🌌 The Cursed Prince Forbidden Love

Chapter 15 – Truth in Shadows

Chapter 15 – Truth in Shadows

The night was heavy with silence. Kaia couldn’t sleep, not after Uncle Wonie’s words from the evening before.

She sat by the dojo door, staring into the dim forest beyond, her chest tight with anticipation.

She had been waiting years for the truth, and tonight, she would not let him withhold it any longer.

When dawn broke, Uncle Wonie found her still there, eyes shadowed but unyielding.

“You didn’t rest,” he said softly.

Kaia shook her head. “You told me last night there’s more about Prince Reino… about the curse, about King Aedric. Please, Uncle. I need to know everything. Don’t keep it from me anymore.”

Wonie studied her with sorrowful eyes. His hands trembled slightly as he motioned for her to follow him inside.

⸻

They sat in the dojo, morning light spilling across the worn wooden floor.

Wonie set a cup of tea before Kaia, though neither touched it.

His gaze was distant, his voice weighed down by years of silence.

“Kaia,” he began, “what you’ve been told about the cursed prince is not the truth. It is a story rewritten by Aedric to hide his own betrayal.”

Kaia’s heart pounded. “Then tell me… what really happened to Prince Reino?”

Wonie closed his eyes for a moment, as though the memories themselves were too painful to summon.

When he spoke again, his voice was steady but raw.

“Prince Reino was not born as people expected of a royal heir. He was born crippled—his legs weak, his body frail.

He could not walk, could not run, could not fight. To many, he was a disappointment. His father, the king, turned cold toward him. His brother mocked him. The court dismissed him as useless.

Even the people whispered—‘How can such a boy rule a kingdom?’”

Kaia’s throat tightened, her heart aching.

“But,” Wonie continued, his eyes softening, “his mother loved him. She alone saw him as more than his broken body.

She whispered to him that he was enough, that his spirit was stronger than any soldier’s blade. She alone accepted him.”

Kaia’s hands curled into fists. “And the others? They just abandoned him?”

“Yes,” Wonie said bitterly. “Even worse, when treachery came, he could not defend what he loved.

His uncle, greedy for power, betrayed the royal family.

He struck down Reino’s father, the king, and slaughtered his brother.

He seized the throne while Reino, bound to his frail body, could do nothing but watch as the kingdom was torn from him. He blamed himself for his weakness, for being born broken.”

Kaia’s eyes stung with tears. “That’s… cruel.”

“It was only the beginning,” Wonie murmured. His jaw tightened. “When Aedric—yes, that same man—took the throne, he sought to erase every trace of Reino. He exiled the boy, cast him out of the palace like a stain. But the cruellest wound of all… he had Reino’s mother killed. The only soul who ever loved him.”

Kaia gasped, her chest twisting in grief and anger.

“The news spread across the land,” Wonie said grimly. “And one day, the farm where Reino had been sent—burned to ash. Everyone there was found dead, soldiers and peasants alike. But Reino himself had vanished. No one knew what happened. No one could explain it.”

Kaia leaned forward, breath caught. “And then?”

Wonie’s eyes darkened. “One night, without warning, Reino returned to the palace.

But he was not the same frail boy they remembered.

He walked—his legs strong, his back unbent. His eyes burned with fire, with rage. They said it was as if the shadows themselves carried him. He stormed into the throne room, struck down his uncle, and reclaimed his birthright in blood.”

Kaia’s heart thundered. “He killed him?”

“Yes,” Wonie said, his tone heavy. “The people thought it was over then—that peace would return. That their prince had risen at last. But the truth revealed itself soon after: Reino had changed too much. His strength was not natural. Whispers spread that he had made a pact with darkness—that the shadows had given him power in exchange for something far worse: souls.”

Kaia shivered, remembering the chains, the way his eyes glowed when she had first seen him.

“The people began to fear him,” Wonie said. “They said he was cursed, that he consumed the living to feed the shadow within. And it was Aedric—ever cunning, ever scheming—who fanned the flames of their fear. He gathered the villagers, stoked their anger, their terror, and turned it against Reino. Together, they betrayed him. They chained him, dragged him away, and sealed him in the cave you saw in your visions. And then, Aedric claimed the throne for himself.”

Silence fell heavy between them.

Kaia’s voice trembled. “So all this time… Aedric became king because of lies. Reino wasn’t the monster they say—he was broken, abandoned, and cursed against his will.”

“Yes,” Wonie whispered. “He was a boy who lost everything. And now, he waits in darkness while the man who ruined him wears the crown.”

Kaia felt hot tears on her cheeks. Her body shook with the weight of the truth, with the injustice of it. She pressed her fists to her knees.

“I have to find him,” she whispered fiercely. “I have to know if he can still be saved.”

Wonie watched her with a pained expression, then nodded slowly.

“That, Kaia, may be your destiny.”

⸻

Far beneath the palace, in the cave of chains, Reino stirred. His head hung low, shadows curling like snakes around his body. The chains rattled as his fingers clenched, golden fire flickering in his eyes.

His lips parted, a whisper torn from his soul.

“Kaia…”

And though the cave was silent, somewhere far above, Kaia’s breath caught. Her hand pressed against her heart as if she’d heard her name carried on the wind.

The shadows hissed, restless, hungry.

And in the palace of stolen power, King Aedric stood by the window, his smile cold and sharp. “So… it begins.”