Richard closed the Door of Darkness, fulfilling his duty as the Emperor.

He became the true Emperor of the Asteric Empire.

There was no one who dared to look down on him.

He took the Heir of the Light as his wife and gave birth to a successor who looked just like him.

Some of the weight lifted off of his shoulders.

Everything was going according to his plan.

Everything was perfect.

Richard returned to the palace with dignified steps.

However, they didn't hold any grand welcoming ceremony for him.

Even after two months passed since the Emperor of the Empire was back, there was no celebration in sight!

Richard headed to the Empress in anger.

At that moment, he heard Diana's scream.

"Ah! Aah! No! No! No way! George...my George!"

What happened to him?

Richard rushed into the Empress' bedroom.

Diana was crying as she cradled George in her arms. Richard stiffened at the sight. The sentences of the curse that covered Blake were now on George's little body.

It was the Curse of the Goddess.

Richard and Diana's son, George, had become the Heir to the Curse.

***

"Argh!"

I woke up with goosebumps all over my body. I had had a dream.

No, it wasn't just a dream.

It was not a matter of the past or the future. It was not even Ancia's memory.

This was a scene from 'The Beast and the Lady'.

The last scene, which had been forgotten for a long time, suddenly appeared.

Diana lifted the curse.

When Blake died, the Curse of the Goddess was passed on to George, the son of Richard and Diana.

I was lost in thought for a while, but soon, I came to my senses.

Where was I?

Oh, it's the library.

I probably fell asleep while reading a Zelcan history book.

I hurriedly got up and headed to Blake's bedroom.

"Uh-ugh..."

As soon as I opened the door, I heard a pained groan.

"Blake!"

The sentences of the curse covered Blake's body. I rushed to him.

As soon as I confirmed they were the cursed inscriptions, I froze.

I realized the meaning of the letter carved in the stone plate that was taken from the lake.

- The sentences of the curse that were engraved on the 6th prince's body had changed.

The stone plate had clearly said so.

And now, Blake had the curse again. The sentences of the curse covered the left side of his body and it looked exactly like it did before the curse lifted.

Rather, it spread even more than before, and the shape had also changed.

Blake's hands had ancient inscriptions on them. It looked like a tattoo that covered his hands.

I hurriedly took his shirt off.

His body was also engraved with an ancient language.

[Save me! Laontel! Please save me! I'm alive! When are you coming? You promised to be with me. Laontel, I hate you! I hate you so much! Come on, save me! Ahh! It's painful! Hot! It hurts! Laontel, I'm so tired. I can't stand it any longer. Save me. Please save me. Laontel come on, save me! Phillip betrayed me.]

These were not the sentences of the curse. It was a message.

It was a message from the Goddess. The Goddess' plea covered Blake's entire body.

The Goddess did not curse Phillip's descendants. She was leaving a message to ask them for help.

[Save me! Please save me!]

Again, I heard the cry of a woman.

Now, I could tell who the owner of the voice was. It was the Goddess of Light.

She was trapped in the darkness and asked me, a descendant of Laontel Bellacian, for help.

I had to save her. But no one had managed to completely lift this curse that had been around for a thousand years.

How?

Where was the Goddess?

Then a bright light came from my necklace. I looked at the Tears of Light.

The powerful light from the necklace quickly enveloped my entire body.

It was guiding me to the Goddess.

I'm trying to follow the light but Blake took my hand.

"Ancia, no. Don't go..."

Blake grabbed onto my hand tightly despite being in pain. His hands felt very hot.

I had to save the Goddess as soon as possible and completely lift the curse.

"I'm going to lift the curse completely this time."

"Don't go. You can't go."

I wanted to be with Blake, but I couldn't simply sit back and watch while he was in pain.

The Tears of Light knew where the Goddess was and tried to guide me there.

I didn't know when this kind of opportunity would come again if I didn't go now.

"Don't worry. I'll be right back after I lift the curse. So please wait for me."

I carefully took my hands out of his grasp and let the Tears of Light take over my body.

***

When the light engulfed my whole body, a desolate landscape unfolded before my eyes.

Where was I?

There was no grass or trees in sight and only the barren land stretched forth endlessly.

When I turned my head, I saw a black thing, which was dug like a volcanic crater.

There was no end to it, and it looked as if a giant monster was opening its mouth wide.

That thing looked exactly like it was described in the original novel. It was the Door of Darkness.

"Ancia!"

Huh? I turned my head when I heard that familiar voice.

"Father!"

Tenstheon, who was standing on the other side, saw me and ran over.

As expected this was the Valley of Chaos.

And that black thing was the Door of Darkness.

So the Goddess was locked in there?

"How did you get here?"

When I suddenly appeared here, not only Tenstheon but others were also very surprised.

"Your Majesty! You must continue closing the Door of Darkness!"

I was about to explain the situation but someone called him urgently.

"Is he closing the Door of Darkness?"

"Yes, His Majesty is in the process of closing the door."

"Don't close it yet!"

I cried urgently.

Hearing my words, the expressions of the people there distorted horribly.

"Your Highness, what are you talking about? If we don't close the door, the darkness will engulf all of us! And the whole world will be covered in darkness. No matter how young you are, don't you know that?"

"Are you looking down on her?"

"....."

When the Emperor said so, the person who said that went pale.

He was the high priest who insisted that Tenstheon put Blake in a southern island and had always sided with Duke Cassil.

His position was in jeopardy as the Cassil family had collapsed.

"Tell me why then."

Tenstheon looked at me and asked softly.

"That's not it. The Goddess of Light is trapped there!"

"Trapped?"

"Yes! We need to save the Goddess in order to completely lift Blake's curse!"

"That's nonsense. Why would the Goddess be there? Who would do that?! That's an insult to the Goddess of Light!"

The high priest burst into anger again.

"Stay back!"

"..."

He gritted his teeth and stepped back.

Now that no one would interrupt me again, I told everything I knew to Tenstheon, including the reappearance of the sentences of the curse on Blake's body.

He listened to me carefully as he stared at the Door of Darkness.

"Then, I'll save the Goddess who is trapped beyond the Door of Darkness. Do you believe me?"

"I've always believed you."

"Yes, you've always believed me. I will save her. I'm going to leave here first."

He tried to call a knight to escort me, but I rejected him.

"No, the Goddess is looking for me. Only the Heir to Light can solve this curse. I'll do it myself."

It must have been the Goddess of Light that sent those Macul to the Tenlarn Palace and showed me what happened a thousand years ago.

She kept giving me hints, so maybe I did have the power to save her.

"It's dangerous here. You don't know what will happen."

"It's alright! I need to do it! I promised to free Blake from the curse."

As I was persuading Tenstheon, the knights suddenly shouted from behind.

"It's a Macul!"

"Your Majesty! Avoid it!"

From the Door of Darkness came many Macul. The Macul rushed to me without hesitation.

"Ancia!"

Tenstheon reached out to me in a hurry but the Macul were faster.

The Macul surrounded me and brought me into the Door of Darkness.

"Ancia!"

"Father..."

I heard Tenstheon's desperate scream. I tried to call him but I was sucked into the darkness.