☆、(15 Fresh Coins) The Sigh of the Rose (1) (Alternate Universe, OOC Side Story - Warning!)
It was a lake shimmering with golden light, and a person sat on its shore. The person was slender and graceful, with long, slightly wavy hair cascading over their shoulders, revealing a large expanse of fair skin on their back that shimmered brilliantly in the sunlight. The person casually tossed their hair, a simple gesture performed with exquisite beauty by them, like a spirit born of nature, ethereal and otherworldly. Through the dappled shadows of the trees, this was the breathtaking scene he witnessed.
He stared intently at the person, and when he came to his senses, he was already standing behind her. The person slowly turned around, a slight smile appearing on her exquisitely beautiful face. In that instant, all the surrounding scenery paled in comparison; the whole world seemed to shrink to just the beauty before him. He stood there, dumbfounded, watching as the beauty's red lips parted slightly…
"Who are you?" A clear, melodious, androgynous voice, delicately furrowed brows, and almost translucent porcelain-white skin—he looked like the purest and most beautiful crystal in the world, making one want to touch him, yet fearing to shatter him. Only then did the man notice that the beauty was draped in a thin veil, her slender and graceful body almost entirely exposed, including the obvious male characteristics of her lower body—she was a boy.
"I..." The man's handsome face flushed crimson, his lips moved a few times, his voice stiff, "It's Keoti..."
"The Holy Knight of the Empire, by order of His Majesty the Emperor, has come here to find the legendary spirit and beg him to grant His Majesty's request." "Damn it!" The words were barely out of his mouth before he regretted them, but there was no going back. He wanted to bite his tongue off. His Majesty's order was top secret; he had so easily revealed his purpose to a stranger. What if the other party harbored ill intentions and deliberately sabotaged the mission, causing its failure? Wouldn't he be condemned to death? Thinking this, a cold glint flashed in his eyes as he looked at the other man. If the other dared to show even the slightest sign of trouble, he wouldn't be so lenient…
"An elf?" The boy tilted his head curiously. "Does His Majesty the Emperor have any wishes?"
"His Majesty the Emperor has no sons. He hopes to have a prince to inherit the throne." The man, captivated by the innocence and curiosity in his eyes, blurted out the Emperor's wish without hesitation. "His Majesty has heard that a great elf lives in the Miracle Forest. He can grant the wishes of anyone in the world, so His Majesty sent me here to find that elf." As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly snapped back to reality, his face turning deathly pale. He had once again spoken without reservation! What was wrong with him? Was he possessed?
"The heir to the throne?" the young man repeated softly, a strange light flashing in his large eyes.
"I'm sorry, esteemed young master, I have other matters to attend to and cannot remain here any longer. Goodbye." Coming to his senses, the knight nodded stiffly to the boy and hurriedly turned to leave.
If he stays any longer, he'll spill the beans about even the emperor's many lovers. It seems the boy knows nothing of the empire's affairs; he'd better hurry. In truth, even if he were asked to silence him, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Faced with such beauty, no one could possibly wield a knife.
The boy watched the knight's departing figure and smiled quietly. A Holy Knight, huh? Interesting. He didn't have a bad impression of this man, so he hadn't used illusion magic on him, but the other man had told him the details of the mission without reservation—how did such a foolish man become the empire's only Holy Knight? What he didn't know was that the knight was renowned throughout the empire for his loyalty, bravery, and decisiveness; his behavior was simply an exception.
Having overcome numerous hardships to reach the deepest part of the forest, the Holy Knight wiped the sweat from his brow and let out a sigh of relief. He drew his two-handed greatsword from his back and planted it in the ground. Wearily, he sat down, leaning against the blade, intending to rest for a while. After all, no one knew exactly where the elves were. Countless people had come to the Miracle Forest, only to perish or return empty-handed. Eventually, no one came anymore. Only recently, His Majesty the Emperor had acquired a ring, said to be a vow ring given to humanity by the elves of the Miracle Forest, granting one chance to have a wish granted.
After obtaining the ring, the emperor, who had been unable to conceive despite sleeping with numerous lovers, began to consider this possibility and ultimately dispatched Adam, the Holy Knight of the Empire, to carry out the mission. Although harboring doubts about the elf, Adam's loyalty to the knight led him to the location without hesitation, determined to do everything in his power to find the elf.
As he was thinking these things, petals suddenly began to fall before the knight's eyes, and a vast sea of flowers suddenly appeared all around him. In no time, the knight was surrounded by a sea of flowers. An illusion? He jolted awake, quickly stood up, gripped his sword hilt, and assumed a defensive stance.
"Who's there? Show yourself!"
"My dear knight, have you already forgotten me?" The boy's voice came from the air, carrying a mockery that anyone could hear.
Adam looked up abruptly and saw the boy he had just seen floating in the air. Various colored petals formed colorful clothes on his body, and a pair of transparent wings on his back shimmered in the sunlight.
Adam stared blankly as the other person gradually descended from the sky onto the sea of flowers and slowly approached him.
"Welcome to the Forest of Miracles, Sir Knight. My name is Calvin. May I ask your name?" The boy stopped in front of him, looked up at him, and smiled.
...The legendary elves really do exist! Adam was so shocked by the sight before him that he couldn't speak, and just stared blankly at the other party.
Sigh... This knight really doesn't seem to be very bright. The boy sighed helplessly and reached out to take the other's hand: "Would you like to come and visit my castle?"
Dragged into the castle in a daze, Adam couldn't believe what he was seeing until he sat down at the table. When he finally came to his senses, he had already finished the food the elf had placed before him. Oh no, he had no idea what he had just eaten! Was it poisoned? In his shock, he had forgotten that, according to legend, this elf was not the gentle and kind type—this elf loved to play tricks on humans, often subjecting them to immense suffering and even death for their bizarre requests, yet they gained nothing in return.
To this day, only one person has truly had the opportunity to have their wish granted by the elves: the first owner of this Oath Ring, Emperor Kozmo the Great, the first emperor of the Saint Pangu Empire. Originally, everyone thought the emperor would use the ring to achieve his wish of unifying the continent, but unexpectedly, he never used it until his death, and the ring disappeared with him. After a century of trials and tribulations, the ring has reappeared. If outsiders were to learn of it, it would surely stir up another bloodbath. In fact, the ring that reached Emperor Kozmo the Great had been broken in two; the emperor gave him one half as a token.
Adam finally remembered his mission, and he quickly took out the half of the ring: "Great Elf, this is half of the token you once gave to Emperor Cozmo. My emperor hopes to obtain your permission with this."
Upon seeing the ring, Calvin's smiling eyes instantly turned icy cold. He rushed up to the knight and demanded sharply, "Where did you get this?"
Adam was startled, his finger trembled, and the cut edge of the ring touched his finger. A drop of bright red blood quickly seeped out, and with a flash of red light, it was absorbed into the ring.
"Adam!" Calvin exclaimed, then grabbed the knight's hand tightly. "You're Adam?"
"...How do you know my name?" Adam asked in shock, ignoring the pain from his wrist being tightly gripped by the other party.
“Adam Cozmo, you actually came to me of your own accord…” Calvin murmured, moving closer to him, his gaze fixed on his face, “You regret it?”
Completely unable to understand what the elf was saying, Adam awkwardly avoided the elf's gaze, trying to break free of its grasp, but to no avail. As a holy knight, his strength far surpassed that of ordinary people, yet he found himself utterly helpless against this elf.
“This ring did indeed belong to Emperor Cozmo, but that was a century ago,” he reminded the other man as calmly as possible.
“No, you are him.” Calvin seemed to have regained some composure. He reached out and picked up the ring, then with his other hand, he grabbed the other half of the ring, which should have been far away in Kooti. He then brought his hands together, and with a “clink,” the ring was joined together. He forcefully slipped the ring onto the ring finger of the knight’s left hand and gently kissed the engraving on the ring.
Adam blushed: "What are you doing..." This typical, marriage-proposal-like action... was too unusual.
Before he could finish speaking, a flash of silver light appeared before his eyes. When he looked at the ring again, he saw that the carving on it had changed, and it looked like a... rose.
"Rose?" he murmured unconsciously.
“No, it’s Rose,” Calvin corrected, then suddenly hugged the knight tightly. “You’ve finally come to find me…”
"I was just... acting on His Majesty the Emperor's orders..." The knight was about to explain when suddenly something hit his head hard, and then it was as if a door suddenly opened, and countless familiar scenes flooded into his mind.
A young man from a fallen noble family meets an elf lying in a rose garden. Together they travel the continent, build an army, and eventually overthrow tyranny, establishing a new empire. But at this time, he parts ways with the elf... The ring that can grant wishes becomes the only connection between them, but the young man never uses it until his death.
Author's Note:
Friendly reminder: Adam = Adam (Xu Qi), Calvin = Calvin (Si Qiang)
Since the new story is set in a Western fantasy world, I've decided to do a little bit first to practice and let everyone see if my Western fantasy writing style is presentable... I just feel it's not Westernized enough ORZ
Calling it a side story is a bit of a stretch; it's more like an AU (Alternate Universe) fanfic, lol. Hope it doesn't scare anyone.
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