Rafina had been working for three consecutive days.
The trust crisis caused by the exposure of her plans forced her to spend even more time dealing with the inquiries from the Court Heads and the various issues arising from them.
After finishing the last of the documents in her room, putting those messy affairs to a temporary rest, she lowered her head and let out a long breath, then turned her gaze toward the door.
Today, Lonia still hadn't come.
“...”
She bit her lip tightly.
Yes, she knew why she wasn't coming.
She was the one who had driven her away.
She had no intention of looking for her, either. She was the future Demon King; she had to be responsible for her own every action.
Since she had said they would sever ties completely, then they must sever ties completely.
“...”
But even so, you should have at least come to see me!
I indeed acted too resolute, but... but you still should have come to find me at least once...
She clearly should have come.
Rafina's teeth unconsciously bit down on her thumb's nail.
No... don't think such weak thoughts. Rafina, can you not even live without her?
In the end, what's so good about that Lonia anyway? Is she really worth you caring this much?
Rafina picked up her pen and paused for a moment over the blank sheet of paper in front of her.
She wanted to write something.
“...”
She wrote down a title: Lonia's Flaws.
【1. Bad temper, completely lacks a sense of proportion in her actions. That pillow she tore earlier—I had to mend it myself in the end. She's also kicked the door to my room broken several times, never listening no matter what I say.】
Her pen paused.
【2. Self-righteous. When she dresses me, when she makes me read—she never asks for my opinion at all, doing it simply because she wants to.】
【3. Crybaby. She cried when her sister scolded her, cried because I killed someone, and even when she found out I was going to be the Demon King...】
Rafina's pen stopped completely.
Yes, she was a real crybaby.
And every single time, she cried for Rafina.
She couldn't write any further.
...
The next day, she finished dealing with the mess of the Scavengers and the Liches fighting over experimental materials.
After the various Court Heads left, Rafina packed up her documents, stood up, and returned to her room.
She ran into Fema in the corridor.
“Hey,” Fema called out to her, leaning against the corridor wall.
“Where is Lonia?”
Rafina stopped in her tracks.
“...I don't know.”
“Did you two have a fight?”
“...”
“What did you fight about? Still haven't made up?”
Rafina's fingers tightened around the document scroll.
“...It has nothing to do with you... Anyway, she won't be coming back.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean she won't be coming back. Ever.”
Fema's brows furrowed.
“How is that possible? Is she dead?”
“...”
“Fine, keep your mouth shut then.”
Fema clicked her tongue and turned to leave.
Rafina stood in the corridor, watching her depart.
Lonia wasn't coming back.
Because she had chosen her sister.
...
On the third day, after handling those messy chores, she went to the old archives alone to lose herself in thought.
She sat on the floor, casually opening a book, reading quietly just as she used to before she met Lonia.
In the past, she could sit like this for an entire day. But then she had met Lonia.
...She couldn't focus.
Rafina closed her eyes and sank her consciousness into the threads.
Empty.
Haha, of course it was empty.
The thread connecting her to Lonia had been snapped by her own hands in that corridor six days ago.
She couldn't feel Lonia.
She couldn't feel anything.
Rafina opened her eyes and gazed at the spiral staircase behind the iron grating. The stone steps were narrow, the air was cold, and the ghostly fire was sparse.
She remembered the first time Lonia had walked down those spiral stairs.
That arrogant-looking child had asked if she wanted to be her friend.
She remembered how Lonia looked in Maple Town.
Her long black hair fluttering in the rain of red leaves, running toward Rafina, a few maple leaves landing on her hair like ornaments celebrating her joy.
She remembered Lonia making a promise with her at the training grounds.
Lonia had cried, begging her not to become the Demon King.
She didn't want her to suffer, and she certainly didn't want her to die.
And then she remembered the way Lonia looked when she was driven away.
At that time, Rafina had turned and walked away, never looking back.
She was afraid that if she looked back, she wouldn't be able to leave.
So in the end, she didn't look back.
It was the same now.
“I absolutely must not look back,” Rafina told herself.
...
On the seventh day, news arrived during a break in the Ten Courts Joint Conference.
The Demon King's personal guard, the female soldiers known as the Twilight Hunters, knelt before her.
“News from the Vampire Court. Eliza Catori's younger sister, Lonia Catori, left the vampire territory long ago. Her whereabouts are unknown.”
Rafina's fingers froze on the edge of the document.
“...What?”
“She ran away from home. Eliza blocked the news at the time and later sent people to the west to search, but there have been no clues...”
“She went west?”
The captain of the guard nodded.
The west.
The human-demon border. Maple Town. Plains of Holy Remains. Avalon.
“What is she going there for...?”
Rafina froze completely.
Ran away from home?
Why would she run away from home?
The words Lonia had said and the expression she had worn back then suddenly flooded her mind.
“No... that's not right... no...”
If she wasn't by her side, and wasn't by her sister's side either, then who on earth was she relying on?
She, who was so weak, so naive, and so foolish... went to the west all by herself?
She began to tremble all over.
“Rafina.”
The Demon King appeared behind her at some point, quietly calling her name.
She didn't answer.
She rushed out of the conference room.
The passersby on the street had no time to react; they only saw a dark grey shadow squeeze out through the crack in the door.
The streets of Abyss City flew backward beneath her feet. Black stone buildings, ghostly fire lamps, demon pedestrians. She ran past Maple Town, ran past the border of the Desolate Plains of Withered Bones, ran through the grey zone of the human-demon border. She searched for that person in this western land.
Everything around her began to lose its color as that power, which had still not been fully unleashed to this day, spiraled out of control once again, violently painting the world.
Because she wanted to find her.
Reason, dignity, shrewdness—all of it seemed to burn to ashes in this single moment. The young girl dashed wildly across this vast land like a headless fly.
She ran for a whole day, never stopping.
But after searching almost the entire border, she finally stopped at that dividing line.
The Demon King stopped her.
Holding a longsword made of bones, he stood before her.
All the white stopped in front of him, unable to cross even half a step further.
His eyes carried a faint exhaustion, along with a hint of something else.
“Do you want to die?”
“...”
“Could you think of my feelings? I almost had a stroke.”
“...”
The colors of their surroundings slowly returned.
“Rafina.”
The Demon King's voice softened, like someone speaking to a startled cat.
“She went to the west. The people of the Vampire Court are searching as well.”
“...I know.”
“Then do you know that she doesn't want to be found by anyone?”
Rafina's fingers clenched tightly.
She had left all alone, telling no one where she was going, and no one knew.
No, there was originally one person who should have known.
But she had personally torn their connection apart.
So no one could find her.
She was not here.
And further ahead lay the world belonging to the other races.
The Storm Empire, the Church of Radiance, Esperfite, the Mage Tower, the Fanged Tribes, the Forest of Star Whispers, Fibores, the Sky Crown...
She couldn't go any further. She could only close her eyes and sink her consciousness into the void.
There was still nothing there.
She remained silent for a long time.
“Nia—!”
Then, a voice burst from her throat, so hoarse it didn't sound like her own.
Like a wild beast, like a snapping lute string, it rippled outward like waves on water, carrying into the distance.
The Demon King closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
Nothing answered the young girl's roar.
...
Rafina returned to Gloom Castle, returned to her room, and sat on the windowsill with her back against the frame, pulling her knees to her chest.
She remembered what Lonia had said in the old archives.
“Rafina, do you want to be my friend?”
“...Why me?”
“Can't it be you? If you absolutely need a reason... because I can't stand seeing you look so pathetic. Is that enough?!”
The corners of Rafina's mouth curled up, curving even more, and then she realized she was crying.
“Nia...”
Her voice rushed out of the window, crashing against the black stone walls of Gloom Castle, shattering into countless pieces before vanishing into the dark sky of eternal night.
No one answered.
She remembered what she had said.
“Then I... will end all of this with my own hands.”
She had done it.
She had ended all of this with her own hands.
(Volume One: The End of Childhood — End)
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