It hurt.

It was so painful that I could barely breathe and felt sore all over.

A feeling of dizziness and nausea overcame me. I felt too weak to even lift my fingers.

Was I dead? Was I really dead?

All of a sudden, I heard footsteps approaching so I tried to lift my eyelids with great difficulty.

After I opened my eyes, all I could see was bright light.

This light was a bit different from mana.

I thought as I felt the sunlight.

I'm not dead. I survived...

I took a step out of the Door of Darkness.

It had been a long time since I'd seen anything. The bright light outlined the silhouette of a man.

I couldn't really see his face but I had a feeling I knew him.

'Blake...'

As soon as I realized that the man standing in front of me was Blake, I lost consciousness.

***

A warm light flowed into my body and the pain in my body gradually lessened. I felt as if I was peacefully lying in a beautiful meadow, basking under the warm sunlight.

How long had it been?

When I first went in through the Door of Darkness, I wandered around aimlessly, and eventually lost track of time.

My tired and wounded body continued to heal.

As I slowly opened my eyes, I saw a man with crimson eyes standing in front of me.

"...."

Who?

It was the man I saw when I came out of the Door of Darkness. I thought he was Blake.

But he wasn't.

He had silver hair, big crimson eyes, and a beautifully sculpted face.

His features were very similar to Blake's, but he wasn't Blake.

Unlike Blake, he was a man, not a cute boy.

So he couldn't be the cute Blake that she knew.

"You've woken up."

The man's voice was similar to Rakshul's.

Wait...was he really Blake?

His appearance certainly resembled Blake.

But this man was an adult and his aura was completely different from Blake.

And unlike Blake, his eyes were filled with emptiness.

He gave off a mysterious yet charismatic aura.

Just like Blake in the original novel.

No way....

While I was lost in my thoughts, the door opened suddenly and a man entered the room.

It was Edon.

"Your Highness."

Edon addressed the silver-haired man as he bowed down in respect.

'Your Highness...?'

So this man really was Blake?

I looked at his face.

There were no traces of a curse anywhere on his hands or face.

His curse has been completely lifted.

I had expected it would happen but I was still really relieved to see Blake growing up healthily.

"She woke up?"

Edon looked at me. It was nice to see him after a long time, but Edon shifted his gaze soon enough and spoke to Blake instead.

"Let's leave right now. We've lost too much time."

Why?

Why were they acting like this?

'Edon!'

I tried to call his name but no sound came out.

When I raised my hand to check for my injury, I felt a scar instead.

I looked down to check my hair urgently.

It was not blond.

My hair was now white, just like Serphania.

Or rather, it wasn't my hair color that changed.

What happened to me?

Why was I in Ser's body?

What happened?

"I'm not going back."

"It's already September. Hasn't it already been three months since you came to the Valley of Chaos?

"Didn't your Highness come here to make sure the Door of Darkness was gone? You must return to the palace as soon as possible."

Had Ser's seal been lifted? Was the Door of Darkness also gone?

So, did that mean Ser left too?

Blake and the others were safe. Ser had kept her promise of not hurting anyone else.

"It's going to be the 1000th anniversary of the empire soon. Your Highness should make an appearance at the ball."

It was already the 1000th year since the empire was founded.

That meant Blake was now 18 and I was 20.

Seven years had passed since I entered the Door of Darkness.

"You can just leave me here."

Hearing Blake's answer, Edon sighed in frustration.

I carefully tried to open my mouth and speak again.

"Oh...it's time for you to forget her. Her Highness must've wanted—"

A sharp blade appeared against Edon's neck before he could finish his words.

Blake pointed his sword at Edon's neck and said,

"Edon, even if you're close to me, I won't forgive you for saying that."

I was shocked. Blake had changed a lot.

But there was no time to be shocked now.

I hurriedly grabbed Blake's hand and he turned to stare at me with his crimson eyes.

Looking him in the eyes, I shook my head with a sense of urgency.

I knew he was angry, but he shouldn't do this.

I shook my head again, and soon, Blake let go of his sword.

At that moment, Edon shouted.

"How dare you touch the Crown Prince's body! Your Highness, I apologize on her behalf. Let me scold her."

Edon bowed his head in a hurry.

He wasn't angry about my rudeness, rather, he was afraid I might've offended Blake.

Blake usually ignored it when servants' disrespected him.

Had that changed?

I was looking at Blake and contemplating when he suddenly grabbed my arms and pulled me towards him.

"Your Highness!"

"Leave us alone."

"She doesn't know anything."

"I know. I just want to talk to her."

Edon looked at me worriedly and finally lowered his head.

"I'll go."

After Edon left, silence fell over the room once again.

Before I could get my arm out of Blake's grasp, he asked me a question.

"Who are you?"

He looked me straight in the eye.

I looked away. His eyes were not as clear and innocent as when he was young.

"You recognized both me and Edon."

"..."

I wanted to say that I was Ancia, but my voice refused to come out.

"You can't speak?"

I nodded.

I didn't know how this happened, but I was in Ser's body and I couldn't speak.

"Then, write your name."

Blake unfolded his palms.

His cute and soft little hand was gone, instead, it was the hand of a man.

Unlike his beautiful and mysterious appearance, his hands were very rough.

Blake directed my hand to his palm and asked me to trace out the words with my fingers.

I stretched out my index fingers and placed it over his palms like he told me to.

But, I couldn't remember any letters.

It wasn't just the Imperial letters I forgot. I couldn't even recall the ancient language or hangul.

"You can't even write?"

Blake was disappointed.

No, this couldn't be happening.

But no matter how desperately I tried to speak and recall the letters, nothing came to mind.

I couldn't speak, and I didn't know how to write.

I panicked, feeling at a loss about what to do. But Blake held my hand and patted my shoulders.

"It's alright. Maybe it's because you just woke up, so you couldn't remember."

His warm voice was the same as the one he used to speak to me in our childhood, so my eyes watered slightly.

I gritted my teeth and held back the tears that nearly fell.

***

Blake comforted me and left the tent. I used to be the one comforting him in the past, but it seems a lot of time had passed since...

I wandered here and there in the pitch-black darkness, but I never thought that 7 years had passed just like that.

There was no way to keep track of time there. I wouldn't even be surprised if it all turned out to be a dream.

I checked my reflection in the water. I had white hair, blue eyes, and a burn scar on the left of my face.

This really was Ser's body.

I looked at the skirt that came down to my ankles. These were supposed to be Ser's clothes, but it seemed to be a little different. Ser's clothes had been burned, exposing her arms and legs.

However, there were no traces of any such defects on what I was wearing now. The sleeves were long, and the dress was fine. Perhaps she had fixed it.

Why did my soul enter Ser's body? I couldn't speak or write either.

I closed my eyes and focused my mind, but I couldn't feel any power of light.

Other than the power of the light that had been awakened due to unsealing Ser, the power of light Ancia had was also gone.

How did this happen? Where was Ser now? The tears of light, the wedding ring, and the bracelet Baekhan had given me were also gone, so there was nothing on my hand.

I remembered that the bracelet broke due to Ser's attack, but what happened to the others?

Did Ser have it? I was frustrated because there was no clear answer.

It was at that moment that a small light flashed in front of me, and a girl the size of a finger appeared. The transparent wings on her back glistened under the light.

'Fairy?'

She shook her head. Did she read my thoughts?

The girl fluttered her wings and spun around me gracefully. Her movements and the white light flowing from her body felt oddly familiar.

Perhaps...?

'A Macul?'