~Prologue~
The door to the holy tower was open.
Gloria carefully set down the unlit candlestick and gently pushed the door.
A freezing chill poured out through the rusted gap.
In the pitch-black darkness, where she couldn’t even see a step ahead, rough breathing echoed.
Gloria followed the shadows cast by moonlight slipping through the narrow window bars. Her eyes widened in shock.
There, hanging with both arms bound in the middle of the cold stone wall, was a person.
No—could that even be called a person?
Ash-gray hair, monstrously bulging veins, and eyes that had lost all reason.
There was no trace left of the man Gloria once knew.
Only the clothes he wore—still the same as when she last saw him—gave her any hint that “that” might be him.
Will he recognize me?
Gloria cautiously opened her mouth.
“…Duke.”
“Grrr!”
A feral growl, not a word, burst from his throat like that of a beast.
Clang, clang.
The chains on his wrists clattered loudly against the stone wall.
He struggled fiercely, as if trying to rip out the shackles embedded in the wall.
Gloria bit her dry lips. She had expected this wouldn’t be easy—but the fear closing in was hard to shake off.
Still, she had to do this.
Even if he might bite her the moment she got close, there was no turning back now.
She steadied herself and carefully took a step forward.
“Grrrraaaah!”
The closer she got, the more violent his thrashing became.
Dragging her trembling feet, Gloria approached right in front of the beast and quietly spoke again.
“Asthan.”
The beast froze the moment it heard its name.
Gloria looked straight into his bloodshot eyes.
They were burning with a fire that could consume everything—yet held no reflection of her.
…If even a fragment of memory of me still remains in you…
Clinging to that faint hope, Gloria gently pressed her lips to the beast’s.
“Ah!”
Sharp teeth sank violently into her.
She groaned as pain shot through her—the flesh tearing, the taste of blood spreading in her mouth.
But even if her tongue were to be torn, she had to endure.
Because this was the only way she could save him.
Asthan, please.
Their breaths tangled harshly.
The kiss was wild and desperate—nothing tender about it. And then—
…
The beast’s rough breathing slowly began to calm.
His faded hair turned black again, and clarity returned to his once-clouded eyes.
Realizing that the movement in his mouth had stopped, Gloria slowly raised her head.
“Duke?”
“…Gloria.”
Like a princess who had broken a curse, Gloria smiled brightly—she had won a reckless gamble.
