Misunderstood Villain: Heroines Mourn My Death-Chapter 232: First Sun

For a time after that, the hall breathed with voices. Soft, still stunned, breaking voices. They muttered about much the same. About miracles. About impossibility. About a man who called himself selfish, yet had bled his soul into two others so deeply that they were still alive because he just... was.

They called him a genius.

A mind beyond reason.

A fool.

A martyr.

An icon in flesh.

Some wept. Others argued.

Things might've remained static in that way, repeating and repeating, but then...

The hall's sky pulsed and shimmered.

Its title flickered.

Soon, it changed.

It changed to something bold.

Something incredibly and unbelievably bold.

{Volume 5: Second Sun}

Gasps broke through the hall.

Their origins had frozen.

Because they knew.

They knew what that title really meant.

"Sun."

It didn't belong to just anyone.

It belonged to a lineage, a myth, a figure they all knew.

A figure engrained in their minds, even if they had never searched for his name.

Solomon.

The First Sun.

Once... the only Sun.

But now, their Sultan, too?

Malik was the Second Sun?

Noor, whose Sun's blood flowed through, had her breath caught.

She was stunned beyond belief, straightening up on her throne.

What even happened for the Ten Commandment to call him as such?

What incredible feet did it witness for it to revere him so?

How many times had he repeated an impossibility?

She needed to know.

And she wasn't the only one who felt that way.

Huda…

She had blinked awake.

Her head still spun from the pain, her heart ached—but her eyes didn't lie.

Now, she had seen what the others had seen. Malik... her elder brother, was the Second Sun.

It saw his revenge against her family... against the Former Sultan as something to be revered.

Perhaps it was due to the impossibility of such a task, disregarding its crime.

What was she to feel about that?

Her people's lives all summed up in one title celebrating their taker.

Huda joined the rest as she too became speechless... but not for long.

"Ah."

Crimson stirred awake beneath her, pulling her out of that stunned state.

He fluttered his feathers and bounced on his feet, throwing her off.

Before her back could crash onto the ground, wind took her body, keeping her afloat, her pink dress sticking to her like dew on a rose, shimmering faintly in the glowing aura that suddenly materialized around her.

She slowly turned to Crimson, confusion apparent on her face.

He didn't look back, however, only spread his wings and faced the exit.

"W–wait—! Crimson!"

Her voice rang out into the hall as the owl flapped his wings, vanishing past the arches in a near instant, her cries falling deaf on his ears.

She tried to go after him but paused.

The title above still shone.

{Volume 5: Second Sun}

Her story—it was almost over.

She knew it. Everyone did. Her arc, her path… it was winding toward its end.

The final chapter of her relationship with the Sultan. Her older brother...

She could not miss a moment of it.

Not any of it.

Her eyes began to soften.

Memories came knocking, greeting her with the best days of her life.

The only good days of her life. The simple days... the sheltered ones.

She thought of their long walks down the palace halls.

Of the beautiful night when he kissed her forehead.

Of the dreams she shared in his confidence.

But just as the memories pulled her under, a voice from behind echoed up:

"Can't it just be the same?... Just another misunderstanding where the Sultan killed them because they Fell?"

Huda was reminded of reality.

She sighed, floated higher, and turned around.

Her unusually sharp eyes cut toward the one who spoke.

"No. I assure you."

Heads turned. Mouths closed.

She let her voice rise—not in volume, but in weight.

"I assure you all… my uncle would've never allowed that to happen."

Her gaze passed over every face.

"Unlike us… the Former Sultan knew the secrets of Corruption. Knew how to stop it. He wouldn't have let anyone Fall—not in his dominion."

Her voice shook only once—when she said:

"My older brother… he…"

She looked down. Her floating form dimmed slightly.

"He told me himself. Revenge was the reason. His only reason. And after killing my other uncle… one day, he'd come for Cyrus next."

Shock rippled like lightning down a tree trunk, and the room exploded into murmurs.

"She's lying—"

"No—she—she wouldn't lie about that."

"Then—then he's been turned a monster."

"But... but we can't blame him. No way."

"So... who's to blame now?"

Zafar stepped forward. Face pale. Eyes desperate.

"If you know that, then you won't try to save him… right?"

His question came careful.

"You were just emotional back then… right?"

Huda turned her head towards him.

She shook it once.

Firmly.

"I'll save him."

Her pink eyes turned cold.

"And if I can't…"

They scanned the crowd.

"…I'll kill you all instead... none of you deserve him."

"..."

"..."

"..."

The crowd fell silent once more.

There was a strange hush.

A confused one.

The confusion didn't come from the threat—it came from the logic behind it.

Or rather, the lack thereof. Because, yeah, in their eyes, there was none.

"Wait, what does that—"

"But what's the correlation?!"

"That doesn't make any fucking sense!"

Tension crackled, uneasy hands crept toward hilts, Scrolls, and Holy Relics.

But then quickly cutting through all of that...

Two shadows stepped forward.

Duban.

Faqir.

They stopped just before Huda's floating form.

"Al-Sayf's Head.."

Duban spoke first, head bowed a tiny bit.

"Would you… Would you allow us to join you?"

Faqir gave no words at first, just a hesitant grunt, but he eventually looked up and met her gaze.

"Please. Let us."

Huda stared at them.

Apathy swam in her eyes for a moment before melting into her usual carefree look.

They understood that as a yes.

Duban exhaled and looked at his people, the ones beside the still stunned Safira.

"We'll take our leave, then. Make our dues."

Faqir grunted again.

"We-we'll be ready."

Then they both turned, followed by nearly all of Safira's camp.

Their steps were purposeful, as if what was coming had already claimed them.

Huda, Safira, Layla, Zafar, and the rest watched them go.

Unexpectedly, no one moved to stop them.

Most preferred not to be involved in the brewing war.

They'd already been through enough to get this far.

Besides, whatever scraps were left of their so-called "heroic coalition's" reputation would go up in flames if word about this tension got out.

Duban, Faqir, and the others didn't care about any of that, however.

The Second Sunrise would soon be shown, and they would follow him straight to the end, whether in life or death.

It was their purpose.

They needed to repay their debt.

"Haaaaaa~..."

Noor sat still upon her floating throne.

Her hands rested gently on her lap, fingers tense, her long veil—wrought in dark thread— fluttered with the windless currents that held her aloft.

She had remained silent through it all.

Through Huda's claim.

Through the rising voices.

Through the uncontested declaration that Malik had become the Second Sun.

But her eyes… they missed nothing.

This wasn't her story, but it was something she'd raze Hell to see.

Beneath her, a tide was forming—one she recognized all too well.

The kind that could drown a kingdom if left unchecked.

She turned slightly to her left.

Roya was still standing in the same spot she'd been in since this whole mess began.

She appeared interested too, but not nearly with the same intensity. She only wanted to gather more information, for it was her sole purpose after ensuring Malik's downfall.

Their gazes met.

Noor gave her a slow nod, and Roya returned it.

No words were exchanged—but everything was said.

Things were taking a turn for the worst.

The pieces were moving far too quickly now. Faster than even she had predicted. The chessboard had changed, the rules rewritten—and if they didn't prepare, they would not dominate the coming game, not at all.

Noor gestured for one of her men.

Roya did the same, and soon after, two cloaked figures left the hall.

War was not yet guaranteed, but if it were to ever occur, they'd ensure their place at the top.