BLITHE  —  Devourer of Worlds
Chapter I.IV

“My beloved daughter.”

Blithe remembered her father calling her this all the time as she laid on her bed to sleep. She stared at the ceiling of the room in her space.

What does it mean to be beloved?

A new thought swept over her, consuming her thoughts once again.

She didn't attempt to push it down anymore, just letting it flow through her mind.

She kept thinking about the name of the child she heard from before.

Stella.

The child’s parents must’ve named her that.

How about her name, Blithe?

How was she named?

Did her father name her that?

Did her mother name her that?

She flinched at the thought and realization.

She never knew her mother. She only knew her father.

Where was she?

…

Her mind deemed it irrelevant. If she was important, she would've known her from when she was a child.

She turned to lay on her side.

Blithe…

Does that name have any meaning? She doesn't know. If it does, it wasn't very common as she doesn't hear anyone around her use it besides for addressing her.

She pushed herself up to sit.

If there was any meaning behind it, she hoped her name was as good as ‘Stella’.

She decided to leave her space and take a stroll around the castle grounds as she waited for a new assignment.

Once she stepped out of her black hole, she looked up at the skies.

A gloom swept over her—a certain sadness.

She couldn't quite grasp why looking up at it disappointed her but she's certain of one thing.

The feeling was rooted in the fact that she can't help but compare the Dark Empire’s perpetually dark skies to the bright ones in the star clusters she goes to.

Why couldn't the empire’s skies have more light?

She vaguely remembers a question like this from when she was younger. Only, at that time, her mind squashed the curiosity before it could fully form.

The gloom she felt turned to irritation — an irritation to the feeling that she wanted more light in the sky and an irritation that her thoughts are wandering again.

Thankfully, her thoughts were interrupted when servants that passed by stopped and greeted her. People who she had no idea who their names were, but still acknowledged her presence nonetheless.

The servants flinched when Blithe looked at them and nervously bowed their heads to avert their gaze.

“W-we g-greet Your Highness!”

They stuttered and trembled.

Blithe raised her eyebrows.

“I-Is there something we can do for you, Your Highness?”

Blithe shook her head. “None. You may go.”

They bowed once more and hurriedly walked away.

Blithe wondered why they suddenly became flustered. As she was pondering the answer to her question, she heard their hushed voices from afar.

“Why does she look like that? Have you ever seen her look that way before?”

“No…! I always see her so emotionless…”

“She looks so terrifying…! Did we do something wrong…? I hope she doesn't come after us…”

Blithe froze, her hands touching her face. She realized her eyebrows were scrunched and her jaw was tense.

Was the face she made terrifying?

She didn't know.

It was the first time she felt something so intense that it reflected on her face.

—

Blithe composed herself and continued to walk around until she found herself at a large abandoned garden and villa.

The bushes were overgrown, the flowers were wilted, the vines crawled all over the place, the fountain at the middle was cracked and dried up, and dried leaves were scattered everywhere.

The villa at the distance wasn't any better. Some windows were smashed, there were large cracks on the walls and the vines already spread on it.

In short, this place was a mess.

She couldn't remember such a chaotic place existing there — or maybe she just didn't care enough to notice.

A curiosity welled up inside her to explore — a pull towards the place.

She looked around her.

No servants were in sight.

She entered the garden and surveyed the area.

The path was no longer there so she could only be cautious as she stepped on the overgrown weeds.

Her feet then bumped into something that she almost tripped. When she took a look at it, she saw that there was something slightly buried within it.

She squatted to dig up whatever it was and found a tattered notebook.

The cover was a faded purple and yellow with something written poorly on it.

Aster.

“The flower?” Blithe thought as she looked around the garden and found a bunch of wilted petals and stems. Based on her surroundings, she assumed this was a garden of asters once.

She opened the notebook and found drawings that were, in her opinion, really bad but recognizable. It ranged from drawings of different flowers, children playing and a family holding hands.

It looked like a child's drawing.

Blithe squinted and touched the drawing of one parent. It kind of looked like her father.

“Look at this eyesore of a garden! Can't the Dark Emperor just destroy it?”

Blithe flinched at hearing a servant exclaiming nearby. She hurriedly stood up and hid behind some overgrown plants, hugging the notebook she just found to her chest.

“Well, I think it could be sentimental for him? After all, it did belong—”

“Ssshhh! Don't talk about that! If anyone hears you, we might be executed! Remember that we're not ordered to talk about them?”

“Yeah, yeah…”

There was a pause in their conversation. They haven't left but it sounded like they were looking around the garden.

One of them sighed.

“Look. The flowers have wilted and the blight is spreading throughout the vines. It's disgusting!”

Blithe flinched. That sounds like her name. She looked at the vines beside her. She saw brown spots indicative of rots on it. She sweated.

“Heh, ‘blight’. Sounds like the Dark Emperor's daughter.”

“Her name’s a different word.”

Blithe silently let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

“Yeah, I know, but isn't that kind of fitting? ‘Blight’ being a rotting disease and ‘Blithe’ being indifferent. It's just like her. Spreading destruction everywhere while being emotionless. It's perfect.”

“Well, you do have a point. Wow, the Dark Emperor is such an intelligent man to come up with that.”

The servants laughed and started to walk away.

Blithe stood there as the servants’ voices faded, the two words echoing in her ears.

A disease spreading destruction everywhere without any regard for anyone.

…

…

…

…

What does it mean to be a beloved daughter, when the name given to her wasn't given to her with love?

C-R-A-C-K.