The party had long since ended, yet Asher remained motionless, leaning against a marble pillar outside the grand hall. The vibrant music and laughter had faded, replaced by the hush of moonlight and distant footsteps. He held a glass in one hand, the liquid inside long gone warm and stale, but he didn't care. He didn't want to move. His thoughts were a storm, and every attempt to think clearly was met with the roaring wind of betrayal, pain, and confusion.
Princess Lily and Queen Flora stepped out from the hall, their gowns catching the silvery light. They exchanged glances before walking toward him. The princess spoke first with a cheeky smile.
"That was a nice punch, you know. You should've seen his face—it was priceless," she said, nudging Asher lightly.
Usher raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"
The queen answered proudly "We came to thank you. Honestly, Marvin has gotten too comfortable, too proud. Someone needed to put him in his place, and you did it better than we ever could imagine."
"I still can't believe someone had the guts to lay hands on a prince," Lily added, laughing.
Asher let out a rare, small smile.
"Oh,so you can smile after all. So what seemed to make your grim face to change!" the princess exclaimed.
"Nothing just the Queen says the prince is to proud when she also brags herself."
This statement made the queen a little angry
Lily laughed. "True, but she is nothing compared to Marvin. That guy's on another level of royal arrogance."
Asher smirked softly, then shook his head. "Still doesn't make sense to me. Why are people so afraid of the royal family? When you all are just average humans with bodyguards and gold."
Queen Flora's smile thinned into something deeper. "You forget one thing," she said, her tone suddenly serious. "The royal family holds all the information. And information is power."
They continued talking as they were all alone in the building.
---
Meanwhile....
Far from the bright lights and elegant laughter, in the darkest corners of the commoner districts, Prince Marvin moved like a shadow in brown hooded clothing, flanked by four elite guardswho dressed the same way. The streets here were choked with decay—rotting wood, crumbling bricks, rats scrambling through alleyways. It was the kind of place no noble would dare enter. But Marvin wasn't here for pleasantries.
As they passed an alleyway, a group of rugged beggars and thug-like men stepped out. One of them, chewing on a half-rotted apple, squinted at the prince.
"You're not passing through without paying a toll," the man said. "Your pretty face says you can afford it."
Marvin stopped. "I don't have money to spend on ugly beggars."
The man growled and threw the apple at him. It struck Marvin's hood and bounced off.
That was a mistake.
With a flick of his wrist, Marvin gave the order. In an instant, his guards unsheathed hidden blades, moving like trained assassins. Within seconds, blood painted the walls. Heads rolled. The stench of death replaced the stench of garbage. The remaining beggars screamed and scattered, too afraid to fight.
Marvin didn't even glance at the corpses. He stepped over them and walked forward.
They finally reached a crooked, haunted-looking building tucked into the ruins of an old theate which displayed a huge board showing Assassination guild. The outside was bleak and rotten. But when they stepped inside, the air shifted. The interior was grand—velvet curtains, gleaming chandeliers, carved mahogany walls. This was no ordinary building. This was the guild of assassins.
Eyes followed him. Cold, sharp eyes. Men and women with blades on their hips and blood under their fingernails. Marvin walked to the center and shouted, "Where is the leader of this place?"
Silence.
Then he tossed a heavy leather sack onto the ground. It burst open, gold coins spilling across the floor. The mood shifted. One grizzled man rose from a shadowy seat, picked up a coin, bit it, and grinned.
"Now you're speaking our language," he said and motioned Marvin to follow.
They were led up a narrow staircase to a dimly lit room filled with incense and bloodstained rugs. There, sitting on a velvet throne, was a man whose very presence seemed to warp the room's temperature.
Korrin.
A scar ran from his cheek to his jaw. His eyes were mismatched—one pale silver, the other crimson red. His aura was oppressive, almost suffocating. Marvin and his guards felt it instantly and instinctively looked down.
"What do you want?" Korrin asked, his voice like steel dragged across stone.
Marvin lowered his hood and stepped forward. "I want the royal family eliminated."
He placed a small folder on the table—photos of the King, the Queens, the princess… and Asher.
Korrin's eye twitched as he picked up the final photo. Asher.
He stared at it for a long moment… then let it fall, fluttering back to Marvin's feet.
"This one," Korrin said coldly, "is not part of the royal family."
"I know," Marvin hissed. "But that man Asher I want him dead. He humiliated me—"
"You want me to assassinate a man just because your pride is bruised?" Korrin interrupted.
"I'll pay more," Marvin snapped. "Double—no, triple what you normally charge."
Korrin's hand drifted lazily to the hilt of a blade at his side. His voice, though calm, was lethal.
"It is already bothersome to assassinate the royal family therefore I will not kill that man; Not unless the target is in my way. If this… Asher, ever becomes a threat to my business or to my mission, I will kill him. But until then…"
He stood, towering over Marvin, and said coldly, "I don't take orders from cowards who can't handle a punch.It is either you want me to kill the royal family or nothing."
Marvin clenched his jaw in fury but said nothing. The tension crackled in the air like fire ready to explode.
Korrin leaned closer. "If you waste my time not answering me ; you might not leave here in one peice."
"Fine, kill the royal family I will take care of Asher my self'
The prince said as he turned, cloak swishing with fury, and stormed out with his guards. But as he exited the building and stepped back into the shadows of the street, a slow, dangerous smile crept across his lips.
"If he won't kill Asher now," Marvin muttered, "then I'll make sure Asher gets in his way."
---
Back at the palace, Asher sat alone in his quarters. The moonlight sliced through the open windows, catching on the edge of a broken wine glass on the floor. His mind wandered back to Selena's words, her slap, her tears.
Clone.
The word echoed in his head. Was he really not like the original? If she was a clone and she felt pain, grief, love… did that make her any less human? What about him?
Was he real?
He clenched his fist. "I'll find the truth… even if I have to dig it out of the bones of kings and the ashes of this kingdom."
And somewhere, in the silence of the night, his presence stirred.
I have to find a was to solve this ,I have to find lysar.
His trembling voice echoed....