It was the first day of the rest of your life.

Cool, crisp air lingered, yet the sun shined brightly enough that flower buds began to bloom, trees regaining its strength.

You were finally a grim reaper; neither living or dead, not knowing what you did to cause you to be reborn as an angel of death, not even allowed to know your name. You were taught to not want to know, to ignore the need to know—because you wouldn’t want to live for six or more hundred years with the burden of your sin on your shoulders. No, that would be just cruel.

Determined to live hopeful life, you made promises to not go looking for people you could touch, so you could peek into their previous life, and perhaps, allowing yourself to see your past life within them. You were just trying to pay the debts of your sins.

But of course, the deities like to play a little joke.

It came in the form of clear laughter, a pair of doe eyes, and the most beautiful smile you’ve ever seen.

‘Meet your senior, Reaper Seo.’

Hitched breaths, frozen still—a foreign, yet familiar sensation churned inside your stomach. When

she extended her hand, you took it, to shake, but the two of you could only stare at each other with eyes wide open, hands still burning into each other, not letting go.

It was the beginning of your downfall.

And it came in the form of late night conversations, strolling along the Han River, or locking gazes at each other, finding what could only feel like home, something that the deities ripped away from you when they decided you were to be born as a reaper. It came in the form of warmth spreading inside your body when you catch a glimpse of her, and hands sculptured for each other.

For how long did you expect until the deities began to take notice?

Forbidden love, that is what they called it.

A grim reaper is not meant to fall in love. Not to a human being, and surely, not to another reaper who is just in as much debt as you are.

You walk slowly to the tea room you know so very well. It only took a couple hundred of years for the Reaper Division Investigation Team to approach you, and inform you that you are due to meet them at the tea room today, at five in the evening. You knew it was bound to happen at some point.

You couldn’t help but laugh, your breath visible in the cold, February weather. How long has it been? Two hundred years? This long life of yours was always so lonesome, and just so slow.

It was only then that you were introduced to your senior. You were just a hundred years old, while she was nearing her 200th. She has built a status for herself, being efficient and practical at her job, for she was in charge of the missing souls. She always brought them to where they belonged.

You haven’t seen her in days now; five days, to be exact. It felt like every day was a yearlong. As you near the tea house, you couldn’t help but wonder if she had received her punishment, and you wonder what it could be.

The wind chime signals your dreaded arrival, breaking your train of thoughts, and the silence in the tea room. The door is open wide, you standing still at the doorframe, locking gazes with two men in formal attire, who you certainly recognize as the Reaper Division Investigation Team. They are seated by the wooden table in the centre already, a strained expression on their faces. You sigh, mentally preparing yourself.

“Reaper Seo,” One of them clears his throat. “You are guilty of violating the rule that outlines grim reapers to their rightful job.”

You nod your head, your ‘job’ is to lead people to the afterlife after their death. That is the sole purpose of your being, yet you couldn’t even live like a grim reaper. You chose to fell in love, as if this current life of yours is not already a punishment.

“I admit to my misconducts,” You start, tongue swiping at your bottom lip, dried out of anxiety. “I am ready to face the consequences.”

“Being a grim reaper is already a punishment,” the other man explains. “As human beings, we committed sins, and when we died, we chose to drink the oblivion tea that erased our memories from the previous life. And now, your punishment, Reaper Seo, is to remember all of the sins you committed.”

Your lips part in shock, and your stomach drops. You gulp, trying your best to regain composure, but your hands shake slightly, and you clutch your black trousers to calm them down. Closing your eyes, you breathe out.

You have always wondered why you became a grim reaper; what kind of life you led in your previous, and what could prompt you to sin so horribly, but at the same time, you didn’t want to know. The burden… the weight of the sin that even the deities found too heavy… it will haunt you now.

When you open your eyes, a sharp pain protrudes in your head, causing you to jerk and grip your head with your two hands, as if it would stop the aching.

And then, there was darkness.

It was the beginning of the rest of your life.

The air is cool, but the sun was enough to keep you warm without the heavy, fur lined robes.

Standing beside a pond, you sigh, staring off to the distance. Peach blossoms adorn the field, and walls taller than you stood proud, guarding you—prisoning you inside the Palace.

You were sent from your hometown in Baekje, betrothed to the King of the newly established Goryeo as a symbol of unity. The palace is exquisite, and the people were anticipating your arrival. The King, who has two wives before you, adored you, and gifted you with the finest dresses, as well as jade and gold jewelleries.

But you weren’t happy.

Determined to live a hopeful life, you made promises to not even entertain the idea of what would happen if you try to slip past the guards or climb over the mountainous walls. Because, of course, that would be suicide.

The King is known as a compassionate man, stern, but kind. He united the three kingdoms, and claimed this land of his under the unified kingdom of Goryeo. The King, however, is twice your age, and has children around your age, some even older.

Suddenly, your vision averts from the buildings to the figure approaching you, closer than you expected. She is in a nurse uniform, knuckles covered in dirt. Your heart leaps to your throat, and you find yourself jumping into her arms. She catches you with ease, and you bury your face into her neck.

“Mina,” You whisper, your hands cupping her face dearly, as you stare into her celestial eyes. “You have returned.”

She grins, and steals a kiss from your pink lips, spreading a smile to you.

“I told you I would be, before your wedding day.”

At her statement, your face drops. She notices the change in your expression, and raises her hand to hold onto yours.

“Hey, hey, listen to me,” She shushes your worries away with her warm hands. “We will be okay.”

With that promise, she swoops down to kiss you again.

You never imagined finding love inside these walls, especially not within the royal family of Goryeo. But love came in the form of smiles, a spot on her nose bridge, and laughing so hard wrinkles form around her eyes.

‘Meet my seventh daughter, Nurse Myoui Mima.’

Skipped heartbeats, an unfamiliar sensation swirled inside your stomach. A smile spread upon your face, and you could only bow to her in complete silence, not trusting your voice to introduce yourself back to her. She was, and still is, breathtaking.

It was the beginning of your own downfall.

And it came in the form of medicine practises, filled with giggles and teasing, or you coaching her on how to sing and draw, which she surprisingly has talent for. It came in the form of strolling along the pond, or locking eyes at each other, suppressing smiles when you make eye contact in the middle of a conference or event.

For how long did you expect until the watchful eyes of the Palace began to take notice?

Forbidden love, that is what they called it.

It is the night before your wedding, and you are alone in your room, silent and dark. Nothing can help you ease your thoughts of what is to come tomorrow.

You stare off to the ceiling, only the sound of footsteps outside alerted you.

“Who is there?” Your voice wavers. Sitting up straight on your bed, you watch the silhouette behind the door inching their hands closer to open it.

“Just me.” Mina smiles lopsidedly when the door is ajar, and you sigh of relief.

“You scared me.” You grunt, rolling your eyes at the girl who enters without your invitation. Closing the doors shut, she sits beside you on the bed.

Quietness envelops the room, as you lean your head on her shoulders. She sits, words at the tip of his tongue.

“I’m sorry.” She stutters, and you raise your head to look at her. Her eyes are on yours already, deep and intense.

“There is nothing for you to apologize for. I was brought here to marry the King, and there is nothing you can do to intervene that.”

She lays you down on the bed gingerly, hovering on top of you, careful not to crush you with her weight. Her lips begin to kiss your jaw tenderly, and you sigh in response.

“It is neither your fault nor mine; it is only god’s fate.”

“Perhaps we can run away from the Palace.” Mina suggests so nonchalantly, as she lies on the bed, head resting on her palm as she props herself up with her elbow.

Whipping your head to face her, you gawk at her proposal. She shoots you a glance, and shrugs, as if she did not just suggest the most life changing idea you two could ever consider.

“That’s… that’s a ridiculous idea.” You mumble, shaking your head, denying to yourself as well. You can’t just pack and leave the Palace as you wish. Especially when you are the King’s wife.

“I know what you’re thinking. My brothers will help us, the people won’t recognize you now, as you have been in the Palace for months. I could tell my father I am going on an expedition to Japan.” She says in all seriousness, sitting up now, straightening her spine.

You chew on your bottom lip out of anxiety.

“I-I don’t know, Mina, this is insane.” You whisper,“I mean; how will we live? We won’t have money and resources to feed ourselves.”

“I’ll find a way. We’ll be okay, I promise.” She breathes, eyes boring into yours.

Myoui Mina is a woman of her words. She was never one to break promises, yet there is one promise she could not keep.

The next day began perfect, with the sun shining on your face, the clouds floating idly. She was sitting next to you, laughing her heart out by the pond. It was as if the deities pitied you, and bestowed you one last, blissful memory her.

Now, you are sitting on the cold, hard ground of the prison cell. How long has it been since the King’s guards locked into your room? Five days, if you can remember correctly based on the amount of times the sunlight left and returned to your tiny window in the cell. Five days of not seeing Mina.

There’s footsteps now, getting louder and louder towards you. A guard comes into view, and with him, a cup. He kneels down to slide the cup into your cell, and you narrow your eyes at it, wondering whether this is the punishment the King has chosen for you.

“What is that?” Your voice barely audible, but enough for the guard to hear you in the silent cell.

“It is tea,” He answers, and pauses before continuing. “His Majesty has ordered me to pour poison into this tea for you. He is permitting you the chance to consider a decision, hence instructing me to give this cup of tea to you before I give one to the seventh Princess.”

Your eyebrows quirk in confusion, trying to latch onto his words when he mentioned Mina.

“His Majesty will allow one of you to be released. However, only one can be released, not both. He is giving you the luxury to choose. He will send a horse, to leave the Palace, but you cannot return to the Palace ever again. That are the words of His Majesty.”

“Drink this poison, and he will let the seventh Princess leave. But if you wish to, I will retreat this cup, and hand it to the seventh Princess to drink.” He continued.

You crawl closer to the cup. It is now within your hand’s reach, and you bite your lip, as your right hand encloses its fingers around the white porcelain. Raising it to your mouth, you let the hot liquid slip past your lips, the bitterness lingering in your tongue.

You feel your throat constricting, and you began to choke, dropping the delicate porcelain as your hands scratch at your throat, as if it could ease the pain.

A tear slips down your eye, but you don't realize it, because in your vision, you can see Mina, on the day you first met her, bowing to you in greeting, the smile that you have fallen in love with plastered on her face.

You knew awfully well, that you could not afford to fall in love with anyone else, let alone the King’s seventh daughter. You cursed at yourself, and her beauty, her charms, her laughter, and her stupid smile, and her eyes that seem to hold the galaxies within. But mostly, you cursed god, for making you who you are, and making your life the way it is.

But then your vision shifts, and it depicts Mina, in a small house, in merchant’s clothes. And she's alive and happy and you do not regret your decision

Your heart clenched, giving its last pump of blood into your body.

Indeed, the greatest sin in both of your lives was falling in love with Myoui Mina

Your mind buzzes in an attempt to understand, you have so many questions, but you are afraid of answers—you wonder if Mina has received her punishment, going through the same visions as you had, watching the two of you fall in love, only to be ripped away from each other. Most importantly, you wonder how Mina was birthed as a reaper in this lifetime. What did she do, after she was released and you were gone? What sin could she have committed?

“A grim reaper is reborn as a grim reaper because they committed the most extreme sin in the eyes of the deities.” A lady’s voice, clear and sharp, pierce through your train of thoughts. Instinctively, you turn to look at her. She is standing in front of you now, dressed in a red suit. Her eyes are intense, staring into yours.

She takes a step closer to you, and you stay still, frigid and tense, unsure of what is happening. With her demeanour, you know she is of otherworldly being.

Her hand reaches out to brush a stray hair that the wind blew into your face.

“Fate is something out of my control. I cannot change destinies, because a life is created for a purpose.” She sighs, retreating her hand. “A person can only be reborn as a grim reaper when they commit the most dreadful act in the eyes of the deities.”

Mina rests her head on the wall, pondering about how you are, if you are okay. She mentally beats herself up for letting herself be caught, but above all, she despises herself for allowing to place you in such danger and misery.

The sound of a cup hitting the ground wakes her from her trance.

“Seventh Princess,” The guard before him greets her, as if he still has respect for Mina. She's dreading for her punishment to finally come. “His Majesty has instructed me to give you this cup of tea that is laced with poison. You, and everyone in the kingdom, know His Majesty has always favoured you, and therefore is giving you the luxury to choose.”

Mina cocks her head up to look at the guard, whose face is covered by the darkness.

“He will tolerate one of you to be released from prison, with a horse, out of the Palace. You are permitted to live by the His Majesty, yet you cannot return to the Palace ever again. You can drink, so she can live. Or if you wish, I can take this cup, and give it to her, for her to drink.”

Without a second thought, Mina extends her hand to grab the cup quickly, before the guard’s hand could take her chance away.

But, she did not notice the little smile of the guard, as she drinks the concoction, hot and bitter in her throat.