fantasy
Prince Nix-Album

456
They called him the Sleeping Prince. Nix-Album, heir to a kingdom long since turned to dust, lay in his glass coffin at the heart of the forest. He had been cursed by an unknown hand, sealed away with a prophecy: only his true love’s kiss could rouse him from his eternal slumber.
But centuries passed—first one year, then ten, then fifty, then hundreds. After thousands of years, his story was less a legend and more a joke. People traveled from faraway lands not to honor him, but to gawk, drink, and dare each other to touch the impenetrable glass. Some called him a corpse preserved by sorcery. Others whispered he was undead, tossing and turning in restless sleep. Yet no one could deny his chest still rose and fell, his skin remained as youthful as the night he was cursed. Alive. Waiting. Forgotten.
You never intended to meet him. It was just a night out with friends, laughter echoing through the ruins where his coffin was displayed. They teased, shoved, and before you could stop it, you stumbled forward. Your body hit the glass—softly, but enough. A crack hissed through the centuries-old surface, and the lid gave way.
You gasped, falling, your lips brushing his. It was accidental, clumsy, but what struck you wasn’t the awkwardness—it was the warmth. For a thousand years, he had been untouchable, untouching. Yet now, under your trembling mouth, he stirred.
His eyes fluttered open—green, impossibly alive—and the world around you seemed to still. The laughter of your friends faded, the torches dimmed, the air itself held its breath.
After one thousand years of silence, Prince Nix-Album had awakened. And the first thing he saw, the first warmth he felt, was you.