Episode 2
“Princess Vivian! You’ll fall!”
“Mom, look at this!”
Vivian held out a handful of lilac flowers to Arne with her small hands.
Her bright smile made her dimples show as she tilted her little head.
“Mom, did you cry?”
“No.”
Vivian looked like Cedric.
Jet-black hair like the night, red eyes, and a high nose.
Even the dimples that appeared when she smiled gently.
Vivian blinked her big eyes and looked up at Arne.
Even though five years had passed since the day Cedric died, Arne still found herself looking toward the banquet hall doors.
Five years ago, when Arne opened those doors, all that remained were traces of the ritual where he sacrificed his body to summon the Spirit King.
The warmth of his mana still faintly lingered in the air.
Aside from piles of ash, there was no trace left of the monster horde.
Nothing made sense, and yet tears filled her eyes and spilled over.
Arne, who had never truly cried out loud before, had tears streaming endlessly down her cheeks.
She ran blindly to the Mirror Room—the place he had mentioned.
A ring symbolizing the duke, which she didn’t know when he had put on her, swayed from her neck, brushing her skin with a cold touch.
“Open. I have a wish. Please open.”
But the door to the Mirror Room didn’t open.
Only after crying and pounding on the door for a long time did Arne finally accept it.
Cedric was dead.
And yet, she still sometimes looked toward the banquet hall doors.
It felt like he might walk through them at any moment, as if nothing had happened.
There were so many things she wanted to ask him.
How did a swordmaster like you know a ritual to summon the Spirit King?
How did you get a dragon’s heart?
Did you join that great monster subjugation—where eight out of ten die—because of me, knowing I was terminally ill?
No… what she really wanted to ask was.
“Why did you cry?”
At the voice that felt like a hallucination, Arne flinched.
Vivian cupped Arne’s cheek with her small hand and asked,
“Mom, your eyes are red. You look like a snow bunny.”
“A snow bunny?”
“Yeah! A snow bunny!”
Snow bunny was a slur once used to mock and belittle Arne, but Vivian’s innocent voice made her let out a small laugh.
The northern land, soaked in demonic energy, was covered in snow, and carnivorous snow-rabbit monsters lived there.
People found it disturbing that rabbits ate meat, and because their white fur and red eyes resembled Arne, they mocked her with it.
It meant she was an orphan noblewoman mixed into high society—an unnatural mutation.
Of course, Vivian couldn’t know that.
She had probably just seen a small animal near the duchy garden.
After that day five years ago, the Duchy of Renigrad was sealed off due to contamination from monster corpses and demonic residue.
Thankfully, Arne had purified it alone ever since, and now even lilacs bloomed again.
The downside was complete isolation—no news from the outside world.
“Mom, look! I drew this!”
Vivian grinned widely and held out a sketchbook.
“It’s me, Mom, and Millie!”
“It’s beautiful, Vivian.”
Whenever Arne looked depressed, Vivian would bring him flowers or show him her drawings.
As Arne flipped through the sketchbook, she suddenly froze.
One drawing showed three men—who looked like the Duke of Ronia, the Second Prince, and Kael.
And it was far too detailed for a five-year-old’s drawing.
More like something a ten-year-old would draw.
‘Vivian has never met them…’
Arne’s red eyes flickered.
For a moment, red mana wrapped around Vivian.
“Mom, you have to go. Now.”
“It’s almost nap time.”
“No. Now. Right now.”
Vivian looked around anxiously.
When she saw a hawk flying outside the window, her eyes filled with tears.
“It’s too late. Why am I just a kid? Why can’t I do better?”
“What are you talking about? You drew really well.”
“I should’ve done better. I shouldn’t be like this. I can’t even remember. I have to do better.”
“Kids should be kids.”
“No, I can’t. Why can’t I use magic properly like you? Why do I keep failing? I can’t stop anything.”
“Vivian, you use magic that matches your age. That’s okay. Even if you can’t use magic, no one will throw you out or hurt you.”
Vivian gave a faint smile, but her eyes still shook with unease.
Arne felt frustrated—she couldn’t understand what Vivian was afraid of.
Had the maids bullied her?
Before dying from mana corruption, the head maid had cursed Vivian.
She said Vivian was useless, lacking talent in magic or swordsmanship, unlike her parents.
That she should be revived immediately by magic.
That she couldn’t possibly be the daughter of the great mage Laniarne.
“Did the maids hurt you? Even if you can’t use magic, you’re still my precious daughter.”
Vivian slowly shook her head.
After hesitating for a long time, she spoke.
“Even if Mom couldn’t use magic, Vivian would still love her.”
Vivian smiled faintly again.
An unexplainable ache pierced Arne’s heart.
“I’m going to take a nap now.”
“Come see me when I wake up.”
“Bye.”
Vivian smiled brightly, dimples forming, and took Millie’s hand.
As Vivian slowly walked away, Arne felt like she needed to stop her.
Before entering the bedroom, Vivian stopped.
“Mom, I forgot my doll. In the Mirror Room.”
“…How do you know about the Mirror Room?”
“I went there secretly. Now you can go too. Please bring my doll back.”
Vivian, who rarely acted spoiled, made a request.
“Please come back.”
Arne called out to her, feeling strange—but Vivian had already left.
“Vivian…”
A deep unease settled over Arne.
She headed straight to the Mirror Room. It felt like she had to.
Boom.
A strange sense of déjà vu hit her.
Outside the window, the Imperial Knights had surrounded the duchy.
The clash of weapons echoed, followed by screams inside the castle.
“Vivian. Millie.”
Arne turned toward the bedroom.
Then it stopped.
“Duke of Ronia?”
Her father was inside the duchy.
The father who never once came despite countless letters.
He was holding Vivian.
“Vivian?”
Blood dripped steadily from Vivian’s limp body.
“Proceed to the Mirror Room! Wipe out the demon-serving House Renigrad and seize the mirror that sealed the demon!”
The Duke of Ronia shouted orders to the knights.
Beyond the spreading formation stood the Second Prince—from Vivian’s drawing.
Kael was there too.
“Now that the duke’s bloodline is gone, anyone with the duke’s ring can enter the Mirror Room. Then His Highness can wish to become emperor.”
“Excellent work. It must’ve been hard for you, Duke of Ronia—disowning your adopted daughter and coming here yourself.”
“It was my duty to His Highness. I never once thought of her as my daughter anyway.”
“True. Someone of such low birth never belonged in House Ronia. And getting involved with a cursed demon duke? Birds of a feather.”
“Of course. Those who use demonic magic must be erased.”
Even though the Second Prince himself intended to use demonic power, everyone pretended otherwise—for the ‘greater good.’
“I won’t forget your service, Duke of Ronia. Isn’t it time you became a duke? You had a daughter named Bianca, didn’t you?”
“Thank you for remembering.”
As the Duke of Ronia boasted, Kael pulled out a magic device and fawned before the prince.
“We also have a magic-nullifying device. Dealing with Lady Ronia—no, Arne, that snow bunny—will go smoothly.”
“It’s reassuring to have you, Kael. How fortunate that you broke off your engagement to the snow bunny.”
“Thank you! I really had foresight back then. Being engaged to the Empire’s mad villainess—ridiculous.”
“Take good care of the Empire’s future.”
The Duke of Ronia tossed Vivian aside to shake the prince’s hand.
Millie lay collapsed beside her.
Arne’s whole body shook.
Rage she couldn’t contain crushed her lungs.
My father abandoned me. Killed Vivian. And wants the demon for himself—to become a duke.’
Vivian was dead.
Vivian. Vivian!
Arne turned and ran.
Her steps grew frantic as she gasped for air.
“Mom, I only need you and Millie. I don’t care if we can’t leave the duchy. Just stay with me.”
“You speak so beautifully, young lady. I only need you and Lady Laniarne, too!”
At the Mirror Room, Arne said coldly,
“Open.”
The door that hadn’t moved for five years slowly opened.
Seeing Vivian’s doll lying before the mirror, Arne picked it up.
Tears filled her eyes, but she couldn’t cry.
She had to stay calm.
To save Vivian.
Swallowing her fury, she bit her trembling lip and cleared her mind.
Inside the mirror, a handsome man sat with crossed legs, smiling smoothly.
‘You’re smiling?’
The man flinched at Arne’s killing intent—then straightened arrogantly, like a demon.
“The last guardian of Renigrad is gone. So why isn’t the seal breaking?”
“Was Vivian the last guardian? What was she guarding?”
“The world—from demons.”
The man who called himself a demon smiled, eerily similar to Cedric.
“So you were the true final guardian. Cedric passed the authority to you with the ring before he died. When Vivian died, you became the new guardian.”
The demon stared at the ring around Arne’s neck.
“Again? Do I have to do this again? Damn those Renigrads.”
The demon pulled at his hair in frustration.
Reluctantly, he explained the rules.
One wish.
In exchange, the most precious thing to her.
Arne tilted her head.
“So you pretend to grant wishes, then kill me?”
“No. I can’t interfere in your life except to grant the wish and take the price.”
“Then why did all the Renigrads die? Did Vivian trade her life?”
“Vivian’s price was her memories of the duchy. The guardians died because they refused to pay what they promised.”
“Too young, maybe.”
“If I die, won’t the seal break and the wish fail?”
“Even if you die, as long as the authority is passed on, the seal holds. I only return to hell when your true wish is fulfilled.”
“…You’re surprisingly nice.”
“That’s an insult to a demon. But it won’t be easy.”
“For me, it is.”
Humans rarely know what they truly want.
They instinctively refuse to give up what’s most precious.”
The demon adjusted his legs.
“Sometimes they realize too late what mattered most. I truly want your wish to come true. I want to go home.”
Arne stared into the demon’s red eyes.
She felt his deep longing—to go home.
“…You really are a good demon.”
She had been ready to sell her soul—but the demon was unexpectedly kind.
If he demanded Vivian’s life, she planned to shatter the mirror.
“I really want to go home. I’m an introvert. Being outside drains me fast. So please—make your wish come true. Send me home.”
“You really are a good demon.”
“You’re a good guardian, too. I felt it the moment you appeared. Please, guardian!”
Then the sound of the door breaking echoed—Duke of Ronia, the prince, and Kael’s irritating voice.
“Hurry! Make your wish!”
“Vivian…”
Arne inhaled deeply.
Her eyes shone with resolve.
“Give me back my family.”
The demon smiled slowly.
Red mana flooded the room.
A blazing heat slammed into Arne’s body—then vanished.
She opened her eyes.
A full moon hung in the dark sky.
Her fingers touched something solid and smooth.
Frowning, she looked around.
‘Where did that demon send me?’
As she tried to stand.
She froze.
‘…Cedric.’
Her surroundings came into focus.
The wedding at the Duchy of Renigrad.
The summer night of their first night together.
Cedric stood there, wearing only a loose white robe.
She had returned to her first night with Cedric.
So when she wished for her family back.
It started from the very beginning?
