Princess Clariss was still young, so she still had a future.
At least, that was what the Queen believed.
Queen Amara watched as the child she raised with love and care dropped on her knees and sobbed uncontrollably, losing grip of the dagger that had pierced the Queen’s chest.
Only after she had stabbed her mother did she break out from her crazed trance and realized she had committed a terrible sin.
"Mother!" Princess Clariss wailed, completely heartbroken to realize that her very hands had personally stabbed the person who loved her the most.
Queen Amara looked at her pitiful daughter who had been forced to kill her in order to survive.
As the older woman collapsed on the floor, she gazed at the sky covered with dark clouds.
The bright future she had planned was nowhere to be found, and the only thing she felt was heartbreak as her breathing became haggard.
Blood seeped out from her lips, and the realization that she was going to die made her deathly afraid.
Princess Clariss had finally managed to gather all the strength and willpower on her body and went to hold her mother in her arms.
"Clariss... do everything in your power... to live," Queen Amara said with hardship. "Live... my child."
"Mother!" Clariss hugged her mother tightly as her tears poured like rain.
She didn’t know what came over her to do such a thing, but it was now too late for regrets.
And with great regret, Queen Amara died in the arms of the daughter she had raised to be the next ruler of the Kingdom of Valoria.
"Such a lackluster death," Thirteen commented. "A pathetic death for a pathetic person."
Princess Clariss glared hatefully in Thirteen’s direction, but when Mist glared back at her, she was the first to lower her head in defeat.
She felt so aggrieved.
Not only did she kill her mother, her future was uncertain as well.
While Thirteen promised she could live, she wouldn’t leave out the possibility of him going back on his word and having her killed.
Just as the Princess and the guards thought about what they should do next, Thirteen simply made a slicing gesture with his hand, and Queen Amara’s head was chopped off from her body.
This made Princess Clariss scream in fright as blood gushed out from her mother’s neck.
With a beckoning gesture, the Queen’s head flew toward Thirteen, and he gazed at her face that still had her eyes wide open.
"Pathetic worm." Thirteen sneered before tossing the Queen’s head in his dimensional storage, where he had also stored Neil’s head.
He then turned around to fly away from the palace.
The Valkyries followed him, leaving the Saintess and the Sorceress in the throne room.
Thirteen flew to the outskirts of the city, on the small hill where he had left Kate’s body.
There, his Valkyries waited for his arrival, guarding the body of the lady who had conceived their Master’s child.
Since he already had her soul, she could have left her body behind.
But Thirteen didn’t plan to let anyone desecrate his Host’s body.
He carried her in his arms and flew to the sea, where he planned to cremate her body.
Thirteen planned to let her ashes fall into the sea, so even those who practiced the arts of Necromancy would not be able to defile her body and use it for vile purposes.
When that was done, he slowly flew to the sky, breaking past the dark clouds that loomed over the Kingdom of Valoria.
He then took Kate’s soul from his body and hugged her tightly.
Kate hugged him back, finally at peace after seeing how her beloved had avenged her death.
Princess Xynalia watched this scene with great sadness.
It had not been long since she had known Kate, but for her, she had become an important friend in her life.
"Will we see each other again?" Kate asked, cupping Thirteen’s face.
"Yes," Thirteen answered without hesitation. "I will find you. No matter how long it takes, I will find you."
"Will you still find me if I’m born with a different face?"
"Even if I’m reborn as a turtle?"
"Good." Kate nodded. "I’ll wait for you. Even if I no longer remember, I will wait for you."
Thirteen reluctantly let her go as a portal that led to the cycle of reincarnation appeared above his head.
He watched as Kate was pulled by the force of the portal, but that didn’t stop her from saying something that made his heart ache.
"I love you, Thirteen. Thank you, and goodbye."
A few seconds later, the portal finally disappeared, leaving Thirteen hovering in the sky with tears streaming down his eyes.
Princess Xynalia approached him, intending to wake him up from this dream.
But before she could even touch him, Thirteen turned around to look at her.
"I finally remembered," Thirteen said softly. "My memory with Kate ended on that rainy day when she took shelter under the tree. My dream would start with that scene, and end with Kate still waiting for the rain to stop.
"It will loop over and over again until I wake up. I only know that her name is Kate and that she is my Host. What happens after that is a mystery to me... But now, I finally remember what happened."
Kate’s death had been a turning point in Thirteen’s life.
The dream was not in fact a dream but reality from a distant past.
The funny part was that Kate’s imaginary friend, Xynalia, was real as well.
So, for some reason, the succubus princess had transcended into space and time to meet with Kate and form a connection with her.
"I’m sorry, but I can’t go back right now," Thirteen added. "I want to see the conclusion of this memory. You’ll have to wait a little more, Princess."
Knowing Thirteen was insistent about seeing this memory until the very end, Princess Xynalia concluded that she wouldn’t be to convince him and reluctantly nodded.
"Very well," Princess Xynalia replied. "I’ll see the end of this dream with you as well."
"Thank you," Thirteen replied. "I will now relinquish control over this body and see how things will unfold. I don’t know how long it will take, but I’m sure seeing everything will bring some closure in my heart."
After saying those words, Thirteen closed his eyes.
This lasted for nearly two minutes before he opened them again.
He no longer glanced at Princess Xynalia’s direction as if she had turned completely invisible once more. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ nοvelfire.net
Thirteen flew north, heading to the location where the Demons were fighting against the different races of the world, who were resisting their invasion and their plan to expand their domain.
The succubus princess watched as Thirteen destroyed the fortresses that kept the demon army at bay, allowing them to finally breach the defensive lines of the different kingdoms.
Just like a dam that broke after holding back the river waters for years, a torrent of blood and destruction pushed southward as the Demon Lords, his Generals, and their subordinates paved the path with the blood of their enemies.