Chapter 11
~Chapter 11~
The next afternoon, snow began to fall again over the duke’s castle, and a quiet stillness filled the air.
Except for Logan, who had a scratch on his arm, everyone who had gone to help Asthan came back without a single injury. The castle quickly returned to its usual, peaceful routine.
Mrs. Merriweather brought meals at the usual times. Colin continued managing the castle with his usual diligence. Logan, looking annoyed as always, shoveled snow from the entrance.
Everything seemed exactly the same.
Except for one person.
This is too strange.
Gloria had definitely seen Asthan on Logan’s back. But he disappeared, as if he had vanished into thin air. And yet—no one mentioned it.
Is there a secret I don’t know about?
Once doubt entered her mind, more and more things started to bother her.
I can’t just sit and wait like this. She had to find out what was going on. What exactly were they all trying so hard to hide?
Gloria waited until sunset, then quietly made her way to Asthan’s room. The hallway was empty—everyone seemed to be asleep.
She turned the doorknob, which wasn’t locked, and stepped inside. Gloria carefully looked around the room.
The fireplace burned softly. The sofa felt cold and untouched. The bed was neatly made. The side table was completely empty.
There was nothing in the room that gave her a clue about where he might be.
Gloria dropped her head in frustration. She was about to leave when—
“What’s this…?”
In the middle of the bed, there was a bracelet stained with blood. Gloria carefully picked it up and gently touched the dried blood.
Creak.
“Who’s in there—Miss?”
“Logan.”
Logan, surprised to find someone in the empty room, stepped back with a shocked expression.
As he tried to leave, Gloria grabbed his sleeve and said,
“Logan, you know something, don’t you? Please… just tell me the truth. What happened to His Grace?”
Sigh.
A deep breath slipped through Logan’s lips.
After a moment of hesitation, he finally spoke.
“…It’s a curse.”
“A curse?”
Gloria repeated the unbelievable word.
Logan gave a bitter smile and started to explain.
“It was 200 years ago.”
At the time, the continent was divided into dozens of small countries.
Each king claimed to be the rightful ruler and started wars to unify the land. People suffered from endless killing and starvation.
Prince Adolf von Riharpetz, from the small northern kingdom of Riharpetz, joined the conquest at just sixteen years old. With excellent swordsmanship and brilliant strategy, he conquered neighboring countries one by one.
In 20 years, he finally united the continent and established an empire.
But the long wars had left the land in ruins.
Contrary to hopes that peace would solve everything, the empire’s finances were in terrible shape.
With people growing angry, the emperor desperately searched for a way to fix things.
That’s when he heard about the amethyst mine in the far north.
If he could take over the mine, he thought, the money and food from it would fix the empire’s problems—and silence the complaints.
But there was one problem:
The mine was located in the middle of a Sikun habitat.
At that time, the Sikuns were not very aggressive.
They were curious and didn’t usually harm humans, but they were strong and very cautious, so they weren’t easy to deal with.
To get the mine from them, the emperor came up with a plan.
Every day, he sent a huge amount of dead animals to the entrance of their cave.
At first, the Sikuns didn’t touch the offerings.
But slowly, they began to trust the food and eat it.
When they didn’t need to hunt anymore, the Sikuns’ guard began to lower.
After about two months, the emperor poisoned their food.
As usual, the Sikuns ate without suspicion—but one by one, they collapsed. The emperor immediately set fire to the cave.
The flames quickly caused it to collapse. When the Sikuns ran out of the burning cave, thousands of soldiers were waiting for them.
Flaming arrows filled the sky. The Sikuns, not understanding why they were being killed, died, cursing the emperor.
“You and your descendants will forever share in the pain of the Sikuns.”
But the emperor, drunk on victory, ignored their curse.
He returned to the capital, proud and rich with gemstones from the mine.
Waiting for him there… was the death of his pregnant empress— and a monster, born by tearing through his mother’s womb.
The emperor’s first child looked like a Sikun.
Horrified, the emperor finally remembered the curse the Sikuns had spoken of.
He killed his son with his own hands.
Soon, he took a new empress, and the next year, they had a second child. But the second child couldn’t escape the curse either.
That child died too.
Three years later, the third child was born—also cursed.
Realizing that killing the children wouldn’t solve anything, the emperor locked the third child in an underground prison.
Then the fourth child was born—and this time, the baby was normal. So the emperor kept the third child, the one born a monster, hidden deep underground forever.
That’s how the curse of the Sikuns was passed down secretly, generation after generation—all the way until now, 200 years later.
“The Sikun’s curse…”
Now that she finally knew the full story behind the legendary curse, Gloria’s face grew dark.
“So it was real after all…”
“It’s a well-known secret, in a way…”
Logan’s voice trailed off with a troubled look.
He wasn’t sure if telling Gloria something Asthan had tried so hard to hide was the right thing to do.
But thankfully, Gloria stayed calm.
“What happens when the curse activates?”
“The person’s appearance changes so much you can’t even recognize them. They lose their mind and start attacking anything nearby. To put it simply… they turn into a Sikun.”
“So… they stop being human.”
“That’s right. That’s why it’s best to stop it before the curse fully takes over.”
So this time… it couldn’t be stopped.
Humans couldn’t fight Sikuns. To fight one… he would’ve had to become one himself.
“Then… that injury on your arm…?”
Logan looked down at his bandaged hand and gave a small nod.
Now Gloria understood why everyone at the castle had been acting so strangely.
She bit her trembling lip.
“Where is the Duke now?”
“…He’s in the western tower.”
Gloria sighed deeply, overwhelmed with emotion.
All the things that had confused her were finally starting to make sense.
The rumors about Duke Schulzmeier, the way he had treated her, all the small things she had overlooked— even the strange line in her mother’s old journal.
[The curse on the royal family… The terrible massacre… The only way to stop the tragedy is…]
That dawn, Gloria left her room holding a single candle.
The Schulzmeier estate was unusually quiet at that hour.
As soon as she stepped outside, icy wind wrapped around her.
Within a few steps, the wind blew out the candle.
Shivering in the bitter cold, Gloria pulled her cloak tightly around her and hurried toward the western tower.
There were signs that someone had passed that way.
She followed small drops of blood that stained the frozen snow up the tower’s stairs.
At the top stood a large, old iron door.
It was open.
She gently set down the now-useless candle and slowly pushed the door.
A blast of freezing air rushed out from the crack between the rusty gap.
In the complete darkness, she heard rough breathing.
Her eyes followed a shadow cast by a sliver of moonlight slipping through the narrow window bars.
And then—Gloria’s eyes widened in horror.
A figure was hanging in the center of the cold stone wall, arms bound tightly in chains.
No… could that even be called a person?
His hair had turned gray.
His veins bulged monstrously.
His eyes had lost all reason.
There was no trace of the man she had known.
The only thing that hinted this might be him was that he still wore the same clothes as the last time she had seen him.
Would he recognize me?
Gloria carefully spoke.
“…Your Grace.”
“Grrraaagh!”
A wild beast’s roar came from the creature’s throat instead of a voice.
Clang! Clang!
The chains around his wrists clashed loudly against the stone wall.
He thrashed violently, as if trying to rip the shackles out of the wall.
Gloria bit her dry lips hard.
She had expected this wouldn’t be easy—but the fear still hit her hard.
Still, I have to try.
He might bite her neck the moment she got close, but she had no other choice now.
Gloria steadied herself and took a careful step forward.
“Grrrrgh!”
The closer she got, the more violently he struggled.
Step by step, with great effort, she moved toward the beast—until she stood right before him.
Then, gently, she opened her mouth.
“Asthan.”
At the sound of his name, the beast froze.
Gloria looked into his bloodshot, blazing eyes.
There was nothing human left in them.
…If even a small part of me remains in your memory…
Clinging to that tiny hope, Gloria leaned in and softly pressed her lips against his.
“Ahh!”
His sharp teeth bit her roughly.
She cried out from the pain as her flesh was torn.
The taste of blood filled her mouth.
But even if her tongue was ripped apart— she had to endure it. Because this was the only way she could save him.
Asthan… please.
Their breaths tangled violently.
It wasn’t a kiss—it was something far more brutal.
And then—
…
The beast’s heavy breathing slowly began to calm.
His faded hair started turning black again.
The wild look in his eyes slowly returned to focus.
The movement inside his mouth stopped.
Realizing the change, Gloria pulled her head back and looked up.
“Your Grace…?”
“…Gloria.”
Like a princess breaking a curse and saving a prince, A bright smile spread across Gloria’s face as her reckless gamble finally succeeded.
