Flash,

A white light burst from the shore of Lake Innis beyond the coniferous forest, illuminating the dark night sky before disappearing. It happened in the blink of an eye in the middle of the night, before dawn had arrived.

Few witnessed the fan-shaped white light that exploded like fireworks and quickly vanished in the imperial palace or the capital. As the white light disappeared, the white moon that had suddenly vanished tonight reappeared faintly in its place.

Two pairs of eyes hidden on the opposite shore of Lake Glaches widened in disbelief as they spied on the situation.

“The white moon has reappeared…!”

“It’s impossible. The black moon has retreated from the white moon.”

The man asked the woman anxiously.

“So what happens now? Does Caligo know about this situation?”

Caligo, their spiritual leader remaining on Mount Baeosoo Island, had predicted that the emperor’s curse would intensify starting tonight.

“The curse hasn’t been lifted yet, so there’s no need to make a fuss.”

As the woman answered with a furrowed brow, as if lost in thought, their shoulders stiffened as they sensed a presence in the distance.

Clop clop, the sound of hoofbeats approached rapidly from the path connecting the imperial guard training grounds and Lake Glaches.

The cloaked man and woman quickly hid behind a large rock.

Soon, three knights dismounted under the white moonlight and hurriedly surveyed the surroundings.

“See? I told you so, didn’t I? There’s nothing here. Ha, ha.”

As Jacob, commander of the First Imperial Guard, let out an awkward laugh, Peter, the deputy commander beside him, nodded and chimed in.

“It seems the Count mistakenly saw lightning in the sky. Remember when we were training in the countryside last time, lightning flashed in a clear sky?”

Count Korad shook his head at Sir Jacob and Sir Peter’s words.

“It was an unusual light. And as soon as the white light burst, the white moon that had been obscured by the black moon reappeared.”

As he approached the coniferous forest without hesitation, Sir Jacob followed behind Count Korad and said:

“Could it be that the white moon wasn’t obscured by the black moon, but hidden behind passing clouds? There seem to be a lot of dark clouds tonight. Ha, ha. Look, look over there. The clouds are really bunched up.”

At Sir Jacob’s words, who couldn’t lie, Sir Peter glanced at him and let out a small sigh.

Dark clouds on a clear autumn night sky without a single cloud? Sir Jacob and Sir Peter, who had stayed at the palace late overseeing special training for the knights, accidentally witnessed the white light that illuminated the sky along with Count Korad.

Count Korad, the monster hunter of the continent, insisted it wasn’t a simple light and began urgently riding towards Lake Glaches.

The two knights hurriedly followed the Count, trying to convince him it was nothing… but in truth, Sir Jacob and Sir Peter were also very troubled by the white light that had illuminated and disappeared near the shore of Lake Innis.

As if it wasn’t worrying enough that the white moon suddenly vanished from the night sky, raising concerns about His Majesty’s condition, their eyes also saw a strange white light flash and disappear near the shore of Lake Innis.

They couldn’t disobey the emperor’s order that absolutely no one was allowed to enter Lake Innis, where he was secluded after transforming into a beast, without his permission. Moreover, with Count Korad present, they couldn’t properly investigate what had happened.

As the two knights exchanged glances while standing there, the Count’s low voice was heard.

“The white light definitely rose from across the coniferous forest. Where Lake Innis is located.”

Count Korad was one of the few of the emperor’s men who knew of the existence of Lake Innis hot springs. As Count Korad took a step into the coniferous forest, Sir Jacob walked in front of him, blocking his path.

With a solemn expression as commander of the First Imperial Guard, he slowly warned:

“Lake Innis is where His Majesty contemplates alone. You know that no one but His Majesty is allowed to enter. As the commander of the Imperial Guard protecting His Majesty, I forbid you from going any closer.”

“His Majesty could be in danger.”

As Count Korad refused to back down, Sir Peter approached and said kindly, winking one eye:

“The truth is… His Majesty is currently alone with Lady Arabel at Lake Innis. He wouldn’t want to be disturbed. It won’t be too late to investigate tomorrow after getting His Majesty’s permission.”

Under the torch they were holding, footprints and hoof prints that appeared to belong to the emperor and Arabel were illuminated, leading towards a small gondola moored at the dock and the coniferous forest.

He had no intention of interrupting His Majesty’s date. If his son Timothy were here, he would have entered the coniferous forest without hesitation.

Count Korad let out a shallow sigh as if he had no choice and moved away from the coniferous forest, but his eyes suddenly flashed with a sharp light.

Besides the footprints of the emperor and Arabel… there were traces of other people. One, two. Two strangers were here right now.

Count Korad, who had been making a gesture to mount his horse, quickly turned around, drew his sword, and sprang forward.

“Count Korad…!”

Before the stunned Sir Jacob and Sir Peter could finish speaking, Count Korad pointed his longsword at the large rock and asked coldly:

“Who’s there? Reveal yourselves!”

Mount Baeosoo Volcano Island

Opaque glass eyes that reflected nothing stared at the glass globe held in a dry hand.

The night when the white moon before the full moon, which comes once every 300 years, is obscured by the twin black moons.

As the black moon began to devour the white moon, the inside of the glass globe filled with red smoke. The eyes watching the globe completely filled with red smoke without a single gap showed emotion for the first time.

Cruel delight. The boy’s shoulders trembled with excitement as if he could feel human suffering transmitted through his fingertips holding the globe.

Not much longer. The moment he would obtain the body of the strongest human. And the day he would be liberated from this wretched body.

However, a white light rose from within the glass globe that had been covered in red, quickly engulfing the red smoke.

The light, shimmering like the white moon, completely erased all traces of the red smoke and filled the globe, then crack, the glass globe in the boy’s hand began to crack.

Crash, as the glass globe shattered into pieces, a shimmering white liquid flowed into his palm.

“Aaargh!”

The boy who had been unaffected even when putting his hand in boiling flames let out a scream of pain.

The opaque eyes glaring at the white liquid pooled in his palm turned black, and a voice filled with shock and anger escaped through clenched teeth.

“Lumen Savior…!”

This is impossible. The Lumen Saviors, the light saviors, no longer exist in the human world. Because of the endless greed of humans trying to exploit them, who could communicate with beasts and had healing abilities.

The Lumen Savior tribe, whose nature was inherently good and pure, believed the promise of the three kings of the continent to protect the beasts and granted their requests, but what they received in return was cruel betrayal.

It was said that the white blood shed by the Lumen Saviors, who were annihilated by the three powerful countries they had allied with a thousand years ago, covered the mountains like snow.

The three kingdoms, which expanded their territories by winning every war using their abilities, mercilessly slaughtered the Lumen Saviors to prevent them from being taken by other kingdoms.

One of them was the Helterd Kingdom, the predecessor of the Helterd Empire.

‘Light Savior.’

The Lumen Saviors were forgotten in people’s memories and did not exist even in myths and legends. By the promise of the three great powers to hide their heinous acts.

“The last survivor of the Lumen Savior tribe died 9 years ago. The white light was no longer seen anywhere.”

Caligo, muttering to himself as if in disbelief, raised his hand and restored the shattered glass globe to its original state.

But now… it’s by the side of the monster. And… tonight it protected him. Just as the Lumen Savior princess protected the Helterd king a thousand years ago. Though what she received in return was his thorough betrayal.

As Caligo closed his eyes, all the lights in the cave went out simultaneously.

– Lake Innis –

The dawn twilight began to creep over the dark sky. A warm and peaceful air enveloped the shore of Lake Innis. The lake, brightening in the morning sunlight, sparkled brilliantly as if to say that what happened last night was just a nightmare.

Flash, as the closed eyelids opened, ruby-red eyes were revealed.

Not the bloodshot eyes of a beast driven mad with pain, but enchanting human eyes that took in the small head buried in his shoulder.

He lifted one arm that had been holding the thin back. It was his arm tanned by the sun, not the black fur-covered foreleg of a black panther.

The girl who had returned to him when he was writhing in pain under the sky where the white moon had suddenly disappeared was sleeping in his arms. Unable to blink his moistening eyes, not wanting to miss even a moment of her face sleeping as if exhausted.

As Arabel stirred slightly, the red eyes suddenly contorted deeply as if pierced by something sharp.

The numerous scratches visible inside the torn dress overlapped with the image of Arabel desperately embracing his body as it raged, refusing to become a beast, taking away his pain.

As he brought back the arm he had moved to examine the wounds more closely…

‘…Shh… I’m here beside you. You can feel me even if you can’t see me, right? I’m holding you like this. I’ll never leave. So please, don’t hurt anymore and rest…’

To not lose the emperor who had pulled away from her, Arabel’s thin arms, still not awake from sleep, held and embraced the emperor’s broad back with all her strength. Her cracked voice continued to soothe the emperor even in her unconscious state.

And she mumbled the words she had been telling him all night as he was losing his human reason.

‘Your Majesty, I love you. I love you.’

A large teardrop fell onto her small, wounded cheek.