“Tell me the truth; why would you two pretend to be in love? What could be the reason other than that?” Shia heard a familiar, seductive voice say these words. Sure enough, as she peeked inside the dressing room, she saw her – Lady Edelfina Nanris. Her arms were lovingly tangled around Prince Langrion’s neck, and she was caressing the back of his head. Shia had half-expected Langrion to act hostile towards her, but he was not pushing her away. In fact, it seemed like he was looking intently up to her, focusing his attention to the playful way she said her words against his ears and the way her long, beautiful lashes brushed against each other whenever she blinked. Shia watched as Langrion moved closer to her face and said his words in a half whisper. “It’s because of you, Edelfina. You are the reason, the one and only reason why we needed to pretend...” Shia wished she had just turned around at that point, but she stood there seemingly frozen, and as

Shia’s face turned deadly white as she called the name of the Ancient Evil. “Si-Sirion?...” As if by cue, the sounds of the debutant waltz began, and Prince Danterion - no, Sirion de Luca, the arch nemesis of the gods of Teotroly and the love of Freya’s life – started to twirl her around on the dance floor. She called his name once more as she landed in his arms and moved her closer towards his left side, embracing her tightly. “Sirion!” “Who is Sirion?” the prince began to ask. Shia peered at Danterion’s face, only to be greeted back by the sight of his worried-looking ocean-blue irises. She began to look back at her left wrist, and nothing was there; there were no tattoos, no swirling marks, and no burning sensation of any kind. Did she just imagine all of those things? “I-It’s nothing...” Shia replied back, faking a smile in her lips. Her heart raced. What did that vision mean? “Are you sure, Lady Shia? Are you sure you are

Sweat poured down generously at Caldwell’s body when he reached the Rubiyah Manor. In a feverish haste to get away, he had forgotten that his presence was still badly needed at the pavilion and that it would look suspicious if he did not go back and showed himself again. However, after what had happened back there, he could not possibly bring himself back to face the crowd, especially Shia Hyanessa Andry, Tristal’s granddaughter and Langrion’s fiancé, who most certainly will be there. He was supposed to give his blessings to her and his nephew during their formal engagement ceremony, and he simply did not have the guts to do it. As soon as he reached his residence, Gascone’s present king and Imperial Ruler, Caldwell Nanris, collapsed on the floor of his room and nervously cupped his head in his palms. ‘Why?! Why?! Why?!’ he screamed at himself. Out of all people, why must it be Tristal?! Why must it be his Tristal who should come and face him to reveal what he had tr

Langrion opened his heavy eyes. It felt like they wanted to remain shut against the midday sun, but he forced them to stay awake. His body ached all over, and his muscles felt too heavy and too weak to even roll over. He had to inch himself several times just to be able to do this. After some time, when the sleepiness that had taken over his mortal form had ebbed a little, he found himself sprawled amidst a haystack. He felt around his face too and was relieved to see that his mask was still on him. ‘Why am I here?’ Langrion asked himself, dumbfounded. The last thing that he remembered was being at the maze garden of Sensala’s Grand Pavilion, and he was running around looking for Shia. ‘My Shia,’ he remembered quickly. Rogue cursed ones had made a sudden attack at the grand pavilion. He, Khailis, and Shia were in the middle of chasing one particular rogue when he was taken over by an outpour of emotions as he clutched Shia firmly in his arms when he had sense

As Langrion bid his goodbye to Shia that morning, she said something to him that had started to bother him a bit. “Mage Silas is not just a mere magician. He is actually a god himself. His real name is Galahad.” He opened up the discussion on what to do now that Nana has passed away. Langrion remembered that the duchess’ last instruction for him was to oversee their wedding immediately, but they did not get to have their engagement announcement yet at the debutant ball. It could become harder now for them to make haste, especially since they are still in the period of mourning. He had asked Shia what she would like to do about their engagement. She did not speak for a while, and instead of answering him directly, she revealed this information about Mage Silas. He remembered the age-old myth between the Goddess of Light and the God of Reversals. He vaguely remembered the name of the god that had loved Freya based on the myths, but upon hearing her say