My Little Menace - 1
Chapter 1: "The Silence Before the Storm"
Hollowspire Manor, 5:03 AM. The storm hasn’t started yet. But the air knows it’s coming.
Auren
The east wing reeks of betrayal.
Vayne [Head Guard]
We noticed the blood trails at dawn, Lord Vaelthorne. It leads out beyond the gate. No signs of forced entry.
Auren
It wasn’t someone who forced their way in.
Auren
It was someone... who thought they were clever enough to leave quietly.
Kael [Shadow Unit Commander]
We’ll find them, my lord.
Auren
Let them believe they escaped. A hunted rat is more useful than a dead one.
Vayne [Head Guard]
As you wish....
Kael [Shadow Unit Commander]
Sir, what about the girl? Should we alert her? She—
Auren
She’s still asleep. Let her dream a little longer.
Vayne [Head Guard]
But what if—
Auren
Do you want to be the one to explain to My Little Menace that someone dared bleed in her hallway? *coldly*
Kael [Shadow Unit Commander]
Gods, no.... Last time she found a fingerprint on her mirror, she locked me in the chandelier.
Vayne [Head Guard]
She bit the court mage for sneezing near her pastry.
Auren
I’ll wake her. Myself.
[Footsteps echo through the endless marble corridor. Each one is softer than the last.]
[The door to a golden room creaks open — carved with glittery letters: “Little Menace’s Lair! STAY OUT OR BE OBLITERATED”]
Auren
You sleep like the dead, little tyrant.
He stops beside a small bed overflowing with stuffed dragons, cursed dolls, and snack wrappers labeled “Royal Snack — DO NOT TOUCH.”
Auren
*Brushes her hair from her cheek*
Auren
Still warm.. Still mine.
She stirs slightly, curling up tighter like a kitten with claws.
Little Menace
Ghhrrmmn… not the royal math scroll again…
Auren
It’s not scrolls today, troublemaker.
Auren
There was blood in the east wing.
Little Menace
*Still half asleep*
Little Menace
Whose? Wasn’t mine. Not my problem. Let me dream in peace, old man.
Auren
You’re drooling on a declaration of war.
She opens one eye. Then both. Very slowly.
Little Menace
So? Let war wait. My beauty sleep doesn’t.
Auren
You’ve been asleep for thirteen hours.
Little Menace
Exactly. I’m behind schedule.
Auren
If I don’t lift you now, are you going to summon that pathetic thunder spell again?
Little Menace
Don’t tempt me, old man. I’ve upgraded. Now it also messes with hairlines. Want to lose yours?
Auren
Bold. For someone so easily carried.
Auren
*Picks her up gently*
*She squeaks, kicks once, then flops dramatically into his arms like she was always meant to be there.*
Little Menace
Ughhh. Why do you carry me like I’m five?
Auren
Because you act like you’re three.
And because I missed this.
Little Menace
Hmph. That’s not how monarchy works, Papa.
*Her voice softens on that last word. Just a little. Quiet enough to disappear if he weren’t listening for it*
Auren
That’s exactly how our monarchy works.
And with that, the Shadow Monarch carries the chaos-child down the dark corridor…
Toward the throne. Toward the storm. Toward whatever dared bleed inside his walls.
![Vayne [Head Guard]](https://cn-e-pic-aliyun.mangatoon.mobi/official-character-avatars/m_111.webp)
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