Northern Grand Duke (7)

Deep within the Tomb of the Demon King, in a girlish room made by Haru, Misty hugged a bunny doll.

“Oh my god… I can actually touch it!”

She stroked the soft fur of the bunny doll with her fingertips. Her heart fluttered at the sensation she was feeling for the first time in hundreds of years.

“This is my bookshelf… that’s my bed… it’s all mine… anyone would think I’m a noble young lady!”

She touched the blanket, stroked the bookshelf, and fiddled with the curtains. Everything her touch reached felt vividly real.

“Haru… thank you.”

But soon, a sense of emptiness washed over her.

Suddenly, a mirror hanging on the wall caught her eye.

“Let’s see…”

A translucent figure was faintly reflected.

“So… that’s how I looked.”

Round eyes, long wavy brown hair, a white dress… just as she looked when she was alive.

“Is that why Haru-ssi said I was harmless?”

She tried to make a scary face by raising the corners of her mouth, but the reflection in the mirror was just cheerful.

“Heeing… can’t I really be a scary ghost?”

She sighed and slumped to the floor, hugging the bunny doll tightly.

“Haru… I miss you… but how am I reflected in the mirror?”

That was the moment.

Hwiik-

The candles went out all at once. All light vanished.

“Wh-who?”

Black mist filled the room. An evil aura enveloped Misty’s translucent body.

[What you so desire… ]

A voice echoed from the darkness. Deep and eerie, like a voice ringing from the abyss.

[I… can give it to you… ]

The black mist swirled and took shape. A giant skull, a black cloak, and red eyes of unfathomable depth.

“D… Demon King?”

[Yes… I am the king of the dead. I can give you what you want… ]

Black mist enveloped Misty. A cold energy pierced her body.

[A dead soul who wants to be with the living… you must hate the guy who left you behind. If you entrust your soul to me… you can be revived.]

“Really…?”

Misty’s voice trembled.

[Yes… I will create bones and flesh for you. A body with warm blood flowing through it… ]

Black mist enveloped Misty’s body.

[Then you can truly be with the one you love.]

Misty’s eyes wavered. The hope she had harbored resonated deep within her heart.

[You can kiss… and hug… ]

The Demon King’s voice whispered sweetly.

“But…”

[Are you afraid? There’s nothing to worry about. You’re already dead… you have nothing to lose.]

“Still…”

[Just entrust your soul… and everything will be fulfilled.]

Black mist embraced Misty’s soul. Sweet temptation shook her consciousness.

“With Haru… together…”

[Yes… forever… together…]

Misty’s soul gradually melted into the black mist.

“Wait… no.”

Misty’s gaze fell on the bunny doll. Filled with Haru’s kind heart…

“This is… wrong.”

Misty shook her head.

[What is it?]

“Haru-ssi… wouldn’t want this.”

She hugged the bunny doll tightly.

“I… I like being a harmless ghost.”

[Foolish… I am not asking for permission.]

The Demon King’s red eyes glowed dangerously.

Black mist completely enveloped Misty.

“Now you are mine…”

An eerie voice echoed from the girl’s throat. Misty’s eyes turned red.

“A soul that has endured for hundreds of years…”

The Demon King’s lingering thoughts resonated through Misty’s body.

“And even legendary necromantic materials of questionable origin…”

A deep laugh leaked out.

“Haha… Hahahahaha!”

The arrogant laughter echoing from the girl’s mouth shook the tomb.

“It’s fate. Such a golden opportunity comes to me…!”

Misty’s body was stained with darkness. The pure, translucent ghost girl gradually turned black.

“Now it begins. I will commence the resurrection ritual!”

Suddenly, the movements stopped. The bunny doll fell to the floor.

“…Huh?”

Something was wrong. The Demon King’s consciousness wavered.

“…Why? This… is this even possible?”

[Eueeng? Wh-what is it! Give me back my body!]

“You… are you really a soul that’s hundreds of years old? How can you be so weak and harmless…! There’s no aura of curse at all!”

[Curse? Ah, that! I wanted to cast a curse too… but it didn’t work out.]

“Don’t laugh! What is this…”

The Demon King delved deep into her soul. He searched for the resentment and hatred that would have accumulated over hundreds of years.

But there was only…

The excitement of the first moment she met Haru.

The moonlit walks they took together.

The conversations they shared, the playful laughter.

Confessions, and more confessions, and more confessions.

“You’ve been alone in the graveyard for hundreds of years… how is this possible? Where’s the desire for revenge? The loneliness? The hatred?”

[Um… I don’t have any of those?]

“Then what do you have?!”

[A bunny doll! Haru-ssi gave it to me. Isn’t it cute?]

“……”

The Demon King’s red eyes glazed over.

[And this is a bookshelf. Haru-ssi decorated it so nicely, right? Look at this bed too, with the lace trim…]

“Wait… just wait a minute… eugh…!”

The sparkling happiness in Misty’s memories pierced the Demon King’s darkness.

[I played well by myself! I had a lot of friends in the graveyard too. There’s Frederick… and Rosetta… and my best friend is Haru-ssi. He’s a human, and he’s my first love! He’s so handsome and kind… ]

“N… no… this is…”

[We even looked at the stars together last time! Haru-ssi held my hand too…]

The black mist wavered. The Demon King’s red eyes shook erratically.

“No! I am the king of the dead! Such…”

The Demon King, who had taken over Misty’s body, howled.

“How am I supposed to resurrect with a soul like this! This is… too…”

There was no resentment, hatred, or darkness needed for the resurrection ritual. Rather, it was the opposite.

“Too harmless!”

Misty didn’t even have a talent for curses or necromancy.

Her talent was too weak to complete the Demon King’s resurrection ritual. She couldn’t even create the minimum foothold for the Demon King to resurrect.

The black mist staggered and scattered. Misty regained her body.

“That’s right… I’m just an ordinary, harmless ghost.”

Misty hugged the bunny doll even tighter.

“But what’s wrong with that?”

Her translucent eyes shone brightly like moonlight.

“I like being Haru-ssi’s friend, a harmless ghost!”

At that moment, the black aura wavered. Misty’s pure heart pierced the darkness.

[Impossible……]

The Demon King’s power gradually dissipated. It was the price for failing the resurrection ritual.

Far from taking over Misty’s body, his lingering thoughts began to be absorbed into Misty.

[This Demon King, to be defeated by such a pathetic ghost…!]

Misty shook her head.

“I’m not weak. Because I have Haru-ssi!”

With those words, the Demon King’s power rapidly flowed into Misty.

“Ah… what is this?”

Misty raised her hand. Her translucent hand gradually gained substance.

“Will I be able to leave the graveyard now?”

She turned her gaze to the window. The world spread out under the moonlight was waiting for her.

“But…”

She looked at the bunny doll and pondered.

“I have to wait until Haru-ssi comes…”

She seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, but soon wore a playful smile.

“But… if he really doesn’t come…”

She tapped her lips with her translucent finger.

“I can go find him, right?”

The relit candle illuminated her playful expression.

“Now I can cast a really scary curse too!”

The flames in the fireplace flickered.

“So that Haru-ssi can never leave me… no, no, that’s a bad thing.”

Misty struggled to hide her desire to go find Haru-ssi right away.

As time passed, her translucent appearance gradually became clearer.

Misty was no longer a helpless ghost trapped in the graveyard.

The aura of darkness moved according to her will.

Deulssuk-

The Demon King’s tomb vibrated. The black marble coffin gleamed ominously.

The first tomb opened.

A black skull rose. It was Frederick, who always played with her. Blue flames blazed in his empty eye sockets.

The second tomb.

Rosetta’s skull elegantly rose. The skull witch’s laughter echoed through the graveyard.

Each time a tomb opened, the dead rose. The friends who had been with Misty for hundreds of years were now powerful undead, guarding her.

Skeletons clattering grotesquely. Ghosts screaming eerily.

Dingga ding-

Even the bunny doll stood on two feet and danced. As if celebrating Misty’s coronation.

“I should take the bunny doll with me later! I have to show it off to Haru-ssi!”

Her expression as she looked out the window, contemplating the day she would go find Haru-ssi, was cheerful.

“Today… no. Tomorrow… um… the day after tomorrow?”

She trailed off and smiled shyly. A subtle obsession was melted into her pure smile.

Misty was a harmless ghost. Still… a harmless ghost to Haru-ssi.

“If he doesn’t come too soon, I’m really going to go meet him?”

Misty’s laughter rang out clearly under the moonlight. It was the birth of Demon King Misty.

*

I escaped the dungeon ‘Tomb of the Demon King’. Or should I call it ‘Ghost Girl’s Room’ now?

Misty will be fine on her own. She’s a master of playing alone.

The darkness receded and the moonlight illuminated the tombstone in the graveyard.

Baseurak-

The leaves rustled under the moonlight. It was a night without a single breeze.

Suddenly, the back of my neck felt cold. An alien energy crawled up my spine.

‘This feeling is…’

“Why don’t you… come out now?”

It was familiar. This chilling energy, the gaze that watched my every move.

I threw the words into the empty air. The sound of the wind echoed like an answer.

Swiik-

A long shadow fell under the moonlight. Emerald hair fluttered in the wind.

“Haru…”

An icy voice. Elf Queen Sylvia’s green eyes gleamed in the moonlight.

“Why did you run away?”

Her long ears twitched. She wasn’t even trying to hide her emotions anymore.

“Please answer me, Haru.”

Her long ears twitched slightly. Emotions that she couldn’t hide with her cold expression leaked out.

Spirits swirled around her. As if reflecting their master’s heart, they distorted in various colors.