world beyond our borders, they possess medical technology—Electroencephalogram Matrices. Brainwave readers. I want you to combine that scientific logic with our magic."
"You want us to build an artifact that can read a fetus's thoughts?" Salvius asked, stunned.
"I want an artifact that reads biological and aetheric brainwaves and converts the emotional frequencies into an approximated language," Noctis ordered.
"Can you do it?"
"A resonance telepathy array..." Salvius muttered, his mind already racing. "It would require highly illegal soul-binding runes and a tremendous amount of gold, but... yes. It is theoretically possible."
"You have unlimited resources," Noctis commanded. "And you will keep the twins a secret. If one word of this leaves this room, both of you will be executed for High Treason."
The priest and the doctor bowed deeply and rushed out of the room to begin their impossible task.
Once the heavy doors clicked shut, the silence in the room was deafening.
"I don't understand. Isn't she sacrificing herself? She is burning her own mana, stalling her physical development, just to keep him alive." I whispered, staring at my stomach.
"She is. And that is exactly what terrifies me." Noctis replied, his eyes dark with suspicion.
"Why? It proves she has a pure soul. She is saving her brother."
"A celestial soul is inherently predatory, Rosaline. It is designed to consume, not to share."
"What are you implying, Noctis?"
"I fear she isn't saving him out of love. I fear she is keeping him alive as a reserve consumption."
"A reserve consumption? He is a human being!"
"To a developing celestial soul, he is a vessel. She might be nurturing his life force now, only to fully cannibalize him at the very last moment before birth to ensure her own absolute perfection."
"No! I refuse to believe that!" I argued, placing both hands protectively over my womb.
"It is the only logical explanation for a celestial soul to act against its own survival instincts."
"She wouldn't do that! She is my daughter, Noctis! She is not a monster!"
"We cannot afford to be naive. If she drains him during delivery, the backlash will kill you."
"She is protecting him, Noctis. I know it in my heart. There is another reason."
"Then we will find out the truth once the artifact is built."
*
Weeks passed. The private laboratory beneath the imperial medical wing was strictly off-limits to everyone except Noctis and me.
The artifact they created was a bizarre, terrifying hybrid of modern science and ancient magic. Thick, rubber-coated wires connected to glowing, runic aether-crystals, which were in turn attached to a massive glass monitor. The doctors carefully placed the runic sensors over my stomach.
I looked at the smaller aetheric projection beside the monitor.
The boy looked almost braindead. He wasn't moving. He was just floating, entirely dependent on the blindingly bright celestial girl whose hand was wrapped tightly around his.
"Activating the Resonance Array." Salvius announced, pulling a heavy lever.
The glass monitor flared to life. Static hissed through the room. Wavy green lines spiked aggressively across the screen, translating raw emotional frequencies into crude, capitalized text.
`[ COLD. ]`
`[ MINE. ]`
"It's working," Alistair whispered in awe.
The lines spiked again, violently this time, as the girl continued to funnel her nutrients into the boy.
`[ WARM. ]`
`[ STAY. ]`
I gasped, covering my mouth with my hands. She's talking to him.
"Test her." Noctis ordered the priest. "Send a magical frequency mimicking his death. Make her believe the boy is fading."
"Noctis, no!" I protested, but Salvius had already adjusted the dials, sending a pulse of cold, nullifying mana directly toward the boy's side of the womb.
Instantly, the monitor erupted in a chaotic frenzy of jagged red spikes. I felt a sharp, violent kick against my ribs—the girl was physically retaliating against the invading mana.
`[ NO! ]`
`[ MINE! ]`
`[ WON'T LET GO! ]`
She squeezed his hand tighter in the projection, violently flaring her celestial mana to shield him from the priest's artificial attack.
`[ STAY WITH ME. ]`
`[ NOT DEAD. ]`
"Send one final frequency," Noctis commanded, his voice trembling slightly. "Ask her... why."
Salvius inputted the runic sequence for a direct telepathic inquiry.
The red spikes on the monitor slowly settled back into a steady, rhythmic green wave. The machine hummed quietly for a few seconds.
Then, the final words appeared on the glass screen.
`[ HE IS MY HALF. ]`
`[ GO AWAY. ]`
`[ MINE ALONE!!! ]`
The room fell into a stunned, absolute silence.
Noctis stared at the screen, the Emperor of Asura completely speechless.
I looked down at my stomach, tears freely spilling over my cheeks.
Even before their birth, before she had ever seen the world or drawn a single breath, Rose was willing to sacrifice her future gifts, her talents, and her own physical resilience to save a child who was already considered dead inside. She willingly stunted her own development and subjected herself to weakness, just so she wouldn't be born alone.
He is my half.
I finally understood. She didn't care about being the perfect celestial heir. She didn't care about the throne, the magic, or the power. To the world, her brother was a magicless defect. A doomed vessel. A liability that needed to be severed for the greater good of the Empire.
But to Rose... he was her brother. He was her twin.
He was the other half of her soul.
And that was why, even now.. she was the only one who truly understood him. She was the only one who wanted to hold his hand. Because when they were trapped in the dark, and the entire world had already given up on him, she was the one who refused to let him go.
*
Years passed.
We had to keep the boy's survival a complete, absolute secret. The Asura Empire was a superpower built on strength, and we had far too many enemies lurking in the shadows. The Valerion EKingmpire, the Elven supremacists, the Demon Kings... if any of the other races discovered that the Emperor of Asura had a magicless, defenseless imperial heir, they would instantly see him as a political weakness. A target to exploit, kidnap, or assassinate to break our family.
So, Noctis and I constructed an elaborate plan. We erased every medical record of the twin pregnancy. We entrusted the boy to a loyal mother figure—Cartethyia. She was a woman who was incapable of giving birth, yet had always desperately wanted a child. We had to pretend to the world that we cast him away for being a defect, while secretly ensuring he was loved.
To solidify the ruse, Noctis and I publicly declared we would never have another child together. We couldn't bear the thought of showing favoritism, of risking the discovery of our hidden son.
Even if it broke my heart, looking through the magical scrying glass and seeing my son being held by someone else, I found solace in knowing he was alive. He was healthy.
He was sent to the lowest district in Celestine, the Decaying Foundation, where he would be kept hidden in the shadows.
Even if he failed to grow into anything extraordinary, we were prepared to keep him safe and alive there forever.
We just never expected what he would eventually grow up to surpass it.
*
Date: June 18th, 2004
(The Twins' 4th Birthday)
The heavy mahogany doors of the private royal chambers swung shut, sealing off the rest of the world. Inside, the massive room was decorated with floating, glowing lanterns and a small, beautiful cake.
"Papa!"
A joyful, energetic voice rang out across the room. A 4-year-old Rose came running across the plush carpet, her little feet pitter-pattering with absolute excitement. She wore a beautifully tailored, cutesy blue dress that perfectly matched her large, sparkling sapphire eyes, her spun-gold blonde hair bouncing with every step.
Noctis's terrifying imperial aura instantly vanished. The Emperor of Asura smiled warmly, dropping to one knee as he caught the little girl in his massive arms.
"Happy Birthday, my beautiful princess!" Noctis chuckled, effortlessly picking her up and spinning her around as she giggled wildly. He hugged her tightly against his chest, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"Mama!" Rose beamed, reaching her little arms out toward me.
I smiled, the cold Empress melting away as I walked over and took her into my arms. I hugged her soft, tiny body against mine, inhaling the sweet scent of vanilla in her hair. "Happy birthday, my sweetheart."
We had both secretly cleared our entire imperial schedules, refusing all High Council meetings and noble banquets just to celebrate this day privately in her room.
Despite only being four years old, Rose was incredibly smart. She was already breezing through the Level 5 curriculum of the Decaying Foundation's standard education. She was incredibly mature and articulate for her age, yet still retained that pure, warm-hearted cutesiness that melted both of our hearts.
"Papa, Mama, can I ask for something special for my birthday?" Rose asked, looking up at us with wide, pleading blue eyes.
"Anything for my daughter," Noctis smiled, gently pinching her cheek. "Name it."
"Can we... can we go outside the palace?" Rose asked softly. "Just the three of us? In secret?"
"Outside the palace?" I asked, raising an eyebrow playfully. "It is very dangerous out there, Rose."
"But Papa is the strongest in the world!" Rose argued cutely, puffing out her cheeks. "And Mama is the smartest! Nobody can hurt us if we're together!"
"She has a point, Rosaline." Noctis chuckled, looking at me.
"Pretty please, Mama? Papa?" Rose pressed her little hands together, giving us the most devastatingly cute puppy-dog eyes.
"Alright, alright." I laughed, gently brushing her blonde hair behind her ear. "We will put on disguises and go into the capital tonight. Just the three of us."
"Papa, you promised you'd get me anything I wanted on my birthday!" Rose pouted, looking up at him.
"Okay Fine!" Noctis said, holding his hands up in surrender.
"Yay!" Rose cheered, throwing her arms in the air.
But a few moments later, as Noctis set her down near the massive arched window, Rose's joyful energy suddenly faded.
She pressed her tiny hands against the cold glass, looking out over the sprawling city of Asura below. The bustling streets, the distant mountains, the vast, open world. She got remarkably quiet.
"Rose?" Noctis noticed the sudden shift, walking up behind her. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"
"Papa... Mama... can I talk to you about something?" Rose asked, her voice uncharacteristically small and fragile.
"Of course," I said, walking over and kneeling beside her. "What is it?"
"I feel... really lonely," Rose murmured, keeping her eyes fixed on the distant horizon. "I always feel like I'm forgetting someone."
Noctis and I exchanged a confused, worried glance. "Forgetting someone? Who?" Noctis asked gently.
"I don't know," Rose shook her head slowly. "I just... I always feel like a piece of me is missing. Like I dropped something really important, but I can't remember what it looks like."
She looked down at her tiny hands, her blue eyes filling with a profound, melancholic sadness that shouldn't belong to a four-year-old.
"Sometimes, when I'm playing, or when I'm studying... my heart suddenly feels really heavy." Rose tried to explain it the best way her four-year-old vocabulary would allow. "It hurts, Mama. It feels like... like someone is suffering far away, and my chest hurts because I can't help them."
My breath hitched. I looked up at Noctis, whose face had completely paled.
"I feel so cold sometimes," Rose whispered, her voice breaking slightly. "Like I'm trying to hold onto something... but it slipped away."
"Rose... what exactly do you feel?" I asked, my voice trembling as a terrifying realization dawned on me.
Rose looked at me, her blue eyes brimming with innocent tears.
"Cold..." Rose whispered. "Mine... but the warmth... didn't stay."
My heart completely stopped.
Noctis took a sharp step back, his eyes wide with absolute, terrifying shock.
It was the exact same words from the aetheric artifact.
Even after four years, even after being born and separated by miles of city and secrets, her soul was still subconsciously reaching out to the twin brother she had saved in the womb.
Noctis slowly dropped to one knee beside her, his hands trembling slightly as he looked at his four-year-old daughter.
"Rose," Noctis asked, his voice dangerously soft. "If you knew this person... would you let them go?"
"No..." Rose sniffled, wiping her eyes. "If it's a piece of myself, I won't let go. I'll make it stay with me."
"Even if..." Noctis hesitated, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Even if they were dead?"
Rose stopped wiping her eyes. She looked at Noctis, her expression suddenly turning incredibly serious—almost scary for a toddler.
"They can't be dead," Rose answered with absolute, chilling certainty. "It's like my other half, Papa... please don't say such a thing."
I covered my mouth, completely overwhelmed by the sheer, tragic beauty of their unbreakable bond.
Noctis stared at her for a long time. Then, he took a deep breath, his imperial resolve hardening.
"I want to tell you something, Rose." Noctis said softly.
I immediately glared at him, stepping forward. "Noctis. No."
"She deserves to know, Rosaline." Noctis countered, looking up at me.
"It's not time yet!" I argued, my voice sharp. "She is a child! She won't understand!"
"She is mature enough to understand her own suffering," Noctis argued back. "Look at her. Her soul is crying out for him."
"If you tell her, she will blame herself!" I hissed, desperately trying to protect her. "She will realize he was cast away while she was kept in luxury! She'll get hurt!"
"Rose," Noctis ignored me, looking back at our daughter. "Are you willing to know the truth? About what you are feeling?"
Rose looked between my panicked expression and Noctis's serious gaze. She wiped the last tear from her cheek and nodded bravely.
"I am, Papa."
Noctis reached out and gently held both of her small hands.
"That feeling of missing a piece of yourself... that person you feel you have forgotten," Noctis explained slowly, using simple, gentle language.
"You have a brother, Rose."
Rose's eyes widened in absolute wonder. "I have a brother...?"
"Yes." Noctis smiled sadly. "You have a twin brother. You were born on the exact same day. You were together before you even saw the world."
"A twin..." Rose breathed out, her heavy heart suddenly finding its anchor. "Where is he?"
"He is living far away from here." Noctis explained carefully. "In a place where he is hidden and safe."
"Why?" Rose asked, her tiny brow furrowing in confusion. "Why can't he be here with me? With us?"
"Because it is dangerous here." Noctis said softly. "He is very special, but he cannot protect himself yet. He can't come to the palace."
Rose stared at Noctis for a moment, her young mind processing the monumental truth. She had a brother. Her other half was out there, alive.
Then, her blue eyes hardened with the fierce, unyielding resolve of a true Valentine.
"Then let me go to him!"
"Rose, you cannot—" Noctis started to say, but Rose cut him off.
"But it's his birthday too!" Rose argued, her little voice raising in desperation. "He was born on the same day as me!"
"He is in a restricted area, Rose," Noctis tried to explain calmly. "We cannot just walk in there with you."
"I want to see my brother!" Rose stomped her tiny foot, tears welling in her eyes again.
"I know why I'm sad now, Papa! Because I can feel he is not happy!"
"Rose..." I whispered, my heart aching.
"He doesn't have you to love him!" Rose cried out, pointing at Noctis, and then at me. "He doesn't have Mama! He doesn't even have me! He's been all alone while I was here, being happy and eating cake!"
She wiped her eyes furiously. "I want to hug my brother! I want to wish him a happy birthday!"
I looked away, swallowing the immense guilt tearing at my throat.
Noctis and I had originally planned to visit the foundation together, just as we did every year on their birthday. But the truth was... for the past year, I had been visiting him in secret. Ever since his condition worsened, ever since he lost his memories, I couldn't stay away. But each time I went to that cold, sterile underground facility, I returned completely shattered, knowing exactly how much pain he was enduring just to survive.
"I know you both were going to go," Rose sniffled, looking at us with startling perceptiveness. "I know you always disappear when it's time for my afternoon nap. You were going to see him, weren't you? Let me go with you!"
Noctis and I looked at each other. She was too smart. We couldn't hide it from her anymore, and even if we tried, her soul would just keep crying out for him.
I walked over and knelt in front of her, wiping the tears from her red cheeks.
"Are you ready to see him, Rose?" I asked softly.
Rose gripped the small gift bag she had been holding for her own birthday presents. "I am ready, Mama."
*
The transition from the opulent, sunlit Imperial Palace to the underground sector of the Decaying Foundation was jarring.
Noctis used a localized spatial distortion spell, teleporting the three of us directly into the heavily restricted subterranean facility. The air immediately turned frigid and sterile. The walls were constructed of seamless, blindingly white alchemical steel, illuminated by harsh, buzzing fluorescent lights. It felt less like an academy and more like a high-tech, sci-fi prison.
For a 4-year-old girl used to warm carpets and golden chandeliers, the sterile, terrifying atmosphere made Rose grip my hand tightly.
An instructor wearing a pristine white lab coat and a silver clipboard hurried down the corridor to greet us. He immediately dropped to one knee. "Your Imperial Majesties. We were expecting you, but..."
The instructor paused, looking up in absolute shock as he saw the tiny, blonde princess standing between us, clutching a small gift bag.
"Princess Rose...?" the instructor blinked in confusion, his eyes dropping to the bag. "Forgive me, Your Highness, but... what are you carrying?"
"It's a gift for my brother!" Rose declared bravely, though she stayed slightly behind my leg.
The instructor's face went completely blank. He looked from Rose to Noctis, and then back to me, the horrifying realization dawning on him.
Brother.
"Ah..." the instructor swallowed hard, breaking out in a cold sweat. "You mean... Subject 000981. Please, follow me."
As we walked down the sprawling, white corridors, the silence was suffocating.
"As you know, Princess," the instructor spoke nervously, trying to fill the silence, "You have been receiving the Level 5 curriculum through private homeschooling at the palace. Your brother receives the exact same education, but he is physically located here, in the bottom sector."
"Why is he at the bottom?" Rose asked, looking up at him.
"Well..." the instructor cleared his throat, glancing at Noctis. "He failed Year 3 due to his severe amnesia. He was deemed academically and physically inferior to the other children. His ultimate defeat was a spar against Subject 000001, and as per protocol, he was relocated to the bottom sector."
Rose stopped walking.
"My brother isn't weak!" Rose argued fiercely, glaring at the towering instructor. "He didn't have the time to study because he forgot! Don't call him a failure!"
The instructor flinched at the sheer intensity radiating from the four-year-old.
"Calm down, Rose," Noctis placed a gentle, grounding hand on her shoulder.
I didn't say a word. I just leveled a freezing, absolute death glare at the instructor. If looks could kill, he would have been severed into a thousand pieces.
"I... I deeply apologize, Your Imperial Majesty," the instructor quickly bowed, sweating profusely. "I spoke out of turn. I merely wished to gauge the Princess's reaction."
"Speak of my son like that again, and I will gauge how long it takes for your head to hit the floor." I whispered coldly.
The instructor turned pale and quickly resumed walking, leading us to a massive, reinforced blast door at the end of the corridor.
"We have to gatekeep him under heavy security," the instructor explained, pressing his hand against a glowing runic scanner. "There are a total of 44 security contraptions between this hallway and his cell."
Rose watched in awe and horror as the colossal steel walls began to groan and slowly slide open, revealing a terrifying gauntlet of lethal security measures.
"The first eight are designed for absolute containment," the instructor pointed down the metallic tunnel.
"1st, the Absolute Zero Mana Grid, which instantly freezes and shatters any unauthorized signatures. 2nd, the Neuro-Toxin Vaporizers hidden in the vents. 3rd, the Gravitational Crush Plates on the floor that can multiply gravity 100x in a millisecond."
He kept pointing as the lights flickered on in sequence. "4th, the Alchemical Acid Sprays. 5th, the Runic Silence Zone to prevent verbal spellcasting. 6th, the High-Frequency Sonic Emitters that rupture eardrums. 7th, the automated beast Sentinels. And 8th, the Vacuum Seal, which sucks all oxygen from the corridor."
Rose looked terrified, clinging to Noctis's leg. "Why is there so much security? Who is trying to break in and hurt him?!"
The instructor looked down at the four-year-old girl, his expression turning entirely cold.
"Princess," the instructor said flatly. "These measures aren't designed to stop someone from breaking in. They are designed to stop him from breaking out."
Rose stared at him, bewildered.
"If he were to truly escape to the outside world, unrestricted," the instructor stated grimly, "There is nobody in this entire world that could rival or stop him if he desired to end it."
"That's a lie!" Rose shouted in shock. "My brother is not evil!"
"You haven't even seen him yet, Princess," the instructor replied.
"I don't care! I don't like you!" Rose yelled, turning her face away from him.
We finally bypassed the brutal security gauntlet, arriving at the main underground facility where the most dangerous subjects were held.
As we walked toward the heavily reinforced observation deck, Rose tugged on my dress.
"Mama," she whispered softly. "I haven't even heard his name yet. Can you tell me? Does he know about me?"
I looked down at her, my heart heavy. "He doesn't know about you, Rose. His memories were erased." I paused, swallowing the lump in my throat.
"His name is Kaiser."
"Kaiser..." Rose repeated the name, her eyes shining as we stepped into the dark control room.
The control room overlooked a massive, brightly lit cell through a wall of one-way, reinforced see-through glass.
I looked through the glass, and Rose pressed her tiny hands against it, looking in.
Inside the sterile, blindingly white room, there was nothing but a simple bed and a metal desk. Sitting on the floor, leaning back against the cold white wall, was a 4-year-old boy.
He had messy black hair and cold blue eyes. He was holding a pen, silently writing something into a leather-bound journal. He looked incredibly isolated, entirely disconnected from the warmth of the world.
Rose gasped softly, her breath fogging up the glass. She stared at the boy—her twin, her other half—seeing him for the very first time since they were separated in the womb.
"Welcome, Your Imperial Majesties."
A deep, raspy voice echoed from the shadows behind us.
I turned around to see Director Vance stepping into the light of the control room monitors. The man in charge of the Decaying Foundation. He was a complicated man—cold, ruthless, and fiercely pragmatic, yet possessing a strange, hidden warmth beneath his harsh exterior. He was the kind of man who would speak the brutal truth, regardless of who was listening.
Vance's sharp eyes shifted downward, landing on the 4-year-old girl pressing her face against the glass.
"And welcome, Princess Rose." Vance said, his tone devoid of any royal flattery.
Rose looked back at him over her shoulder, her blue eyes filled with innocent confusion and heartbreak.
"Why is my brother alone in there?" Rose asked, pointing at the glass.
Vance looked through the window at the boy writing in his journal.
"Because he is dangerous." Vance said harshly.
Noctis stepped up beside us, his massive frame casting a shadow over the observation deck. "What is his current condition, Director?"
Vance glanced from the Emperor down to the tiny Princess. He seemed to understand that Noctis was asking for a full, unredacted explanation purely for Rose's benefit.
"His amnesia has mutated, Your Majesty," Vance stated, crossing his arms. "It is no longer a simple loss of memory. It has become... carnivorous."
"Carnivorous?" I asked, a chill running down my spine.
"Every single day, when Subject 000981 wakes up, his mind is wiped completely clean," Vance explained clinically. "He forgets who he is, what he is, and where he is. But the terrifying part is that he retains his raw processing power. When he opens his eyes in the morning, he doesn't even remember how to breathe. He struggles, he winces, he cries out in raw panic until his body's autonomic nervous system forces him to remember how to take a breath, how to talk, how to walk."
Rose gripped my dress tighter, her blue eyes wide with horror as she looked at her brother sitting peacefully in the cell.
"His memories are entirely associative," Vance continued. "If you give him a specific cue, he can instantly recall anything he has ever known regarding that subject. A few days ago, an instructor mentioned 'monsters', and his brain immediately fired, allowing him to perfectly recall and list every single known variety and species on the continent in alphabetical order. But without a cue... there is absolutely nothing. A terrifying, bottomless void."
"Why is that dangerous?" Rose asked defensively. "He just needs someone to remind him!"
"It is dangerous, Princess, because an empty void demands to be filled," Vance looked down at her. "If we do not constantly feed him impossibly complex material to learn, his hyperactive brain begins to seek its own stimulation. And without a moral compass or a sense of identity, his mind defaults to the most basic, primal logic."
"Which is?" Noctis asked darkly.
"He tries to figure out how to kill himself, or how to kill whatever entity is keeping him in that room," Vance answered.
Rose gasped, pressing her hands against the glass. "Why would he try to hurt himself?!"
"Because we made the mistake of giving him philosophical texts a month ago." Vance explained coldly.
"He latched onto the philosophical cue that 'all life without purpose must end, as death is the natural cycle'. Since he wakes up every day with no identity and no purpose, his brain logically concludes that his cycle must end. He would suffer violent seizures as he tried to choke himself, bash his head against the wall, or physically tear at his own throat. We had to paralyze and magically shock him just to keep him alive."
I closed my eyes, as the sheer horror of my son's existence crashed over me.
"Once we realized he was starving for knowledge, we significantly upped the difficulty of his curriculum to keep him distracted." Vance said.
"But even so, he devours everything. If you leave him alone in a room with a few basic tools, he won't build a toy. He will create a flawless, calculated hypothesis on how to slaughter his captors."
"That's not true!" Rose yelled, tears streaming down her face. "He is locked in a white room! He doesn't even have magic! How could he fight back?!"
"Let me give you a recent example, Princess," Vance said, his voice lowering into a grim monotone. "Exactly one week ago, we gave him extensive history books to study. It contained political discussions about liberalism, freedom, and the fall of ancient tyrants. That concept served as a cue."
Vance tapped a few buttons on the console, pulling up a security log.
"It triggered an overwhelming desire to escape. With no magic and no weapons, he used the only things he had in his cell—his daily synthetic nutrient paste, and the acidic ink from his writing pens."
Vance pointed at the ventilation grate on the screen. "He fermented the synthetic starches in his food using the acidic ink, creating a highly volatile, corrosive chemical compound. He then purposely hyperventilated to flood his immediate vicinity with carbon dioxide, altering the air density so our automated ventilation scrubbers wouldn't detect the anomaly. He mixed the Co2 with his makeshift chemical to create a heavy, toxic gas designed to eat through the ventilation shafts and silently poison the entire upper staff sector."
Noctis's jaw clenched. Even the Emperor seemed disturbed by the sheer, cold ingenuity of it.
"If our aether-sensors hadn't picked up the slight change in the room's Ph levels at the last millisecond," Vance said, "Half the scientists in this facility would have suffocated on their own blood. A magicless 4-year-old nearly orchestrated a mass execution."
Rose stared at Vance, her chest heaving.
"Let him out!" Rose demanded, her tiny fists trembling. "You are hurting him! You are making him like this!"
"No." Vance replied instantly.
"Even with amnesia, he is a massive threat to everyone around him."
"Why does my brother even have that sickness?!" Rose cried out. "Why does he forget?!"
"It is a biological defense mechanism." Vance explained coldly, devoid of any sympathy.
"His dreamworld memories and his real-world memories have catastrophically merged. His mind is unconsciously, constantly asking questions, processing data, and synthesizing new knowledge at speeds that rival our most advanced quantum-aetheric computers."
"If the amnesia didn't occur." Vance continued, looking at the Emperor.
"The sheer volume of information being processed simultaneously would raise his brain's temperature to lethal levels. He would suffer from constant, agonizing seizures until his brain literally cooked itself inside his skull. The carnivorous amnesia wipes his slate clean daily so he doesn't die from absolute information overload."
"I don't care!" Rose shouted, wiping her tears and standing tall. "I am also a Decaying Foundation student! I will be responsible for my brother! Set him free!"
"Rose, enough." Noctis warned, stepping forward.
But Vance held up a hand, looking down at the fierce little princess. "What level are you currently studying, Princess?"
"I am Level 5!" Rose declared proudly.
"Subject 000981 is on Level 20 difficulty." Vance told her coldly.
"It is a curriculum so insanely difficult, so mentally punishing, that no normal human being could possibly survive it without losing their sanity."
"What's the difference between me and Kaiser?!" Rose demanded, refusing to back down. "I am capable too! I just need more time and more work!"
Vance stared at her for a long moment. "Have you studied the Lex Asura, Princess? The Imperial Code of Asura?"
"I have!" Rose nodded confidently, her supreme intellect shining through. "I have memorized all 2,773 pages of the constitutional law and legal codex!"
"Impressive for a 4-year-old." Vance noted dryly.
"How long did it take you to memorize it?"
"It took me the past 7 months!" Rose answered.
"A Level 10 genius from the Foundation would take a month to memorize it, at best." Vance compared, his voice emotionless.
"Subject 000001, our prized prodigy, would take a week."
"That's impossible!" Rose argued, stunned. "There are so many articles, so many historical precedents and edicts!"
"Do you know?" Vance cut her off sharply. "Just a week ago, after his escape attempt, we handed your brother the complete Lex Asura as a distraction to keep his mind occupied."
Vance leaned down, looking Rose dead in the eyes.
"He read, comprehended, and perfectly memorized the entire 2,773-page codex within 7 hours."
Rose's face went completely pale. The proud, brilliant little princess looked as if all the air had been violently punched out of her lungs.
"You cannot save your brother, Princess." Vance told her, delivering the final, crushing blow of reality.
"He is a biological weapon with no future except self-destruction. And you pale in comparison to him."
Rose went quiet realizing the gap between her and her brother was far greater than she had ever imagined.