THE BLACK HEART

THE BLACK HEART

Chapter One: The Girl Who Wasn't Afraid

Long ago, before the borders of kingdoms were drawn, there was a king who ruled seven kingdoms. He feared no one, and he knew no mercy. The people called him the Owner of the Black Heart, for his heart had never known compassion. Those who starved, he did not feed. Those who begged for mercy, he punished with greater suffering. And those who opposed him... never returned.

The people lived in poverty and hunger. Food was scarce, and guards distributed small rations just enough to keep them alive.

One day, among the gathered crowd, a lone girl appeared. Her clothes were worn, her body weak from exhaustion and hunger — but she carried something the others didn't.

A strength in her eyes.

When her turn came, she took only a small amount of rice. She didn't ask for more. She didn't cry. She didn't beg. She simply took it and walked away.

The king watched her from a distance. He was puzzled. Every day he saw people pleading for mercy — but this girl took the little she was given as if she possessed something worth more than food... Her dignity.

"Who is she?" the king said quietly.

The prince pointed toward her. "Bring her to me."

The guards approached. One of them said: "You — come with us."

The girl entered before the king. Everyone else bowed their heads in fear. But she... stood tall.

"Who are you?" the king asked.

"I am a girl, twenty years old. I live with my younger sister," she answered.

He glanced at the food she carried. "Do you want it?"

She looked at him calmly. "If you want it, take it. If you don't, do as you wish."

Everyone's expression changed. No one had expected anyone to speak like that before the king. But the king didn't grow angry. He felt curious.

"Strange... Everyone fears me — but you don't," he said.

She didn't answer. So he ordered a bow and arrow to be brought. "You have a test."

"If you hit the target, I will give you a reward enough to last you and your sister a lifetime," the king said. "But if you fail..." He didn't finish. Everyone already understood what he meant.

The girl took hold of the bow. All eyes were on her — the guards, the princes, the ministers, even the king. She raised the arrow. She wasn't thinking about fear. She was thinking about her sister. She released it. The arrow hit the target. Then she fired a second time. And a third. Until she had made five consecutive hits.

Silence fell. No one could believe what they had just witnessed. Even the strongest warriors couldn't do that with such ease.

The king stared at her for a long moment. Then... he smiled. "For years I haven't seen anyone like you."

The girl stepped forward. "Then... what is my reward?"

Everyone looked at her in shock. But the king simply smiled. "Your reward... is that you will never return to your old life. From this day forward... you will be my guard."

Chapter Two: Inside the Palace

The girl entered the palace gripping her little sister's hand tightly, as if afraid someone might take her away. The servants looked at her with contempt — until the king passed by and said in a cold voice: "Whoever insults her... insults my command." In an instant, every servant bowed.

The girl and her sister were taken to a warm room, where they bathed for the first time in years, and food was placed before them that they had never dreamed of seeing. The little sister ate with joy. But the girl... didn't touch the food. She felt that behind this mercy lay something terrifying.

Shortly after, the king summoned her. She entered the throne room. He sat on his throne, then said calmly: "Do not think the test is over."

He paused. Then looked at her directly. "Any mistake... no matter how small..." He gestured with his hand. The guards entered, holding her little sister. "Will cost her life."

For the first time... the girl's eyes trembled. The king smiled faintly. "I've found your weakness."

Then he rose from his throne. "I do not fear the strong... I fear traitors. Betrayal is the one thing I never forgive." He stepped closer until he was just one pace away. "From today... your tests begin. If you succeed... you will become the greatest guard in all seven kingdoms. And if you fail..." He looked toward her little sister. "You will both die." The king stood before everyone and said:

"From this moment... the first test begins."

He pointed to four warriors considered among the kingdom's strongest men.

"The four of you... and her."

Then he raised an old map.

"In the Black Forest live five legendary beasts. Each one has killed hundreds of humans."

Silence fell.

Then he said in a cold voice:

"After seven days... whoever returns with the head of the strongest beast... will be the winner."

Then he looked directly at the girl.

"As for the loser..."

He smiled faintly.

"They won't be returning at all."

The four warriors trembled.

But she...

Was only looking at the map.

The king noticed she hadn't trembled, and hadn't asked a single question.

He smiled to himself and thought:

"This girl... either she does not fear death... or she is more dangerous than all of them. Chapter Three: The Legendary Beast

She entered the Black Forest, where the trees were taller than palaces and fog covered every path.

She heard sounds whose source she couldn't identify.

Then she stopped.

Before her stood the legendary beast.

A massive body... red eyes... and the marks of countless battles across its flesh.

And she saw something that made her heart stop for a moment.

Three warriors had been there... but they were no longer alive.

For the first time in a long while...

She felt fear.

She said to herself:

"I cannot defeat it by force... if I fight it like they did, I will die like they did."

Her mind began to work.

She watched its steps... the way it raged... how it attacked.

The beast lunged and struck her.

A single blow sent her crashing to the ground, pain shooting through every part of her body.

But she stood up.

And smiled.

Not because she felt no pain...

But because she understood something.

She started running.

The beast grew furious.

It charged after her, shattering trees and splitting the earth.

She knew this place.

She knew there was a deep crack in the ground ahead.

She kept provoking it until it lost all control.

The beast roared and hurled itself toward her with full force...

And at the last possible moment, she leapt aside.

The beast couldn't stop.

It fell into the deep crack.

Silence fell.

She looked down at it, breathless.

She had won.

But her body was bleeding.

She pressed her hand against her wound and said:

"Not now... I cannot stop... my sister is waiting for me."

She carried the proof of her victory and began the long walk back to the palace. The beast fell into the deep pit...

Not knowing that beneath it lay massive black thorns hidden among the rocks.

Its enormous body drove downward, and the thorns plunged into it with great force.

The earth shook for a moment...

Then silence reigned.

The legendary beast that had terrified everyone... was dead.

The girl stood at the edge of the pit, breathless.

Her wounds were bleeding, her hands trembling from exhaustion.

She looked at the beast's enormous head and said to herself:

"How am I going to carry this?"

It was far larger than she had imagined.

But she thought of her sister.

She clenched her teeth and gathered the last of her strength.

She severed the head with great difficulty, and carried it step by step.

Every step brought pain, blood dripping from her wounds — but she did not stop.

She wasn't thinking about the reward...

She was thinking only:

"I must return... my sister is waiting for me. The Black Heart – Chapter Four: The Girl Who Came Back

The palace gates were open.

The guards were waiting for the warriors to return.

They expected only one of them to come back...

Or perhaps none at all.

And suddenly...

They heard the sound of slow footsteps.

Everyone turned.

It was her.

The girl who had walked alone into the Black Forest.

Her clothes were torn, her face pale, blood covering her body.

But she was walking.

And behind her was something that made everyone fall silent...

The head of the legendary beast.

The guards froze where they stood.

One soldier said in a low voice:

"Impossible..."

A minister said in disbelief:

"That beast killed our strongest warriors..."

The girl entered the hall and placed the head before the throne.

The sound of it hitting the floor shook the entire room.

The king looked at her in silence.

He said nothing.

For the first time in years...

He had no words.

He had expected failure.

He had expected to see fear in her eyes.

But what he saw was something else entirely.

He saw a person broken on the outside...

But still standing on the inside.

The king said:

"You... you did this?"

She raised her eyes to him and said:

"I told you I would come back."

Silence fell.

Even the ministers couldn't believe her composure.

The king approached the head, examined it, then looked back at her.

And said:

"Three warriors entered that forest and never returned."

Then he took a step closer.

"And you... came back alone."

She didn't answer.

She simply stood there, even as her body screamed with pain.

And suddenly...

The ground began to spin around her.

She could no longer stand.

She collapsed.

A guard cried out:

"Bring the physician — quickly!"

The king looked at her lying there, unconscious.

And for the first time...

He didn't see her as merely a test subject.

He saw a human being.

He said quietly:

"Save her."