The night was quiet inside House Asheville.
After leaving the dining hall, Reina walked slowly through the long corridor of the mansion. The lanterns along the stone walls flickered softly, their warm light stretching shadows across the polished marble floor.
Outside the tall windows, the moon hung high above the estate, pale and distant.
Her footsteps were light.
Measured.
Yet her mind felt anything but calm.
One hand rested unconsciously over the pendant hanging around her neck.
The crystal resting against her collarbone pulsed faintly, warm against her skin.
Kel's pendant.
A pendant made with his own blood.
Reina stopped near the large window at the end of the corridor.
The night wind slipped through the slightly open glass, brushing gently across her hair.
She closed her eyes for a moment.
And the memories began returning.
The Dinner
The dinner they had just shared replayed quietly in her mind.
The candlelight.
The calm voice.
The way Kel always spoke so simply about things that carried enormous weight.
"It's just for your safety."
Reina looked down at the pendant again.
Just for her safety.
She could feel the power sealed inside it.
Not ordinary magic.
Not even ordinary forbidden magic.
It was something far deeper.
Because it carried Kel's blood.
Her fingers traced the surface of the crystal.
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"You really did something reckless again…"
she whispered softly.
Then her thoughts drifted further back.
To a much earlier time.
The First Meeting
She remembered the first time she had met him.
Kel von Rosenfeld.
At that time—
He had not been the calm strategist he was now.
He had been something else entirely.
A cursed child.
The son of Duke Rosenfeld.
A boy surrounded by rumors.
Whispers.
Fear.
The nobles called him criple.
shame on family.
Some even called him burden .
Yet when Reina first saw him—
She saw something different.
She saw loneliness.
She remembered the moment clearly.
The quiet courtyard.
The young boy standing alone beneath the cold sky.
His hair already carrying that Raven like Black color.
His eyes far older than someone his age should possess.
He had spoken to her calmly.
Not like a noble.
Not like a duke's son.
Just… honestly.
He told her about his curse.
And about his plan.
A two-year journey.
To travel across the empire.
To find a way to lift the curse that had been placed upon him.
Then he asked her something unexpected.
"Will you come with me?"
Reina opened her eyes slowly.
Even now—
She could still remember her answer.
"Yes."
She had accepted his proposal.
Not because she understood his plan.
Not because she knew what awaited them.
But because something inside her told her that this journey would change everything.
The Journey Begins
Her memories drifted forward.
To the first days of their travels.
The long roads of the northeast territories.
Cold winds.
Rough terrain.
And endless miles beneath open skies.
That was where they met Sera.
The barbarian chief of the northeastern tribes.
At first Sera had been hostile.
Proud.
Suspicious of outsiders.
But Kel had spoken to her calmly.
And somehow—
He had earned her respect.
Reina smiled faintly.
Later they discovered the truth.
Sera was not just a barbarian chief.
She was the daughter of Count Vanhart.
The true heir of the Vanhart territory.
Even now the memory still amazed Reina.
How Kel uncovered truths hidden beneath years of deception.
Scarder Lake
Then came the journey to Scarder Lake.
The place where Kel intended to break the curse that had haunted him since childhood.
Reina could still remember that place vividly.
The endless waters.
The strange silence surrounding the lake.
And the presence that lived beneath it.
The Guardian of Scarder Lake.
A being older than kingdoms.
A creature whose existence was closer to myth than reality.
Kel had faced it.
Not with arrogance.
Not with fear.
But with calm negotiation.
And in the end—
He formed an equal soul contract with it.
Reina remembered standing beside the lake that day.
Watching the aura around Kel change.
Watching the curse slowly lose its hold on him.
That moment had felt like the beginning of something new.
Vanhart Territory
After leaving Scarder Lake, their journey led them to Vanhart territory.
And that was where things became complicated.
The conflict between Count Vanhart and Viscount Mellone had pushed the territory to the edge of collapse.
Old betrayals.
Hidden truths.
And the shadow of a man named Rodric Vanhart.
The count's older brother.
The true mastermind behind the chaos.
Reina remembered how Kel uncovered everything.
How he navigated the political web without hesitation.
But what stayed in her heart most strongly—
Was the end.
Rodric's final moments.
Kel had given him something unexpected.
A letter.
A letter written by Viscount Mellone's older sister.
A woman Rodric had once loved.
The letter revealed feelings Rodric had never known.
And in those final moments—
Rodric died peacefully.
Later they buried him beside her grave.
Reina had stood silently beside Kel that day.
Watching the wind move through the tall grass.
Thinking how strange it was that someone capable of such ruthless strategy could also show such quiet mercy.
The Citadel
Then came their arrival in Drakenfall, the main city of the northeast.
And later—
The teleportation to the Citadel.
The heart of the northwest.
The place where everything changed.
Kel helped Master Arna Marlet restore the Twin Magic Tower.
Reina still remembered the awe she felt watching the tower's power return.
For a short time—
Things felt peaceful.
They spent a quiet day together in the city.
Walking through markets.
Laughing.
Living like ordinary travelers.
But that peace did not last.
The Ambush
The ambush came suddenly.
A brutal attack that nearly cost Reina her life.
She remembered the pain.
The darkness.
The healer's clinic.
Kel's quiet voice telling her to rest.
And the letter he left behind.
"Rest until you recover."
Reina had obeyed.
Two weeks passed.
But he did not return.
She waited.
Then searched.
For another week she wandered the citadel trying to find him.
Until one day—
She stood outside the bakery where her mother worked.
Watching from afar.
Unable to approach.
And then—
A familiar voice appeared behind her.
"Do you want to meet her?"
Kel.
Standing there as if he had never been gone.
The Letter
That night still lived clearly in her memory.
The peaceful walk through the city.
The quiet dinner.
The moment she found the letter that had slipped from his pocket.
When she read it—
Her world shattered.
An assassination request.
Ordered by her own uncle.
Kel had held her while she cried.
Letting her break without judgment.
Letting her rest beside him.
The Rise of House Asheville
After that—
Everything changed.
Kel began moving pieces.
Manipulating nobles.
Shaping rumors.
Guiding events.
Until eventually—
She stood in the court.
Declared the Matriarch of House Asheville.
Reina looked down at the pendant again.
Kel had even helped her uncle escape when she asked.
Even though she knew now—
He had probably already planned every outcome.
The Present
Reina opened her eyes slowly.
The corridor was quiet again.
The moonlight touched the pendant around her neck.
She whispered softly to herself.
"How far we've come…"
From traveling roads as companions—
To standing at the head of a noble house.
Kel was leaving tomorrow.
Heading south.
Another journey.
Another unknown path.
Reina rested her hand gently over the pendant.
Warm.
Alive.
His blood.
His magic.
His protection.
And her heart whispered something quietly.
A feeling she had not fully understood until now.
Her voice was barely audible in the empty corridor.
"…I'm glad I said yes."
Because that one answer—
Years ago—
Had changed her entire life.
And no matter how far their journeys took them—
Reina knew one thing with certainty.
She would always walk the road that began with a cursed boy beneath a lonely sky.