Episode 12
“Doma…!”
The smoke surged into his mouth again, swallowing up Theodore’s cry. He thought he would lose consciousness from the haze—but instead, an excruciating pain erupted from deep in his chest.
His mouth was gagged, so all he could do was crawl on the floor and endure the pain. Cold sweat dripped from his skin as heat consumed him.
Then someone embraced his body.
The warmth he felt belonged to his fiancée, the female knight—Reyana.
‘Why did it have to be her?’
Theodore felt like crying, thinking Reyana’s death had already been decided.
He feared that if he opened his eyes again, Reyana would be dead. The woman who used to smile so brightly at him would now die with eyes full of resentment. That realization numbed him to the pain.
‘Run.’
He tried to convey the message with his eyes—whether it reached her or not, the arms holding him only tightened.
‘I’m really sorry.’
When Theodore opened his eyes again, they were no longer blue. Sinister golden eyes now gripped everything in sight.
“Aaagh!”
Reyana screamed and collapsed to the floor. Black smoke burst from beneath Theodore’s hand, tightening around her ankle as if to crush it, then slithered upward to engulf her body.
Feeling the murderous aura in the smoke, Reyana tried to draw her sword in resistance—but smoke could not be cut.
The smoke coiled around her throat and slowly lifted her into the air. She struggled, but soon her body went limp.
Her body dropped to the floor like a rag doll, and Theodore fell into despair.
“She’s dead.”
The demon laughed mockingly.
He had made up his mind to kill the woman brutally, to show Theodore the futility of resisting just to save her.
Those gleaming golden eyes held no hesitation—only cruelty, enough to kill a person without remorse.
‘Don’t do it, please! She hasn’t done anything wrong! I’ll beg you, just this once… please…’
At Theodore’s desperate plea, the demon let out a dry laugh.
The image of Reyana lying pale and lifeless filled Theodore’s mind completely.
And like a machine breaking down, his consciousness shut off.
The demon, realizing Theodore’s mind had finally collapsed, curled one corner of his mouth into a smirk.
At that moment, Reyana’s fingers twitched.
“So stubborn. How annoying. I’ll make sure to kill you this time.”
The demon, now in full control of Theodore’s body, approached Reyana with light steps.
“You’re a knight, right? Then let’s start by cutting off your hands.”
The demon only wanted one thing—for Theodore’s consciousness to never return. Total control over the body.
He picked up the sword that had fallen to the floor. With a twisted grin on Theodore’s face, the demon raised the weapon high.
But just as he was about to strike—Reyana’s eyes snapped open.
When their gazes met—her clear green eyes locking with his—the sword slipped from the demon’s hand and clattered to the floor.
“You…”
The demon’s voice trembled.
The Archduke came to visit upon hearing that Reyana had regained consciousness. She was in the middle of treatment from a physician.
“The wound is very deep. I’ll prescribe medication, so be sure to take it. And don’t overexert yourself. No training, under any circumstances,” the doctor warned.
“If the bone heals improperly, you might lose the use of your leg.”
Reyana’s face turned pale at the warning.
To a knight, it sounded like the end of her entire life.
Recognizing that she was still a young knight, the doctor looked at her with concern.
“The ankle is especially difficult—it’ll heal slowly, so you must stay lying down as much as possible.”
“Yes, I understand.”
After the doctor left, the Archduke, who had been watching from a distance, approached her.
Reyana tried to rise and greet him, but he gently pressed her shoulder.
“No need to greet me. You’re a patient—just rest.”
“…Then I’ll sit.”
It was impossible to lie down in front of the Archduke without feeling tense.
She stubbornly sat upright on the bed, and the Archduke narrowed his eyes.
None of the three attended the Imperial Princess’s birthday party. Given what had happened to the young Archduke, there was no helping it.
Reyana’s face darkened as she looked at the Archduke.
“What on earth did I see?”
Even someone as slow-witted as Reyana must have realized it by now.
That it was a test. That she was being tested.
The Archduke looked at her with a calculating gaze.
“The room was filled with black smoke. And in the middle of it was the young Archduke. He collapsed from a seizure… but then rose again like someone else. Ah, and… his eyes—they gleamed golden.”
Reyana looked as if she couldn’t believe what she had witnessed.
The boy who once seemed so innocent and fragile had suddenly glared at her with murderous intent. It was enough to shock anyone.
That had been the demon in Theodore’s body.
First-time witnesses like Reyana were always stunned.
Staring into those golden eyes, which had replaced his usual blue, induced a primal fear.
The kind you’d feel when confronted by a hideous beast.
The Archduke understood how she felt.
“What you saw was a demon. The demon wears Theodore’s face. He can’t remain long now because Theodore is still too young to contain his power. But as Theodore grows, the curse will strengthen. The greater the boy becomes, the worse the curse will plague the empire.”
The Archduke’s low voice filled the room.
Reyana, fidgeting with the bandage on her forehead, mumbled softly.
“A demon…? Then, does that mean the Imperial myths… what the people gossip about… it’s all true?”
The Archduke nodded grimly.
“Some parts are embellished, but most of it is true.”
“The god who loved a human… gave them power… So the myth about emperors inheriting a divine gift—that’s real?”
Reyana looked at him like he was telling a crazy story.
“It’s hard to believe, I know. But the endless tragedies surrounding the imperial family all stem from it. You’ve at least heard of the imperial curse, haven’t you?”
Even someone from Bellinque like Reyana must’ve heard rumors.
After all, when disaster strikes the empire, it’s always the poor who suffer most.
Reyana nodded, but her suspicious gaze remained.
Her openly doubtful eyes made the Archduke sigh.
“Reyana. You once asked why I sent you the marriage proposal.”
The Archduke’s voice dropped.
“It wasn’t my idea—it was the demon’s. He delivered the message through a high priest. That if you and Theodore were engaged, it would delay the manifestation of the curse.”
More specifically, to the eldest daughter of House Chester.
It was as if the demon had chosen Reyana. Despite the fact that House Chester had only one daughter, the demon had said “eldest,” as though picking from a list.
Reyana blinked in confusion.
“A priest? But you just said it was a demon.”
“More accurately, a fallen god. A corrupted deity—that’s what makes it a demon.”
“And you’re saying that… that demon chose me?”
“I don’t know why. Demons are always unpredictable.”
Reyana’s face clouded with confusion. She covered her gaping mouth with her hand, overwhelmed. The Archduke added softly:
“Still, it seems the demon likes you. He’s never spared anyone before.”
“M-me?”
Reyana’s confusion deepened. No one would be happy to be chosen by a demon.
After a pause, the Archduke spoke honestly.
“Reyana Chester. I intend to destroy the demon.”
“…!”
“Each year, the demon’s power grows. It breaks out of its vessel more frequently. If it ever shatters that vessel completely, the empire will have no future.”
“Shatters the vessel…?”
Reyana’s voice trembled.
“Theodore. That child is the vessel.”
