* * *

Late at night, the duchess’s bedroom was dimly lit by softly glowing mana stones.

Sitting on the sofa, unable to sleep, the duchess turned her gaze to the door.

It creaked open quietly.

“You’re still awake.”

The Duke of Pantheon spoke with a slightly hoarse voice.

The duchess dimmed the mana stone’s light further.

“You’ve worked hard today,” she said gently.

The duke gave her a faint smile before slumping down beside her.

She reached out and embraced him, lightly patting his back.

He rested his head against her chest and exhaled softly.

“It seems like it’s all my fault.”

“Don’t say that. Your mistakes are mine as well.”

The duchess pulled the duke into a tighter embrace, her eyes slowly losing their light.

When she miscarried once and later conceived Raizen, the duchess felt as if she held the entire world in her hands.

If only she could protect this child, she believed she could endure anything.

Though she feared losing another child, she also felt a flicker of excitement.

What kind of child would it be?

How lovely would they be?

She would fall asleep every night caressing her belly.

One day, as she dozed off, she found herself in a stunningly beautiful forest.

Trees adorned with golden leaves, fruits perfectly ripened without a single blemish, and an atmosphere neither too hot nor too cold—it was perfect.

The sky resembled a masterpiece painted by a divine artist.

Could this be the legendary paradise, Elysion?

Just as the thought crossed her mind, someone appeared before her.

Yet, she couldn’t discern who it was.

The light was too blinding for her to see.

All she could hear was a voice, deep and thunderous, resonating in her ears.

[Your child is cursed.]

The voice coldly delivered its shocking message.

[Nothing can lift this curse. It is a sin etched upon their soul, one we ourselves have imposed. Neither the being you now call god nor their followers can resolve this curse. No one can.]

The duchess wanted to protest immediately, but she couldn’t move.

Suddenly, the invisible force binding her was released.

[Do you believe in love?]

The voice questioned her.

The duchess gathered all her courage to respond.

“Yes, I believe in it.”

[Do you? Then, what will you do if that child grows up to destroy this world?]

It was an unimaginable scenario, but at that moment, an icy chill coursed through her veins, making her body tremble uncontrollably.

‘No, please, no!’

‘We have failed. We… we couldn’t truly love our child. That’s why….’

It was strange.

She felt as though she had already experienced the terrible events the voice described.

Tears streamed uncontrollably from her eyes.

“Then I will die with the child. If such a fate occurs, it will be because I failed to love them properly.”

[What if the child wishes to live?]

Without realizing it, her hand moved to clutch her stomach.

“No, if the child seeks to destroy the world, they would have given up their will to live. Surely… that must be the case. But if the child truly desires life…”

The duchess tightly closed her eyes before opening them again.

“Then I will bear the child’s sins alongside them. If the price of their sin is death, I will die with them. If it is to live a tortured existence in prison, unable to die or truly live, I will share their suffering.”

For a long moment, there was silence.

The duchess let her tears flow unchecked, still clutching her belly.

Then, a rough hand gently wiped the tears from her eyes.

[We… No, you and we have failed time and again. Your love could not save that child, and our hero, though he saved the world from evil, could not surpass his human limitations.]

It sounded like a recounting of the past, or perhaps a prophecy of the future.

[And yet, will you still choose to bear this child?]

Without hesitation, the duchess nodded.

“Yes. Call it selfish if you wish. I already love this child.”

[I see.]

In that moment, an unusually warm sensation enveloped her.

“Then this time, we too shall place our faith in love.”

With those words, her consciousness began to fade.

‘You little child, do you pity me too? Is that why you’re staying with me?’

‘…No. I’m here because I like you.’

Just before she woke from the strange dream, she seemed to hear the voices of young children.

Even after more than ten years had passed, the dream remained vivid in the duchess’s memory.

With a small sigh, she reflected on it once more.

Sensing her thoughts, the duke sighed along with her.

Finally, after much hesitation, he spoke.

“Sean… seems to have divine power.”

The duchess froze at his words.

When he gently patted her back and called her name, she let out the breath she had been holding.

“How… how is that possible?”

It was unbelievable.

Divine power was supposed to be a myth, an illusion.

After that dream, she couldn’t sleep for over a week.

Unable to eat or rest properly, she spent her days lost in thought.

Her condition worried the duke, who begged her to share her troubles so they could face them together.

In the end, she had no choice but to reveal the contents of her dream.

‘I feel the same as you. I already love this child.’

At his words, she cried for a long time.

Fortunately, nothing unusual happened until the child was born—or even as Raizen grew older.

But the dream lingered in the duchess’s mind.

When Raizen turned two, she invited a high priest, an old acquaintance of the former duchess, under the pretense of seeking a blessing.

‘What a precious child,’ the high priest said with a smile.

‘May Sinoa’s blessings always be with this child.’

He drew a holy symbol and placed his hand on Raizen’s forehead.

A radiant light emanated from his fingertips—a light that anyone would call divine.

Everything seemed perfect that day.

The duke and duchess dared to hope.

Perhaps there was no curse.

Perhaps their beloved Raizen was safe after all.

But that hope began to crumble when Raizen turned eight.

The former duchess, who once doted on her grandson, began to scream daily that he was possessed by a demon.

The duke and duchess did everything they could to help her, but nothing worked.

Her condition worsened until she started hurling verbal abuse at Raizen directly.

They had no choice but to send her to a secluded villa.

Two years of turmoil passed.

Just when they thought they could finally breathe again—

‘Madam… Jane and Mary are missing.’

The maids who attended to Raizen had vanished.

The nightmare had only just begun.

From then on, the Crow assigned to watch over Raizen began delivering strange reports.

Though there was nothing around him, Raizen would suddenly appear frightened and mutter to himself.

As these reports increased, so did the nights the duchess spent crying alone.

“The voice in my dream was right. There is no divine power, no god. Then… what are we supposed to do for our child? How…?”

And now, Sean was said to possess divine power.

“No, that can’t be true. Divine power doesn’t exist in this world anymore…”

The Duchess asked, her eyes welling with tears.

To the household staff and the people of the family, she was a paragon of grace—gentle yet resilient.

But she was human too, and only before the Duke did she reveal her fragile side.

The Duke tenderly wiped away her tears.

“Do you remember, my dear, when we investigated the divine power?”

“Yes… I remember.”

“At that time, we concluded that the gods and the divine power that the people of the Empire believe in were all fabrications. But there was one unanswered question. If those things were lies, then how should we interpret the saints and oracles recorded in history? The prophecies they left behind were fulfilled without fail—were they merely embellished accounts fabricated by later historians?”

“Yes, that’s what we thought.”

The Duke gently brushed aside his wife’s golden locks and continued.

“But we forgot about certain beings.”

“What… beings?”

“The ancient gods.”

At his words, the Duchess’s eyes widened as she recalled a memory.

“Come to think of it, when I had that dream, the place I was in reminded me of Elysion. Why did I forget that?”

“Which means… divine power might not be entirely fictitious. And also…”

The Duke hesitated before continuing.

“I just received a report from the Crows. It said that Raizen went up to the third-floor hallway, and on his way back, he ran into Sean. The two of them discussed something. But whatever it was, the Crows couldn’t see it.”

“My goodness…”

The Duchess covered her mouth with both hands, tears streaming down her face.

“The Crows also said… Sean clearly saw the same thing Raizen did and spoke about it.”

“Then all those times when they seemed to be working on something together…”

“Yes. It seems Raizen noticed something first and proposed it to Sean.”

“And I… I had no idea…”

She felt like a fool for simply being happy to see Raizen and Sean grow closer.

“But… can we entrust such a burden to Sean? I want to beg him on my knees to do it, but… that child is so young. He’s already lost his memory, his parents…”

Sean had been taken in to honor a promise made to a close friend.

He had never considered the boy a stranger and was happy to protect him.

But for Sean to transmigrat divine power and be the only one who could save Raizen?

A rush of emotions—joy, relief, guilt, and sorrow—all surged at once.

The Duke shared her feelings.

He gently embraced his wife.

“All we can do is watch over them. Be the strongest shield for both of them.”

That was the role assigned to them.

* * *