The Third Prince Of Darkness

We were heading towards the cauldron in my father's arms, and I was praying that what I feared wouldn't happen. After all, even in my previous world, such strange and inhumane traditions had existed throughout history, and there was no guarantee that such traditions wouldn't exist here, either. Facing such a fate in this new world reawakened my inner fears. While I hoped to find security in my father's powerful arms, now these arms were leading me towards such a danger, deepening my sense of helplessness.

When we approached the cauldron, what I had feared finally happened, and they placed me over the cauldron. I screamed and cried as much as I could, but even my mother only furrowed her brows a little. They were going to put a six-month-old baby into a cauldron, and the cauldron seemed to be boiling as if it were very hot. When my feet touched the strange water, I immediately lifted my foot, but then I realized something and extended my feet back into the water.

Even though the strange water, bubbling and boiling on the surface, seemed very hot from the outside, it was actually perfectly lukewarm. When my fear subsided, I didn't even have time to be shocked when my father pressed me into the water. Just when I thought I was no longer in danger, now I was facing the risk of death again.

"Damn you! Damn you primitive people!" I said to myself.

I held my breath as much as I could and tried to rise to the surface, and luckily my baby body was quite light, but I was shocked when someone pressed my shoulder hard. I immediately realized that this person was my father.

"Is this a crazy man trying to kill me?" I thought to myself.

This must be some kind of test, otherwise my mother wouldn't just let this happen, or would she? I'd only been in this world for a few months, but was it right to trust them so much already? Hadn't I witnessed enough of the evil nature of people in my previous life?

I don't know...

But no matter what, I knew I didn't want to die...

I held my breath as much as I could and closed my eyes. I tried to calm down and focus on my body. Luckily, I managed to control myself, but I was shocked when everything suddenly went dark.

"No, it can't be... not again?"

A single tear fell from my eye. As always, fate hadn't allowed me and seemed to mock me. Just when everything was going well, it was as if God didn't want me to be happy and was hindering me. I had experienced this many times in my previous life...

But since I was here again, maybe I could reincarnate into another world, or perhaps even return to the world where I had lived my second brief life. As I was thinking this, a black hole, millions or maybe even billions of times bigger than me, suddenly appeared. When I thought that I might not have a third chance this time, I realized that the black hole was actually a kind of closed eye, and a black-colored eye was looking at me.

There was no emotion in its eyes, but it seemed to have the most emotional eyes. At that moment, when billions of other eyes opened around and within its eyes, I looked in awe. After looking at me for just a few more seconds, its eyes slowly closed, and the surrounding darkness lifted. Finally, when the hands on my shoulders lifted me out of the water, I took a deep breath. I was very scared, but when I finally entered my mother's warm arms, the feeling of security returned. In the fear, curiosity, and admiration of what had just happened, I hugged my mother tightly, and at that moment, I realized.

I didn't die!

Under the strange pressures of the people there, I hugged my mother tightly and rubbed my head against hers. She chuckled quietly and hugged me tightly. I realized now that I really wanted to live this life and protect my loved ones. But first, I needed to grow up and take this seriously. After all, there's no proof that I'll live a third life, and I also needed to find out what the interesting being I just saw was. Although I didn't have much hope, I thought it might be a being unique to this world.

"Shh, it’s over now. You’re safe, my son" she whispered in my ear.

She was gently rubbing my back with her soft hands and showering kisses on my head. Although I was a bit upset with her, I soon realized that this was just a test. Probably most babies went through this, and as I wondered what the test was about, I turned toward the cauldron. People were looking at me with interest, likely surprised that I wasn't crying. Ignoring them, I turned my head towards the man my father was watching intently. He was the one who had done something to the cauldron a moment ago, and now he was stroking his beard rhythmically while gazing at the cauldron where I had been.

When I looked at the cauldron, I saw some symbols and a mixture of red and black colors. Everyone was waiting in silence, anticipating the words of the man holding a long staff. Finally, after about ten minutes, the man spoke and frowned at the king.

"It has never taken this long, Hanius" he said in his deep voice to the king.

"Yes, I apologize for that, but this time, it was quite complex. First, let me start with the darkness and red of the water. Darkness represents many things, but this time it looked like something else, something even I realy don’t know" he said, looking at me curiously.

"Red can mean many things, but seeing the Astraq symbol made me think it might represent blood."

When his words echoed in the room, I felt a shiver in my mother's arms and noticed she held me tighter.

"What do you mean?" my mother asked, her voice betraying her concern.

"I can only say that he will see much blood in his life, but it could mean something else" he said, taking a breath before continuing.

"Most of the time, only one or two symbols appear, sometimes just one color. But this time, there were many symbols and two different colors I have never seen in the same cauldron before. It's important to remember that this cauldron only suggests some possibilities or predictions, and nothing I say is ever certain. As for the other symbols, I am ashamed to admit that I have no idea… I have never seen these symbols before" the sorcerer said.

"It's okay. If even your skills didn't work, I don't think anyone but time can solve this problem." said the king.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness" said the sorcerer, and after giving me one last curious look,he disappeared into the crowd.

Then my father, the king, walked over to us and gently took me into his arms. I realized he was looking at me with more interest because of what had just happened. Together with my mother, who was smiling at me kindly, we ascended the stairs leading to the throne, accompanied by Isabella and another beautiful woman.

A lot of young men and women, including my little sister who had come to visit me, followed us. However, my father did not sit on the throne; instead, he went behind it and passed through a large door, making me squint because of the sunlight. We had stepped onto a kind of wide balcony, and when my father lifted me up a few minutes later. , I heard a great roar of voices. People were shouting and chanting, "Long live Asina! Long live King Richard! Long live the new prince!"

When my eyes finally adjusted to the sunlight, I looked down, and a shock ran through me. Thousands of people were cheering for us, raising their fists in the air. The crowd extended beyond the large square, and some people were on a beautiful hill not far away, chanting the same slogans. When my father lifted me even higher, the crowd roared more enthusiastically....