A kingdom reduced to ash. A princess with no memory of the fire. A brother who swears she lit the flame.
Princess Aria of Welna should have inherited the Flame of Oath—the sacred power of her bloodline that shields the realm and sustains its people. Instead, she wakes to a burned-out capital, a hundred and twenty thousand dead, and her brother Valg's cold accusation ringing in her ears: *You burned it. All of it.*
She remembers nothing of that night. Only gray fog, a scream in the palace corri
Princess of Ash and the Flame of Oath - The Flame I open with my own hands, in the Tower of Ash
The prison walls were cold, and they smelled of blood.
Aria looked down at her own fists. The skin was split, the flesh showing through. The creak of her finger bones still echoed somewhere deep in her ears. Countless bloodstains dotted the wall—every one of them hers.
(What am I doing?)
Her breath came ragged. Hair clung to her forehead, matted with sweat and ash. Her silver-white dress was torn, blackened with soot and blood. Only the flame-sealing bracelet on her right arm felt strangely cold against her skin.
The Tower of Memory. A prison stretching beneath the Ash Court. Aria was locked in the deepest chamber of all five levels. Pale blue phosphorescence crawled along the walls around her, and a faint pulse of spirit veins throbbed up through the floor. The ceiling was high; her voice echoed and died away.
(Sera...)
The girl's smile surfaced in her mind. Those golden curls. That warm, friendly voice.
"I won't let anyone die."
The words Sera had screamed just before the abduction. They repeated in her head, over and over and over.
(I won't let anyone die. And yet, I—)
At the fortress of Olvan, her own flames had burned her allies. The smell of scorched flesh. Death cries. That sensation still clung to her fingertips. Kai had been run through by a longspear shielding her. Sera had been carried off by the Ashsworn.
(It's my fault.)
Aria pressed her bloodied fist against the shard of the talisman at her chest. A shattered stone the color of flame. It had been her heart's support ever since the Night of Burning.
(I mustn't rely on the flame.)
Valg's words came back to her. *You've simply forgotten.* That cold smile. Was it me who burned the royal capital? Her brother had said so. Her memory remained a blank.
(But right now—)
Aria closed her eyes.
(Not with flame—with my will.)
Sera's words. *I won't let anyone die.* That wasn't the power of flame—it was her own wish. Don't be swallowed by power. Choose your path with your own heart.
(With my will, this talisman—)
She laid both hands over the shard at her chest. Blood seeped into the stone. The stone, which had been cold, grew just slightly warm.
(Wake.)
She steadied her breathing. The beat of her heart echoed through the cell. Thump. Thump. Thump.
(My power isn't only flame.)
(Inside me, my will still exists.)
(Believe in it.)
The stone pulsed.
As if answering Aria's will, the talisman shard began to give off a faint light. Not flame. A white, gentle light. Pushing back the pale blue phosphorescence of the cell, a warm radiance spread outward.
"...This is..."
The light spilled from Aria's hands and touched the iron bars.
Ssss.
The iron melted. Without a sound, it glowed red-hot and crumbled away. One bar, then another, dissolved into nothing in the light.
(My will is calling the power.)
A different power from the sealed flame. Another force that had slept within the talisman shard. Not a flame of destruction—a light that gave will its form.
The iron bars fell open.
Aria stood. Her legs trembled. Her fists ached. The dried tracks of tears pulled at her cheeks.
(I'm getting out of here.)
(By my own will.)
She took a step.
——
The Tower of Memory had begun to collapse.
By breaking her cell, Aria had upset the balance of the deepest level, which was joined directly to the spirit veins. The walls cracked; stone fragments rained from the ceiling. The pale blue phosphorescence wavered, flickering on and off.
"Upward."
Aria raced up the stairs. Shattered stone bit into the soles of her bare feet. Pain. But she didn't stop.
(Live. Get out of here.)
(Save Sera. Don't let Kai's life be wasted.)
The stairs were long and dark. The phosphorescence on the walls was her only guide. Her breath ran short. Her lungs burned. She gripped the wall with blood-slicked hands and hauled herself up.
(Until I remember that night—)
(I can't fall.)
At some step or other, her feet tangled. She fell. Her knees struck stone. Shards bit into her palms.
"...Not yet."
She stood. Ran again.
That was when it happened.
From the floor above, she heard footsteps. Heavy, metallic. The footsteps of a person in armor.
Aria's body went rigid.
(The Ashsworn—?)
Her heart leaped. She clutched the talisman shard. The light had already faded. Could she call it again? She didn't know.
The footsteps drew closer.
And then, out of the darkness, that figure appeared.
Silver armor. Silver armor drenched in blood. A scorch mark on the left shoulder. Short black hair. Ash-gray blue eyes. An old sword scar on his left cheek.
"...Kai."
Her voice shook.
It was Kai. He was alive. Bandages were wrapped from his left shoulder across his chest, but blood was seeping through. His face was ashen. And still, he stood. Before Aria.
"...Sorry I'm late."
Kai dropped to one knee. His rough silver armor clanked.
"I came to get you."
A few short words. That was all.
Aria's vision blurred with tears.
(He's alive. Kai is alive.)
Relief nearly drained the strength from her whole body. The tears spilled over and wouldn't stop.
"Kai... Kai..."
She could do nothing but call his name.
Kai stood. Right in front of Aria. His hand touched her shoulder.
"Can you stand?"
"Yes... Yes, I'm fine."
It was a lie. She could barely stand. But she didn't want to show weakness in front of Kai.
Kai's arm went around her back. As if to support her, as if to draw her close.
Her heart skipped.
His warmth reached her. The smell of blood and sweat and ash. And within it, faintly remaining, his own scent.
(These arms...)
Somewhere deep in Aria's memory, something creaked.
Flames. Roaring flames. The collapsing royal capital. And within them, she—was being held in these arms.
(That night, I was, with Kai—)
"Princess."
Kai's voice brought her back to herself.
"...It's nothing. Let's go."
Aria pulled away from Kai's chest. Her heart was pounding so loudly it was unbearable.
(Right now, I think only of escaping.)
Together, they climbed the stairs of the crumbling tower, higher and higher.
——
The upper level of the tower. A half-collapsed great hall.
There, he was waiting.
A royal robe of black and gold. Long hair the gray of near-silver. Amber eyes. A thin burn scar running from the corner of his left eye. The man who always wore a serene smile.
"It's been a long time, Aria."
Valg stood at the center of the hall. In his right hand, the Talisman of Oath. A stone the color of flame, the same as the shard at Aria's chest.
"You look well. That's a relief."
His voice was soft, composed. As if they had gone back to the old days. As if a brother were speaking to his little sister.
A cold thing ran down Aria's spine.
(This smile. This voice. And yet this man locked me in a cell.)
"...Brother."
Aria looked straight at Valg. Her amber eyes met eyes of the same color.
"That way of addressing me brings back memories. But I'm no longer your brother. I am the king of Welna."
"King. The king who burned the royal capital."
"You burned it, Aria."
Valg said it while still smiling. Cruel things, gently.
Aria's fingertips trembled.
"You're saying—you're saying I burned it?"
"You've simply forgotten. It can't be helped. That night was too heavy for you. So you sealed the memory away yourself. Isn't that right?"
The talisman in Valg's right hand pulsed.
The same heat as the shard at Aria's chest. The same rhythm.
(This sensation—)
Aria didn't notice. That her own shard and Valg's talisman were resonating.
"It seems you remember nothing. Then leave it that way. I have taken it all upon myself."
Valg's voice dropped, just slightly.
"Taken it upon yourself...? What?"
"Your sins. The hundred and twenty thousand lives of the royal capital you burned. The throne you gave up. The memories you cast away. I have carried all of it for you."
Valg took a step toward Aria.
"So you needn't know anything. You needn't remember anything. Just live quietly beneath the Ash Court. That is what's best for you."
Aria's heart clenched, cold.
(What is this man saying?)
(For my sake? By locking me in a cell?)
"Don't be absurd."
Her voice shook. Anger welled up from the pit of her stomach.
"For my sake? You'll carry my sins? That's nothing but forcing it on me. I will face my memories. What I did, what I chose—I'll confirm all of it myself."
"You can't."
"Whether I can or not is for me to decide."
They glared at each other. Amber eyes scattered sparks.
That was when it happened.
"Princess."
Kai stepped in front of Aria. Fighting his wounds, blood seeping through.
"Lord Valg. I—"
Kai drew a deep breath.
"I was at your side that night."
Aria's breath stopped.
(Kai—at my side that night?)
Valg's smile wavered, for the first time, just slightly.
"Oh? You'll speak of it, then."
"Princess. You sealed away that night yourself. But I remember. All of it."
Kai's voice was low and heavy.
Aria stared at Kai's back. His blood-soaked silver armor. His trembling shoulders.
(Kai knows. The truth of that night.)
(And he kept silent all this time.)
"...Kai."
Aria's lips trembled.
"The fire that burned the nation that night—was it released by me?"
Kai didn't answer.
He only lowered his eyes, deep, deep.
That silence was more eloquent than any words.
(Ah—)
The ground seemed to crumble beneath Aria's feet.
(Yes. That's how it was.)
(I burned it. My flames took a hundred and twenty thousand lives.)
(My brother's words were true.)
Her vision swam.
"Find the answer yourself."
Valg's voice sounded far away.
"The memories you sealed can be opened by no one but you. Not by me, not by that knight. That's why I told you. Leave it as it is."
Valg raised his right hand. The Talisman of Oath gave off a red light.
"Now, let's end this. This tower won't hold much longer."
——Rrrrrmble.
The tower shook violently. Massive rubble crashed down from the ceiling.
"Princess, hold on!"
Kai pulled Aria into his arms.
"Aria. You will hate me. That's fine. Hate me. And live."
Valg's voice was swallowed by the roar of the rubble.
"Brother—!"
Aria screamed. But her voice was drowned out by the sound of the collapsing ceiling.
Valg's figure vanished beyond the rubble.
"Let's go!"
Still holding Aria, Kai ran for the window of the great hall. The collapsing floor. Falling stone. Flame. Smoke.
"Kai, the window—!"
"Hold on!!"
Kai kicked off the window frame.
Their bodies were flung into the air.
——
Wind.
The smell of ash.
Falling.
"—nngh!"
Aria clung to Kai's armor. Her arms tightened. Her fingers dug in.
(I'm going to die—!)
The instant she thought it, Kai twisted his body.
Thud!!
They struck the ashen ground back-first. Kai had taken the impact beneath her, shielding Aria.
"Kai!!"
Aria rolled off him. Ash billowed up. The taste of ash filled her mouth.
"...No problem."
Kai said it even as he coughed up blood.
"Of course there's a problem! You just shielded me—!"
"...Yeah. So there's no problem."
Kai's ash-gray blue eyes fixed on Aria.
(This man—)
Aria's chest grew hot. The tears wouldn't stop.
(Why would you go that far?)
"Sera is still captive. I have to save Sera. And my memories—"
"We'll save Sera. And the truth of your memories—I'll tell you."
Kai slowly pushed himself up.
"I'll tell you everything. What happened that night. What you did. What I did. All of it."
Aria looked at Kai's face. His face, smeared with blood and ash. But his eyes were straight ahead.
"...Yes. Tell me. Everything."
Aria nodded.
And then—
Booooong...
From far away, a bell tolled.
Aria and Kai turned at the same moment.
In the direction of the Ash Court. The Tower of Memory was collapsing. Beyond it, the heavy toll of a bell rang out, again and again and again.
"The pursuit bell."
Kai's voice dropped.
"The Ashsworn are coming."
"Yeah. This whole area will be surrounded before long."
Kai drew his sword. The blood-soaked silver blade glinted dully beneath the ashen sky.
"Princess. Behi
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