~Chapter 43~
The fourth morning after the red moon appeared.
Crash!
A large servant smashed a mirror in the hallway.
“There’s nothing here!”
Another shattering sound followed—this time, it was maid Margaret smashing a hand mirror with a hammer.
“Master, this one isn’t it either!”
Damien, hearing the reports, smashed the mirror in the dressing room.
‘Not here either.’
The only way to deal with a mirror curse that deliberately hides its trace was to break every mirror in the mansion.
Mirror curses can move through intact mirrors in real-time, but because they’re bound to Damien, they can’t escape the mansion.
So Damien had spent the entire night destroying over half of the mansion’s mirrors.
“Don’t worry about the cost—just break them quickly!”
At first, the staff hesitated—some of the mirrors were worth millions of gold—but hearing the butler’s order, they began breaking every mirror in sight.
Even with many helping, it took hours.
The mirror-breaking operation continued until evening of the fourth day under the red moon.
“Master, the only ones left are in the basement.”
“Alright. Thank you. But please hurry.”
“Understood.”
Finally, a clue was starting to emerge.
‘We have to hurry.’
Mirror curses can kill, but they don’t prefer to.
They enjoy tormenting people by showing their deepest fears.
The effects vary—from nightmares to insanity, even heart attacks.
‘We need to find her before something like that happens.’
But one question remained:
Why did the mirror curse take Rubiana?
It was far more powerful than the doll curse or the newlywed curse, yet it rarely showed itself.
‘Is it because of her power to see and break curses?’
Only a few had such ability—and Damien had never seen anyone like her before.
‘Or maybe…’
Mirror curses are especially sensitive to the emotion of fear.
Damien remembered the massive fear he sensed from Rubiana when they first touched at the ball.
‘Is it drawn to that fear?’
Either way, the mirror curse had a reason for picking her.
Gritting his teeth, Damien joined the staff for the basement mirror search.
An hour later, only one mirror remained.
“This is the last one, Master.”
It was a full-length mirror at the entrance of the underground prison.
A nasty setup from Maledictus ancestors—so criminals could see their ruined state just before being locked up with rats and bugs.
‘Of all places… here?’
This mirror was the closest one to the room where the soul contract was to be performed.
It felt like the curse had lured them here on purpose.
“Alright. It must be hiding here. Everyone, step back.”
Damien approached the full-length mirror.
He swung his gloved hand—Crash!
Suddenly, space appeared behind the broken mirror.
Wind blew through.
[Kikikikiki.]
A woman’s creepy laugh echoed as Damien was sucked into the mirror.
Inside the Curse
Damien opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by mirrors.
He’d been here before.
As he scanned the area, he spotted a woman’s silhouette on the floor.
He knew it instantly—he’d seen that shape hundreds of times since they married.
“Ruby…!”
He ran to her.
Cradling her upper body gently, he checked her for injuries.
‘No wounds…’
But she had clearly suffered a mental attack.
Her already pale face was now white as a sheet.
Her breathing was shallow.
Damien’s heart sank.
“Ruby, can you hear me?”
But her eyes remained tightly shut.
Knowing she needed help, Damien picked her up in his arms.
At that moment—
[Where’d you find such a fun little toy?]
A thin, eerie woman’s voice echoed inside his head.
He looked up and saw a hand slip out from the top of the mirror.
[Haven’t had this much fun in ages.]
The woman’s body formed from a shiny, milky liquid—like melted mirror glass. Her form dripped with glittering droplets.
This was the true form of the mirror curse.
Damien’s cursed right eye writhed threateningly as he stared it down.
[Oh come on, I didn’t do anything~]
Giggling, the curse swam into a nearby mirror.
Inside, it gently stroked unconscious Rubiana’s cheek and smiled.
[Just a little playtime~]
Rubiana’s reflection suddenly opened her eyes.
[She wouldn’t tell me what she feared most. So mean.]
Her hair was longer—pure white.
Her eyes, bright red, looked completely inhuman.
[Isn’t it fun? Who would’ve guessed she was most afraid of… herself?]
“Do you want to be erased?”
Damien’s icy voice made the curse go silent.
[Geez. It was just a little joke. And—]
Whoosh.
The curse suddenly leaned in close, face-to-face.
[You wanted this, didn’t you?]
The voice grated against his ears.
[Don’t pretend I don’t know. I saw what you really wanted.]
Then the mirror changed.
A horrible image appeared.
A cursed, berserk Damien was shown chaining Rubiana to himself as she lay unconscious.
His eyes gleamed like a beast ready to devour prey.
She sat lifelessly, like a doll, trapped in his arms.
[You wanted this you wanted this you wanted this—]
The cursed Damien forced unconscious Rubiana onto the throne in the altar room—clearly trying to perform the soul contract while she slept.
[I gave you exactly what you wanted I gave you exactly what you wanted—]
The curse whispered furiously.
But Damien calmly stared back.
“You’re right.”
Crack.
A line split through the mirror.
“I wanted it.”
He truly had wished—deep down—that Rubiana would accept the soul contract.
That she wouldn’t run away.
He even secretly hoped she might sleep through the week of the red moon—just to prevent her from escaping.
“I was afraid of that side of myself.”
He feared what he might do if he gave into those desires.
But he accepted that truth calmly.
Crack.
The mirror shattered further.
“But I won’t act on it.”
To break the mirror curse, one must acknowledge their fear and overcome it.
Smash!
The mirrors surrounding them crumbled into shards.
[Tch. Boring.]
The curse’s form cracked and fell apart.
With a faint laugh, it dissolved into the air.
Damien and Rubiana found themselves in the room where the soul contract ritual was meant to take place.
“Ruby, can you hear me?”
Even freed from the mirror, Rubiana still hadn’t woken up.
The red moonlight shone on her pale face.
“Ruby.”
He kept calling, but she didn’t respond.
A dark temptation rose inside Damien:
The desire to place her on the throne now and begin the ritual while she was unconscious.
But—
“…Damn it.”
He couldn’t do it.
He couldn’t trap the only person who ever brought him light in his own darkness.
All he could do was hold her tightly in his arms.
“It’s all your fault.”
He wanted to say it out loud.
All these terrible thoughts, this conflict—were because of her.
“You made it impossible for me not to love you.”
A trembling whisper only the unconscious girl couldn’t hear.
Damien bit his lip and held her closer.
He couldn’t put her on that throne—not like this.
Just then—
“Why…?”
A weak hand clutched Damien’s sleeve.
“Ruby.”
Her lovely red eyes barely opened, full of pain and sadness.
“Did… did you see it all?”
She meant her greatest fear—herself.
Damien tried to change the subject.
“Ruby, let’s just—”
“Is that why… you want to leave?”
Her big eyes welled with tears.
“Because someone like me… could never be with anyone…?”
Before she could finish, she fainted again.
Her hand slipped away.
Damien stood frozen, stunned.
Only after seeing the pain in her eyes did he finally realize… what she truly wanted.
‘What she wanted was—’
He turned immediately—
And ran toward the throne, holding Rubiana tightly in his arms.
