Harmony of Hatred: The Wicked Pianist

Every night, for Queen Isabelle von Valois, was a familiar torment. After Julian had possessed her mind, her dreams were no longer solely about duty or the throne; instead, they returned to the one shadow she could never fully possess. Jean-Luc. In her dreams, she was back in the wild flower fields at the edge of the kingdom, where Jean-Luc's free laughter echoed, his hair disheveled by the wind, his eyes radiating the intelligence and adventurous spirit of a wandering writer. It was a memory of naive youth, when the crown felt like merely a burden, and love was the only truth.

[Queen Isabelle's Tragic Past]

Isabelle had once attempted to flee her predestined fate. On one hazy dusk, she and Jean-Luc hid in the border forest, promising to abandon everything for a simple, free life. However, the King, her father, found them. The King knew no mercy. Jean-Luc, a wandering writer deemed no more than dust, was hunted down and killed before Isabelle's very eyes, a sword piercing his frail chest. Isabelle's cries were powerless to stop the blade; Jean-Luc's blood stained the wild flowers. That event tore Isabelle's soul, planting an incurable sadness, a burning rage, and a piercing guilt.

In profound despair, the young Queen attempted to end her own life. She drank poison from an old sleeping draught, she tried to throw herself from the highest tower of the palace, she even attempted to starve herself. Yet, every suicide attempt always failed. Loyal servants always found her in time, physicians always had an antidote, or guards were always stationed below. It was as if cruel fate held her alive, forcing her to bear the burden of eternal suffering.

To secure a political alliance, Isabelle was then married to a prince from a neighboring land, Prince Laurent of the Kingdom of Veridianne. The marriage was supposed to be a new beginning. However, a month after the grand ceremony, Prince Laurent suddenly died from a mysterious illness. The royal physicians were perplexed, unable to find a cause. What they did not know was that Queen Isabelle, in her solitude and darkness of soul, had studied ancient medicines and poisons from forbidden books in the palace library. It was she who caused the prince's death, an act of desperation to escape another binding tie, from a life without love.

Several years later, she was again engaged to an influential nobleman, Marquis Armand de Valois, another political arrangement. Yet, a similar event recurred. Marquis Armand also died suddenly after a few weeks of engagement, with the same mysterious symptoms. The entire kingdom began to whisper. Queen Isabelle was deemed to bring misfortune and a curse to every partner. She was called "The Black Widow Queen," a title that sealed her in eternal solitude. No other prince or nobleman dared to approach her for marriage. She became a queen without a king, a woman without a partner, trapped in infinite loneliness within her golden palace.

It was in this emptiness that Julian Malrick found her. Julian's promise—a path to master her own destiny, to fulfill hidden desires, even the promise of regaining what had been lost—intoxicated her. She willingly became Julian's follower, surrendering herself to his dark, dissonant spell, with one hope: to bring Jean-Luc back.

[Julian's Tainted Gift]

Julian had seen that longing in the Queen's eyes. A perfect weakness. After solidifying his control over Queen Isabelle, Julian decided to give her a special "gift," a demonstration of power that would bind the Queen to him forever. He summoned the Queen to a dimly lit private room, amidst a small ritual where Julian's music pulsed with tangible demonic power.

"Your Majesty," Julian whispered, his voice filled with deceptive promise. "You have been loyal. And my promise... my promise is absolute. Close your eyes. And welcome back what has been lost."

Queen Isabelle closed her eyes, her heart pounding. When she opened them again, before her, stood a man. Disheveled hair, a sincere smile, eyes full of intelligence and an adventurous spirit. It was Jean-Luc. His figure seemed so real, so alive, as if he had never left. Queen Isabelle let out a soft cry, tears streaming down her face, and she lunged forward, embracing her returned Jean-Luc. She buried her face in the man's chest, inhaling his familiar scent.

However, behind the Queen's blinding joy, Julian etched a cold smile. What the Queen embraced was not the real Jean-Luc. It was a small, helpless animal, a black raven that had been transfigured by demonic power into Jean-Luc's likeness. Its form was perfect, but its soul... its soul was that of a bewildered animal, now merely fixated on the Queen who embraced it. The devil's power had transformed illusion into reality, a reality that only the Queen herself could perceive as she wished. Queen Isabelle was too happy, too desperate to realize the falsehood behind the gift. She had regained her love, in a cruel and tainted form.

[The Devil's Summons and New Plans]

A few nights later, as Julian played the piano alone in the grand hall of the luxurious residence in Lumièrebourg temporarily granted by Queen Isabelle, his dark melodies resonated with an unseen power. Amidst the notes filling the room, a cold whisper pierced his consciousness, a voice he recognized only as the Lord of Darkness.

Come, Maestro. The time has come to advance further. Go to the place where you first etched your name in darkness.

Julian smiled coldly. He knew what it meant. His pact with the devil was not an end, but the beginning of a grander mission. A few hours later, Julian slipped out of his residence. He did not head for the port or the train station. He went to a hidden alley in a corner of Lumièrebourg, a location that felt utterly irrelevant for a distinguished pianist. There, between the moss-covered stone walls, a dark, black portal, like a bottomless void, faintly pulsed. It was the door to the devil's abode, a place not found on human maps.

The Devil had summoned him. This was an invitation to speak directly, to discuss grander plans for spreading darkness and evil through his music, not just in Aethelgard or Lumièrebourg, but across the entire world. Julian stepped into the darkness of the portal, without hesitation, ready to take the next step in the symphony of ruin he had begun.