Chapter 2

Stephan’s fingertips touched the items. He carefully took them out and placed them on the prepared cloth, wrapping them up. These were mementos of Rose, secretly buried by one of her maids ten years ago. Ernst, a beautiful island nation between two continents. Rose was the last Queen of this Ernst and the former Queen of the Kingdom of Iberis.

‘Rose… my beautiful sister…’

And now, she was also the sister of Lexion Ernst, a duke from a now-fallen kingdom.

+++

Adelina was confused. A life of doing nothing. A perfect rest where not even a second of thought was required had been shattered by someone’s hand.

‘What! What’s going on here!’

Her space shook violently. The already cracked area seemed to widen further, allowing faint light to seep through.

“There is a reserved room.”

After the large vibration turned into a small one, a male voice was heard.

“What is this?”

Another deep male voice followed. It was slightly younger than the previous voice.

“It appears to be a piece of the mirror that Queen Rose always kept close. Unfortunately, it seems to have broken.”

“That’s fine.”

The younger-voiced man seemed to lift her space, causing Adelina to feel dizzy and cling to the wall of her space.

‘Oh my god! Is there really someone who looks like this? He’s incredibly handsome!’

Adelina was mesmerized by Lexion’s reflection on the mirror’s surface.

His black hair, unlike her own, was as smooth as silk, and his cool eyes were looking at her.

‘His eyes are so mysterious…’

The red eyes within seemed capable of killing a person effortlessly, yet at the same time, appeared empty as if disinterested in everything.

Undoubtedly, he was the most handsome man she had seen in her 19 years of life. Or perhaps, after being trapped in the mirror for over six months with only worms and moles for company, she felt that way.

“This is Queen Rose’s brooch. It was the last one she wore.”

Stephan handed Lexion a black rose brooch.

Lexion put down the mirror piece and silently pinned it to his jacket lapel.

This was the motif for the brooch worn by the knights of the old Kingdom of Ernst. They wore it with pride until their dying moments.

“And. She must have drunk poison from this goblet. With that frail body.”

Perhaps it was fortunate that she died by poison she took herself rather than by the enemy’s sword…

Lexion finally picked up the silver goblet. His eyes turned even redder, but that was all; he would never shed tears.

After Rose’s death ten years ago, Lexion had become someone who could not cry.

+++

“Now. You must return.”

Stephan stood up, carefully wrapping the mirror again with the cloth. It would need to be moved with extra care to avoid injury.

“Indeed. It’s time to return.”

As Lexion put the items back into his coat, he looked at Stephan.

Stephan the traitor. At the same time, the Marquis who, for the past ten years, worked behind the scenes to ensure the people of the Duchy of Ernst faced less oppression, in place of himself, who was under the surveillance and restraint of Emperor Grain.

Every time Lexion saw Stephan, he had to feel both betrayal and gratitude simultaneously.

+++

Before meeting Lexion, Adelina’s life inside the mirror was peaceful.

Buried in the earth, she spent her days meaninglessly, occasionally watching the worms and moles that came to visit.

In the darkness, she couldn’t tell how much time had passed.

She only knew that about six months had passed because it seemed like God was forcibly inserting an encyclopedia into her consciousness every day.

‘Unnecessarily… Why forcefully impart knowledge! Just give me some R-rated novels instead!’

She had protested to God several times, but the response was always another encyclopedia.

That was how Adelina’s life became even more perfect. Lexion discovered the crack in the mirror piece and, to prevent further damage, glued it to a wooden board.

‘Oh. Remodeling. Nice!’

Though the size was much smaller than the original, she liked the sturdier house and looked around his bedroom, where it was hung on the wall.

‘Wow… How can a room be this big…’

Apparently, this handsome man was also wealthy.

However, it wasn’t because of these things that her life became more perfect. Whether he was rich or poor had nothing to do with her.

“Everyone, leave.”

It was because of Lexion’s words, spoken without fail today.

After all the attendants left, Lexion took off his jacket and threw it onto the sofa.

‘Thank you, God. Thank you for making me into such a splendid mirror!’

Admiring Lexion’s bare upper body, Adelina summoned all the faith she didn’t have before.

His upper body, tightly wrapped in muscles from the neck down, was firm. The large and small scars on his body, as if deliberately carved tattoos, made him look even more formidable and dangerous.

‘Gasp! Pa… Pants too! Wait a moment! I’m not ready yet!’

She clung to the mirror wall. If she had a physical body, she would have broken through the mirror wall.

Lexion unbuckled his pants.

Gulp. Despite being only a consciousness, she swallowed.

Swoosh. As his pants slid down, he lifted them with his foot and threw them onto the sofa as well.

Adelina couldn’t think of anything. She was only filled with the desire to poke Lexion’s leg muscles with her fingers.

Now, only one piece of clothing was left on Lexion’s body.

‘Wai… Wait. Just a moment longer!’

She pretended to take a deep breath, preparing her mind.

‘Okay! I’m ready! I’ll endure it all! This is the fate of a mirror! I’ll see it all!’

Being a mirror was indeed a good decision. This life was perfect after all.

When Lexion’s hand touched the underwear below, she widened her eyes and stared intently at his hand.

“Ha… A banquet, huh. How bothersome.”

Feeling Adelina’s blatant gaze, Lexion entered the bathroom with his underwear still on.

‘Hey! Why aren’t you taking that one off! Are you discriminating against mirrors? I’m a mirror too!’

Having hoped for more since he had taken off his pants in the bedroom today, she decided that in her next life, she would become a bathroom mirror.

+++

As Lexion entered the bathtub, the lukewarm water splashed and flowed to the side.

‘So Sweeney is coming… Since Sweeney has delayed her marriage to Prince Evans for ten years, the Emperor must be quite upset.’

Sweeney was the one who betrayed the alliance ten years ago and handed the Kingdom of Ernst over to the Petrus Empire. 

At the same time, she was the current Queen of the Kingdom of Iberis, who had delayed her marriage to Prince Evans, who fell in love with her at first sight, for ten years.

‘Sweeney. What excuse will she use this time?’

The death of her father, the King, the death of other royal family members, droughts, floods, plagues… Sweeney had used various reasons to delay the marriage. Perhaps this time, she might delay it by killing another royal member. 

One might even want to applaud Sweeney’s decisiveness.

Emperor Grain had ordered Sweeney to attend the coming-of-age banquet to get a definitive answer. Even Sweeney would have to come unless she wanted to go to war.

‘They’ll all gather after ten years.’

Ten years ago. The protagonists who drove Rose to her death, the ones who reduced the Kingdom of Ernst to just a duchy, would gather in one place.

Lexion stood up from the bathtub, left the bathroom wearing only a robe, and glanced at the mirror while drying his wet hair with a white towel.

+++

Adelina stared intently at Lexion as he walked toward her.

With a white towel around his neck and a shower robe on, much of him was covered, yet his moist face was still a work of art. If she had paper and pencil, she would want to draw him immediately.

‘Oh… Hey! Behind you! Behind you!’

The curtains on the terrace moved slightly, and four assassins in black masks entered the room.

“Die, Lexion!”

The assassins thrust their swords toward Lexion’s heart. Lexion, wielding bastard swords in both hands, faced them.

“How bothersome!”

Red blood splattered on the white robe Lexion was wearing. Red droplets covered the mirror where Adelina was.

“Who sent you?”

With three already dead, Lexion’s sword was pointed at the neck of the remaining one.

“Ugh!”

But soon, that one bit his tongue, bled, and collapsed sideways.

Lexion, as if expecting this, showed no signs of disappointment and flicked his sword to shake off the blood. Then he pulled the bell rope next to the bed.

The knight captain who entered the room didn’t seem too surprised by such occurrences and bowed his head calmly before Lexion.

“Duke. I will clean the room. Please move to another room.”

As the knights who followed the captain began to clean up the assassins’ bodies skillfully, Lexion picked up one of the swords lying on the floor.

Lexion pointed that sword at the knight captain’s neck and pressed it slightly.

“Duke…”

Only then did the knight captain let out a sigh and furrowed his brows.

“At least show some sincerity by changing the sword. Stop using the spatha sword every time. Or just stick to the familiar bastard sword.”

When Lexion threw the sword he pointed at the captain’s neck to the floor, the captain wrapped his bleeding neck with one hand.

“Duke. It’s a misunderstanding.”

“Is that so? Let’s leave it at that.”

Lexion dropped the blood-stained robe to the floor and left the room.

‘What! What on earth is going on! God! Please tell me! Where am I!’

Adelina in the mirror was too shocked by the scene that unfolded before her to think of anything.

Even when she asked God what the situation was, there was no answer.

‘The swords… they are indeed different…’

The swords Lexion and the knights wore were bastard swords, a type of long sword that tapered at the end. In contrast, the spatha swords used by the assassins were slightly shorter and had a consistent thickness.

Having seen someone die for the first time, she watched in fear as the knight captain ordered the knights to collect the bodies and swords.

+++

‘Scary… so scary…’

Adelina curled up inside the mirror, making her consciousness occupy as little space as possible.

The room had already been cleaned, but the blood droplets on the mirror remained. Perhaps that’s why it still felt as though the room was filled with the smell of blood.

Click. A maid entered the dark and frightening space. The maid quickly changed the bedding and sprayed perfume, seemingly to eliminate the lingering smell of blood in the room.

Then, as if someone was watching, though she was alone, she glanced around and approached the terrace window.

‘Ventilation… she must be ventilating. That’s what it must be…’

Adelina hoped the maid wouldn’t do anything suspicious.

The maid pulled the curtain to one side and opened the window wide.

It could be seen as just the curtain fluttering in the wind. Adelina wanted to believe it was just that.

“The perfume is insufficient. It has no effect at all.”