‘Do you really think that taking such an ugly soul would make me happy?’
“You are the pinnacle of the twenty-four devils that exist in this world. How can a mere human stand before your might—the one who walks under the sun! Please, please…become that Emperor’s Nightmare!”
‘Wasn’t it written like that in the Scripture in the first place?’
The Emperor’s Nightmare.
‘Yes, the dream-bound me had once called myself that.’
If that was the case, then this too must be the path to him.
“Yes, I understand. In exchange for devouring your very existence, I will destroy the man who rose to the position of emperor whom you hate so much.”
The devil smiled with satisfaction.
‘Finally, in just a little while, I can meet my lovely husband.’
‘Yes, there were only 500 years left. Let’s enjoy a little entertainment.’
***
“Make a deal with me in exchange for Cecil’s body.”
A forbidden area of the Telmere Church, whose location was known only to saints.
A being sealed for 500 years in a statue that barely resembled a woman.
The devil called the Emperor’s Nightmare could barely hold back the cheers that threatened to burst out when he saw the gray-haired man.
‘The moment I have been waiting for so long had finally come.’
A woman who died, longing for love.
Cecil Lionelta.
The representative of the angel of punishment appeared in front of her, holding her body.
At the sight of Krail Raynell, she felt infinite joy filling her emptiness and tears flowing from her eyes where there were none.
‘Finally, I can finally meet him again.’
‘The man to whom I have given my eternal love.’
‘The man who has sworn eternal love to me.’
‘I can finally meet Julius Tapnel again.’
Awakening in the void, enduring nearly 2000 years,
Finally, she was able to regain her real name again.
***
“Ha, it’s really cold. Isn’t it too cold in fall?”
A beautiful woman neatly dressed in a white blouse and cheap brown skirt.
Cecil Lionelta gently touched her ears, which were turning red from the cold.
Beyond the trail, she looked at Mila’s mansion, which was slowly revealing itself, with an expression full of emotion.
‘Now it was really over.’
‘A hellish life without you.’
‘I will fall into your arms again as your Cecil and unite with you while listening to the sweet words of love you whisper to me. Let’s embrace each other through our pain and sprout eternal love again!’
Her skirt, adorned in brown, fluttered in the wind, and the pure white blouse she had always worn so dearly caressed the devil’s body with its soft texture.
A plain wooden door without any patterns.
‘If I knock on this door, I can finally wake up from this eternal nightmare.’
‘Yes, if I knock on this door, I will meet the prince I have been waiting for so long.’
‘I can meet my beloved husband, Julius Tapnel.’
Cecil took a slow, deep breath and strengthened her resolve.
Her small hand gently rose, and she knocked on the door, making a beautiful melody resonate.
Knoc! Knock!
And after a moment that felt like an eternity, beyond the door that had to be opened…
***
“Do you believe in destiny?”
***
In the beginning, there was a void.
A world where no one opened their mouth and there was only silence.
In such pitch-black nothingness, a devil who clumsily imitated the appearance of a woman opened her eyes.
The devil dreamed of Cecil.
Cecil dreamed of the devil.
In the middle of infinity, not knowing who came first or even when it began…
A devil who had forgotten even her own existence—no, the poor woman—cherished the small piece of chain held in her hand.
She held on and got up slowly.
‘I had a dream.
A dream of living as the wife of a foolish man.
I had a dream.
A dream of living as a devil who lost everything and woke up in emptiness.
A dream within a dream.
A dream within a dream.
A life lived in an abyss where there was no salvation and one simply fell into the depths.
So she was called the devil.
Because life was too painful to be called human.
I had lived my life being called the name of an evil being and being punished.
I didn’t do anything wrong!’
A woman who called herself a devil, who had even forgotten her own name and lived a life of emptiness, hummed softly.
“La la—La la—”
An unknown congratulatory song that would one day ring out in the distant future, on a blessed day when beings called humans fell in love and bore fruit in their beautiful lives.
The devil waited again for eons.
She wanted to hear that tiny, insignificant sound once more.
Knock! Knock!
A world where the sun had set and only the moonlight gently illuminated the dark night sky.
The devil gently knocked on the plain, unmarked door.
After an eternity-like moment passed, beyond the door that had to be opened—
“Who are you?”
A man with blond hair spoke in an uncharacteristically polite voice, but soon his expressionless face was filled with astonishment.
‘A long time ago, my lovely husband had grown his hair out to grant the wish I had whined about in passing.’
“It’s been a while. I really missed you, Julius.”
‘After an eternity of nightmares, she carefully stepped into a sweet and happy dream.
“I’m so cold. Can you please let me go home? Huh?”
‘The years without you had been so cold.’
‘The loneliness flowing through my heart was so cold.’
‘I wanted to be held in your arms.’
***
Cecil Lionelta. The wife of the strongest heretic inquisitor, Julius Tapnel, and the great devil Nirhil.
The unfortunate woman trapped in eternity returned to him after hundreds of millions of years.
No…
She had forgotten who she was and had regained her own body.
The devil was back.
***
Knock! Knock!
Two faint knocks woke the ancient devil, who had fallen into a light sleep.
Nirhil, who was in a deep sleep, still feeling drowsy as the dream had not completely faded.
She slowly forced herself to stand up, leisurely turned her head and looked around to see the identity of the noise that had dared to wake her up.
Tong! Tong!
A chubby doll stepped on the black void and jumped eagerly, as if wanting to announce its presence.
One of her treasures, named [Julius II], eagerly informed his master that a guest had arrived. (G: It’s the doll in the cover.)
“…I understand, I understand. I guess it’s time to wake up and greet my other half.”
After stroking the head of her cute and adorable little doll a few times, she slowly took off the clothes she was wearing and played with her shadow, beginning to create the inquisitor’s uniform.
A cocky, black-haired girl.
The girl named Thalia may never have liked her, but she did like the uniform the child was wearing.
Even though she was a dirty devil, worse than a scavenger, she stood proudly next to her husband, wearing a pitch-black uniform and holding her head high.
They seemed like a suitable pair.
A devil wearing underwear embroidered in pure white, symbolizing a woman’s purity, slowly touched the inquisitor’s uniform embroidered in the air with her hands.
Even though she had been lost in her eternal void, struggling and even forgetting her own existence, there was one thing she had never forgotten.
“I will always belong to Julius. Because I am his lovely wife.”
Julius–was her husband’s name, whom she loved, and she uttered every single word like a mantra—as his wife.
‘Definitely. I am Julius’ only wife.’
She was Cecil Lionelta.