Side Story 1.1: The Past of the House of Nightingales (Part 1)
It was a story from many years ago. A young man carried a black cloth bag and walked step by step toward the throne.
Maybe it was because the dark tiles around him made the place too dim, but when he turned a corner, the lit candles still looked a bit too bright.
However, the young man didn’t seem to mind. He was wearing a black cloak, and his long black hair underneath it helped shield his eyes from the bright lights.
“You’re back.”
The woman on the throne spoke in a deep, solemn voice that made it hard to breathe.
“Did you finish the task I gave you?”
“Yes, Your Highness, Second Queen.”
The young man knelt on one knee and respectfully held out the black bag in his hands.
Even without looking inside, anyone could tell what was in it, because of the dark red, wet stains seeping through the bag.
“Put that filthy thing down.”
She said it casually, as if the bloody object meant nothing. Her elegant dress seemed out of place in the gloomy surroundings.
The Second Queen stepped down two steps and walked toward the young man, but after just a few steps—plop!—she stepped on something.
“……”
She tilted her head slightly and saw that it was a puddle of blood leaking from the black bag.
“You should’ve cleaned that head before bringing it here.”
She pointed to the tip of her shoe, signaling the young man to look at the blood that had dirtied her footwear.
“Your Highness, I—”
Smack!
Before he could finish, a loud slap echoed through the hall. The woman, high and mighty, had left a red mark across his face.
The young man’s head tilted slightly from the blow. On his cheek, the woman’s long fingernails had left a thin scratch, clearly intentional.
“……”
The young man didn’t say anything. He silently endured it.
Then came another smack. A second slap landed on the other side of his face.
Anyone could see that both slaps were very forceful. The sound alone was painful to hear, and even the Second Queen’s hand had swollen slightly from the impact.
But she seemed to enjoy the process. She lifted her foot and stepped on the young man’s head. Not too hard, but with clear intention. Of course, the young man cooperated completely with the motion.
Now, he was kneeling with his chest on the ground, his head pinned under the woman’s heel. Her sharp high heel pressed lightly against the back of his head.
“My child, do you know what you did wrong?”
“……”
The young man paused for a few seconds, then replied in a low voice.
“I dirtied Your Highness’s shoe.”
“And what else?”
“I also dirtied Your Highness’s hand.”
“Haah… what a good boy.”
The Second Queen smiled, clearly pleased with his answer. But her heel still didn’t leave his head. In fact, she twisted it slightly, pressing down a bit more.
“But you’re too obedient, too well-behaved. Child, sometimes you should say something other than respectful words to me, like now. Does it hurt?”
“…Yes, it hurts.”
“I can’t hear your answer, child. You should speak louder. Beg me. Beg me to spare your life.”
As she said this, the woman clearly pressed down harder with her foot.
“—It hurts a lot, Your Highness the Second Queen. Please forgive me. It’s all my fault. I’m truly sorry. Please have mercy and spare my worthless life.”
Although his voice was still a little muffled because of his posture, it was clearly louder than before. The more he begged, the more the Second Queen smiled. She seemed to really enjoy this moment.
But the stiff and robotic way the young man said those words ruined the effect, his tone had no sincerity. She couldn’t feel even a little bit of true pleading in his voice.
“Sigh…”
The Second Queen finally took her foot off his head but used the tip of her shoe to lift his chin.
She used her foot to raise his face, and looked at the appearance that even she couldn’t help but admire. She let out a soft sigh in her heart.
“You really do have a beautiful face. I like it so much, I almost don’t want to kill you. I wish I could go back to when I first started training you from scratch… Back then, your reactions were much more interesting.”
She rubbed the tip of her shoe on his cheek, wiping the blood from her shoe onto his face.
“What a pity. You’re still so young. I’m not really interested in kids. But if you were ten or even five years older—hmm, just a few more years. When you grow up, I’ll keep you by my side.”
The woman seemed to be “imagining” the future in her mind. She looked down at the young man kneeling at her feet and curved her lips, as if waiting for his reply.
“It would be my honor, Your Highness.”
His voice was still cold, as if nothing mattered to him. He thanked the woman, who was more than twice his age, for her “kindness,” and his lifeless eyes seemed to be exactly what she liked. She even stared at his pretty blue eyes for a little longer.
“Hehe… You understand me best, Aegmed. I’ve always liked obedient, good children the most. As long as you listen to me, I’ll give you everything.”
The Second Queen bent down and gently touched the scratch she had left on his face earlier. For her, leaving a mark like that was no different from signing her name. It was how she claimed something as hers.
Of course, the young man didn’t care. No matter what happened, he acted like nothing mattered to him.
“Are you really okay? You’re covered in blood… Are you hurt? Does it hurt? Where did you go? Was it a dangerous place?”
After returning to his “cage,” the boy beside him started nagging again.
To him, the child’s soft and high-pitched voice was annoying, especially because he kept making mistakes from nervousness, mixing up his words and stammering. That made him even more irritating.
But the young man said nothing. He just stayed curled up in the corner of the room under his black cloak, enjoying a moment of peace and quiet.
He couldn’t even remember when that boy had appeared here. After all, he rarely came back to rest when he was out on missions. Only when a task was complete did he get a short moment of silence like this. But now, that rare quiet had been ruined by the boy’s sudden arrival, and the endless chatter felt like buzzing flies in his ears.
Still, he could understand it.