Chapter 0: The Day Destiny Died
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Astranor Shinjitsu Note: Hi guys this is first fantasy romance novel. This is a story about a forgotten prince Kaelan Astraviel and Lyriana Moonveil whenever she smiles, the atmosphere changes. This novel has system, task, affection levels and many more things. I hope you will enjoy it and join me on journey. Today I will release chapter 1 and I will release 1 chapter daily At 9 PM IST
Now Enjoy!
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Blood.
There was blood everywhere.
On the marble floor.
On the shattered throne.
On Kaelan Astraviel’s trembling hands.
The grand palace of the Celestial Empire was burning.
Golden pillars collapsed.
Sacred banners turned to ash.
Outside, the cries of soldiers echoed beneath a crimson sky.
The empire had fallen.
And so had he.
Kaelan knelt before the ruined throne.
His breathing was ragged.
His body was covered in wounds.
A sword protruded from his side.
Another cut stretched across his chest.
He could barely stay conscious.
Yet his silver eyes remained fixed on one person.
“No...”
His voice cracked.
“No...”
A girl lay several steps away.
Motionless.
Silent.
Beautiful even in death.
Moonlight-colored hair spread across the bloodstained floor.
Pale fingers.
Closed eyes.
The woman he loved.
Lyriana Moonveil.
The future Moon Empress.
The woman he had failed to protect.
Something inside him shattered.
“Lyriana...”
No response.
The silence was unbearable.
His chest tightened.
For a moment, the war disappeared.
The flames disappeared.
The pain disappeared.
All he could see was her.
The girl who always smiled at him.
The girl who secretly slipped him letters during royal meetings.
The girl who stayed awake all night nursing him after battles.
The girl who promised-
His breathing stopped.
No.
Don’t remember that.
Not now.
Not when she’s gone.
A slow clap echoed through the throne room.
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
Kaelan’s eyes darkened.
A tall man emerged from the flames.
Elegant.
Handsome.
Perfect.
The new Emperor.
Prince Darius Solaris.
Kaelan’s cousin.
His former friend.
His greatest enemy.
Darius smiled.
“Pathetic.”
Kaelan’s hands clenched.
“You...”
His voice trembled with hatred.
“You killed her.”
Darius laughed.
A genuine laugh.
As if the death of thousands meant nothing.
“As expected.”
He slowly descended the throne steps.
“You loved her.”
Kaelan’s entire body shook.
“Shut up.”
“How disappointing.”
Darius stopped before Lyriana’s body.
His golden eyes lowered.
“A woman became your weakness.”
Mana exploded from Kaelan’s body.
The remaining windows shattered instantly.
“Don’t.”
His voice became dangerous.
“Don’t look at her.”
Darius merely smiled.
Then...
He stepped on her hand.
Crunch.
Something inside Kaelan snapped.
BOOM!
A violent shockwave erupted.
The floor exploded.
The remaining throne shattered.
Kaelan lunged forward like a beast.
His sword aimed directly at Darius’s heart.
Die.
Die.
Die.
Die.
The blade moved faster than sound.
But Darius was faster.
Clang!
A black sword blocked the attack.
Sparks flew.
The impact cracked the walls.
The two princes stared at each other.
One consumed by rage.
The other amused.
“You still don’t understand.”
Darius sighed.
Then vanished.
Kaelan’s eyes widened.
Too fast.
A sharp pain exploded through his chest.
Stab.
Silence filled the room.
Kaelan looked down.
A black sword protruded from his heart.
His vision blurred.
Warm blood spilled from his lips.
Darius stood behind him.
Expressionless.
“It’s over.”
Kaelan staggered.
The sword withdrew.
His body collapsed.
The floor rushed toward him.
No.
Not yet.
Not like this.
Lyriana...
I couldn’t save you.
His fingers dragged across the floor.
Toward her.
Just a little further.
A little closer.
His hand finally touched hers.
Cold.
Too cold.
Tears filled his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
A whisper.
Barely audible.
“I’m sorry.”
Darkness began swallowing his vision.
Darius watched quietly.
The victorious emperor.
The sole ruler of the continent.
The man who had won everything.
“You should have accepted your fate.”
Kaelan laughed weakly.
A broken laugh.
“Fate?”
Blood spilled from his lips.
“If I get another chance...”
His eyes burned.
“I’ll kill you.”
Darius smirked.
“You won’t.”
Darkness consumed everything.
The last thing Kaelan saw was Lyriana’s face.
The last thing he felt was regret.
Then...
Nothing.
...
.....
.........
A voice echoed.
Cold.
Mechanical.
Emotionless.
[Host Confirmed.]
Kaelan frowned.
What?
[Analyzing Timeline.]
His consciousness drifted.
Where am I?
Am I dead?
[Condition: Deceased.]
Well...
That answers that.
[Calculating Possibility.]
[Error.]
[Error.]
[Error.]
A blinding light appeared.
Infinite stars stretched across the darkness.
Countless symbols floated around him.
Ancient.
Mysterious.
Impossible to understand.
Then the voice returned.
[Requirement Satisfied.]
[Candidate Accepted.]
Kaelan’s eyes widened.
Candidate?
[The Celestial Destiny System is activating.]
The darkness trembled.
“What System?”
No answer.
Instead-
A massive screen appeared before him.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
HOST
KAELAN ASTRAVIEL
Status: Dead
Current Rank: F
Title: Forgotten Prince
Destiny Value: 0
Affection Target: Lyriana Moonveil
Current Affection: 93%
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
His breathing stopped.
Ninety-three percent.
Even after everything...
He smiled bitterly.
“Idiot.”
She never confessed.
Neither had he.
Now it was too late.
The System suddenly flashed red.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
EMERGENCY QUEST
Task Level: World-Class
Task:
Prevent the Fall of Destiny.
Description:
The future has collapsed.
The Moon Empress has died.
The Celestial Empire has fallen.
Return.
Change fate.
Save her.
Reward:
Unknown
Failure:
Permanent Erasure
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Kaelan froze.
His heart pounded.
Return?
Save her?
What did that mean?
The System answered.
[Regression Beginning.]
His eyes widened.
Regression?
Wait-
WAIT-
The stars exploded.
The darkness shattered.
His consciousness was pulled away.
Faster.
Faster.
FASTER.
Then-
Kaelan’s eyes snapped open.
“Haaah!”
He sat upright.
Cold sweat covered his body.
His heart hammered wildly.
The familiar scent of books entered his nose.
Sunlight streamed through a window.
Birds chirped outside.
He froze.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
His silver eyes scanned the room.
The royal academy dormitory.
His old room.
Five years ago.
Before the war.
Before the betrayals.
Before Lyriana died.
A notification appeared before his face.
DING.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
MAIN QUEST ACTIVATED
Save Lyriana Moonveil.
Current Survival Time Remaining:
1825 Days
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Kaelan stared at the screen.
Then at the calendar on the wall.
Then back at the screen.
His entire body trembled.
Not from fear.
Not from confusion.
But hope.
For the first time in years.
Hope.
A second notification appeared.
DING.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
NEW INFORMATION
Target Lyriana Moonveil is currently alive.
Distance:
387 meters.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Alive.
She was alive.
Kaelan shot to his feet.
His chair crashed backward.
His breathing became uneven.
His heart raced uncontrollably.
One thought echoed through his mind.
Only one.
“I need to see her.”
And somewhere within the academy grounds...
A silver-haired girl suddenly paused mid-step.
As if sensing something.
As if destiny itself had begun moving once more.
To Be Continued...
