"Father... what are we going to do now?"
Jacinta stared at the men standing before her. For several seconds, neither of them answered. They weren’t panicking. They weren’t even particularly surprised — they simply stood there as though what had happened in the banquet hall was nothing more than an inconvenience.
Jacinta’s breathing grew heavier. "Father?"
Daniel calmly reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a packet of cigarettes, tapping one free. Richard immediately reached for it. Without saying a word, Daniel handed him the lighter.
Click.
The tiny flame illuminated Richard’s face for a brief moment before he lit the cigarette and took a slow drag. Then Daniel took one for himself.
Jacinta stared at them, the smell of smoke filling the quiet corridor. Her eye twitched. "I believe I’m not talking to statues."
Richard exhaled a thin stream of smoke. Daniel merely glanced at her. "You are not wise enough."
Jacinta’s brows furrowed. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"This does not require you to panic, Jacinta."
"Not panic?" A bitter laugh escaped her lips. "Rosearia is alive! She was supposed to be dead! We watched her get taken away! We watched them give her the Memory Wipe Water!" Her hands trembled. "And now she is standing in the imperial palace beside the Crown Prince and the Dragon Duke as if she belongs there!"
Daniel remained completely calm.
Jacinta stepped closer. "What happens if she remembers us? What happens if she tells them what we did? What happens if she points at us and tells the Crown Prince everything?" Her voice cracked. "That is death for us!"
Daniel took another drag. "Lower your voice."
Jacinta stared at him in disbelief. "How can you possibly be this calm?"
"Because you’re allowing fear to make decisions for you." He flicked the ash from his cigarette. "You saw what happened in there. Rosearia did not recognize you."
Jacinta froze. "Just because she said she didn’t doesn’t mean it’s the truth, she could be pretending."
Richard finally spoke. "I see you never took your lessons seriously."
Jacinta turned toward him. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Richard leaned against the wall, his expression almost bored. "The Memory Water." He took another slow drag. "What was done to Rosearia wasn’t some ordinary potion that wears off after a few hours. It attacks the soul’s connection to memory itself."
Jacinta’s eyes narrowed. "And?"
"And no one has ever been known to resist it." Richard paused. "Not completely."
Jacinta frowned. "What do you mean?"
"History records only one exception." He looked directly at her. "A goddess."
Silence.
Jacinta swallowed.
Richard continued. "You cannot compare Rosearia — a nobody from a disgraced family — to a goddess."
Jacinta’s stomach twisted. "A nobody..." She looked away. For some reason, that word didn’t comfort her anymore.
She remembered the way Rosearia had stood between Adrian and Aldric. The way the entire ballroom had seemed to bend around her. The way the two most dangerous men in the empire had protected her without hesitation. And, most disturbing of all — the way Rosearia had looked at her. Not with anger. Not with hatred. Nothing. As though she truly meant nothing to her.
Jacinta’s fingers curled. She forced a small smile. "If your plan is to comfort me..." She glanced back at Richard. "You’ve succeeded."
Richard raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"No." Her smile disappeared. "So what’s the plan?"
Daniel noticed the look. A faint smile appeared on his face. "The plan..." He slowly exhaled smoke. "...is to eliminate Rosearia."
Jacinta’s eyes widened. "How?"
"It’s very easy to kill someone these days." Daniel reached into the inner pocket of his coat and pulled out a small glass vial. Inside was a dark liquid that seemed almost black beneath the dim corridor lights. He held it toward Richard.
Richard took it. "What is this?"
"Not poison." Daniel’s eyes narrowed. "Not exactly."
"It will not kill her immediately," Daniel continued, his voice frighteningly calm. "That would be too simple. It will weaken her."
Jacinta looked between them. "Weaken her how?"
"Her body is already unstable." Daniel’s fingers tapped against his cigarette. "Whatever power is protecting her has only recently begun awakening. If that power is forced to fight against something foreign..." He smiled. "She will become vulnerable."
Richard slipped the vial into his coat. "How do you want me to administer it?"
"You should have your ways." Daniel’s gaze hardened. "Find an opportunity. Make sure she consumes it without realizing what it is."
Richard nodded. "Understood." He turned and began walking away.
Jacinta hesitated, then followed. "Richard."
He didn’t stop.
"Wait." She hurried after him. "Do you really think this will work?"
Richard finally looked over his shoulder. "If the Memory Water couldn’t be resisted, why do you think she can resist this?"
Jacinta opened her mouth. Nothing came out.
Richard turned away again, and they continued down the corridor, their footsteps echoing through the palace.
One step. Two. Three.
The further they went, the quieter the palace became. Jacinta glanced behind them. Daniel was no longer visible. She frowned. Something about the silence felt wrong.
"Richard..."
He didn’t answer.
"Richard."
"What?"
"Do you feel that?"
He stopped. Jacinta stopped behind him. The corridor was empty. The candles along the walls flickered. Once. Twice.
Then—
Whoosh.
Every flame went out.
Jacinta’s breath caught. "Richard?"
He turned. "What the—"
A hand burst from the darkness. It pierced straight through his chest. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
Jacinta’s scream died in her throat. Richard’s body jerked violently, his cigarette slipping from his fingers to land on the stone floor. For one terrible second, his eyes remained open — confusion, shock, disbelief. Then the hand withdrew. Blood poured from the hole in his chest, and Richard collapsed.
"R-Richard..." Jacinta stared at him. Her entire body froze. "No..." She stumbled backward. "No, no, no..." She looked around wildly. "Who did that?"
There was no answer. Only darkness.
Then she heard it. A footstep. Another.
Something was approaching.
Jacinta turned and ran. She didn’t even know where she was going — she only knew she had to get away.
Something suddenly wrapped around her body. She screamed. "Let go of me!" She clawed at the invisible force holding her. "Please!" Nothing. The pressure only tightened. Jacinta could barely breathe.
Then—
Snap.
Someone snapped their fingers. Light exploded through the corridor. Jacinta gasped — but it wasn’t ordinary light. Flames erupted from the darkness, crimson and black, crawling across the walls and ceiling like living creatures, twisting around the stone pillars without consuming them.
Jacinta’s pupils shrank. "Hellfire..." Her lips trembled. She had heard the stories — everyone had. The flames belonging to the Fallen Demon God.
"The devil..." Her voice barely existed.
A figure slowly emerged from the fire. Black hair. A tall, imposing frame. Eyes darker than the shadows surrounding him.
Jacinta’s heart nearly stopped. She had never met him. But she knew that face. Everyone knew that face.
"Asmodeus..." The name escaped her lips. "The Fallen Demon God."
His gaze moved toward Richard’s corpse, then returned to her. There was no anger in his expression. No rage. That somehow made him more terrifying.
"I would have killed you as well." Jacinta’s entire body shook. Asmodeus stepped closer. "But don’t mistake this for mercy." His voice was quiet, almost indifferent. "I don’t do things like that."
Jacinta couldn’t speak.
Asmodeus’s gaze shifted toward the vial still hidden inside Richard’s coat, then back to her. "You were planning to poison her."
Jacinta’s blood ran cold.
"I—" She couldn’t finish.
Asmodeus’s expression didn’t change. "I would have ended both of you here." He glanced once more at Richard. "But I have no interest in taking something that belongs to her."
Jacinta stared. "Her...?"
A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched his lips. "Rosearia." The name sent another shiver through her. "As she sees fit," he said, "she may extract her revenge herself."
Jacinta’s eyes widened.
Then the flames vanished. So did he. The invisible force released her, and she crashed onto the floor. For several seconds, she couldn’t move — she could only stare at Richard’s corpse.
The corridor had returned to normal. The candles were burning again. The walls were intact. Everything looked exactly as it had before.
Except Richard was dead. And Jacinta was covered in his blood.
She slowly raised a trembling hand, her fingers shaking violently. The Demon God had come for them, and he had left her alive — not because she was innocent, and not because he pitied her, but because he wanted Rosearia to decide her fate.
Jacinta’s breathing became ragged. "What have we done...?"
For the first time that night, fear wasn’t the only thing she felt. There was something else. Something much worse. She suddenly realized that Rosearia wasn’t simply protected by the Dark Triad — she was important to them. Far more important than Jacinta had ever imagined.
And that frightened her.
She pushed herself off the floor. She needed her father. She needed answers. She needed to know what the hell was happening.