“Yes.”

“I—I…”

A soft, broken sound slipped from me as my breath hitched.

Through my blurred vision, I saw him—beautiful, almost like a war god.

In a world where no one had ever wanted me, D’hiver said he was happy because of me.

Only he had ever chosen me.

Did he know what that meant to me?

Looking up at him beneath his gaze, my lips trembled with a fragile sorrow.

“D’hiver.”

“Yes, Vivi.”

“I may not be your first… but I want to be your last. At least for as long as I live.”

At my quiet murmur, his lips slid away from my neck.

His heated breath brushed against the skin beneath my collarbone.

“What do you mean by that?”

He pressed his lips against my chest, his voice low as he spoke.

Then, lifting his head slightly, he murmured—

“You’re my first… and my last love. Until the day my life comes to an end.”

My eyes burned.

To me, there was only one person — him alone.

People are meant to love and be loved. If that’s a natural feeling, then he was the first person to make me feel that way.

If not him, then who else could I ever love?

Although this moment was no different from countless other nights, it felt unbearably precious.

A soft sound escaped my lips as I drew him closer, my fingers threading through his hair. I could feel the familiar texture brushing against my bare skin.

At my touch, the calmness in him shattered.

As if claiming what was his, he held me tighter, breathing unevenly and warmly against me.

In time with my uneven breathing, his touch intensified — restless and relentless — until my thoughts blurred.

Our breaths mingled in the quiet space between us.

Then, slowly and deliberately, his hand moved along my thigh.

As he lowered himself closer, his voice — low and trembling — confessed his love for me.

It sounded as though it might break at any moment.

Feeling the weight of his sincerity, a quiet numbness spread through me, reaching the very tips of my toes.

Every part of me came alive, aching and yearning for his love.

‘Love me… through every night you live.’

Instinctively, I pulled him closer and gripped the nape of his neck.

He held me tightly; his warmth was overwhelming, and he moved far more urgently than before.

His breath became rough and uneven.

With unyielding intensity, he moved as if trying to reach every part of me at once.

As I felt him completely, something deep within me stirred, and I gasped, clinging to him and savoring each breath we shared.

In his embrace, I finally understood.

I belonged by his side.

I was D’Hiver’s Violette and he was Violette’s D’Hiver.

I had no doubt that we would spend the rest of our lives together.

How many times did I fall into his arms that night? I couldn’t tell.

In the end, I lost consciousness from sheer exhaustion, and opened my eyes again at dawn.

—”My child.”

I lifted my head when I heard a voice echoing in my ear.

I looked around.

There was nothing.

And yet, for some reason, it felt as though someone was guiding me.

As if entranced, I rose from the bed.

The moment my feet touched the ground, the voice came again.

—”Yes… come this way.”

I stared into the empty air and gave a slow, absent nod.

Drawn by the voice that kept calling out to me, I started to make my way down through the castle, getting deeper and deeper inside it.

And then—I arrived.

This was the underground chamber that D’Hiver had warned me never to enter, no matter what.

Even before, it had felt unsettling.

But now, the air around it felt far more oppressive, almost suffocating.

If I had listened to him, I would have turned away.

Yet my hand moved of its own accord.

I reached for the tightly shut door.

As if waiting for me, it slowly slid open.

Inside, the vast, empty room was shrouded in darkness.

There was only one thing in it: a single sword, resting in the corner.

“…..”

I found myself staring at it.

Its clear, glass-like blade was breathtakingly beautiful, yet that same beauty carried with it a sense of unease.

In that moment, I instinctively—

I understood.

That sword had been calling to me.

I fixed my gaze on it and quietly asked:

“Did you… call me?”

—”Yes. I called you.”

A voice answered.

It was soft, laced with a faint trace of amusement.

—”Violette Silcania. Yes… it has been a very long time since a child worthy of wielding me has appeared.”

I felt a gaze that I couldn’t explain.

It was just a sword, yet I had the strange and undeniable feeling that it was watching me.

At the same time, I felt like a pilgrim standing before a god, as though I were being judged.

This sensation unsettled me.

There were no eyes on me, and yet I felt as though I were being observed and held completely in place by an invisible presence.

It was as if every hidden part of me, even those I did not fully understand myself, had been exposed for scrutiny.

As I blinked in confusion, a solemn voice echoed once more.

—”Congratulations on becoming an archmage, my child.”

“…Thank you. But… who are you?”

—”That is why I called you here.”

The voice rang out, heavy enough to reverberate through my heart.

—”Child who bears the right… come closer. There is something I wish to tell you.”

And so, the sword began to recount a legend known by everyone in the land.

Long ago, the world was one united continent.

It was ruled by an empress known as the Divine Sovereign.

At her side stood seven subordinates known as the Lords.

The Divine Sovereign was both powerful and radiant, and she ruled the continent for countless years.

Under her protection, the people lived in peace, revering and loving her.

But one day, the seven Lords rose in rebellion.

They killed the Divine Sovereign and seized her power.

Fearing that she might one day return for revenge, the Lords tore her soul into seven pieces, each claiming a fragment for themselves.

Thus, the once-unified continent was divided into seven lands, each ruled by one of the Lords.

However, as time passed, the Lords became complacent and ultimately lost the fragments of her soul.

Those scattered pieces slowly came together once more and the Divine Sovereign was reborn into the world.

Burning with a desire for vengeance against those who had betrayed and killed her, she wandered the land.

However, her newly reborn body was weak and fragile.

Driven by her desire for revenge, she wandered until she found a boy.

Recognizing his talent, she raised him to be a weapon of vengeance.

However, contrary to her intentions, he came to cherish her deeply.

He would do anything for her.

Armed with a sword, he struck down the seven Lords one by one, reclaiming the Divine Sovereign’s power just as they had done before.

But—

…

“Now do you understand? You were nothing more than a tool to me.”

The truth the boy faced—after fulfilling the Divine Sovereign’s long-cherished wish—was a cruel one.

“A tool of vengeance against those who, not knowing their place, coveted what was mine… and betrayed my trust and love.”

Raging with anger and betrayal, the boy raised his sword against the Divine Sovereign — the person he had loved more than anything.

And so, tragedy ensued.

As she lay dying, the Divine Sovereign placed a curse upon him.

“You, who have inherited my life, shall stand beyond the reach of all others — yet you will never die. Time will pass you by, and those you love will leave you one by one. In the end, you will stand alone, consumed by unbearable loneliness. Yes, you will become lonely. Like me, you will endure endless time, bound to a life steeped in solitude…”

The boy who struck her down was cursed with immortality.

At first, he did not recognize it as such.

He lived each day intoxicated by the gift of eternal youth and an endless life.

But as time passed and the people around him disappeared one by one, he realized that he alone remained and that he would have to live on in solitude forever. Only then did he come to understand that this was a curse.

Only then did he truly know loneliness.

Like the Divine Sovereign who had used him for her revenge before meeting her end, the lonely boy began to wander, searching for someone who could finally bring him death.

He became a legend, drifting endlessly through time.

—”I am Teslai, the divine sword that bestowed the power of the Divine Sovereign upon that boy—upon D’hiver Keith.

At the sword’s words, I could only ask in a dazed voice,

“…D’hiver… was that boy from the legend?”

—”Yes.”

My thoughts refused to settle.

He — the one cursed with immortality.

The transcendent being of this land.

The ‘monster’.

He wanders through eternity, searching for someone who can end his life.

And there I am, standing at his side.

I promised to spend his endless years with him.

—”And you are the one who can inherit the Divine Sovereign’s power. The one who may step into the ranks of the transcendent.

The sword spoke calmly.

—”The one and only person who can k*ll D’hiver Keith, who has long wished for death.”

“……”

My lips parted soundlessly.

I could not name the emotion filling my chest.

Only one thought came to mind—

“In the world you gave me… I want to live with you.”

It was something I had once said to him.

What I had wanted was a life with him, but what he desired… was death.

—”I will tell you one more thing.”

The sword’s voice carried a faint trace of laughter.

—”This is the Divine Sovereign… Zesti.”

And then, a figure slowly took shape in the empty air.

She had silver hair with a faint blue tint and violet eyes. Her face looked astonishingly like mine—no… it was exactly the same.

I remembered his gaze, the way he would sometimes look at me with quiet longing.

Even from the moment we first met, that unforgettable look had always been there.

And in that moment,  I understood.

I had only ever been her substitute.

It felt as though the ground beneath my feet had shattered.