It was a night when the rain fell calmly through the deep darkness.
In the empress’s residence was the most beautiful garden of the imperial palace. A feast of brilliantly colored flowers not only created a beautiful landscape but also spread the sweet fragrance of flowers far and wide, enough to make butterflies lose their way.
What completed this picturesque scene as if it were a masterpiece painting was a pair of beautiful men and women standing in the middle of the garden.
“Do you know how long I have been waiting for this moment?”
The man, with his enchantingly beautiful platinum blonde hair, said with an excited smile like that of an adolescent boy.
His expression and tone were as sweet as honey, but his gaze was as cold as a blade, making it difficult to discern his emotions.
“…What are you going to do with me…?”
The woman, looking as fragile as a single white magnolia, was trembling slightly. Perhaps it was because of the cold rain of early summer.
“It’s no fun if you get scared before we even start.”
The man spoke coldly. His face, now devoid of any smile, was as cold and chilling as a sheet of thin ice.
The woman facing him turned pale. She looked as if she might collapse at any moment.
“I would like to give the empress a chance as well.”
The man said again with a smile, looking as if he was anticipating a very amusing event.
“Leave, as far as I cannot catch you.”
“…What…?”
Startled by the man’s sudden words, the woman widened her eyes like those of a deer.
“I will give you a month’s time.”
“Your Majesty, please…”
“If I cannot find the empress, I will gracefully step down.”
The woman’s complexion was so poor she could have been mistaken for a corpse. In contrast to her, the man could not hide his pleasure as the situation intensified.
“But if I do find her…”
The woman seemed as if she might collapse at any moment under the man’s intimidating presence.
“Then you will be mine.”
The man’s eyes, visible through his rain-soaked hair, shone cruelly like a predator stalking its prey.
“Until your last breath.”
****
“So what happened to that woman?”
As the man and woman vanished from the projection mirror, Arundel asked Lord Manheim as if urging him for an answer.
“She was discovered at the port less than a week later, trying to flee the empire by stowing away.”
Arundel remembered the predatory look in the man’s eyes. The ending had been predetermined from the start.
A flicker of sorrow passed through Arundel’s clear, pond-like blue eyes.
“It was a game where the victor was already decided. After all, he is the emperor of the Croyden Empire and the greatest sorcerer.”
“That’s unfortunate…”
Manheim looked at Arundel with pity.
Even in the Heavenly Realm, where she held the position of archangel, Arundel had such a tender heart. He loved her for it, but he knew that her compassionate heart would become her shackles.
“Arundel, I do not wish for you to be exiled from the Heavenly Realm like this.”
At Manheim’s words, Arundel wore a bitter expression.
“Thank you, my Lord. But it has already been decided.”
“I want to give Arundel a chance.”
“There will be a strong backlash from the Heavenly Realm.”
Despite what was said, Arundel’s eyes sparkled.
Hoping that the opportunity would be different presented by the cruel man shown in the projection mirror.
“What do you think will be the outcome for the man and woman shown in the projection mirror?”
“Well…”
She knew that their ending would not be good just by looking briefly. However, she did not want to voice that tragedy.
Arundel thought again of the picturesque pair of man and woman. On the surface, there seemed to be no finer couple, but upon closer inspection, their relationship was like that of a herbivore in front of a starving predator.
Especially the man’s gaze, which was so intense that it made even Arundel, the archangel, flinch.
“The woman could not endure for three years and died of nervous exhaustion.”
Although it was the predicted ending, hearing it directly made Arundel feel a bit downhearted.
And now a question arose, why did the Lord keep talking about the emperor and empress who met a tragic end?
“Without an object of obsession, the emperor became increasingly maddened. Thus, he became an unprecedented tyrant in the Croyden Empire. The empire quickly turned into a living hell, leading to its destruction.”
Arundel was speechless for a while at the extreme ending.
To think that the scenes shown in the projection mirror would develop to such an extent.
“Of course, in the process, the empire was drenched in blood, and the land became desolate.”
“…So what am I supposed to do?”
The longer Manheim spoke, the more Arundel could not hide her anxiety.
Arundel had to come to terms with her actions several times before the decision to be exiled from the Heavenly Realm was made.
She had to take responsibility for her actions, and it was right for her to be criticized. But even if she could go back to the past, she would have acted the same way. Arundel knew herself well.
However, the sprout of hope that blossomed in a corner of her heart at the word “opportunity” strongly stimulated Arundel. Once again, desire coiled within her.
She truly did not want to leave the Heavenly Realm.
“Arundel. Please stop the emperor who will be consumed by darkness and madness, and who will bring destruction to the empire.”
“…Yes?”
“The method does not matter. Whether you incite rebellion and drive him out, or kill him…”
Lord Manheim was faintly smiling.
“Or tame him.”
Arundel felt dizzy. Indeed, there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. She had not expected the trusted lord to assign her such a monumental task.
She recalled his gaze. The man’s abnormal obsession and desire to possess the woman, and ironically, at the same time, his feelings of disgust and the urge to destroy.
“Will you accept, Arundel?”
Manheim asked, though he already knew the answer.
“I will see you again in the Heavenly Realm, Lord Manheim.”
Arundel had nowhere to retreat.
****
After bidding farewell to the lord, Arundel opened her eyes that she had closed.
The first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was a dazzlingly beautiful man.
The emperor, Zion, who had turned the empire into hell.
Looking around, she realized that she was in the brilliantly colorful garden. It seemed to be the beginning, just like the scene she had seen in the projection mirror.
The early summer rain, just like what she had seen in the projection mirror, chilled her body to the bone.
Arundel could not tell what was causing her to freeze like this. Was it the rain, or was it the frosty gaze of Zion she was facing?
“Do you know how long I have been waiting for this moment?”
Up close, it was more evident how much Zion’s excited face was flushed with exhilaration.
“I also want to give the empress a chance.”
As seen before, Zion was about to start the game. Arundel quickly thought things through.
Before coming here, Arundel had asked the lord about the life of Empress Irina, the owner of the body she’s in.
This game of hide-and-seek was the starting point that triggered Zion’s obsession and possessiveness, and eventually, the caught empress would suffer terrible torment at Zion’s hands.
Then, this game of hide-and-seek should never have started in the first place.
“If I cannot find the empress, I will gracefully step down.”
“Why do you say that?”
Zion still had a smiling face. His face was chillingly beautiful.
“One day, I thought about whether the empress, who met the wrong parents, was at fault.”
Arundel was slightly surprised by his unexpectedly normal words but made an effort not to show it.
‘He’s not completely mad.’
She had asked Manheim why he was so obsessed with the empress, but he sent her here with the irresponsible answer to find out for herself.
“So, I am giving you a chance.”
“…..”
“Thinking of my hellish childhood without reason, I felt a bit of sympathy for the empress.”
His hellish childhood?
However, Zion’s expression, as he spoke so calmly as if it were someone else’s story, showed no change, making it impossible to grasp what kind of story he had.
“This is the last time.”
“…….”
“Your last chance to escape.”
It was the look in the eyes that she saw in the mirror of projection. The cold gaze, like that of a snake with its prey in sight, coiled around Arundel’s body. It was a gaze that made people shrink.
She felt as if her body was always sinking into the ground. Arundel shuddered for a moment.
Was it a moment of becoming human? He was the emperor of an empire, but just a mere man after all. That she, an archangel, could be so frightened was disconcerting to herself.
If she cowered here, she wouldn’t be able to change his fate. With that thought, Arundel regained her composure.
“I will not run away.”
His expression hardened in an instant. The beautiful smile that had been on his face was gone.
“Will you not regret those words?”
At Zion’s question, asked once more, she swallowed unconsciously.
“…Yes.”
Zion looked at Arundel for a while. Lowering his eyes, he wore a smile filled with scorn.
“A bird that enters the cage on its own.”
“…..”
“It seems you still don’t understand your situation.”
Arundel desperately hoped inside. She hoped that this event would somehow twist his fate.
“Well, it doesn’t matter.”
With that, Zion left the garden.
Watching Zion’s retreating figure, it felt as if the cold rain was seeping into her heart.
The things Arundel would face seemed distant.
Arundel entered her bedroom, trudging with her body wet. As she entered looking like a drowned mouse, the startled maids flocked to her.
As she immersed herself in the hot water, the events of today flashed before her eyes like a zoetrope.
She knew that Lord Manheim regarded her as someone special. However, she had some doubts whether Manheim really proposed this matter for her sake under such difficult conditions.
She tried to use her power by taking her hand out of the water, but nothing happened.
“Of course…”
The condition that it was permissible to kill the empire’s greatest sorcerer was when Arundel was just an ordinary human. Thus, it was almost an impossible task.
‘Then, rebellion…’
Arundel thought of the maids from earlier. They were thoroughly focused on their work and disappeared like the wind, acting as if they would be cursed if they spoke with Arundel.
She recalled the image of Empress Irina before her death, as seen in the mirror of projection.
Her exact diagnosis was nervous breakdown, but she was suffering greatly from depression and loneliness. Zion had thoroughly isolated Empress Irina.
It was nonsensical to gather forces and incite a rebellion when it was hard to even speak with people.
Then, the most likely method was the remaining one.
‘To tame…?’
As she recalled his appearance, like a beautiful and cruel beast, she could only sigh. How could she transform him into a wise ruler?
Before worrying about that, she had to find out what had happened between Empress Irina, the owner of this body, and Zion to have such a terrible relationship.
Understanding his anger would allow her to approach more strategically.
As she remembered the day when she soared through the sky with six pure white wings, Arundel reaffirmed her resolve once again.
It was a night when the rain fell calmly through the deep darkness.
In the empress’s residence was the most beautiful garden of the imperial palace. A feast of brilliantly colored flowers not only created a beautiful landscape but also spread the sweet fragrance of flowers far and wide, enough to make butterflies lose their way.
What completed this picturesque scene as if it were a masterpiece painting was a pair of beautiful men and women standing in the middle of the garden.
“Do you know how long I have been waiting for this moment?”
The man, with his enchantingly beautiful platinum blonde hair, said with an excited smile like that of an adolescent boy.
His expression and tone were as sweet as honey, but his gaze was as cold as a blade, making it difficult to discern his emotions.
“…What are you going to do with me…?”
The woman, looking as fragile as a single white magnolia, was trembling slightly. Perhaps it was because of the cold rain of early summer.
“It’s no fun if you get scared before we even start.”
The man spoke coldly. His face, now devoid of any smile, was as cold and chilling as a sheet of thin ice.
The woman facing him turned pale. She looked as if she might collapse at any moment.
“I would like to give the empress a chance as well.”
The man said again with a smile, looking as if he was anticipating a very amusing event.
“Leave, as far as I cannot catch you.”
“…What…?”
Startled by the man’s sudden words, the woman widened her eyes like those of a deer.
“I will give you a month’s time.”
“Your Majesty, please…”
“If I cannot find the empress, I will gracefully step down.”
The woman’s complexion was so poor she could have been mistaken for a corpse. In contrast to her, the man could not hide his pleasure as the situation intensified.
“But if I do find her…”
The woman seemed as if she might collapse at any moment under the man’s intimidating presence.
“Then you will be mine.”
The man’s eyes, visible through his rain-soaked hair, shone cruelly like a predator stalking its prey.
“Until your last breath.”
****
“So what happened to that woman?”
As the man and woman vanished from the projection mirror, Arundel asked Lord Manheim as if urging him for an answer.
“She was discovered at the port less than a week later, trying to flee the empire by stowing away.”
Arundel remembered the predatory look in the man’s eyes. The ending had been predetermined from the start.
A flicker of sorrow passed through Arundel’s clear, pond-like blue eyes.
“It was a game where the victor was already decided. After all, he is the emperor of the Croyden Empire and the greatest sorcerer.”
“That’s unfortunate…”
Manheim looked at Arundel with pity.
Even in the Heavenly Realm, where she held the position of archangel, Arundel had such a tender heart. He loved her for it, but he knew that her compassionate heart would become her shackles.
“Arundel, I do not wish for you to be exiled from the Heavenly Realm like this.”
At Manheim’s words, Arundel wore a bitter expression.
“Thank you, my Lord. But it has already been decided.”
“I want to give Arundel a chance.”
“There will be a strong backlash from the Heavenly Realm.”
Despite what was said, Arundel’s eyes sparkled.
Hoping that the opportunity would be different presented by the cruel man shown in the projection mirror.
“What do you think will be the outcome for the man and woman shown in the projection mirror?”
“Well…”
She knew that their ending would not be good just by looking briefly. However, she did not want to voice that tragedy.
Arundel thought again of the picturesque pair of man and woman. On the surface, there seemed to be no finer couple, but upon closer inspection, their relationship was like that of a herbivore in front of a starving predator.
Especially the man’s gaze, which was so intense that it made even Arundel, the archangel, flinch.
“The woman could not endure for three years and died of nervous exhaustion.”
Although it was the predicted ending, hearing it directly made Arundel feel a bit downhearted.
And now a question arose, why did the Lord keep talking about the emperor and empress who met a tragic end?
“Without an object of obsession, the emperor became increasingly maddened. Thus, he became an unprecedented tyrant in the Croyden Empire. The empire quickly turned into a living hell, leading to its destruction.”
Arundel was speechless for a while at the extreme ending.
To think that the scenes shown in the projection mirror would develop to such an extent.
“Of course, in the process, the empire was drenched in blood, and the land became desolate.”
“…So what am I supposed to do?”
The longer Manheim spoke, the more Arundel could not hide her anxiety.
Arundel had to come to terms with her actions several times before the decision to be exiled from the Heavenly Realm was made.
She had to take responsibility for her actions, and it was right for her to be criticized. But even if she could go back to the past, she would have acted the same way. Arundel knew herself well.
However, the sprout of hope that blossomed in a corner of her heart at the word “opportunity” strongly stimulated Arundel. Once again, desire coiled within her.
She truly did not want to leave the Heavenly Realm.
“Arundel. Please stop the emperor who will be consumed by darkness and madness, and who will bring destruction to the empire.”
“…Yes?”
“The method does not matter. Whether you incite rebellion and drive him out, or kill him…”
Lord Manheim was faintly smiling.
“Or tame him.”
Arundel felt dizzy. Indeed, there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. She had not expected the trusted lord to assign her such a monumental task.
She recalled his gaze. The man’s abnormal obsession and desire to possess the woman, and ironically, at the same time, his feelings of disgust and the urge to destroy.
“Will you accept, Arundel?”
Manheim asked, though he already knew the answer.
“I will see you again in the Heavenly Realm, Lord Manheim.”
Arundel had nowhere to retreat.
****
After bidding farewell to the lord, Arundel opened her eyes that she had closed.
The first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was a dazzlingly beautiful man.
The emperor, Zion, who had turned the empire into hell.
Looking around, she realized that she was in the brilliantly colorful garden. It seemed to be the beginning, just like the scene she had seen in the projection mirror.
The early summer rain, just like what she had seen in the projection mirror, chilled her body to the bone.
Arundel could not tell what was causing her to freeze like this. Was it the rain, or was it the frosty gaze of Zion she was facing?
“Do you know how long I have been waiting for this moment?”
Up close, it was more evident how much Zion’s excited face was flushed with exhilaration.
“I also want to give the empress a chance.”
As seen before, Zion was about to start the game. Arundel quickly thought things through.
Before coming here, Arundel had asked the lord about the life of Empress Irina, the owner of the body she’s in.
This game of hide-and-seek was the starting point that triggered Zion’s obsession and possessiveness, and eventually, the caught empress would suffer terrible torment at Zion’s hands.
Then, this game of hide-and-seek should never have started in the first place.
“If I cannot find the empress, I will gracefully step down.”
“Why do you say that?”
Zion still had a smiling face. His face was chillingly beautiful.
“One day, I thought about whether the empress, who met the wrong parents, was at fault.”
Arundel was slightly surprised by his unexpectedly normal words but made an effort not to show it.
‘He’s not completely mad.’
She had asked Manheim why he was so obsessed with the empress, but he sent her here with the irresponsible answer to find out for herself.
“So, I am giving you a chance.”
“…..”
“Thinking of my hellish childhood without reason, I felt a bit of sympathy for the empress.”
His hellish childhood?
However, Zion’s expression, as he spoke so calmly as if it were someone else’s story, showed no change, making it impossible to grasp what kind of story he had.
“This is the last time.”
“…….”
“Your last chance to escape.”
It was the look in the eyes that she saw in the mirror of projection. The cold gaze, like that of a snake with its prey in sight, coiled around Arundel’s body. It was a gaze that made people shrink.
She felt as if her body was always sinking into the ground. Arundel shuddered for a moment.
Was it a moment of becoming human? He was the emperor of an empire, but just a mere man after all. That she, an archangel, could be so frightened was disconcerting to herself.
If she cowered here, she wouldn’t be able to change his fate. With that thought, Arundel regained her composure.
“I will not run away.”
His expression hardened in an instant. The beautiful smile that had been on his face was gone.
“Will you not regret those words?”
At Zion’s question, asked once more, she swallowed unconsciously.
“…Yes.”
Zion looked at Arundel for a while. Lowering his eyes, he wore a smile filled with scorn.
“A bird that enters the cage on its own.”
“…..”
“It seems you still don’t understand your situation.”
Arundel desperately hoped inside. She hoped that this event would somehow twist his fate.
“Well, it doesn’t matter.”
With that, Zion left the garden.
Watching Zion’s retreating figure, it felt as if the cold rain was seeping into her heart.
The things Arundel would face seemed distant.
Arundel entered her bedroom, trudging with her body wet. As she entered looking like a drowned mouse, the startled maids flocked to her.
As she immersed herself in the hot water, the events of today flashed before her eyes like a zoetrope.
She knew that Lord Manheim regarded her as someone special. However, she had some doubts whether Manheim really proposed this matter for her sake under such difficult conditions.
She tried to use her power by taking her hand out of the water, but nothing happened.
“Of course…”
The condition that it was permissible to kill the empire’s greatest sorcerer was when Arundel was just an ordinary human. Thus, it was almost an impossible task.
‘Then, rebellion…’
Arundel thought of the maids from earlier. They were thoroughly focused on their work and disappeared like the wind, acting as if they would be cursed if they spoke with Arundel.
She recalled the image of Empress Irina before her death, as seen in the mirror of projection.
Her exact diagnosis was nervous breakdown, but she was suffering greatly from depression and loneliness. Zion had thoroughly isolated Empress Irina.
It was nonsensical to gather forces and incite a rebellion when it was hard to even speak with people.
Then, the most likely method was the remaining one.
‘To tame…?’
As she recalled his appearance, like a beautiful and cruel beast, she could only sigh. How could she transform him into a wise ruler?
Before worrying about that, she had to find out what had happened between Empress Irina, the owner of this body, and Zion to have such a terrible relationship.
Understanding his anger would allow her to approach more strategically.
As she remembered the day when she soared through the sky with six pure white wings, Arundel reaffirmed her resolve once again.
