---- shadows, whose heart was cold and hardened by the world he lived in.


    His kingdom was dark, his people lost, and he never knew love.


    All he knew was hunger.


    Not just for food, but for something deeper, something he couldn''t name." Vinces jaw tightened.


    The words stirred something inside him, a familiarity that pulled at the raw edges of his memories He was that Prince That first picture of a boy eating scraps of bread, was him.


    He still remembers that stale breads bitter taste on his lips.


    "One day, hungry and desperate, the prince stole a loaf of bread from the market.


    It wasnt his.


    It wasnt meant for him.


    But he took it.


    The hunger inside him inside his soulwas too much to ignore.


    And as he sat in the alley, tearing into the bread, something fluttered in front of him.


    A bird.


    A little bird, small and fragile.


    The prince, so consumed by his own pain, watched ---- as the bird pecked at his stolen bread.


    And in that moment...


    he felt anger rise inside him." Zariyan paused, her fingers trail over the illustration of a ck crow trying to steal the bread from the king.


    "In his fury, heshed out.


    He swiped at the bird, knocking it aside.


    The poor thing fell, its tiny body fluttering weakly on the ground.


    For a moment, the prince just stood there, staring at the bird.


    It wasnt the birds fault.


    It was just...


    hungry.


    And he realized what he had done, but it was toote...


    She felt Vince stiffen behind her, but she didn''t say anything.


    Gulping, she reads further.


    The birdy there, fragile and still, its wings no longer working.


    And the prince...


    he felt something shift inside him.


    Regret.


    Something unfamiliar to him, something he had never known.


    Not knowing what to do.


    He drops the loaf in front of it.


    But the bird didn''t eat it.


    It was in too much pain to care about hunger right now.


    ---- as the bird pecked at his stolen bread.


    And in that moment...


    he felt anger rise inside him." Zariyan paused, her fingers trail over the illustration of a ck crow trying to steal the bread from the king.


    "In his fury, heshed out.


    He swiped at the bird, knocking it aside.


    The poor thing fell, its tiny body fluttering weakly on the ground.


    For a moment, the prince just stood there, staring at the bird.


    It wasnt the birds fault.


    It was just...


    hungry.


    And he realized what he had done, but it was toote...


    She felt Vince stiffen behind her, but she didn''t say anything.


    Gulping, she reads further.


    The birdy there, fragile and still, its wings no longer working.


    And the prince...


    he felt something shift inside him.


    Regret.


    Something unfamiliar to him, something he had never known.


    Not knowing what to do.


    He drops the loaf in front of it.


    But the bird didn''t eat it.


    It was in too much pain to care about hunger right now.


    ---- Tt was fighting death.


    The boy rushes to get some water for it, his chest heavy with the weight of regret, but when he returns.


    His footsteps stop.


    The sight had him freeze in his tracks.


    "A girl knelt beside the injured bird, her hands gentle as she cradled it.


    She whispered soft words to it as she assessed the creatures wings." Zariyan swallowed hard, before continuing.


    "The prince...


    he couldn''t understand it.


    Why would she? A stranger help something so small, so insignificant and so ugly? He wanted to go away, just leave but something about her made him stay.


    She cared for the bird for days, Zariyan said, ncing up at him briefly before returning her gaze to the book.


    Even though her own hands bled from its ws and wound, she didnt stop.


    She gathered water in her palms, found seeds in the forest, and sang to it every night.


    And slowly, the bird began to heal.