In the Arcedium Empire, there was no Empress.
A long time ago, when the current Emperor Julius was still the crown prince.
The woman who should have originally become the Empress had died in a political conflict.
She was the Crown Princess who had married Julius before he became the crown prince and had even gave him children. In the end, she left only three children behind and departed from this world.
At that time, Julius, who was then crown prince, finally killed his own brother who had been both his wife’s enemy and his political rival, and ascended to the throne. However, he could not forget the Crown Princess and took only a consort who could consolidate the foundation of his new power; he left the position of Empress vacant and ordered that no one should dare to covet it.
Afterward, since he did not want his children to suffer the same bloody power struggles his generation had endured, he formally appointed Allen Arcedium, the eldest of the three children born to the Crown Princess, as Crown Prince. He then emphasized family unity over competition and encouraged cooperation.
Fortunately, Allen who had been appointed crown prince was a strong child born with the qualities of a capable and benevolent ruler.
He vividly remembered how his mother had died amid familial strife, so he was extremely wary of any disputes arising within the family. He also carried a sense of responsibility to protect his younger siblings. Because of this, he firmly secured his position as crown prince while honing his own abilities.
In addition, the second child, the First Imperial Princess Lianna, had watched her mother die and her father crumble both due to the struggle for the throne. As a result, she felt a deep aversion to politics and power struggles. As a result, she entered into an arranged marriage at an early age and distanced herself from authority.
…And the youngest of the children born to the Crown Princess, the Second Imperial Princess Elicia, chose to train in martial arts and strengthen her own power.
When the Crown Princess died, Elicia was just four years old, yet she was the one who had witnessed her mother’s final moments with her own eyes.
Elicia still remembered it vividly.
She remembered the happy times when her mother would sit by her bedside, telling stories in a gentle voice.
– Kyaaaaaaah!
And she also recalled how the “death” that followed soon after swept over both her and her mother.
As a four-year-old child, she could do nothing but tremble helplessly while watching her mother die, and that memory became a powerful trauma for Elicia.
Her siblings Allen and Lianna somehow overcame it and tried to embrace her with love, yet Elicia still could not move on from that day.
Whenever she felt her mother’s absence, she cursed her own weakness and helplessness and had nightmares at night.
From the start, it was far too heavy a burden for a four-year-old child to bear. She had witnessed her beloved mother’s death right before her eyes at only four. Naturally, it was something one could not ordinarily overcome.
That was why she began to train herself. To become strong enough to conquer the memory of that day on her own.
She believed that if she became strong enough never to feel such helplessness again, she could also pull out the thorn lodged deep in her soul.
Of course, for an Imperial member, and a princess at that, to devote herself to martial arts would normally be shocking to the public. However, Emperor Julius, Crown Prince Allen, and First Princess Lianna all understood her.
That’s why they did not stop her from practicing martial arts and even allowed her to venture into the Labyrinth. After all, it had already been proven that the Labyrinth was not as dangerous as people feared.
As long as one did not encounter a Trial, there were no great dangers if one stayed alert. In truly dangerous situations, it was possible to make an emergency escape through divine blessings.
It was rough, but not exceedingly dangerous. Above all, Elicia possessed tremendous talent in martial arts. By the time she enrolled at the Academy, it was already hard to find a match for her even among the knight commanders.
Everyone believed she would navigate the Labyrinth without much trouble. Perhaps she might even reach the 100th level which was said to be the deepest part of the Labyrinth. The place no one had ever reached.
Of course, they had not sent her off with such hopes in mind, but they all believed that if it was Elicia, she would be fine… That was what everyone thought.
Even Elicia herself believed so.
However…
“Ugh…!”
She emerged from the Labyrinth carrying a more serious problem than anything else.
A demon.
Or what was also called an evil god. It had attached itself to her body and escaped the Labyrinth along with her.
Within the Pantheon, which worshipped the celestial gods, there were calls to burn her at the stake immediately, even if she was a member of the imperial family; meanwhile, the Empire was doing everything it could to protect her.
And caught in the middle.
“Hrrgh…!”
Elicia had to endure greater pain than anyone else…
***
“And so, the curse that befell the princess was broken by the prince, and the two of them lived happily ever after.”
There was the warmth of a cozy blanket with a gentle hand running through her hair, and a soft, sweet voice flowing into her ears.
“Did you enjoy it, Ellie?”
“Mhmm! It was fun!”
It was a peaceful, blissful moment beyond compare.
A young girl spoke.
“Mother, I’m a princess too, right?”
“Of course. Our Ellie is the prettiest princess of all.”
“Then if I ever get cursed, will a prince come to break it for me?”
“Fufu, certainly. A prince more wonderful than anyone else will come to save you, Ellie.”
“Wow…”
A young girl, eyes shining with innocence, dreamed of a world straight out of a fairy tale.
Most people would have found it cute.
It was only that the one observing all this did not belong to that majority.
“……..”
Behind the mother and daughter, who were affectionately chatting in soft tones, stood a figure resembling what the bright-eyed little girl might grow into one day.
Her white hair shimmered in the subtle light. She had pretty pink eyes like her mother’s, delicate, ideal features, and a mature figure shaped through disciplined care and training.
A girl who was becoming a woman, at an age when beauty bloomed like a flower, was watching it all with hollow eyes.
“…Ha.”
She twisted her lips into a faint sneer. Despite her appearance, she bore no resemblance to the innocent young girl whose eyes still sparkled with purity.
A bitter, cynical smile was etched into her seemingly flawless features. Like a lily stained with filth, she revealed the paradox of an ugly kind of beauty.
Tears fell from the corner of her weary, empty eyes, but no one noticed her tears. That made her feel all the more miserable.
“A prince… A prince, you say.”
It was nothing but a laughable fantasy, a mere child’s delusion of a fairy tale.
To someone like her, utterly worn out, it was little more than meaningless rubbish that couldn’t even serve as a glimmer of hope.
“Then…!”
The child who was oblivious to her feelings simply continued to speak her own thoughts. That was when it happened.
Bang!
“!”
The door to the room where the mother and daughter were staying slammed open violently, and something barged in.
“@&$!&#@!#@$#!”
It was like black smoke.
A formless entity, as though it was trying to take on the shape of a human, scattered and reformed repeatedly.
It resembled a shadow, made incomprehensible sounds, and charged directly at the mother and daughter.
“No!”
The mother threw herself toward the shadow to protect her child. And then…
“Kyaaaaahhhhhh!!!”
The shadow engulfed the mother.
Drip, drip, drip…
Blood began to pour from beneath the shadow’s feet. It flowed like a waterfall.
The blood quickly filled the room and soon swallowed the trembling little girl who lay on the bed, quaking in fear.
Before she knew it, the woman who had been watching everything became the little girl, trembling and crying in terror.
“No… ngh… No…”
Though it was a nightmare that had repeated itself countless times, the woman who now merged with the memory of her younger self was consumed by the helplessness and despair of that moment all over again and started sinking further into despair.
“Ugh… Uwaaagh… No… Just stop…”
The blood filled her lungs, her stomach, her throat. At some point, her entire body had become submerged in it.
“Is it painful?”
And then, in front of the woman, who had turned into the little girl, someone appeared and asked.
It was a woman.
With snow-white hair, a pink left eye, and a flower blooming in the place where her right eye should have been,
A woman appeared. She looked identical to the little girl in every way except for the flower.
“It’s alright. It’s only natural to feel pain.”
The woman spoke to the girl as if offering her comfort.
“If you’re a useless child who could do nothing but tremble while your mother died, of course you should feel pain.”
“So go ahead and suffer all you want.”
“This is the punishment you deserve. So…”
“Please, disappear in agony.”
“Sniff… sob…”
Gradually, she found herself agreeing with the words.
She came to realize that she was a being who deserved to suffer, and so, she should disappear in pain.
“It’s alright. You can disappear.”
“It’s fine to be useless.”
“You were just a child. Weak and insignificant.”
“And even now, you’re the same… So it’s alright to disappear.”
“Hic… sob…”
But in the end, fear crept in.
She didn’t want to disappear. She didn’t want to vanish while being useless.
…She didn’t want to die.
That utterly selfish survival instinct—
Jolt!
Once again, it dragged her back into the agony of life.
***
Jolt!
“Haah…! Haah…!”
And so, Elicia von Arcedium, the second princess of the Arcedium Empire, opened her eyes.
“Hic… cough, cough…”
She wiped the tears from her eye and let out a dry cough from her parched throat.
“Haa, haa…”
After taking several deep, ragged breaths, she looked straight ahead.
Ahaha, so you’ve chosen pain again?
How foolish. Why don’t you just disappear?
Isn’t it painful? Why do you endure?
Do you still believe in the hope of fairy tales?
“Shut up!”
The words in front of her eyes, paired with the voice, disrupted her mind.
Dismissing the hallucinations and illusions with a wave of her hand, she glanced around her surroundings.
Gurgle, gurgle…
Squelch… squelch…
“Ellie…”
“It hurts… Ellie…”
“I love you… So please…”
“Please disappear.”
Blood and shadows churned, rippling and writhing as they coalesced into a grotesque form. It was all the more unsettling because the shape eerily resembled her mother.
She made a conscious effort to ignore the hallucinations as she glanced around her surroundings. Soon enough, her eyes landed on the rosary resting atop the desk, and she reached out to grab it.
“Haah… haah…!”
Fwoosh!
A radiant divine light swirled around her body. When the light enveloped her, all the hallucinations and auditory delusions vanished.
It should have been a moment where she felt mentally at ease, but instead—
“Urk…!”
She grimaced and her face contorted in pain. She put a hand over her mouth and stumbled to the sink.
“Blegh…!”
She retched, and bile spilled from her mouth. Having gone without food, her stomach was empty, leaving nothing but acidic bile to expel.
Yet, that wasn’t all…
Drip… drip…
Blood mingled with the bile as it trickled out. It was undeniable evidence of how deteriorated her condition had become.
“…Cough… Is my body rejecting divine power entirely now?”
Inside her body was the seed of a demon, embedded like a parasite deep within her. Bit by bit, it was transforming her body into something demonic.
The more the seed consumed her body, the stronger the demonic power became, while her resistance to divine power and other abilities grew more severe.
In reality, her condition was already dire. Her body was so far gone that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it had already become that of a demon.
And yet, she continued to hold on, solely because her mind and her spirit had not yet been completely overtaken.
“Haah… haah…”
She retched again and again, heaving from her empty stomach. She eventually grew exhausted and sank to the ground with a drained expression on her face.
“…Disgusting.”
The sensation of forcing divine power into her body….it felt as if she’d swallowed a rag soaked in vomit and bile.
How long could she keep enduring this? Did she even have to endure it?
“Ah…!”
The thought slipped into her mind before she could stop it, and she quickly shook her head.
No. She mustn’t think like that. She mustn’t give up so easily.
Her father, the Emperor, and her brother Allen hadn’t given up hope. Even her elder sister Lianna, who had married and moved far away, was still deeply concerned about her.
If she gave up now, she would betray their expectations.
Even if she hadn’t been able to fill the void left by their mother, to Elicia, they were her precious family. Without the care and support of her siblings, Elicia might have crumbled long ago and been reduced to nothing more than a broken shell.
“…I can’t stay like this.”
Shutting herself away in her room only caused her mind to spiral into darker thoughts.
She decided she needed to catch her breath, if only for a while. A brief walk might do her some good.
Besides, it was late at night, so there would be no students or faculty members wandering outside.
With that thought in mind, she quickly threw on light outer clothes and stepped out into the night.
When she stepped outside the student dormitory in lightweight shoes, the fresh night air welcomed her.
“Whew…”
She felt somewhat better than before. She stood in front of the dormitory for a moment and started repeatedly inhaling and exhaling.
Should I take a light walk just to the garden… Huh?
That was when it happened.
She suddenly felt as if she had caught a whiff of a very nostalgic scent.
She took another deep breath.
Sss…
“Haa…”
A sweet aroma… like some kind of pastry.
Unlike when she absorbed divine power, it smelled incredibly appetizing.
This was… yes, it was like—
Those sweet pastries I used to eat with my mother when I was little…
She was drawn to that scent without thinking. It was a fragrance both dear and long-missed.
It was sweet and delightful, making her feel as if it were her mother’s very own scent.
“Haa, haa…!”
Her face flushed. Before she knew it, she had started running toward the source of the aroma, and the coat draped over her shoulders flew off in the wind.
She ran. Toward that sweet scent.
Something that would erase this disgusting “divine power”. Something impossibly sweet…!
Rustle, rustle!
She pushed aside the garden foliage. All reason had vanished from her expression. And as she pushed her way through the greenery…
“Haa, haa…!”
“…Hmm.”
Beyond it, there was a man.
He had hair like midnight itself, as though the starless black sky had melted and formed it, narrow eyes that concealed his gaze, and a face so flawlessly beautiful it felt almost like art…
She stared at him blankly for a moment, then turned her eyes to the object he was holding.
“Ah…?”
She realized that the sweet scent came from the man. More precisely, from something the man was holding.
And when she saw what it was, her eyes trembled.
A horn.
It was a horn of some creature, though she didn’t know which.
But that wasn’t the important part.
Sssss…
She sensed a ghastly demonic power emanating from it. When she felt it, she went pale and collapsed onto the ground.
The sweet fragrance she had smelled was actually demonic power.
Could it be that she had succumbed to a demon’s energy…
“Ah…”
So that was it. She had already fallen this far.
She had crossed a point of no return, to the extent of finding that repulsive energy as sweet as a pastry.
Now… she didn’t know anymore.
There was no hope.
She recalled how she had lost her senses, compelled by the demonic power, and run straight toward it.
How disgraceful.
She was… no different from a demon now.
The Pantheon which served the gods would try to have the imperial princess who had turned into a demon executed at all costs, and in that process, her father and siblings who would strive to protect her would be hurt.
When she thought of that scenario, a tear dripped from her remaining eye.
She was… truly a worthless being. More than that, she was a harmful presence in this world.
Maybe… it would be easier to give up now and die.
That was what she thought at that moment.
“Hmm… Are you all right?”
The man who had briefly stared at the horn and then tossed it into his subspace approached her.
Elicia cried out before she knew it.
“Don’t come any closer!”
“……”
“I, I… now…”
She was dangerous. A demon. That was what she wanted to say, but the words caught in her throat and wouldn’t come out.
She only clutched at the flower that had bloomed in her right eye and tried to hide it. It was a glaring piece of evidence of her new nature.
“…Judging from the look of things, it seems you’re just an unfortunate victim.”
Paying no heed to her warning, the man drew nearer. Elicia who was still on the ground scooted back.
“D-Don’t…”
“It’s definitely parasitic in form, and judging by the state of it, the corruption has advanced quite a bit. Were you drawn here by the demon’s demonic power?”
“……!”
At those words, she continued to cover her right eye but looked at him. The man smiled gently.
“Ah, my apologies. I just realized I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Yujin, a newly appointed professor of the academy. Are you by any chance a student here?”
“I, I…”
When the flustered Elicia stammered, the man called Yujin smiled again and spoke.
“Well, you look about student age… and you came from the student dormitory area, so I’m guessing you are. Don’t worry too much.”
With those words, Yujin knelt on one knee and brought himself to her eye contact level. Though, since his eyes were still narrowed, calling it “eye contact” might have been a stretch.
“I’m not officially a professor just yet… but I’m still an educator. As an educator and an adult, it’s my duty to put the student first.”
As he said this, a magic circle of dark red magical power formed over his hand.
“Ah…”
Her jaw dropped in a daze at the sight, which looked like a crimson Milky Way.
A magic circle whose shape could not be understood in three-dimensional sight soon transformed into a simple three-dimensional object, then into planes, lines, and points…
Swoosh…
Yujin reached past the hand with which Elicia was covering her face, toward the flower blooming in her right eye.
Tap.
His fingertip touched the petal, and then…
Fwoooosh…!
“Ah…!”
Along with a red glow, a strange feeling of peace began to settle over her.
She felt as though her strength was draining away and succumbing to a drowsy sensation. It was as if a significant pillar of the power that made up her being had crumbled.
Something inside her body was gradually falling asleep…
“Ah…”
“You look like you haven’t slept well, so just rest for now.”
Through her dimming vision, she saw the beautiful man with his red eyes now open smiling at her.
That was the last thing she remembered.
Leave a Reply