Kurthu wandered aimlessly through the vast, empty mansion. Only a few years ago, the Grand Duchy of Axid had supposedly been teeming with people, yet now the only signs of that past were the grand scale of the estate and its ornate emblems. Covered in cobwebs and layers of dust, the hollowed-out halls felt more like a haunted house than a noble’s residence.
Ghosts. So scary.
One of the elders of Desertus who had raised her—Nana—used to tell Kurthu countless ghost stories from a young age. When Nir’a, the devourer of souls, dies, the spirits it consumed are released and begin to wander the world. Vengeful spirits, heavy with resentment, linger in search of an opportunity to possess a living body. It was said they mimicked the behavior of devils.
“…Does the Duke of Axid really command ghosts?”
Tiaki tilted his head at the sudden question. He was lounging on a chair he had found somewhere, leaning it back precariously, so that when he turned, he looked at Kurthu upside down.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“…Nana and… the others always said so. That the Tither of the North has long dealt with darkness, so we should be careful of the ghosts hiding in it.”
Kurthu couldn’t help but recall the duke who had ordered her to keep watch over Jasper, and the words suddenly felt all too plausible. The man’s cold, unreadable expression made him seem capable of killing without the slightest change in demeanor. He was suffocatingly handsome and exuded an overwhelming presence. Given his towering height and broad frame, his movements should have been noticeable, but she could still picture the way he vanished without a sound—so much so that the duke himself felt like a ghost.
“I mean, you’ve seen him a few times, right, Tiaki…? I was wondering if you’d seen anything like that.”
“The duke does have that ghost-like, intimidating aura. But you know the power of the Tither isn’t something like that. Their strength exists to fight Nir’a. They’d be more likely to protect against spirits than summon them.”
“Then our power too… was originally meant to fight Nir’a?”
Tiaki fell silent at her question. Kurthu had asked with genuine curiosity.
“If that’s true, then does my strange power also carry the will of the Moon?”
Kurthu’s ability was occasionally useful in uncovering unsavory truths in the real world, but it had no connection to slaying Nir’a. The ability to read memories alone was powerless against such a threat.
“Don’t ask pointless questions.”
Tiaki finally scolded her. Behind his sharp gaze flickered a troubled light. Anyone raised in Desertus must have asked themselves that question at least once in their life. Why fragments of the Tither’s power resided within them.
It was a power they couldn’t openly use, and it was far from complete—nothing like the true Tither. Because of that, they were spared the terrifying fates like Rampage even without undergoing Purification, but they all lived their lives with the lingering, physical burden of that power gnawing at them from the inside.
In Tiaki’s case, he frequently suffered from high fevers and vivid nightmares. As for Kurthu, she often couldn’t distinguish her own senses. Sometimes she wouldn’t even feel pain, and once, she burned her hand without realizing it. Her right hand was now marred by grotesque burn scars because of it.
“We’re just accidents. Like stains the noble Tithers left behind by mistake.”
“But you said the Tither’s power exists solely to defeat Nir’a, right? Then maybe… if we look closely enough, our powers might have some kind of meaning too?”
“Stop with the meaningless assumptions.”
Tiaki rose from his chair. Kurthu’s gaze followed his back as he moved to leave the empty room.
Just as he opened the door to step out, he came to an abrupt stop, then backed away and returned into the room. Kurthu tilted her head at the odd behavior, and just then, someone else entered through the door Tiaki had opened.
“So you show up without a sound as always, Your Grace.”
Tiaki greeted the Duke of Axid with a slightly shaken voice. The man stepped inside with a frigid expression and removed his cloak. Everything he wore—starting from the cloak draped over his wide shoulders—was pitch-black, but his face was strikingly pale.
Kurthu hadn’t noticed it at night, but now that it was daytime, the duke’s hair—an ash-gray so dark it looked nearly black—shimmered faintly silver under the sunlight. His eyes were a beautiful shade of gray. His skin bore the pale luster rarely seen in the South.
“Did you keep a close watch on Jasper?”
Kurthu, who had been staring at his face as if in a trance, flinched and straightened up at the sound of his deep voice. The low, resonant baritone alone carried such authority that it instinctively made her want to behave.
“Sure. I even let him have some soup the one time he woke up before knocking him out again. That’s pretty generous treatment, right?”
Tiaki responded with a lazy grin. Kurthu had to stifle a laugh at his flippant attitude—the very sort that Nana always scolded him for—but then the duke suddenly paused and turned around. His expression seemed troubled, and Kurthu’s eyes naturally followed his line of sight.
There was another man.
Someone even taller than the already towering duke—a man so breathtakingly beautiful, he was almost otherworldly.
Whoa. He’s gorgeous.
Her eyes were instantly drawn to him like a magpie spotting a glimmering jewel. His jet-black hair contrasted starkly with his porcelain skin, making him look like a princess out of a fairytale. Yet his sharp nose and defined lips were distinctly masculine and statuesque. His surreal beauty made him seem like a vision, and Kurthu found herself parting her lips in awe. For some reason, just looking at him made her heart flutter.
“Uh, um…?”
Tiaki, clearly sharing her stunned reaction, let out a dumbfounded noise as well. The duke frowned at the sight and snapped sharply at him.
“Get a hold of yourself.”
Tiaki quickly shook his head back and forth, wearing a sheepish expression. Bowing hastily, he offered a polite greeting.
“Wow, so this is the prince we’ve only heard about in stories? Greetings, I’m Tiaki. Kurthu, come over and say hello. A noble guest has personally graced us with his presence.”
Kurthu trotted up to stand before him. The famed prince standing behind the duke offered them a gentle smile. It was a smile as soft and fragrant as the petals of a newly blossomed flower.
“They said you were in need of my help. I’m not all that skilled, but I hope I can be of use.”
“What do you mean, not skilled?!”
Tiaki’s flustered outburst earned him a cold stare from the duke. Kurthu opened her mouth to express her thanks, but her nerves got the better of her, and no sound came out. She simply bowed her head deeply. Watching the two, the prince slowly stepped forward, coming to stand before the duke. At a glance, the duke seemed much larger, but from this angle, the prince was tall enough to obscure him. Despite his slender frame, his presence was surprisingly substantial.
“Um, how exactly do we receive Purification? I heard it requires physical contact… but I’m not sure if lowly beings like us are even allowed to touch a member of the royal family.”
Tiaki’s tone was calm, but Kurthu could tell how nervous he was. She’d known him too long not to notice. Just moments ago, he’d been singing praises about Purification, yet now that it was time to reach out and receive it from royalty, he seemed apprehensive. Kurthu smirked internally.
The prince gave a gentle smile.
“There’s no need for that. Fortunately, my power can be used in a variety of ways.”
With that, he looked calmly from Kurthu to Tiaki. Though his lips held a smile, his violet eyes were as serene as his voice. He lifted an arm and extended a hand before them—white as porcelain and finely sculpted, as if carved from marble. Kurthu stared at it, mesmerized, as though the hand were caressing the air. Tiaki was equally entranced.
As their eyes remained fixed on the hand, something strange occurred. From the prince’s fingertips spread a warm, gentle energy, filling the air. That energy reached out for the currents always prickling beneath Kurthu’s skin like thorns. It settled into her body quickly and softly soothed her jagged inner energy, as if whispering that it was all right. The oppressive, knotted power that had blocked her veins began to dissolve, slowly melting and being absorbed into her body in its proper form.
“Wow…!”
Kurthu let out a breathless gasp without realizing it. Tiaki seemed to feel it too, inhaling sharply as he looked at the prince with disbelief.
“This is insane. I’ve never felt this light in my body before…!”
He shouted with a look of sheer joy. Watching silently, the duke turned to Kurthu and asked,
“How are you feeling?”
“…I think I can do it! Right now, should I?”
Kurthu hadn’t used her ability to read memories since a single accidental incident in childhood. But right now, she felt she could do anything. When the duke gave a nod, Tiaki motioned to her. Kurthu hurried to his side and stood before the still-unconscious Jasper. He was slumped against the wall, head bowed, and the gentle rise and fall of his chest made it seem like he was simply taking a nap.
“Waking him up?”
At Tiaki’s words, the prince stepped forward. Kneeling gracefully beside Jasper, the prince looked at him calmly and called to him.
“Jasper, wake up.”
Jasper, who had seemed to be in a deep sleep, snapped his eyes open the instant he heard the prince’s voice. Staring blearily at him, Jasper let out a puzzled, half-asleep murmur.
“My lord?”
“Yes. I’m sure you were startled by what happened. Are you hurt?”
“…Where am I right now…? I mean, yesterday, I clearly remember being summoned by the duke…”
As he spoke, Jasper glanced behind the prince and spotted the duke. His face went stark white, and he jerked back, pressing himself to the wall.
“H-Hiiik…!”
He pointed a trembling finger at the duke and spoke to the prince in a desperate voice.
“A demon! That demon tried to kill me yesterday, my lord! Just like he did to that woman in the square…!”
The duke gave Kurthu a subtle nod. She tensed but stepped toward Jasper. Whether he didn’t notice her approaching or was too terrified to care, Jasper only had eyes for the duke and continued to shout.
“Nir’a is coming…! Your Highness, you must get away!”
As he struggled, the prince grasped Jasper’s hand. His white fingers held Jasper’s tightly, and he spoke in a calm murmur.
“The duke won’t harm you, Jasper.”
At his quiet voice, Jasper’s fit subsided slightly. Kurthu approached and gently took his arm. The moment her hand touched him, she was flooded with the overwhelming fear saturating his soul. It was the terror of a young boy convinced he could die at any moment—so deep and intense that Kurthu herself began to tremble.
“I… I can see the square…”
Kurthu was pulled into his memory.
It was a bright spring day. The festival square, surrounded by green trees, was lined with rows of knights. On a stone platform at the center stood a black-haired woman who looked just like the prince. She was smiling and speaking to a middle-aged man with golden-brown hair. That man, seemingly the leader of the knights, gave off a distinct energy—he felt like a Tither. No, he was a Tither.
Jasper had been watching them secretly. Hidden in the nearby woods were other boys like him, holding their breath. A whisper passed among them.
“Isn’t that… isn’t that Her Majesty the Queen? What do we do? If we get caught, we’re gonna be executed.”
The trees lining the square bore delicious apples each spring. Sometimes, hungry commoners from the capital would sneak in to steal the fruit. Though the orchard technically belonged to the royal family, it wasn’t strictly guarded and often served as a springtime food source for the poor. The boys must have been hiding there for that reason and gotten stuck.
Then Jasper’s gaze fixed on a woman with long silver hair. She stood away from the queen and the man, staring warily toward the woods. Her back tensed. A massive shadow crept out from the forest. At first, it looked like a mass of overlapping tree shadows, but it grew and grew—then rose from the ground.
“Shildras! Look behind you! Behind you—!”
The woman shouted in horror and drew her sword. At her cry, the golden-haired man on the platform turned to look. Behind the queen, from the stone floor, the massive shadow coalesced into a shape. The sight was unreal. The sun was bright in the sky, yet this slithering blackness moved across the gleaming square. It took the form of a serpent—towering twice the height of a man—and was crawling straight for the queen.
“Nir’a is targeting Her Majesty!”
At the woman’s scream, the knights sprang into action. The queen turned around with a confused look, only for the golden-haired man to grab her and pull her out of harm’s way. The black serpent’s shadow lunged toward where she had stood. Several knights nearby were swallowed whole by its gaping maw.
