‘Hell. My hell.’

I am your downfall. Death by inflammation. The tragedy of the beginning.

Thus, did you call me so? Thus, was I destined to be your hell?

In the dazzlingly white shadow, you whisper to me.

‘Hell. My love.’

That despite everything, I was your love.

Even if it were a lie, it would have been fine.

Willingly deceived, I would crumble in your embrace. Entrust my soul to the darkness like rest.

But misfortune finally finds your end, as an unknown light in the black mist threatens your breath.

Unable to lose you again, I gladly extinguish all the light in the world.

The only promise I couldn’t keep becomes a fragile vow bleeding bright red. A painful oath…

So it’s alright.

Don’t worry.

I will…

– I said I won’t let you worry!

I pause.

A tearful cry rings in my ears.

A very familiar and important person’s voice.

Who is it?

As I unconsciously try to approach the voice, you grab my sleeve.

‘Don’t go, Hell.’

You sob as you look at me.

‘You said we’d be together. You said we’d be together forever.’

Don’t cry. I won’t go.

I won’t leave.

I’ll stay with you.

So…

– You said you’d protect me!

Once again, I pause.

Ah…

I remember this voice. And,

‘I’ll protect you. I won’t let anyone harm the princess.’

‘I understand. I’ll make sure our princess doesn’t worry.’

The moment I recall the promise that was never made lightly.

The fog blinding my eyes disappears, and I see the one I promised to protect.

Luibel Azester.

Not you whom I can no longer protect, but the person I can still protect. The person I must protect.

The owner of half my heart.

Perhaps the last person to fulfill the long-cherished wish of my life.

‘An opening!’

I kicked away the fallen sword and used all my strength to knock Anselot down.

Then I straddled him and started punching.

“You bastard!”

“Ugh…”

I thought I heard a groan from below.

“Liar! Fraud!”

“Kuhk…”

This time the groan was a bit louder.

But I didn’t falter and hit even harder with emotion.

“You said you’d protect me! Hic, you said you’d protect me!”

Unable to control the sad feelings, I cried out loud.

“W-wait…”

“Trusting you was a mistake! You malicious bug bastard!”

“Wait a moment, princess…”

“As if you’re not a bug! You worm!”

“Prin…”

“You’re worse than a worm! It’s an insult to worms to call you a bug!”

As I was swinging my fists mercilessly, suddenly.

Grip-

Strong arms embraced me.

“Let go of this!”

Judging it to be Anselot’s counterattack, I was startled and struggled to break free from him.

I was resisting more fiercely due to the anxiety and fear of having to face his attack again.

“Princess.”

The calm, low voice touched my ear.

Realizing this, I slowly stopped resisting and looked down.

And I met Anselot’s eyes.

He was looking up at me.

With clear red eyes like rubies, the blackness gone.

“Anselot…?”

I realized he had come to his senses and opened my eyes wide.

Then the thick teardrops remaining in my eyes fell again.

“Princess. Why are you crying? It makes me sad to see your beautiful face wet.”

“Why am I crying!”

I ended up raising my voice in a burst.

“It’s because of you!”

“Did I make you cry?”

Anselot narrowed his eyes awkwardly at me as I fumed.

As he did so, he reached out and rubbed my eyes.

“I was bad. Then hit me more.”

“If you tell me to hit you, you think I won’t!”

I didn’t hesitate to hit his chest a few more times.

“Ugh…”

Maybe because I hit the same spot again, Anselot let out a pained groan.

I stopped hitting.

“You, wait. I’m not done hitting you yet.”

I warned Anselot in a voice still full of anger, then got up from on top of him.

Then I stared at the black mist, which still had the form of a young woman who looked like a copy of me, fidgeting restlessly.

‘In the original, Hezen subdued that mist by force.’

But doing so would damage Ilei’s main body, which must be hiding somewhere in this forest controlling the mist by now.

I took a step towards the black form.

The mist flinched and took a step back.

It looked terrified, unlike the terrifying black mist that bewitched the forest’s wanderers.

‘From the beginning, Ilei didn’t spread the mist to harm people.’

I thought, recalling the original Ilei.

Who am I?

Am I not Yoon Se Na, who became a master of character interpretation by reading over and over again?

Ilei, the Sage of Light.

Called the ‘Dreamy Ilei’ until he left the forest and awakened with the protagonist Hezen’s group, he was abandoned by his kind as soon as he was born.

Just because human blood was mixed in him.

The forest, long inhabited by monsters and where people’s footsteps had ceased, was a dark and lonely place.

Corrupted by loneliness, Ilei used mist to bewitch wanderers who lost their way and entered the forest.

Let’s stay together in the peace the mist gives. Let’s stay together for a long, long time.

Sadly, contrary to Ilei’s wishes, those caught in the mist’s enchantment slowly lost their life force and died.

The left behind Ilei would enchant another wanderer in even greater loneliness, falling into deeper loneliness again…

The endless vicious cycle continued for decades, centuries.

But Ilei couldn’t break the cycle of the vicious circle.

Although the age of that body was incalculable, Ilei’s mental age was like that of a young child, as he was abandoned as soon as he was born.

“Ilei.”

I spoke, looking at the black form.

The black form trembled.

“I won’t attack you.”

I persuaded the black form, showing my empty hands.

“Let’s talk.”

At those words, the black form hesitated.

“I know you weren’t trying to harm us.”

Reading that hesitation, I approached the black form directly.

“You were actually lonely, weren’t you? Enduring the ages alone in this vast forest.”

The black form stared at my face intently instead of running away.

“I’ll stay by your side.”

I reached out my hand towards the black form.

“Come with me. You don’t have to hurt people anymore.”

The black form stared at my palm for a while.

Then suddenly, it scattered fierce black mist towards me.

“Princess!”

Thanks to Anselot, who immediately pulled me into his arms and dodged to the side, I was able to block the attack, but in the meantime, the black form melted into the air and fled far away.

“Ah…”

I stared at the receding black mist with empty eyes.

“Are you alright?”

Anselot asked, without loosening his arms around me.

Remembering how he attacked me without recognizing me just before, I felt annoyed with him even though I knew it was because of Ilei’s mist.

“Let go.”

I elbowed Anselot’s chest.

“Ouch.”

Anselot pretended to be in pain with an exaggerated reaction.

“Pretending to be hurt.”

Ignoring Anselot, I picked up Piya who had fallen to the ground.

Along with shallow breaths, Piya’s tiny bird chest rose and fell.

It seemed to have fainted and fallen asleep.

Anselot looked at Piya lying limp on my palm and slightly furrowed his brow.

“What’s wrong with this bird?”

What do you mean what’s wrong? You attacked it.

I swallowed my words and glanced at Anselot.

“Don’t you remember?”

“…?”

Anselot blinked slowly.

As I expected, he doesn’t seem to remember what he did.

I glared at Anselot with sullen eyes, then turned away abruptly.

What’s the use of interrogating someone who can’t remember about things they did unconsciously?

I was annoyed at Anselot for not remembering attacking me, angry at Anselot for attacking me without recognizing me, and mad at Anselot for being enchanted by the mist despite my warning.

And I was even more angry because I knew it wasn’t his fault even though I was this angry.

‘But what can I do? It’s all because of Ilei’s mist. And the fact that Anselot couldn’t escape from Ilei’s mist means…’

I frowned, recalling Anselot crying in the arms of the black form earlier.

Ilei’s black mist was a trap that found and dug into a person’s inner weaknesses.

It’s not like that great swordsman had weaker willpower than others and couldn’t escape the mist.

Maybe Anselot has some deep inner wound that I don’t know about…

“Wait a moment, princess.”

It was at this time.

My thoughts were cut off as Anselot grabbed my shoulder and turned me around.

He asked in a low voice.

“Is this a wound?”

He took a step closer to me with a stiff face.

Anselot carefully cupped my cheek and gently rubbed around the crack-like scratch with his thumb.

“Ah, this.”

It was what Anselot had left on me when he was enchanted by the black mist and couldn’t come to his senses.

“You’re right, it’s a wound.”

Anselot’s expression was not good.

“Ah, just. Well. While fighting with the mist.”

Somehow unable to say that he had made the wound in that ominous atmosphere, I made an awkward excuse.

“That mist from earlier did this, right?”

“…”

No. Actually, you did it.

But when I swallowed my words without answering, Anselot seemed to believe it was the mist’s doing.

Anselot lowered his head and sighed.

“I’m sorry, princess.”

“Huh?”

“I said I’d protect you, but I let you get hurt.”

“…”

As I was trying to figure out how to respond, not knowing what to say.

Anselot suddenly raised his lowered head.

A dangerous aura suddenly flashed in his red eyes as he stared at me intently.

“That bastard who scarred the princess’s face, I’ll kill him.”

“W-what?”

Seeing my flustered appearance, whatever he thought, Anselot curled up the corners of his mouth crookedly and added.

“Don’t try to stop me.”

No, that XX who scarred my face… that’s you?