Level Up Legacy

Chapter 1402 Diary of Madness

"I still remember that day," Tiara said as the queen looked at her. "But it's not your fault, mother. Evil exists in the best of us, and him being your brother didn't change that."

"I wish I realized that too, before it was late," the queen said before rising from the desk and handing the book to Arthur. As he received it and read its content, which was in a language he didn't understand, Arthur used a rune to understand it.

[Intent Absorption-V]

Arthur began reading the book by understanding the intent behind each word, which was better than reading it. As he read the page opened for him, he realized it was a diary of the dark prince.

"My brother tried resisting it, at the very least," the queen said before she walked toward Tiara and hugged her tight. "But he still lost himself in the end."

Arthur looked at the diary and began reading the paragraphs, flipping pages as more madness unveiled itself. They were sparse out, spoken in with a touch of madness. However, Arthur could no look away from them.

[I have been touched by envy, and I can hear it calling for me. A strange emotion now inhabits my every cell. It calls for justice and demands that I reclaim what is rightfully mine. I don't know how long it would take before this emotion consumes me.]

[At first, I thought it was a gift. The ability to take what others had and make it mine seemed like justice for all the times I was overlooked. But with every ability I stole, a part of me felt emptier, as if I were losing pieces of myself.]

[It started small. A minor talent here, a harmless skill there. But envy is insatiable. It whispered to me, telling me it was not enough, urging me to take more. Soon, I began targeting people with greater gifts.]

[The first time I took someone's memories, I was horrified. Their life flashed before my eyes, their joys and sorrows blending with my own. I could no longer tell which memories were mine. It felt like drowning in someone else's life.]

[I tried to resist the urges, locking myself away in the palace. But the whispers of envy grew louder. It promised me power, respect, and the love I had always craved. I convinced myself that I was doing this for the kingdom, for justice.]

[One night, I ventured into a village. I told myself it was just to see if I could control it. But as I walked among them, I felt their gifts calling to me. A farmer with strength beyond his years, a healer with hands that could mend any wound. I couldn't resist.]

[When I took from them, I felt powerful. But their terror and betrayal haunted me. I saw the emptiness in their eyes as I left them without the very things that defined them. They were shells of who they once were, and I had done that to them.]

[My experiments grew darker. I captured elves, humans, and giants, hoping to understand this power and perhaps find a way to undo it. But envy twisted even my noblest intentions. Instead of helping them, I used them. I tore their abilities from them, leaving behind nothing but despair.]

[Every time I stole, the whispers grew louder. They praised me, telling me I was destined for greatness. But they also mocked me, reminding me of the monster I had become. I could no longer look at my reflection without feeling disgust.]

[The Dungeon of Envy—Invidia—was where it all began. I remember the moment I touched the relic within its depths. It promised me the world, but it took my soul in return. I should have known better. Power like this always comes at a price.]

[My sister, the queen, tried to reach out to me. She saw the changes, the darkness that consumed me. But I pushed her away. I told myself it was for her safety, that she wouldn't understand. In truth, I didn't want her to see the monster I had become.]

[As time went on, I became more isolated. The palace felt like a prison, the whispers my only companions. I began to lose track of time, of who I was. The line between my thoughts and the voice of envy blurred until I could no longer tell them apart.]

[One day, I realized I couldn't remember my own name. The memories I had stolen had overwhelmed my own. I was a patchwork of stolen lives, a mosaic of envy and regret.]

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[I write this now as a warning. To whoever finds this diary, know that envy is not a gift. It is a curse; a poison that will consume everything you are. Do not let it take you as it took me.]

[If there is any part of me left that is still my own, I beg you to end this. Destroy the relic, destroy me, and free the world from this curse. Let my story be a lesson, and may no one else fall to the sin of envy.]

Arthur reached the final page, where the prince seemed to be pleading for someone to save him. The answer came, written in a handwriting that seemed to be bleeding through its letters. It was the final message that the prince has recorded inside his diary after having lost all sanity and humanity.

[I am envy itself now. The cries for justice have turned to whispers of domination. The longing for fairness has rotted into a hunger that will never be sated. I am no longer a prince, no longer a brother, no longer a man. I am the void that swallows all light, the shadow that devours identity. I have become what I once feared: a hollow reflection of power, a mockery of the man I was. You pleaded for mercy, but I cannot grant it. Mercy is a language I no longer understand. In my world, only envy remains, and envy does not forgive—it takes.]