Proofreader: somnium

“Haah, haahk, haah, haah…… !”

There was a constant sound of heavy breathing in his ears. He thought his breathing sounds right, it felt like he was listening to someone else’s.

Even if he smashed their heads, ripped their limbs, and pulled out their hearts, the hordes of monsters overflowed endlessly. Magic no longer rose at will from his body, which was already debilitated, but his body that was mutated due to the magic raised was still the same as that of a monster. Even though he knew that this was a better shape to deal with this horde of monsters, he felt Lena’s gaze looking at him from somewhere, so he was nervous and anxious.

‘Lena! Lena!’

Even while killing the monster, only Lena came to his mind. She seems to have been caught somewhere around here, and she needs to be rescued, but the monsters rushed in without giving him a chance to think about anything else.

[Ahahahaha! That’s great, Kahel!]

Liddell’s voice echoed through the air. It was more terrifying than the sounds of the monsters.

[Stupid Kahel Luave! What the hell are you killing?]

He could feel the blood flowing from the thigh that was bitten by the monster. Still, he didn’t stop slaughtering, and he cut the neck of the monster that was rushing to bite him and cut its breath at once.

[No matter how much you catch them and kill them, it doesn’t change that you are a monster.]

Liddell’s voice whispered uncomfortably.

[Look at you! How are you different from the monsters you kill?]

At that moment, the monsters disappeared, and instead, huge mirrors rose from all sides like walls. He was trapped in a room of mirrors that reflected to infinity. Inside the square prison, it was as if all sounds had suddenly disappeared, and only the sound of his rough breathing could be heard.

[Look at you…… look at yourself…….]

Even if there wasn’t the giggling and whispering voice, Kahel was keenly looking at himself that was repeated infinitely in the mirror. Spikes protruding from the spine, shoulders, elbows and heels, featherless black wings, long fangs protruding out of the mouth, the scales that covered his whole body black, and blood-red eyes…….

He looked like he could be called the devil in every way.

“From the beginning, we are closer to monsters than humans.…… Perhaps, Kahel is closer to the monster, especially among us.”

His father’s voice poured over his head like a sentence.

‘No!’

He denied it. He had been suspicious of it since he was seven, but when this happened, he didn’t want to admit it.

[Are you trying to whisper love to your lover like that?]

Liddell was cruelly sarcastic. And from the distance in the mirror that only reflected him, a whitish figure slowly approached him.

‘Lena…… !’

It was Lena. It was the Lena he had been looking for. She seemed to be looking for him, too.

“Kahel! Kahel! Where are you?”

It was a voice that wasn’t as clear as if it was coming from behind the mirror wall, but Kahel felt like he was about to burst into tears at the voice he had longed for.

“Lena!”

As if hearing him call her, Lena from the mirror looked at him. And at that moment, Kahel also checked his reflection in the mirror again.

‘Monster!’

Lena couldn’t have recognized him. It was fortunate that she didn’t run away crying. His desire to run away from her struck over his desire to run to Lena. He backed away slowly.

Lena, who looked at him, the monster, then asked,

“Kahel…… ?”

It was a clear voice. Kahel could not immediately decide whether to answer her call or not. But Lena smiled softly and she took a step to be closer to him.

“Kahel!”

And at the same time, taking a step back, Kahel fell down an endless cliff.

“Gasp!”

“Kahel!”

Kahel’s body shook momentarily, as he breathed harshly, like a man who had been rescued from drowning. The floating feeling of still falling into the abyss wrapped around him, and he had no choice but to struggle with the extremities.

“It’s okay, Kahel. You’re fine now.”

His eyes were blurry and he couldn’t see a thing, but he felt that the people around him were suddenly startled. But only one person gently comforted him by gently pressing on his body.

A sense of relief slowly crept in from the place where that warm hand touched. His back was touching the soft bedding and there was no burning pain. There was no feeling of cold sweat, and the surrounding temperature and humidity were warm. Above all, he couldn’t feel the stench or the magic emitted by the monsters.

Kahel sighed in relief as he let out a harsh breath. Then, he blinked his cloudy eyes and looked at the person next to him.

“Lena…… ?”

It was hard to believe, but the clearer and clearer shape became more and more similar to Lena. Nostalgic dark brown hair, white face, careful touch, soft and soothing scent…….

“Is it a dream…… ?”

Kahel held the hand that was wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with a towel. It was the hand that remained in his memory.

“Are you awake? Oh, to answer the question first, it is not a dream.”

Those words seemed to lift his spirits. Kahel got up quickly. His head was pounding, but he had to check the health of Lena in front of him.

“Lena? Lena! Are you okay? Where were you injured … ?!”

“I’m fine, Kahel. I’m okay…….”

Once again, Kahel was relieved that she was okay. And then the surroundings came into view. It was a bedroom he had never seen before, but it was more luxurious and formal than his bedroom. A little further from the bed, two maids with basins and dry towels were standing with their heads bowed, and Damien with an anxious face was standing behind Lena.

“Father…… ?”

“Yes, Kahel. Are you awake now?”

“How…… did it go? Certainly…… A horde of monsters was coming again…….”

As the line between dream and reality became clearer, his last memory suddenly came to mind. He clearly remembered preparing to die and blocked the hordes of monsters, and Liddell, who appeared when he thought it was over, and the hordes of monsters that came again. At that number, even if Damien and him did our best, there was no way they could have overcome it.

“Do you remember the last horde of monsters that approached you?”

“Yes…… It seems so. Liddell…… Liddell suddenly appeared from behind…… I have no memory of what happened after that.”

Kahel inadvertently swiped the back of his hand at his forehead, which had not yet dried up in cold sweat, and his eyes fell on the back of his smooth hand. His ugly body, which seemed like it would never change back again, suddenly returned to its original form. He groped his face in response.

“Body mutation…… it was so bad…… I thought it would never turn back to this form again…….”

It was an instinctive realization. Unlike the past, where his body only mutated when magic was raised to a certain level, this mutation was faster and more firm. Kahel thought that maybe this was his true self.

“Your body has been restored by Her Majesty’s power. Besides, she has removed all the curses that tormented you.”

“Her…… Majesty…… ?”

Fabian, who was in critical condition, came to mind. Her power, which was not enough to delay her extinction, could not have caused such a miracle. Suddenly, a woman from the priesthood who was being prepared as the successor came to mind. Was her name Nadia?

“Do you mean…… Her Majesty Nadia Ardenia?”

Damien laughed softly at that question. It was a face mixed with sadness and relief.

“That woman was not of Ardenian blood. All the Santella did was find and disguise a woman resembling Heila. She was then caught and was kicked out of the Palace.”

“If so…… Are you saying that you have found the real successor?”

Damien nodded his head quietly. Kahel was a little surprised, but nothing felt so great now. He was most relieved to just have Lena by his side, so the Queen didn’t matter anyway.

“I see…… That’s a relief.”

Kahel let out a weary sigh and looked back at Lena. In his completely clear vision, the purple eyes he had always loved were clearly visible. Before he fainted, the thought that he had seen Lena flashed before him, but he couldn’t remember. Anyway, it didn’t matter now that Lena was in front of him. He was worried she might be hurt, but her peachy cheeks were even more lovely than usual.

“Lena, I’m glad you’re safe…….”

He reached out and tried to caress Lena’s cheek lightly, and Lena closed her eyes and waited for his hand. But his hand, which was about to touch Lena’s cheek, was stopped by Damien.

“Even if you are the Duke, you must not touch the body of the Queen.”

There was silence in the bedroom for a moment. Kahel listened carefully to what his father had said, but he couldn’t figure out what it meant. His words were obvious. Of course, no one was allowed to put their hand on the Queen’s body. But the only person he wanted to touch was his lover, Lena. But why…….

“Can’t, can’t you just close your eyes this time?”

It was Lena who answered. With a somewhat sullen expression on her face, she couldn’t bear to glare at Damien and murmured regretfully.

“But Your Majesty…… Neither Your Majesty nor Kahel are in a normal condition yet, and I am afraid that my poor son may blemish Your Majesty’s body.”

“Umm…… That sounds like an excuse no matter what.”

“Then, no matter how dear my son is, please regard it as a father’s heart, who does not want to see his son’s affection in front of his eyes.”

“That, that one is a little more convincing. Hmm, hmm.”

Lena’s cheeks flushed red. In the meantime, Kahel had a hard time understanding what the hell was going on.

“Lena…… Why…… Your Majesty?”

No, maybe it’s just that it’s hard to accept even though he knows it. Lena had been calling him ‘Kahel’, not ‘Your Excellency,’ since a while ago. Besides, he had been strongly suspecting that Lena was of the Queen’s blood.

“Lena…… Queen…….”

“When you come to your senses, be polite to Her Majesty. She is no longer someone you can call so recklessly of.”

Kahel felt coldly confronted with a fact he didn’t want to admit at that moment. It felt like his body that was getting colder was starting to have a fever rising. He couldn’t even move even after his father told him to be polite, and he just stared blankly at Lena.

“Excuse me…… Can you all leave us a moment?”

Lena looked at Damien and the maids in turn and asked. She had enough time over the past week to organize her memories and thoughts, but Kahel, who had just escaped a grievous injury and the curse, would be confused. The maids quietly left the room at Lena’s words, but Damien hesitated to even let Kahel’s hand go.

“Count Allendorf.”

After Lena called quietly one more time, Damien slowly released Kahel’s hand and backed away.

Even after everyone had left, Lena and Kahel couldn’t open their mouths and just looked at each other. Even though it looked the same as the memory, a completely different reality was unfolding. The first thing that came to mind for Kahel was that, ironically, ‘No Duke’s family was married to the Queen.’

He had once thought about it before, but at the time, he wondered if Damien would adopt one of his aunt’s sons as an heir. Perhaps even then, he did not take seriously the assumption that Lena might be the Queen’s heir. Now, he has no idea if that method will work at all.