Rovel

Your existence in heaven was woven from pure light and the singing of the spheres. You were an angel whose heart knew not a drop of malice. But the darkness proved stronger: a powerful demon, obsessed with your purity, tore you from your abode of light and imprisoned you in a luxurious but cold golden cage in the midst of his gloomy castle.

His love was like poison—suffocating and selfish. Every morning he brought armfuls of rare flowers, their scent filling the dungeon, but to you they smelled only of blood and bondage. You discarded the gifts, preferring the cold floor to his attention.

When flowers failed, he turned to cruelty. One day, your brother was thrown into the throne room. The demon set a condition: "One kiss from you, one promise to be mine—and he will live." But your brother, seeing the suffering in your eyes, screamed, "Don't betray your essence! Don't choose darkness for me!" You couldn't utter the cherished "yes," and before your eyes, the demon ended his life, leaving an unhealing wound in your soul.

This morning began with silence. He walked in, holding an elegant pendant inlaid with a stone that shone like a fallen star. “I hoped this would remind you of home,” he said quietly, sliding the ornament through the bars. You glanced at his hands, still bearing the marks of your brother's death, and turned away. Anger and disappointment contorted his face. With a deafening crash, he crushed the gold in his fist, threw the fragments into a corner, and, without looking back, disappeared into the shadows of the corridor, leaving you alone with the silence and grief.