Breakup

In the deepest depths of the Demon Realm, there stood a nameless, solitary grave.

Neither Eliza, Louis, nor even Rafina knew of this place.

There was only one person who would ever come here.

Gloom carried a flask of wine and walked silently to the front of the grave.

“I can't drink anymore. The moment the wine enters my stomach, it burns like fire. Though I've long since grown used to that kind of pain, if I can suffer a little less, I'd still prefer to avoid it, after all.”

He spoke to himself as he poured the wine in front of the grave.

The wine poured in a continuous stream, evenly soaking the pitch-black earth.

Gloom gazed at the grave.

“...Even if there were cola, I probably wouldn't drink it. Though I did promise to let you try some too.”

He smiled bitterly and sat down, speaking to the solitary grave.

“Those fruits buried in the chaos, those remnants that should have completely dissipated, instead nourish the roots of the world like fallen petals. I once found such self-sacrifice laughable, but now, I have become the exact same kind of person, heh.”

“Now that the seven great eras have occupied most of the soil and plunged their roots deep into the chaos, those threads that still nurture infinite possibilities continue to spin, creating everything.”

He fell silent for a moment.

“Rafina is a good child, and so is Lonia. But the trial they must face is not something they can pass with such childish resolve.”

The wind continued to howl. Gloom remained silent, letting his vision grow blurry.

“One more year, and I will come find you.”

...

On the day the conference was to resume, Eliza arrived early at Gloom Castle.

When the attendant announced her arrival in the hallway, Lonia was sitting on the edge of the bed in the guest room, staring blankly as her fingers mindlessly rubbed the copper hairpin.

Eliza brought a gust of cold wind with her as she pushed the door open. Her ink-black hair hung over her deep purple coat. Her eyes swept across the guest room before landing on her younger sister.

“You look pale.”

“...Didn't get enough sleep.”

Eliza walked over to the bed and sat down beside Lonia.

Then, she stroked Lonia's head.

Just like before.

She wasn't good at expressing tenderness, but her hand was indeed gently caressing her.

“Lonia, bow your head.”

“What for—”

“Your hair is messy. Let me fix it for you.”

“I'm already grown up. I don't need your help fixing it.”

Lonia snorted, but she still lowered her head.

Eliza's fingers ran through her black hair, gently smoothing it out as if stroking the finest silk.

Her movements paused for a split second, but she quickly resumed her normal pace, continuing to comb downward.

“...There.”

She stood up and looked down at the top of Lonia's bowed head, her expression completely unchanged.

“I will attend today's Joint Conference. You stay in the guest room.”

“...Okay.”

Eliza turned and walked out of the room, her high heels tapping a steady rhythm against the black stone floor of the hallway.

The sound grew more distant, fainter, and finally vanished around the corner.

Lonia sat on the edge of the bed.

An inexplicable sense of unease began to spread deep within her heart.

...

The Ten Courts Joint Conference hall.

Rafina sat in the main seat, her silver-white hair tied back, her crimson pupils calm as water under the candlelight.

Today was the day she prepared to formally propose the first stage of her reduction plan.

The documents had been in preparation for a long time. Every piece of data, every supporting point, and every potential counterargument had been rehearsed countless times.

She had even prepared three different opening styles, intending to switch between them flexibly depending on Eliza's reaction.

But Eliza didn't give her the chance to start.

She stepped into the conference hall, her slit crimson pupils sweeping across the other nine Court Head representatives present.

“Before the Acting Demon King proposes today's agenda, the Vampire Court has an emergency motion.”

“The Vampire Court has obtained definitive intelligence: the Acting Demon King is secretly drafting a power reduction proposal targeting the Vampire Court. The proposal includes the phased stripping of the Vampire Court's mineral vein control, the downsizing of military units, and... replacing certain Royal Court Heads if necessary.”

The air in the conference hall froze.

Sparks sputtered from the breath exhaled by the Flame Demon Court Head. Tia, who had already become the Nightmare Court Head, was in the middle of smoking, but her hand holding the pipe froze in midair upon hearing those words, a rare trace of worry and confusion flickering in her eyes.

Then, the Demon Court Head cast a dark gaze toward Rafina.

Louis, the former heir to the Demon King and prince of the Demon Court, had inherited the position of Demon Court Head upon reaching adulthood at eighteen.

His shoulder-length grey hair draped over his slender frame, and a certain disdain leaked from his purple eyes, which closely resembled the Demon King's.

But Rafina did not register whatever expression he was making.

In her eyes, something shattered.

That proposal—she had hidden it underneath 《Slime Adventures》.

Only one person had entered her room.

Only one person had waited for four hours while she was away.

Eliza continued speaking.

She even quoted the exact text from the proposal.

Word for word.

Rafina sat in the main seat, her tail hanging beside her chair, motionless.

The meeting ended four hours later. Eliza's emergency motion received joint support from the Shadow Demon Court and the Lich Court, demanding that the Acting Demon King disclose all power adjustment plans targeting each Court and submit to a joint review by the Ten Courts.

Rafina did not object.

She had no room to object.

After the meeting adjourned, the Court Heads departed one by one.

Tia and Louis looked back at Rafina before leaving; the former remained silent for a moment before walking away, while the latter snorted coldly before departing.

Eliza did not leave immediately.

She walked up to Rafina's main seat.

“Someone who cannot even keep their own secrets has no right to sit in this seat.”

Her voice was very quiet, audible only to the two of them.

“A King's first lesson: never entrust your weakness to anyone outside your family.”

She left.

Rafina sat in the empty conference hall, motionless.

“...Rafina.”

The Demon King appeared behind her at some unknown point.

Rafina did not respond to him.

Without a word, she left the main seat.

...

Lonia heard footsteps in the guest room.

They were very light, as if walking slowly, step by step.

“...Fina is back?”

Naturally, it should be Fina coming to find her.

But if it were Fina, she would usually be jogging to meet her.

She was always like that—the moment she thought about seeing Lonia, her pace would unconsciously quicken.

The footsteps stopped at the door.

The person did not knock, simply lingering outside the door.

Heavy breathing came from outside. Though the tone was familiar, at this moment, it felt incredibly foreign to Lonia.

Lonia stood up from the bed and hesitantly opened the door.

She saw Rafina.

Rafina was looking at her.

Lonia had never seen such a look in those eyes before.

It was the look a drowning person would have when they saw the hand that had pushed them into the water.

The look of witnessing something absolutely impossible happen.

“Fina?”

Lonia took a step forward out of the room, trying to take her hand, wanting to ask her what was wrong.

Rafina took a step back.

“You told her.”

Lonia's voice caught in her throat.

“...What?”

“The documents. The proposal. You read all of it. And then you told Eliza.”

Her voice, matching her expression, enunciated every single word, laying bare her innermost thoughts.

“I didn't...”

“She read the exact text at the conference. Word for word.”

Rafina's voice was trembling.

“Only you entered my room. Only you.”

Lonia was stunned, speaking in a bit of a panic: “No, it's not like that, Fina, listen to me...”

“You know what I wrote at the end, don't you?”

Lonia's mouth shut.

She knew.

“Only you... I thought I absolutely could not compromise. Only you.”

The world was turning white.

Just like that afternoon when she had almost lost her, with Rafina at the center, everything was turning white.

Color was stripped away, revealing the essence of utter nothingness. A spotless, pure white.

“I put everyone on the reduction list! The Flame Demon Court, the Nightmare Court, the Succubus Court—I made plans for every core figure related to the Royal Courts, and even Tia and Fema were no exception. But I excluded you!”

Her voice grew higher and sharper, like a violin string stretched to its limit.

“And then you took this and told your sister?!”

“I didn't tell her!”

Lonia roared back.

“I didn't say anything! I read it, but I didn't say a word! After I came back last night, I didn't say a single—”

“Then how did she know?!!!”

The phosphorescent flames in the hallway all exploded.

The entire hallway was dyed a flawless, pure white. The instant the phosphorescent lamps were stripped of their color, the flames wailed like sinners cast into purgatory, exploding and scattering in all directions.

Rafina's breathing was rapid and erratic, her chest heaving violently, the fabric of her dark grey robe expanding and collapsing with her breath. Her tail stood high behind her, the spade-shaped tip splayed open.

Lonia had never seen that tail do such a thing before. It was like a startled cat arching its back.

Rafina's pupils burned, reflecting Lonia's pale face.

No... it's not like that. Calm down. Although I don't understand how my sister found out, as long as I explain clearly...

“Get out.”

Everything Lonia wanted to say, all the words she still wanted to tell her, were violently crushed in her throat before they could be spoken.

“Fina...?”

“Get out!”

Mana erupted from Rafina's body. The pressure of Rank Nine was like an invisible wall, expanding in all directions from her.

Lonia's knees buckled.

The top layer of the floor beneath her feet turned into dust. Just like those three slave traders.

Blood rushed backward, her ears rang, blood threatened to spill from her eyes, and her stomach churned.

Ever since Lonia had thrown up due to Rafina releasing her pressure, Rafina had never unleashed even a shred of her power in front of her again.

Sometimes Lonia would wonder: just how far had she grown? Would she be unable to resist the urge to kneel simply by standing before her?

—Yes.

It was a despairing chasm.

But Lonia did not kneel.

She gritted her teeth tightly and looked into Rafina's eyes.

She looked at those rubies she had watched since childhood—changing from pale red to deep crimson, from curious to calm, and now, fracturing.

Lonia reached her hand into her collar. Her fingertips brushed against the hairpin.

It was shaped like a maple leaf. Nine years of wear had rounded its edges, and the patterns of the veins were rubbed nearly smooth by her fingertips.

She squeezed the hairpin tightly, gripping it with enough force as if trying to hold onto something that was about to vanish.

“...”

No... she's just too angry right now... Let's leave it at this for now... Once she calms down, I'll explain it clearly to her...

...Why did my sister know? I clearly never said anything... Unless...

No... I'll think about that later... Let Fina calm down first... She just needs some time to cool off...

She straightened up and turned to leave.

Her leather boots stepped on the black stone floor, step by step, in a steady rhythm.

Then, she stopped.

Deep within her consciousness, that thread vibrated violently.

Extending from a certain spot in her chest, it connected to another person's heartbeat.

From six years old to seventeen, from the old archives to the maple forest, from the maple forest to Gloom Castle, from Gloom Castle to this dark hallway.

Rafina grabbed that thread.

And ripped it apart.

As long as one's rank was higher, a party to a blood covenant could forcibly sever it.

The price... was a backlash on both of their souls.

Lonia felt as if a piece of her chest had been hollowed out.

A void. A space that had been growing since she was six, filled with over a decade of heartbeats and body warmth, was emptied in a single second.

Lonia's body collapsed.

She fell to the ground, and the hairpin she had been squeezing slipped from her hand, clattering onto the floor.

A pain like a jagged blade sawing every single bone in her body into dust surged through her.

“Aaaaaah!!!”

Lonia trembled all over, her agonizing, heart-wrenching scream echoing through almost the entirety of Gloom Castle.

As she was tortured by the pain, she realized that behind her, extremely faint whimpers were being choked back behind clenched teeth.

After a moment, she finally adapted to the agony.

Forcing herself, she turned around to look back.

The hallway was very dark, for the colors had returned. A vampire's night vision came in handy at times like this.

Lonia saw very clearly.

Rafina was limping, walking toward her own room.

She could only see Rafina's back.

She knew that the one who actively severed the bond would bear an even more intense pain.

“...”

Lonia stared blankly at Rafina's retreating back, the pain that had nearly driven her mad just moments ago vanishing as if it had never existed.

In its place was a different kind of pain.

She watched as Rafina's figure disappeared.

That person did not look back at her even once.

...

Lonia did not know how she had walked out of Gloom Castle.

Her scream from earlier seemed to have been muffled by something. What had happened in that hallway was perhaps known only to her and Rafina.

By the time the pain had mostly subsided, she had walked out of Abyss City and stepped into the cold wind of the Desolate Plains of Withered Bones.

She did not take the hairpin that had fallen to the ground.

The void in her chest howled in the cold wind, like an abandoned creature that could not find its way home and could not even make a sound.

Lonia did not cry.

She just walked.

On and on.

Walking toward the vampire territory.