This story is republished due to some edits.

Ps: I also update on wattpad for free under the same name. Pls follow ❤️ You can find the link in my profile.

Heads up: This is going to be an intense romance with reincarnation and fantasy elements. The story will take place in the present world. The male lead, seemingly "good" is a very morally corrupt character.

Warnings:

*Mentions of rape

*Childhood trauma

*Bullying

*Drug addiction

*Self harm

*Toxic relationship

*Psycho male lead

So I hope you have the patience to hold on. ❤️ PS: You might find a lot of mistakes... Pls ignore. Also pls comment ❤️

── ⋆⋅𖤓⋅⋆ ── ── ⋆⋅𖤓⋅⋆ ── ── ⋆⋅𖤓⋅⋆ ──

The afternoon sun poured like molten gold over the ancient palace, turning the marble floors into rivers of light. Rani Ma, the revered matriarch of the divided kingdom, sat on her golden swing, her frail fingers resting gently on the carved armrests.

The swing creaked softly with every gentle sway, the only sound that dared to interrupt the heavy silence between the two boys standing before her.

Beyond the palace walls stretched endless acres of  lush fields, shimmering under the sun like a sea of green. Once, these lands had been one. Now they were split by an invisible wound .

Two kingdoms, two kings, two brothers who could no longer stand in the same room without the air turning sharp with old grudges.

The elder king ruled the eastern lands with an iron fist, while the younger ruled the west with restless ambition. They rarely met. When they did, their words were blades wrapped in silk.

The elder demanded respect. The younger refused to bow.

Their egos had carved the kingdom in two, and the only thing that still connected them was the frail old woman on the golden swing.

Rani Ma's cloudy eyes moved between her two grandsons,  the future of a broken legacy.

The elder king's son stood tall for his age, sunlight catching in his rich brown hair until it gleamed like polished bronze. His eyes were the most striking thing about him, a rare mix of deep green and warm brown, like forest and earth meeting at dawn.

The royal priest had once called those eyes "the presence of God." The boy carried himself with quiet grace, though a shadow of loneliness often lingered behind his calm expression.

Beside him stood the younger king's son, all darkness and fire. His hair was black as midnight, falling in wild waves over his forehead. His eyes were just as dark, sharp and restless, always searching for something to conquer.

Where his cousin was still water, he was a storm barely contained. The villagers already whispered that he was too much like his father, stubborn, proud, and dangerously un-kingly.

Rani Ma studied them both for a long moment before speaking, her voice soft yet heavy with years of wisdom and sorrow.

"Where there is dark, there is light," she began. "Where there is kindness, there is evil. But without evil, kindness wouldn't be acknowledged. Just like without darkness, light would have no meaning. Now tell me, my children... which one will win? Kindness or evil?" Rani ma knew the answer could only be one, yet she waited.

The brown-haired boy answered first, his voice calm and certain. "Kindness."

The black-haired boy's answer came a heartbeat later, sharp and unhesitating. "Evil." With a childish smirk on his face.

Rani Ma's lips pressed into a firm line. She saw the future in these boys, although she was a bit uncertain about the black haired prince.

Maybe, age would change him...

And he would understand mercy far better than anyone...

Before she could speak again, a soft movement caught the black-haired boy's sharp eyes.

From behind the carved wooden doors of the inner chamber, a small figure was watching them.

A girl.

She couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen, yet there was something about her that made the air feel different. Long, deep red hair tumbled down her back like liquid fire, partially hiding her face.

But it was her eyes that struck him the hardest, vivid emerald green, wide and unblinking, locked onto the brown-haired boy with an intensity that didn't belong to a child.

Her small hands clutched the edge of the doorframe so tightly her knuckles had turned white, as if she were afraid to step forward yet unable to look away.

A tiny, secret smile played on her lips, soft, almost shy, yet filled with something strangely knowing. And the brown haired prince returned it.

The black-haired boy's breath caught.

"Who is that?" He asked suddenly, his voice cutting through the quiet.

The girl flinched as if struck. Her emerald eyes widened in alarm. For one brief second, her gaze flicked to the black-haired boy, and in that moment, something passed between them.

Recognition. Curiosity. A spark of something neither of them could name.

Then she was gone, vanishing behind the door like a startled deer.

The black-haired boy took an unconscious step forward, his dark eyes still fixed on the empty space where she had stood. He could still see her in his mind.

He didn't know her name. He didn't know who she was or why she had been watching his cousin. But in that single stolen glance, something had shifted inside him.

But he was certain her eyes were emerald green...

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