At first, she hated him so much that she wanted to rip off every part of her body that touched him. 

Of course, that was when they were both new to all of this. 

Until Rose finally said “I love you”, Pluto did not stop caressing her. He showered her with love until her whole body softened and melted under his affection, until she was too weak to resist and collapsed in his arms, again and again and again… 

It was Pluto who first showed her what love was. 

At first she hated it, but once she accepted it, Pluto’s love was so intense and sweet that she felt suffocated. She was helpless in the pleasure that felt like being beaten. 

Pluto held her contentedly, and every time she cried with joy, he praised her beauty and wiped away her tears. His touch made her skin burn, the redness of her body became so painful that even the slightest brushing caused it to sting… 

The violent nights with Pluto always overflowed with fulfilment for Rose. It made her forget her pain and her struggles. The man she had once hated and resented so much had slowly become her only lifeline. Whenever she felt broken, he was the first person she sought out, and every time, Pluto welcomed her with open arms. 

The two of them, mismatched in every way, ended up as husband and wife. That was the kind of marriage Rose knew. 

‘Perhaps human culture is different?’ 

Looking down at the sleeping Holy Knight, Rose snapped her fingers and the man’s body vanished from her arms in an instant. 

Since it would be inconvenient for him to awaken and cause chaos, Rose decided to place him temporarily in a prison designed to contain angels. This prison, which suppressed divine power, would surely keep him contained even if the holy knight suddenly awakened. 

Having placed the man in the shabby cell, Rose quickly draped a thin shawl over her shoulders and stepped out into the corridor. 

‘Perhaps I can find something useful to read.’ 

Pluto, who enjoyed war and conquest, had a habit of collecting and documenting all the information he gathered and storing it in his private library. The location of this library was kept secret, and only Rose knew where it was. 

At the end of the left corridor, where Pluto’s office was, Rose took down a portrait with long hair from the paintings hanging above the fireplace. As she did so, she felt the floor shake beneath her. 

Boom-

Climbing down the spiral staircase that appeared in the fireplace, Rose descended into the underground. 

Whoosh-

Cold wind blew from the cracks in the cold brick walls. The lightless corridor was eerily dark and lonely, but being used to such conditions, she didn’t even notice. 

As the biting cold air brushed against her skin, she hunched her shoulders and walked with her head down as usual. But at one point, she suddenly felt as if the room around her had brightened. 

When she closed and opened her eyes, she found herself standing at the entrance to a vast library, so large that she could easily have lost her way. 

As she wandered between the tall and crowded bookshelves, as if walking through a forest, Rose picked up a book on human marriage customs. Upon opening it, she was instantly shocked and covered her mouth in disbelief. 

“Oh dear, I forgot.” 

‘Humans spend their first night together after marriage…!’

She had made a mistake. When marrying someone from another race, respecting their culture is essential, but since it had been so long since she had interacted with anyone other than Pluto, she almost made the same rude mistake her husband had made with her. It was fortunate that she had come to the library before it was too late.

Rose had become accustomed to the culture of the demon realm, but the holy knight was different. He had just arrived in the Demon King’s castle, so it was natural for him to think in the ways of the world he came from. 

‘Now I understand why he was so serious and strict.’ 

They weren’t even married, so Rose wasn’t a wife to him, just a stranger! How could he not be confused? A man who had never held a woman’s hand was suddenly faced with a n*ked body. It must have been incredibly embarrassing and overwhelming for him. Rose understood his feelings perfectly. 

Didn’t I feel the same way before I fully accepted the culture of the Demon Realm? Pluto, with his fiery personality, didn’t respect me as someone from a different race. Of course, after living in the Demon Realm for so long, I had gotten used to thinking like my husband, and I no longer held that against him. 

But I didn’t want the holy knight to experience the same feelings I had.

If he felt something similar to what she had felt back then – if he thought about wanting to rip off the skin that had touched her – then knowing that might upset her a little. 

Even after becoming a demon, Rose was still a woman with a tender heart. She decided to do her best to be considerate of the holy knight, to protect her fragile state of mind. 

‘Then, after the wedding, I’ll take him down!’ 

Still, in her own way. 

***

As soon as Rose returned to her room, she began preparing for the wedding. She repaired the damage caused by the Holy Knight in the bedroom, and as she walked through the ruined halls of the castle to finish the repairs, it was almost dawn. 

Finally, she made her way to the banquet hall. 

Creak

As the door opened, a large chandelier greeted her with a burst of light. Rose looked around the glittering interior with unfamiliar eyes. 

The vast, empty banquet hall was eerily silent, as if it were lifeless. The only sound was the sharp echo of her footsteps on the bloodstained carpet. 

Rose paused at the stairs and stared up at the high platform for a moment. Step by step she climbed the steep stairs and stood before the throne placed in the centre. Her husband’s throne, once extravagant, was now stained with dark red blood, giving it a grim, sombre glow. 

There was always only one throne in the banqueting hall. Due to Pluto’s intense jealousy, he no longer allowed Rose to appear at official gatherings, so the Queen’s throne, which was always vacant, was naturally removed. 

The king of the demon realm had always been a man. 

Carefully touching the broken metal armrest, Rose slowly sat down on the throne. From there she took in the full view of the ruined hall. The view at her feet, something she could never possess, even though she had lived thousands of years as the Demon King’s wife. 

Ah, so this was it – so boring and insignificant. The things she had cried for and longed for, finally in her hands. All this came after everything had died, been destroyed and broken. 

Rose had lost everything, but she had gained the world. 

Now she was the ruler of the demon realm. 

With her chin resting on the arm of the throne, a weak, helpless smile crossed Rose’s lips. Though she had lived here for thousands of years, there seemed no reason to return; the sight of the ruined hall was more familiar to her than the intact banquet hall. 

Alone in the ruins of the castle, Rose remembered the day it all began – the day of the end. 

As they say, the beginning and the end are always connected.

I remember the warmth of the light touching my lips and the feeling of the white hair brushing against my cheek. The moment our breaths intertwined was so intoxicating. With just an embrace and a kiss, my whole mind was swept away. 

I loved the soft kiss that seemed to want to consume me. I wanted to melt and disappear, lost in the purity and thoughtfulness of this gesture. If only that could happen, if only it could… 

Maybe my tainted body and soul could be purified and disappear as well.

If only she could merge with such a noble life. If only with every kiss and embrace, all the pain and loneliness could be covered by its holy light. She felt that it would be acceptable for her existence to shatter and disappear.