The northern sky was ashen as ever, and snowflakes scattered in the biting wind.
A black flag was slowly lowered alongside the solemn, restrained funeral march.
“Isn’t that the daughter of House Kardel?”
“I heard she went missing after the divorce, presumed dead or alive?”
“Seems she was alive after all. When her father was desperately searching, she didn’t even show her face…”
“Shouldn’t we inform Duke Kardel?”
“And what’s with her appearance now?”
The murmurs around her reached Odelie belatedly.
But no matter what they said or how freely they speculated, none of it mattered to her.
Odelie’s gaze was fixed solely on the coffin standing alone in the middle of the hall.
As if drawn by an unseen force, she hesitated before moving her feet forward.
When she approached the coffin, an unbelievable sight seared itself into her vision.
He lay there, surrounded by pure white flowers, as if he were only asleep.
Ludvil Exepsion, her former husband.
The traces of blood and dust from the battlefield were gone, leaving only a composed and peaceful figure.
As if he had found peace and rest only after death.
Odelie recalled the conversation she had in the carriage with her aide.
“None of the experts could determine the exact cause of death. Some say suicide, others claim murder… but the truth is something only His Grace the Grand Duke would know.”
The aide had said that while glancing at her expectantly, as if wondering whether she might know something.
But Odelie knew nothing about Ludvil.
After all, their relationship had only ever been a contractual marriage.
So really…
He was no different from a stranger.
‘Then why did you do it?’
Odelie couldn’t fathom why Ludvil had left all his inheritance to her before leaving this world.
Even now, standing in the funeral hall, she could not understand.
“Odelie, as of today, our contract is terminated.”
“This is the promised payment. Take it.”
“I never cared who it was.”
“We will not meet again.”
So this is what he meant when he said they would never meet again.
She wanted to ask.
But there was no one left in the world who could answer that question.
Only when the black coffin slowly descended into the earth could Odelie finally accept it.
That he was truly dead.
Until the funeral ended, she could not move, as if nails had been driven into her feet.
Only the hem of her black dress fluttered weakly in the cold wind.
***
Odelie had first met him six years ago.
That day, the plaza had been boiling with the heat of the festival.
Every year around this time, a grand ceremony took place.
“Look over there!”
On the city wall, mages in white uniforms stood in a circle following a ritual formation.
“O heir of the ancient blood, O light of purification.”
“Protect this Empire from the taint of all that is unclean.”
While the incantations repeated like a hymn, the man standing at the center drew all eyes.
His sacred silver hair fluttered in the wind, and his low, firm voice resonated among the crowd.
“In accordance with the primordial covenant…”
Gawin Kardel, heir to House Kardel, known as the messenger of God.
Hundreds of years ago, the Luminere Empire had nearly collapsed under the threat of grotesque beings steeped in evil energy.
In that crisis, the dragon, revered as a divine beast, spread a great barrier over the Empire through ancient magic, blocking all external threats and saving it.
But as time passed, the barrier weakened…
And just as the people’s unease grew, they appeared—
House Kardel, the only family capable of using ancient magic.
Every year, Kardel presided over the ritual to repair the barrier, and people began to call that day “The Day of Protection.”
The tradition continued unbroken to this day.
“Raise the sacred barrier once more.”
Ancient characters at his feet began to glow as if alive, and a golden pillar of magic rose high into the sky.
At that moment, the barrier above faintly appeared—
A dome-shaped shield glittering like an enormous glass wall.
Proof that the Empire was still under the dragon’s protection.
The crowd gazed up at the sight with reverent eyes.
“… By the chains of eternity, I bind this Empire.”
It was the moment Gawin chanted the final spell.
The lights from the mages’ fingertips linked together, splitting the sky.
Golden flashes spread along the city walls, and the outlines of the barrier became clear even in the far-off heavens.
As the golden light faded, the barrier turned transparent again, hiding its trace.
But everyone knew.
That shield would guarantee another year of peace.
“Glory to House Kardel!”
“Descendants of the dragon, blood of heroes, hurray!”
“Glory to the Luminere Empire!”
The plaza erupted in cheers and the clamor of celebration.
Yet deep beneath that noise, in a space so secret it required a complex series of security measures to reach , Odelie was imprisoned.
“Cough…!”
The hem of her white dress turned crimson.
When she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, bright red blood dripped between her fingers.
This was Odelie’s role.
Descendants of the dragon? Ancient magic?
It was a centuries-old fraud of House Kardel.
The so-called ancient magic protecting the Empire was nothing but an elaborate script.
In truth, the only thing sustaining this grand performance was the sacrifice of a single human body, ground down for the illusion.
‘This year … it’s worse.’
Odelie swallowed the blood, muttering inwardly.
Her throat felt as though it was burning.
In every generation, House Kardel birthed only one child with the “purification ability.”
The family called them the “Purifier,” capable of cleansing all impurities of the world.
And every year on the Day of Protection, all that was defined as evil was channeled into the Purifier’s body.
A single, one-sided sacrifice to uphold a centuries-old family.
That was the truth behind Kardel’s vaunted ancient barrier.
“Ghk … Khahk!”
Odelie coughed blood again.
The life span of a Purifier was never long—
Rarely beyond thirty.
When one died, another would inevitably be born in the next generation.
As if even the heavens endorsed this cruel cycle.
‘How much longer can I endure?’
Leaning against the wall, Odelie slowly closed her eyes.
Afterimages of light danced like sparks behind her eyelids.
Then—
Clack.
The sound of a lock turning.
In a place where no one should be able to enter.
‘Gawin?’
What new cruelty is he planning this time?
Odelie forced her eyes open.
Through her hazy, trembling vision, a face slowly came into focus.
And then …
“…”
Their eyes met.
A man she had never met before, yet somehow not a stranger.
Ludvil Exepsion.
The iron-blooded Grand Duke ruling the North.
A famous name in many respects.
Odelie wondered why he was here at all, but she didn’t even have the strength to ask.
Ludvil looked down at her for a long moment, then said casually , “I have a proposal for you.”
“…”
“A five-year term.”
He spoke as if he had made offers like this hundreds of times.
His voice was dry and indifferent, betraying no emotion, carrying only the weight of boredom.
“If you fulfill the role of mistress of House Exepsion for five years without incident, I will sever all your ties with House Kardel.”
“…”
Was this… a marriage proposal?
She thought it was insane, impossible.
But his next words made her pause.
“If things continue like this, you will die within a year.”
Odelie blinked.
The man in front of her did not disappear.
This was no hallucination.
‘Five years…’
She wasn’t sure she could even survive this year, and five years felt impossibly far away.
Yet still—
“It doesn’t seem like you have a choice.”
If, before she died, she could stand under the warm sunlight and feel the cool wind …
If she could live just one ordinary day …
“…No. I don’t.”
“Good.”
He was the farthest thing from words like light or salvation.
“Can you stand?”
“Yes.”
“Then stand.”
“…Yes.”
He offered no kind consolation, no hand to hold.
Yet his presence felt strangely vivid.
Odelie slowly lifted her frail body from the floor.
Ludvil didn’t wait for her to fully rise; he turned without hesitation.
As he walked through the secret chamber and opened the once-locked door—
“…!”
A blinding light poured in.
Odelie instinctively squeezed her eyes shut.
When she finally managed to open them, she saw a single shaft of light and golden motes drifting like waves.
“…”
She had long since abandoned hope and expectation.
So why, all of a sudden, did she feel the irrational desire to live?
For the first time, Odelie drew a deep, long breath.
There was a faint hope in it.
Small—
But undeniably real.
