Phillip created a ring of light to draw the Power of Light from the cursed descendant's body.

It was passed on to the next Emperor as a heirloom and the future Emperors used it to seal the Door of Darkness everytime it opened.

The more they used the Ring of Light, the more bearer of the curse would suffer.

Phillip was an evil man until the end. He never regarded anyone else's life as important.

But it wasn't that cruel compared to when he drove the heir to the curse to an isolated island to hide his disgrace.

He tried to hide the truth by saying the curse was made by the Goddess to mark the seeds of the tyrants and corrupted souls.

I didn't know what was going on either but it must be Phillip's punishment.

Phillip died, and his son became the Emperor.

The new Emperor must have contemplated whether or not he should tell the truth.

However, it was obvious that the Imperial family's dignity would fall to the ground when he revealed the truth.

The Asteric Empire was a country made by the power of the Goddess.

However, the country was still unstable because it was new.

In the end, the second Emperor didn't reveal anything.

But unfortunately, all the blame was put on the heir to the curse. The second Emperor only revealed the truth to some of his family.

The fact that Phillip caused the curse to happen because he betrayed the Goddess.

This was the truth known only by the heir to the curse.

For many years, Blake and many others had been sacrificed because of Phillip's greed.

On the way, Laontel memories came to my mind.

Turns out I was Laontel.

That's why I kept seeing scenes that didn't appear in the novel.

The memories were all mine.

The day I married Blake, I fell into a lake and died when I hit my head on the stone plate. Then, I was reincarnated into another world.

I forgot everything and lived an ordinary life in Korea.

And then somehow, the story became a book there and I reincarnated back here.

So how did the story become a novel?

Maybe it was written by someone connected to the two worlds like me?

I died two times and miraculously got another chance.

It was to save Ser.

I think that the heavens sent me to solve this curse.

I couldn't fail this time.

The darkness continued and the heat refused to go away.

I walked with difficulty, using all my strength.

It was hard to breath and the pain slowly took over all of my senses.

But I still forced myself to walk.

All I could think was Blake and Ser.

As I walked along the only path in the darkness, I saw a bright red light blinking from afar.

I finally found her.

Ser.

"Arghhh!"

I started to run towards her.

I squeezed out the last bit of my last strength and moved forward.

It was hard to lift my foot because of the mud, but I ran without caring about anything.

The darkness soon faded away and the red light gradually shone brighter.

All of my surroundings were now red.

Just like the fire in Tenlarn Palace, when the flames engulfed the whole place.

As soon as I saw it, I froze.

"Hot! Save me! Laontel, save me! I'm scared..."

"I'll be right there, Ser!"

Ser was right in front of me. I have to hurry and save her.

I went into the hot, sizzling flames.

It was so painful that I couldn't even scream.

But it wasn't a real fire.

Amidst the heat of the fire, the distorted Power of Light swayed around it.

It must be Phillip's power

He locked Ser in this unbearably hot place.

I grit my teeth and continued to walk.

It wasn't a real fire, but it felt as if I was in a real fire because of the pain.

My body felt like it was about to melt away.

I walked and walked, until I could see a clear sphere which was half covered in a black liquid.

Ser was stuck inside it.

I ran straight to her. There was no time to hesitate.

"Argh!"

Ser knocked into the sphere as she cried. There were traces of a fire burning her dress. It was torn in several places. Also, her arm and legs looked very thin.

But, I couldn't see any of the black spots that were on her a thousand years ago.

I was speechless when I saw Ser, whom I hadn't met in a thousand years. There were a lot of burns in the area where the black spot used to be. She probably suffered serious burns during the great fire of Tenlarn Palace. She had been sealed without receiving any treatment and a thousand years had passed now. The wound from the burn remained as a terrible scar.

"Ser!"

"Laontel?"

Ser recognized me as I approached her.

"Yes, it's me. Ser, wait a little longer. I'll get you out of there in a second."

I tried to open the seal.

As soon as I touched it, I could feel the powers in it.

Phillip's seal was too strong.

But I couldn't give up like this.

I could see small cracks inside the sphere.

They were obvious signs of Ser's struggle for a thousand years and my heart broke when I saw them.

Just how hard must it have been for her all these years.

But there was no time to be sad now.

Ser had tried to break Phillip's seal many times. But everytime she did, the Door of Darkness also opened.

The Emperor of Asteric sealed the door using the ring Phillip made.

At the same time, the door closed again, making all of Ser's efforts futile.

Ser gave me a part of her powers before she was sealed.

If I combine my strength with hers, I will be able to unseal it.

I recalled Laontel's memory on how to use my powers.

I focused and summoned the power Ser gave me, but it wasn't easy.

After I gathered my strength, I barely managed to place my hand on the seal.

At that moment, the power surrounding the sphere rushed straight into my hand. It was the magic that Philip had left in place to prevent the seal from being broken.

I recalled the time I had been attacked by Philip's powers in the past. Would I die because of his power again? Could I really save Ser and Blake?

I was far more scared of that than of my own death.

I can't even scream because of the pain. Then suddenly, Phillip's power began to go out of my body.

My eyes widened in surprise. Then I saw Ser. She reached out from over the transparent sphere and took my hand.

Soon, the Power of Light that had been lying dormant inside of me awakened with her help.

I began to focus again.

I felt like I had returned to my days as Laontel Bellacian.

As we both worked at the same time, Phillip's powers gradually lost its strength and disappeared.

Cracks began to appear in the seal and grew bigger and bigger.

Finally, the seal shattered into pieces.

At that moment, our surroundings became dark again. The flame was also gone.

But it was different from before. I didn't feel like I was being eaten by despair anymore. It felt more like a peaceful and quiet night.

"Laontel!"

"Ser!"

I finally released the seal and hugged her.

"Why are you so late?! It's too late! You said you'd save me! You're my only friend!"

Ser sobbed inconsolably.

"I'm sorry Ser, I'm sorry..."

I could feel her burn scars as I hugged her tightly.

Tears welled up in my eyes when I saw the burn scar covering the left side of Ser's body.

"I hate you! I hate you! I called you so many times! You're the only one I have..."

"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I'm so late."

All I could say was that I was sorry.

I only found Ser after a thousand years. I had lost my memories of her.

"Laon! I hate you so much! I shouted so much! I hate you! I hate you!"

"I'm sorry Ser, it's all my fault..."

I kept apologizing to Ser.

She said she hated me yet she hugged me very tightly with her thin arms.

I didn't remember my past lives before.

Before I was reborn as Ancia, I reincarnated into a completely different world.

And when I came back to this world, I thought that it was just a world in a novel.

It wasn't my fault that I forgot Ser, but I still felt sorry towards her.

Ser was betrayed by Phillip, so she only had me left to save her.

"I'm sorry."

I patted her on the back and held her as she cried sorrowfully.

Ser's cries gradually stopped and she shook her head.

"No, it's not Laontel's fault."