I Will Become the Queen of the Enemy Country

On the last day of the year, the palace where Karan and Elise were staying was bustling with activity.

Deboa and Jasmine’s group, who came to see Elise, arrived. They were accompanied by Rosh, who guided them.

Leber, who had just finished his medical examination, ran down so fast his feet were sweating when he heard the news.

“Deboa…”

Leber looked dazed. Haltbin, Regina, and Jasmine exchanged glances.

‘These two are not just friends.’

“I didn’t think you’d really come.”

Leber was on the verge of tears. Deboa handed him a handkerchief.

“I had to see with my own eyes how you’re doing! I brought lots of useful medicinal herbs. I also brought plenty of medical news and papers you might be interested in. Don’t cry, stop it!”

Leber sniffled, then smiled brightly.

On one side, Haltbin greeted the guests and explained Elise and Karan’s condition.

“…According to Leber, their health is improving.”

It was the best news in recent days. Everyone’s faces finally brightened.

“By the way, you all picked the right day to come,” Haltbin said, feigning an excited voice.

“Why? What’s special about today?” Jasmine’s eyes widened.

Rosh laughed.

“Miss Jasmine, on the last day of the year in Tetris, the sun doesn’t set.”

“What? That’s impossible. How can that be?”

“How? It’s right here!” Haltbin took Rosh’s side.

“R-really?”

As Jasmine became serious, Deboa pulled her arm.

“Don’t tease the innocent girl. That’s not it, Jasmine. They light up the place so brightly it’s as if the sun hasn’t set, and they party. It’s a tradition.”

Jasmine narrowed her eyes and glared at everyone around her. Haltbin and others immediately apologized. Jasmine’s anger didn’t last long. She wasn’t that angry to begin with.

“Shall we go to the party?” Haltbin’s voice rose. People rushed into the castle.

“I feel like something good is going to happen,” Jasmine said, starting to hum a tune.

She put random melodies to the words she wanted to say.

The miracle of the sun not setting, other miracles are possible too. They say one miracle calls for another. The miracles of Tetris are fair. On the night when everyone is awake, may they wake up too.

Jasmine’s self-composed song, representing everyone’s feelings, grew longer and longer.

****

Karan was having an excruciatingly long dream.

But there were moments when that dream turned sweet, and that was when Elise appeared. Elise appeared in various forms.

She was a crying child, a brave girl reaching out her hand to him, a beautiful lady, and then became a tragic heroine.

Every form was beautiful and lovely enough to be painless even if put in his eyes, but Karan’s heart only grew darker.

Why don’t you smile? We promised to smile.

He couldn’t distinguish which parts were his memories and which were dreams, but one thing was certain.

I want to see her smiling face for real.

But he didn’t know how to wake up from this dream.

Karan wandered, looking for a way. His steps gradually turned towards the past.

Past the time he had turned back, to when he met Elise, and when he first saw the light of the world.

If he was walking through memories, this should have been where it stopped.

But Karan’s feet didn’t stop. His memories were connected to an even older past.

The final destination was two thousand years ago, in a distant time.

Before Karan appeared a silver wolf and a magician wrapped in a robe.

He instinctively realized who they were.

The silver wolf, his ancestor, and the great magician, his companion.

The source of the power overflowing in his body was the silver wolf.

The reason Karan was exceptionally strong was because the silver wolf’s power awakened when it was time for Ragnaros to awaken.

And the reason he couldn’t use magic was because of Ragnaros’s curse.The one who left the key to break that curse was the great magician.

Somehow, he felt played.

“That’s not the right way to think.”

The great magician said. Karan raised one eyebrow.

“We didn’t do anything. It was all you. You and that child who turned back time.”

“Do you know Elise?”

When Karan reacted sensitively, the great magician burst into laughter. It was a laugh so refreshing it was almost cool.

“Of course I do. That child came to find me.”

As the great magician moved their lips, everything Karan had been curious about replayed.

The process of Elise drawing the magic circle, Ragnaros’s end, and the reason he was alive.

Elise sacrificing herself for him!

His breath caught in his throat. As Karan sat down gasping, the silver wolf bit his hand hard.

The bite was strong enough to leave clear teeth marks, bringing him back to his senses.

“Thank you for breaking the stubborn ill fate with Ragnaros. We’ve prepared a small gift for you.”

As the great magician waved their hand, sparkling lights gathered.

A very bright light, illuminating even Karan’s heart – Karan knew what it was.

It was Elise’s smile.

Karan ran at full speed. His heart felt like it would burst from beating so hard, but Karan didn’t care.

If I can see your smile, I don’t care if my heart burns up.

His love was, as always, self-destructive.

But it had never once been painful.

Because Elise was there.

As long as you’re okay, even cutting off my own flesh is nothing.

So Elise, please look at me and,

“…smile.”

“I am smiling.”

“Now you’re even lying.”

“It’s true.”

“Really?”

“See.”

Something touched Karan’s palm. Something warm and moist, like… tears?

Karan’s eyelids slowly lifted. A bright light was illuminating the room. But there was something even brighter and more radiant right in front of Karan’s eyes.

“Elise…”

She looked a bit thinner, but she was smiling at Karan.

Her crescent moon-shaped eyes, the sparkling pupils visible between them, and the gentle curve drawn by her pink lips formed the smile Karan had so longed to see.

That bright, pure, and warm smile spread light into every dark corner of Karan’s heart.

“Your Highness, did you sleep well?”

“I… slept, a lot. And you?”

“I slept a lot too.”

Elise had woken up exactly one hour before Karan.

While she was walking through happy memories, someone pushed her back hard. That’s how she opened her eyes, and from then until now, she had been looking at Karan, calling his name endlessly.

She wasn’t anxious that he wouldn’t wake up. Karan always appeared when Elise called him.

She believed it would be the same this time. And he didn’t betray Elise’s faith.

“Elise, what happened to us?”

Karan’s memory wasn’t complete. His last memory was the moment Ragnaros pierced his stomach.

Karan reflexively felt his abdomen. He felt a flat stomach.

“You did it, Your Highness. Ragnaros is dead, and we’re alive.”

“It wasn’t me, it was you.”

Karan immediately corrected Elise’s words.

“No, it was you. If it weren’t for you, I would have given up.”

If Elise hadn’t loved Karan, she wouldn’t have drawn the magic circle to turn back time.

Because she loved him, she drew the magic circle, and to activate that magic circle, she killed Iris.

If not, in this world without Ragnaros, where the one who could stop him was dead, Iris would have turned everything into a wasteland.

So it was all thanks to Karan.

“That’s what I should be saying. If it weren’t for you, I…”

Whether Ragnaros lived or died, he wouldn’t have even thought about breaking the curse on him in the first place.

It was because Elise was there, to complete her revenge, and then to fully possess her.

Karan’s motives were thoroughly selfish.

“Let’s say we both did well.”

As always, Elise came up with a clear answer.

There was no need to argue about who did better when all the problems were solved.

“It’s all over, Your Highness.”

Elise said, smiling at him. For a moment, Karan’s heart grew heavy.

She had chosen to marry him for revenge. That revenge had ended not long ago. Did that mean their marriage was over too?

“I have something to say.”

“Elise, how about later? I have something to say too, but…”

Elise sat up. Karan also sat up, leaning his back against the headboard.

But he couldn’t meet Elise’s eyes. He was afraid she might say she wanted to break up. There had never been such a terrifying moment in his life.

“I’m going to say it now.”

In fact, she had wanted to say this since she was in her dream. Her heart felt like it would burst with love for him.

Elise grabbed Karan’s chin and turned it. Their pupils shook with different meanings.

Elise took a deep breath.

“Elise, I…”

“I love you, Your Highness.”

“…”

Karan, stiff as a board, couldn’t even blink.

“Karan, I love you. I’m saying I love you. I want to say something more elegant, but I love you so much that I can’t think of anything else.”

“Elise, I…”

“Don’t say we should stop now that it’s all over. For me, this is just the beginning. I want to greet the morning with you, end the day with you, share joys, whisper love, I want to do it all. Not for any purpose, but simply because I want to.”

For Elise, who had never lived a life without a purpose, having something she wanted to do without a purpose was a big deal.

She hoped Karan would understand that feeling…

“Elise, wait. Listen to me.”

Karan grabbed her hand. His tightly gripped hand was damp.

“That’s what I wanted to say.”

He should have said it first, but Karan, a step behind Elise, hung his head low.

“What?”

“I’m saying that’s what I wanted to say, Elise.”

“Then, Your Highness, you…”

“Yes, I love you.”

Karan lifted his head. Their eyes met. Elise was relieved by the affectionate gaze.

“But Elise, my love is a bit different.”

Elise’s eyebrows raised.

“It’s not a bright emotion like yours. My love is dark and gloomy. And it’s vile. Because I could do anything just to have your heart, just to be by your side.”

His love wasn’t different. It was just exceptionally deep.

Just as the surface sea and the deep sea are the same sea, his love was the same as any other love.

Only, like how the deep sea is dark, his deep love was dark.

“Your Highness, my love is no different.”

You may not know, but I died for you, and I killed for you.

“So let’s do well together, as people of the same kind.”

Small droplets formed in the corners of Karan’s eyes. But he was smiling.

Elise reached out her hand. Karan pulled that hand. Elise’s slender body overlapped on top of Karan’s.

At that moment, fireworks burst outside the wide-open window.

They were fireworks announcing the start of the new year.

At last, it’s the beginning.