It felt like six years ago, when she nearly lost her life on the Isle of Shadows. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

At that time, she only felt that her body was sinking at the bottom of the dead lake. On this island she didn't need to breathe, she didn't need to eat, like a soul on the edge of an exiled world, she saw the ghosts in the water dancing around her, they sang old songs, she felt like she was going to sleep, her body fell deeper and deeper into the bottomless abyss, but everything began to rise from the bottom of her heart again, like a school of fish swarming to the surface.

She thought of the teenager who might have been resenting her. If she dies on that island, will all hatred be gently unraveled?

No.

It can't be like that.

But then she thought of the boy who had no friends and was isolated in the crowd, the boy who looked at the stars at night for a long time, the stubborn but lonely boy. Thinking that if she died there, he would really be alone in this world.

She thought like that, swinging her arms desperately to bring herself to the surface.

Flocks of crows waited at the water's edge, they did not eat scavenging, but pounced on her like hungry wolves and tore at her body.

The ghosts tugged at her legs to pull her back to the bottom of the water, away from the ferocious ravens, but she desperately climbed ashore.

She felt her body being pecked and bitten, and every bit of pain was heartwarming, but every time the crow ate a piece of her flesh, a crow burrowed into her body and filled the place of that piece of flesh, as if it had become a static dead thing, and melted into her body.

In that new flesh, she felt a great power.

A crow always perched on a rock, watching the birds compete for flesh and blood, staring at her with black eyes, like an emperor among crows. Their eyes met, and at that moment she understood the meaning in its eyes.

It's a curse and a blessing.

Everything suddenly became clear.

These dozen or so outstanding female magicians accepted LeBlanc's secret order to the westernmost Shadow Isle to receive the power of this curse.

They will eat her flesh and become her new flesh, and every inch of the new flesh will be filled with power.

Unfortunately, she was the only one who walked here, and her only friend in Black Rose, Elise, stayed with her until she was dragged into a web-strewn cave by a giant ghost-faced spider.

She waded into the cave to look for her, but accidentally fell into the rushing underground river, and was carried to an unknown place by the turbulence.

But this is exactly where LeBlanc has in store for them.

The Raven King flapped its wings and landed on her chest, and the crows were held back by it, circling around her wings with an annoying sound of overlapping wings. The Raven King stared at her, and then it lowered its head and sliced open her chest with its sharp beak, blood gushing out, and her heart felt a chill in the outside world.

It's going to eat her heart, and then ...... Be her new heart.

"No!" She had a hunch that after that she would forget everything, that she would be incomparably stronger, but she would never remember the boy again.

"No!" She screamed a second time, struggling desperately, her body, which was weak from the severe pain, writhing desperately, but she couldn't lift her arm.

The Raven King watched her silently for a moment, and finally it flapped its wings and flew away. But the dark bird's eyes stared at her until it flew too high and she couldn't see it anymore, but she could still feel the gaze from above.

The circling crow swooped down, swooping down on the hole in her chest, at the sweet blood. Before losing consciousness, she desperately clung to her chest, as if to protect her most precious thing.

When she woke up, the woman appeared in front of her.

Forcibly tugged at her body with pale golden chains.

Pale gold magic is the hallmark of Mademoiselle LeBlanc.

"You can't put anything in your heart." LeBlanc said, her eyes and tone soaked in mockery. "It recognizes you. Do you know what you're rejecting? ”

She thought of the Raven King's eyes, and she saw that the last thing that remained in the eyes of the birds was a strange emotion, like the eyes of a human being.

No. Humans don't have that kind of look, it's full of compassion.

That is the eye of God.

"Yes...... God? ”

"One of Athena's evil chalices." LeBlanc softly recited this and that name that belonged to the primeval times, her voice as distant as the chant of an ancient priest. "The Cup of Death. Your soul is withered like the dead, but it will remain beautiful forever. You will be immortal with the world...... You will enjoy endless power. ”

Ivanie was silent.

"Do you regret it?"

Ivanie shook her head.

"That's good." LeBlanc said, raising her hand and removing the purple-gold tiara.

At that moment, Ivanie was surprised to find that her appearance had changed, and the bewitching woman in front of her, the legend of the immortality of the black rose, had turned into an old woman with shriveled skin and a wrinkled face.

"Everything is just a mirror." Her voice grew old, just like her face.

"You're the new LeBlana now. Evil Grail...... If you embrace it with all your heart, it's not a curse...... But no one will abandon their hearts. She sighed, the second half of her sentence as soft as a sigh. Me neither. ”

The old man lifted up his crown and put the beautiful tiara on her head like a respected old priest who was crowning the empress.

The purple-gold crown resembled an evocative plant, and she felt its roots pierce into her hair, connecting with her veins. Her world seemed to be separated by a veil of falsehood, and she was separated from anyone by this veil, and the distance between her and the world seemed incomparably far.

She walked briskly over and looked down at the water, where the mirrored surface of the lake reflected a perfect face, LeBlanc's eternally young and beautiful face, without the little mole that was seductive but annoying in the corner of her eye.

"The black rose will bloom again." The old predecessor LeBlanc said softly, and Ivanie realized that she didn't know her name at all, but only remembered the legend of the immortal LeBlanc - LeBlan.

"The black rose will bloom again." She said, as if she were following an ancient mantra.

The body of the old woman in front of her turned into countless crows, and they folded their wings and flew into the lake in flocks, like a vanishing dream.

……

Finally, six years later, she finally stands in front of her childhood playmate, Reginard.

But in the form of LeBlanc.

It was as if there was a veil between her and him.

He is already the magician who established the War College and invented the League of Heroes of the Bloodless War, and has become a famous teenager in the world, while she has become a sinister woman with a plot and calculation.

Ivanie raised her hand and grasped the pale golden crown above her head, her hands trembling.

She knew she shouldn't hesitate, the foehn array that enveloped them was barely held up by Reginald, and she could see the trembling hands he was trying to hide, but she couldn't help but hesitate.

She had long been accustomed to the tiara, to the mask named LeBlanc, she thought of the old woman who showed her original face in front of her, she remembered that she was already 29 years old this year, and this age had long since ceased to be beautiful.

The young man's hand lightly covered hers, gently pushing up the golden crown, and the silk threads that had been rooted in her veins were gently broken.

She became Ivani again.

It was as if it was the proud little empress, who traveled through time and came to him with heroic spirit.

"It's been nine years, nothing has changed, are you a monster?" Reginad laughed, remembering that he used to joke and say, "You're so mature, you can't be a monster with a girl's body."

Tears are accumulating in my eyes, and I can't help it.

"Hey, don't cry, you'll get wrinkles." He said with a smile, the murderous air in the city became incomparably soft between this heaven and earth, and the foehn wind generated by the demon array surrounded it, as if it was staging a meeting after many years of separation.

The soft body suddenly threw herself into his arms. Reginard heard the maiden crying.

He had never seen Ivanie crying, and he remembered that she would always be the proud little empress, standing alone in a place out of the reach of children of her age.

But now she was crying softly, like a fragile and helpless little girl.

"Will you believe me? I'm not a chess player who controls the gray order...... Uncle Gregory's wife is ...... I used to be just an outcast...... The abandoned son of the black rose...... Just to find Rodriguez's outcast...... Just to ...... The outcast who survived with the pupil of fate......"

He heard the girl's cry, and heard the sound of him laughing in the choked throat, but she couldn't help crying, and she desperately hit his body under his thin white robe with her soft fists.

"I'm sorry...... I should believe you. He said. I believe in you, Ivany. ”

He suddenly realized that this girl who grew up together, this girl who was eternally proud, who walked through all dangers in high heels, and the girl who was so mature that he couldn't see through it, had blocked so much for him in places he couldn't see.

"I believe you...... I should have found out a long time ago...... Of course I believe you......"

The weeping girl finally calmed down, and he heard her say softly, "It's so good." ”