At the Royal Palace of Valdris - 10:00 AM

Princess Elena stood on the balcony overlooking the royal square. Below her, thousands of people gathered, their faces showing fear and confusion. She didn't want to be here. She knew what was coming.

"Elena, stop looking so sad. This is supposed to be an exciting day!" Her brother Marcus walked up beside her, his eyes shining with something that made Elena's stomach turn.

"How can you be excited about this, Marcus? You know what Father is going to announce," Elena said softly, gripping the stone railing.

Marcus laughed. "Of course I know! And I'm going to win. The throne will be mine, little sister."

Before Elena could respond, trumpets blared across the square. King Aldric, their father, stepped forward. His voice boomed across the silent crowd.

"People of Valdris! Today marks the beginning of our sacred tradition! My children, Princess Elena and Prince Marcus, will compete for the throne!"

Elena watched the crowd's reaction. Mothers pulled their children closer. Men's faces went pale. Everyone knew what came next.

"The rules are simple!" King Aldric continued. "Within two months, whoever kills one hundred people will become the next ruler of Valdris! This is how we prove strength! This is how we prove power!"

A collective gasp rose from the crowd. Even though they knew this tradition existed, hearing it announced was different. This was real now.

Elena felt tears building in her eyes. She looked at the faces below - a little girl holding her mother's hand, an old man leaning on his cane, a young couple holding each other tight. These were people, not numbers. Not targets.

"Let the challenge begin at dawn tomorrow!" The king raised his sword high. "May the strongest win!"

The crowd dispersed quickly, people practically running back to their homes. Elena watched them go, each one potentially a victim of this horrible tradition.

...---...

At Princess Elena's Chambers - 8:00 PM

Elena sat at her window, watching the sunset paint the sky red. It looked like blood. Everything reminded her of blood now.

Her handmaid, Mary, brought her dinner but Elena couldn't eat. "Your Highness, you must eat something," Mary said gently.

"How can I eat when tomorrow I'm supposed to start... killing?" Elena's voice broke. "Mary, this is wrong. This whole tradition is wrong!"

Mary looked around nervously before whispering, "Many people agree with you, Princess. But no one dares speak against the king."

"Then I'll speak against him," Elena decided suddenly. "I'll refuse to participate!"

"Princess, he'll execute you if you refuse. The law is clear."

Elena knew Mary was right. But how could she kill innocent people just to survive? There had to be another way.

...---...

At Prince Marcus's Chambers - 9:00 PM

Unlike his sister, Marcus was celebrating. He had several friends over, drinking wine and making plans.

"I've already picked my first five targets," Marcus announced proudly. "All from the eastern villages. Poor people, mostly. No one will miss them."

His friends laughed and cheered. "Your Highness will be an excellent king!" one of them said.

Marcus smiled darkly. "I'll be better than excellent. I'll be legendary. People will fear my name for centuries."

Deep inside, a small part of Marcus felt uncomfortable. He remembered when he and Elena were children, how they used to play in the gardens and promise to always protect each other. But that was before he understood power. Before he knew what it took to rule.

The throne was everything now. And he would do anything to claim it.

...---...

At the Village of Thornbrook - 11:00 PM

In a small cottage, a family of four huddled together around their fireplace. The father, John, held his wife Sarah while their two children slept.

"What are we going to do?" Sarah whispered, tears streaming down her face. "The prince and princess will come for us. They always take people from poor villages first."

"We'll hide," John said, trying to sound brave. "We'll take the children into the forest. We'll survive this, I promise."

But they both knew the truth. Running only delayed the inevitable. For the next two months, every person in the kingdom was prey.

This was just the beginning of the darkest time Valdris had ever known.

At the Eastern Villages - 6:00 AM (Day 1)

The sun barely rose when Prince Marcus rode out with his personal guards. He looked like a hunter going after wild animals, except his prey was human.

Elena watched from her window as her brother left. She had made her decision last night - she wouldn't kill anyone innocent. No matter what her father said.

...---...

At the Village of Millbrook - 7:30 AM

Marcus arrived at his first destination. The village was small, maybe fifty people total. He walked through the main street with his sword drawn.

"Everyone, come out! This is a royal command!" his guard captain shouted.

Slowly, villagers emerged from their homes. Marcus studied them like he was choosing fruits at a market. His eyes stopped on a man who looked about forty years old.

"You. What's your name?" Marcus asked.

"T-Thomas, Your Highness," the man stuttered, trembling.

"Thomas, do you have a family?"

"Yes, Your Highness. A wife and three children."

Marcus nodded thoughtfully. Then, without warning, he swung his sword. Thomas fell to the ground, dead before he could scream. His wife's screams filled the air instead.

"One," Marcus said calmly, wiping his blade. "Ninety-nine to go."

He continued through the village, killing four more people before noon. A young woman who was pregnant. An old man who could barely walk. A teenage boy who tried to run. A woman who begged for mercy.

Marcus felt... nothing. He thought he might feel guilt or sadness, but there was only a strange emptiness. And beneath that emptiness, excitement. Each kill brought him closer to the throne.

...---...

At the Royal Palace - 12:00 PM

King Aldric summoned Elena to the throne room. She walked slowly, dreading what he would say.

"Elena, I've received reports that Marcus has already made five kills. Where are yours?" The king's voice was cold.

"Father, I... I can't do this. This tradition is barbaric. We're supposed to protect our people, not slaughter them!"

SLAP !

The sound echoed through the throne room. Elena's cheek burned where her father's hand connected.

"You dare question our sacred tradition? The tradition that has kept our kingdom strong for three hundred years?" King Aldric's face turned red with anger. "You will participate, or you will be executed for treason. You have until tomorrow morning to make your first kill, or I will kill you myself!"

Elena ran from the throne room, tears streaming down her face. She locked herself in her chambers and cried until she had no tears left.

...---...

At Elena's Chambers - 6:00 PM

Mary found Elena curled up on her bed, her face swollen from crying. The handmaid sat beside her gently.

"Princess, I... I might have a solution," Mary whispered. "It's not perfect, but it might save you."

Elena looked up. "What is it?"

"There are prisoners in the dungeon. Criminals who have been sentenced to death anyway. Murderers, traitors, rapists. If you... if you killed them, it would count toward your hundred. But at least they're not innocent."

Elena sat up slowly. She hated the idea of killing anyone, but Mary was right. These were people who had hurt others, who were already sentenced to die. Maybe this was the only way she could participate without destroying her soul.

"Take me to the dungeons," Elena said quietly.

...---...

At the Royal Dungeons - 8:00 PM

The dungeons smelled of rot and despair. Elena walked past cell after cell, looking at the prisoners. The dungeon master showed her the records of each one.

"This man, Harold, he murdered six people including two children," the dungeon master explained. "Scheduled for execution next week."

Elena looked at Harold. He stared back at her with cold, empty eyes. No remorse. No humanity.

"Open the cell," Elena ordered. Her hands shook as she gripped her dagger.

The guards opened the cell and brought Harold out in chains. Elena stood before him, her heart pounding so hard she thought it might burst.

"Any last words?" she asked.

Harold laughed. "You're too weak to do it, Princess. You're not like your brother. You're soft."

Something snapped inside Elena. She thought of the two children this monster had killed. She thought of their parents' pain. And she drove the dagger into his heart.

Harold fell to the ground, dead. Elena dropped the dagger and vomited in the corner of the dungeon.

"One," she whispered to herself. "One down. Ninety-nine to go."

But unlike Marcus, Elena felt everything. The weight of taking a life, even a guilty one, would haunt her forever.

...---...

At Prince Marcus's Chambers - 11:00 PM

Marcus returned to the palace covered in blood. He was smiling.

"Five in one day! Not bad for a start," he told his reflection in the mirror. "At this rate, I'll finish in less than a month."

He stripped off his bloody clothes and looked at his hands. There was blood under his fingernails. For a moment, just a brief moment, he remembered Thomas's face. The fear in his eyes right before he died.

Marcus shook his head, pushing the memory away. "Weakness," he muttered. "I can't afford weakness."

Tomorrow he would kill even more. And the day after that, and the day after that. Until he reached one hundred and claimed what was rightfully his.

The throne.

Nothing else mattered.

At Princess Elena's Chambers - 3:00 AM

Elena couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Harold's face. She saw the blood. She felt the resistance of flesh as her dagger pushed through.

She had killed a man. A bad man, yes, but still a man. And it made her feel like a monster.

"I can't do this ninety-nine more times," she whispered to the darkness. "I can't."

But what choice did she have? Refuse and die? Watch Marcus become king and torture their people? At least if she became queen, she could end this horrible tradition.

Elena got out of bed and walked to her balcony. The kingdom spread out before her, peaceful in the moonlight. Somewhere out there, people were hiding, praying they wouldn't be chosen. Children were crying, afraid of the royal family that was supposed to protect them.

"I'm so sorry," Elena said to the sleeping kingdom. "I'm so, so sorry."

...---...

At the Village of Thornbrook - 6:00 AM (Day - 2)

Marcus arrived at his second village of the week. This one was larger, maybe two hundred people. More targets to choose from.

He had learned something yesterday. Quick kills were easier. If he didn't think about it, didn't talk to them or learn their names, it felt like cutting down wheat. Just a task to complete.

"Line up! Everyone line up!" his guards shouted.

The villagers lined up in the main square, trembling. Marcus walked down the line slowly, studying each face.

An old woman caught his attention. She had kind eyes and reminded him of his grandmother, who died when he was seven. Grandmother used to tell him stories and bake him sweets.

Marcus hesitated. His hand tightened on his sword hilt.

"Please, Your Highness," the old woman said softly. "I have grandchildren. Let me live to see them grow."

For a moment, Marcus felt something. A tiny crack in the wall he'd built around his heart. He saw his grandmother's face superimposed over this woman's.

Then he remembered. Weakness. He couldn't afford weakness.

Marcus swung his sword. The old woman fell. Her grandchildren's screams filled the air.

"Six," Marcus said, his voice hollow.

He killed four more before leaving the village. Each one got easier. The crack in his heart sealed up, replaced by ice.

...---...

At the Royal Dungeons - 9:00 AM

Elena returned to the dungeons. She had decided if she must kill, she would only kill criminals. Murderers. People who had caused pain to others.

The dungeon master showed her another cell. "This is Robert. He raped and killed a young girl last year. Sentenced to hang."

Elena looked at Robert. Unlike Harold, this man looked remorseful. He was crying.

"I'm sorry," Robert sobbed. "I was drunk. I didn't mean to. I'm so sorry."

Elena's hand tightened on her dagger. "Sorry doesn't bring her back, does it?"

"No, Your Highness. Nothing can. I deserve to die. Please, just make it quick."

Elena stabbed him quickly through the heart. Robert died with tears still on his face.

"Two," Elena whispered.

She killed one more that day - a traitor who had tried to poison the king last year. But unlike Marcus, Elena could only manage three total kills in two days. Her heart wasn't built for this.

...---...

At the Royal Dining Hall - 7:00 PM

The royal family gathered for dinner. King Aldric sat at the head of the table, Queen Marissa on his right, Marcus on his left, and Elena at the far end.

"Marcus, I hear you've made ten kills already. Excellent progress!" the king said proudly.

Marcus smiled. "Thank you, Father. I should reach thirty by the end of the week."

The king turned to Elena. "And you, daughter? How many?"

"Three," Elena said quietly, pushing food around her plate.

"THREE?" the king roared. "In two days? At this rate, you'll never reach one hundred! You need to kill at least two per day, every day!"

"I'm killing criminals, Father. Prisoners who were sentenced to death anyway. It counts toward the hundred."

"It's weak!" the king slammed his fist on the table. "Marcus is killing real people, showing real strength! You're taking the coward's way!"

Elena's mother, Queen Marissa, spoke for the first time. "Aldric, perhaps Elena's way is wiser. She's not traumatizing innocent families-"

"SILENCE!" the king shouted. "I will not have my wife and daughter question our traditions! Elena, starting tomorrow, you will kill real villagers like your brother. This is not a request. It's a command!"

Elena looked at her mother, who gave her a sad, helpless look. Then she looked at Marcus, who was smiling slightly.

"Yes, Father," Elena whispered, knowing she had no choice.

...---...

At Elena's Chambers - 10:00 PM

Mary helped Elena prepare for bed, but the princess couldn't stop crying.

"I have to start killing innocent people tomorrow, Mary. My father commanded it. How can I do this? How can I become a monster like Marcus?"

Mary held Elena's hand. "You're not a monster, Princess. Your heart breaks with every kill. That's what makes you different from the prince."

"But I'm still killing them! Whether my heart breaks or not doesn't matter to the people who die!"

"Then make a promise to yourself," Mary said firmly. "Promise that if you survive this, if you become queen, you'll end this tradition forever. That way, every death serves a purpose. They die so that future generations won't have to."

Elena looked at Mary with red, swollen eyes. "You really think I can change things?"

"I think you're the only one who can."

Elena nodded slowly. "Alright. I promise. If I become queen, this tradition dies with me."

It was a promise she would keep, though the path to fulfilling it would be far darker than she could ever imagine.

...---...

At the Village of Millbrook - 11:00 PM

In the village Marcus had visited that morning, a young man named Thomas Jr. sat beside his father's grave. He was the son of the first man Marcus had killed.

"I'll remember you, Father," Thomas Jr. whispered. "And someday, somehow, I'll make the prince pay for what he did."

He wasn't the only one making such promises. All across the kingdom, seeds of hatred were being planted. Marcus was creating enemies with every kill.

But for now, the prince didn't care. He was too focused on his goal, too blinded by his ambition.

The hunting had only just begun.