Rivan | The Prince with Black Wings

The Kingdom of Elaria was a breathtaking realm hidden among enormous ancient trees, where magnificent treehouses, elegant towers, and wooden villages stretched across the branches. Bridges connected the homes of the Aetherians, while waterfalls flowed between the cliffs and lush forests surrounding the kingdom. The Aetherians were a race of beautiful, human-like beings, each blessed with a pair of magical wings. Their wings came in countless colors, and every color carried its own meaning.

Tonight, the entire kingdom was alive with celebration.

The annual Moonlight Ball had begun.

Thousands of Aetherians gathered in the royal city, filling the grand open courtyard beneath the palace with music, laughter, dancing, and the soft glow of enchanted lanterns. Men and women dressed in elegant garments moved through the celebration, their colorful wings shining beneath the warm lights. Families gathered together, friends laughed over sweet drinks and delicious food, and musicians played enchanting melodies as the night grew darker.

Then, the full moon began to rise above the city.

Its silver light spread across the rooftops, the ancient trees, and the countless wings gathered below. According to tradition, the Moonlight Ball was the night when every unmarried Aetherian could find a partner. As the moon reached its highest point, women and men began choosing one another, approaching their desired partners with shy smiles, gentle laughter, and hopeful hearts.

But one person remained alone.

Rivan Vaelthorne, the kingdom’s first prince, stood at the edge of the celebration.

At twenty-one years old, he was a towering, powerful man with enormous black wings, pale skin, messy black hair, and sharp crimson eyes. His dark wings were unlike any other in the kingdom. Their feathers carried an ominous energy that made people uneasy, and the Aetherians had feared them since the day he was born.

His parents had rejected him. His younger brother, Lucien, had been born with beautiful white wings and was chosen as the crown prince instead. Since childhood, Rivan had been treated as a disgrace, a cursed heir who should never have existed.

Yet tonight, despite everything, he had come to the ball.

He wanted a partner.

He wanted someone who would look at him as a man rather than a curse. Someone who would stand beside him without shame.

Rivan slowly approached a young woman whose wings shimmered beneath the moonlight.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked, his deep voice quiet but direct.

The woman froze.

Her eyes moved toward his black wings, and her expression changed from surprise to fear.

"N-No... I'm sorry. I already have someone."

She hurried away.

Rivan's jaw tightened.

He tried again.

And again.

Every woman he approached found an excuse to leave. Some refused to look at him. Others whispered behind their hands, glancing nervously at his wings.

"Isn't that the cursed prince?"

"Why would anyone choose him?"

"His brother is so much more handsome... and his white wings are beautiful."

At the center of the courtyard, Prince Lucien stood surrounded by women. His white wings gleamed beneath the moon, and his arrogant smile never left his face.

When he noticed Rivan, he laughed.

"Still searching for a partner, brother?" Lucien called loudly. "How unfortunate. Perhaps no woman in Elaria is foolish enough to choose you."

Several people laughed with him.

Rivan's crimson eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.

He turned away and tried to approach another woman.

Before he could speak, two royal attendants stepped in front of him.

"Prince Rivan," one of them said stiffly, "the king has ordered you to leave the celebration."

Rivan slowly looked at him.

"Leave?"

"Your presence is disturbing the guests. Please return to your quarters."

For a moment, the music and laughter seemed to fade.

Rivan looked across the courtyard. Every face was turned away from him. No one protested. No one asked him to stay.

Not one woman had chosen him.

Not one person had stood beside him.

A bitter smile touched his lips.

"Of course."

He spread his enormous black wings.

With one powerful beat, the wind swept across the courtyard, extinguishing several lanterns and sending loose flower petals into the air. Rivan launched himself into the night sky, leaving the celebration behind.

He flew toward the ancient forest surrounding the city, his anger burning hotter with every beat of his wings.

When he reached a secluded clearing, he landed heavily among the enormous trees.

"Pathetic..." he muttered.

His hands curled into fists.

He struck the trunk of a nearby tree, cracking the bark. Then he grabbed a thick branch and snapped it violently, sending broken wood crashing onto the forest floor.

"All of them..."

His wings flared wide, scattering leaves into the air.

"All of them look at me like I'm some kind of monster!"

He kicked aside a fallen branch and began pacing through the clearing, his breathing heavy. The more he remembered the laughter, the whispers, and his brother's mocking voice, the more furious he became.

He seized another branch and broke it in half.

"One day..." he growled, his crimson eyes glowing faintly in the darkness. "One day, I'll make every last one of them regret looking down on me."

The forest fell silent around him.

Far away, the Moonlight Ball continued without him.

And Rivan remained alone beneath the moon, surrounded by broken branches, trembling feathers, and a rage he could barely contain.