Short Story | The Devil's Child
A story about an ugly prince who was born by tearing through his mother's womb and eventually became king.
Theme: 'Auriga'
Featured work
The prince was cursed.
He was a baby born by tearing through the womb of his mother, the queen. Upon seeing his form, his three older sisters were so terrified that they immediately lost their minds and threw themselves from a cliff to their deaths one after another.
“That is a devil! It must be an ugly, terrifying devil's child!”
Although he was the long-awaited first prince, the king, having witnessed the deaths of his beloved wife and dear daughters, locked him in a tower without even assigning a caretaker.
He ordered all the windows and entrances of the tower to be sealed with mud and the perimeter surrounded by a magic-sealing circle, forbidding anyone other than those managing the circle from approaching the tower.
Five years passed, then ten. The king took a new queen and was blessed with three princes and two princesses. In the dizzying rush of days, the terror of that day began to fade.
Even so, the king did not neglect the management of the magic seal, but in his heart, he thought it must be fine now. Even if it were a devil, it was just a baby. There was no way it could have survived in a cold tower where not even light reached, without any food.
Ten years had passed since then, and the faces of those working in the castle had changed significantly; few remained who knew of that day. It must be fine now. It—it had to be fine.
However, five years later, the prince emerged.
The prince had the upper body of a human, but his lower body was covered in eerily shimmering scales, a hideous form resembling a snake.
He rode around in a small goat cart that looked like nothing more than a driver's seat, and in the blink of an eye, he drove the king and his family out and seized the castle.
No one knew who had taught him, but his skill in statecraft was brilliant; he captured the hearts of the people in an instant and restored the nation that had been on the verge of collapse.
For some reason, a white goat was always by the new king's side, and naturally, the people came to love the goat as well.
Looking down from the castle balcony at the people waving their hands and flags as they looked up at him, the prince smiled.
“...See, I wasn't a devil's child after all, Father.”