Julius wore a gentle expression and whispered softly into Cecile’s ear.
However, upon hearing Julius’s whisper, the expression on the woman’s face twisted.
Mila’s mansion.
It was the place where their reunion took place—Julius called that place home and wanted to return there.
‘No.’
Why should that be the place they would want to return to?
Why did he not want to return to their love nest in the capital.
That place, where ivy crawled along the brown bricks.
There was a small swing where they used to secretly k!ss.
Their secret place, filled with memories of their youth.
A truly euphoric place where they became one for the first time, climbing the stairs of adulthood.
Kente wasn’t the place she wanted to return to.
She wanted to return to their newlywed home in Darkana.
Before long, Cecile’s sobs, once audible in Julius’s arms, had subsided. She gripped the lapel of his signature black coat tightly, pressed a small k!ss on the nape of her husband’s neck, and let out a soft breath.
“Julius. Can you fall into the abyss with me—for me?”
Her whisper was something quite hard to understand.
Yet the man who had pledged eternal love nodded without a moment’s hesitation, and when Cecile saw that, a satisfied smile appeared on her lips.
“Thank you. For being with me.”
‘Please forgive me.’
‘This is all for our love.’
Chrrrrrt!
At the feet of the heretic inquisitor holding his poor wife in his arms, a void of swirling black and white energy began to fracture the earth, tear through space, and slowly opened a massive crack.
The view beyond the widening gap, from where light leaked in, was Darkana—the capital of Lyriam.
A small two-story brick house stood hidden on the outskirts.
The path to that precious place, where the couple’s memories were buried, slowly began to open.
As Cecile peeked through the gap, her face lit up with joy.
Then came the devil’s voice—an urgent whisper ringing out in her head.
[Going to the capital breaks the deal with the saint. Will you really choose to be cursed for a little pleasure?]
The agreement between Saint Erman and Nirhil.
Julius had been forbidden from entering the capital while the wager was still active.
Nirhil tried to stop her, reminding her of the terms that must never be broken.
But she could only fall silent at each word spoken by her other self.
‘I know. There’s no way I could forget something like that.’
[Then why!]
‘Why? That’s obvious.’
‘To keep Julius by my side forever.’
‘I didn’t want to return to a place filled with memories of him I never knew.’
A place I had never been. A place where he once had fun with Mr. Krail and that naughty girl.’
‘Our eternal love can’t bloom again in a place like that.’
‘Only I knew the memories we made together.’
‘The place holding those precious treasures is the perfect place to begin our love anew.’
‘The deal had nothing to do with me. I am going back—to the memories of the old days.’
‘Yes, even if it meant falling into a long slumber.’
Crisp──.
A sound like cracking ice echoed from the uncontrollably expanding rift.
The woman, sinking into what might be a long sleep, opened her mouth one last time as she reached out to touch Julius’s face. He held his wife tightly as he looked at the scene before them.
“So, I believe in you, Julius. You will never abandon me.”
‘I am the princess cursed to sleep forever.’
‘You are the prince on the white horse who will awaken me.’
‘Please wake me up with your kiss.’
‘Because I will be waiting—forever.’
Soon, the land of emptiness, unable to withstand the cracks summoned by the waves, broke apart into space.
The road to the abyss between the priestess and the devil was finally opened.
[…You really are crazy in love. My other half.]
Julius and Cecil’s bodies were slowly sucked into the crack drawn on the ground— their own abyss.
Into their own memories.
Cecil’s eyes slowly began to close as a result of breaking the deal. She desperately lifted her head and caught his face—he was looking down at her with a gaze full of trust.
A man with attractive long blond hair and the air of a nobleman.
All strength drained from her body, and a feeling of helplessness began to spread through the devil’s heart.
The flow of consciousness started to fade, and only darkness remained before her eyes.
A woman with brown hair slowly fell completely asleep.
Cecil had one last, somewhat unexpected thought: ‘As expected, Julius looks good with long blond hair.’
It was a thought truly befitting of the woman so madly in love.
***
Fussuk!
For a moment, the feeling of floating in the air enveloped his entire body.
The man in the black uniform tensed as he fell into the abyss, then landed lightly on the ground.
Julius felt the warmth of the woman in his arms—like a princess entrusted to the care of a knight.
He slowly turned his head and looked around the place he had arrived at through her crack.
A gentle breeze mixed with the faint scent of ash.
A small swing, knocked over by the cold wind, made a soft squeaking sound as it bobbed once or twice.
His eyes fell upon a small two-story house, ivy climbing up its reddish-brown bricks.
Capital Darkana.
This was the newlywed home of Julius Tapnel and his lovely wife, Cecil Lionelta.
It was a symbol of pain and despair.
A man who had always struggled with longing for his dead wife, until he was sent to Kente Village.
As Julius returned there, cold sweat ran down his cheek, and he involuntarily called her name.
“…Cecil.”
Why did she come here?
Obviously… she had said she couldn’t go to the capital.
[I can’t go to the capital. Because of my deal with my dear father, Saint Erman.]
The sound of her voice, muttering as she twisted her hair in embarrassment back in Kente Village, lingered in his mind.
The devil could not tell lies.
So the devil always faithfully fulfilled the terms of a deal.
Because breaking a deal meant telling a lie.
“…Cecil, stop playing around and get up.”
Julius repeatedly called the name of the delicate woman in his arms.
But no answer came.
Only the faint sound of her breathing reached his ears.
‘I don’t want to see it…’
‘I don’t want to see your face asleep again.’
He moved his neck, which he had been trying not to move, and desperately lowered his head to look at Cecil’s face.
A truly happy smile met his gaze.
Cecil had fallen into a deep sleep with a triumphant expression, like an empress who had claimed everything in her grasp.
“Nooohhh!”
The golden beast, looking down at his foolish yet beautiful wife, maddened by love, howled to wake her from her slumber.
But unfortunately…
His roar did not reach the princess lost in eternal sleep.
Beneath the empty night sky, with the sun long gone, only starlight shone faintly above the inquisitor’s head.