Yeri stared at him.
His answer sounded strangely detached.
Then, like a sudden wave crashing over her, the memory came rushing back.
She had told him that she knew who he was.
Almost instantly, panic rose within her.
Before she could say anything, Shin approached.
"The penthouse isn't as spacious as this place. If you ever feel suffocated there, you can stay here from now on. The back garden is also bigger than the villa in Sin Mille. You can plant whatever you want."
Yeri nodded uncomfortably. "Where exactly is this villa?"
Shin mentioned the area, and she immediately realized it was at least an hour's drive from the city.
"Do you miss the Forbidden Forest?" Shin asked. "I could have someone find red trees and plants for you, so you can recreate what your Forbidden Forest in the demon realm looked like."
Yeri stiffened. "No. It's not necessary. I don't actually miss it. Besides, whenever autumn comes, there are orange and red trees everywhere."
Shin "..."
Yeri took a small step back. "Last night... I must've said something I didn't mean."
"Like having doubts about the wedding? Not wanting to get married?" Shin asked. "So you didn't mean any of that?"
Yeri was stunned by how bluntly he said it.
"Do you or don't you?" Shin asked.
Yeri opened and closed her mouth, unable to utter a word.
"Xati doesn't know exactly what he's talking about. Don't just take his words as the truth," Shin added.
Yeri "..."
So she really had told him everything that had been bothering her for so long. And he had already figured out that she'd heard some of it from Xati.
"Then what is the truth?" she blurted out.
Shin stared at her intently.
His gaze was so deep that Yeri began to feel uneasy beneath it.
"Would you believe me?"
"I'd like to," she answered uncertainly.
"You do know that whether you believe me or not, there is nothing in this world that could threaten me."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Shin shrugged. "It means we're getting married whether you like it or not."
Yeri stared at him as though she were seeing him for the first time.
But he was right.
If he really was a demon, and more importantly, the emperor of the demon realm, then he could do whatever he wanted.
"So you really are the demon emperor?"
"I am." He admitted it without hesitation. "I'm also the one who ended your existence as a demon."
Yeri felt as though all the blood in her body had suddenly drained away.
She forced herself to remain calm, taking another step backward until her back met the wall.
"Why?" The word barely left her lips.
Shin stepped closer.
Instead of answering, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
His voice dropped to a whisper beside her ear, cold and bitter, almost like that of a scorned demon.
"You're not about to make me feel like I'm the one in the wrong after you used me to free yourself, are you?"
Yeri couldn't have been more confused. "Stop with this nonsense and tell me exactly what happened. Make me understand."
The next second, dizziness swept over her.
Her vision blurred, the room twisted, and her knees gave way as she collapsed against him.
-
When Yeri opened her eyes, she found herself standing somewhere completely unfamiliar.
The space around her seemed to have no boundaries.
Golden threads stretched endlessly through the darkness, tangled together like enormous webs. Shattered pieces of mirrors floated weightlessly in the air, reflecting fragments of places that shouldn't have existed.
"You're here!"
Yeri turned around.
A child stood there but not just any child.
It was her.
Her own face, her own eyes, her younger self.
Before Yeri could even process what she was seeing, the little girl grabbed her hand and began dragging her forward.
"Wait! Where are you taking me?"
The little Yeri didn't answer.
Instead, she suddenly stopped and pointed toward something ahead.
"Don't touch that one, or you'll go crazy!"
Yeri followed her finger.
A massive mirror stood before them.
It was so enormous that it resembled a skyscraper, its surface stretching beyond her vision. Its edges disappeared into the darkness above.
"Where am I?" Yeri asked.
The little girl giggled.
Instead of answering, she pointed at Yeri's head, then excitedly gestured for her to follow.
Yeri stared at her in confusion before realization slowly dawned.
She was inside her own mind.
As a succubus, she had the ability to enter other people's minds. She had done it before, even with Lianna.
But she had never once considered entering her own.
And now that she was here...
Why did it look like this?
Why was everything so chaotic?
Why did her own mind feel so unpleasant?
Before she could think any further, the little girl had already pulled her through another doorway.
The scenery changed, and she didn't need to guess where they were.
She recognized it immediately.
The demon realm.
Doors floated in the darkness, scattered like pieces of a shattered world. Beyond each one was another scene, another memory, another piece of a life she couldn't fully remember.
The little Yeri jumped through one door after another.
Yeri followed through one floating fragment of mirror then another.
Each doorway revealed something different.
Some memories lasted only seconds before shattering apart. Others felt impossibly long, yet none of them made complete sense.
Yeri couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't.
She couldn't even tell whether she was witnessing memories or merely fragments of something buried far deeper.
Time seemed to lose all meaning as they continued.
Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, they returned to the massive mirror.
Yeri stood before it, breathing heavily.
The memories she had passed through were still swirling inside her head.
They felt unreal.
Beyond anything she could comprehend.
She had spent her entire life believing she knew who she was.
Yet every door she had passed through seemed to peel away another layer of that certainty.
Yeri was still reeling from everything she'd seen as she turned her attention back to the massive mirror.
If this was her own mind, then why couldn't she touch it? Why couldn't she enter?
She took a cautious step forward, only to feel something tugging at her from behind.
It was the little her.
"What's in there?"
"Jewel," the little girl answered.
Yeri "..."
The doors she'd entered had already made her understand several things.
She, the demon empress, had been incapable of feeling emotions.
She hadn't exactly been born a Natural demon either. Her existence had been created through forbidden magic.
And most importantly...
She had been the feared Curse of the Throne.
Hexion, the mad emperor, was merely one of the many emperors who had fallen madly in love with her because of the curse.
But he had been the only one who succeeded in freeing her from that cursed existence.
"So that mirror holds all of Jewel's memories?" Yeri asked.
Little Yeri nodded.
Yeri gazed at the enormous mirror, tempted.
Suddenly, something caught her attention.
Far in the distance, a figure was moving closer.
It traveled effortlessly through the floating fragments of mirrors, moving from one shattered piece to another.
Then, in the blink of an eye, it was already standing directly before her.
Yeri was so startled that she stumbled several steps backward.
The figure laughed, clearly amused by her reaction.
"You. Don't cause trouble." Little Yeri pouted and immediately raised her arms, positioning herself between the two.
For a moment, Yeri simply stared.
There was no doubt. She knew exactly who this was.
Jewel.
It was her.
"So beautiful..." Yeri murmured in admiration.
Ruby-red eyes glowed like fireflies in the shadows.
Silver hair flowed all the way past her knees.
Around her neck hung strands of dark gemstones, while her crimson dress shimmered with crystal pieces that caught and reflected the faint light around them.
Yeri was completely mesmerized, but then she snapped out of her trance.
Looking at her own face, past all that breathtaking beauty was something far more unsettling.
Empty eyes.
There was no warmth in them.
"You found it..." Jewel said, her voice carried an almost childlike fascination. "What I don't have... You have it."
Yeri glanced at the little girl, then back at Jewel.
She couldn't help thinking that this entire situation was absolutely ridiculous.
Anyone looking at this from the outside would probably think she was experiencing some kind of bizarre schizophrenic episode.
"Come here." Jewel extended a hand. "I want to feel it too."
Yeri narrowed her eyes.
To think that her past self was a little frightening.
"You are me, and I am you," Jewel continued, her smile widened. "What are you afraid of?"
"Go back," the little Yeri said firmly. "You already got what you needed to know."
Before Yeri could respond, she suddenly felt something tighten around her wrist.
A golden strand had wrapped itself around her as she stumbled forward.
"I said give it to me!" Jewel's voice suddenly sharpened.
"Ahhh!" Yeri screamed as the golden strand dug into her skin.
Another strand snapped through the air and struck her cheek like a whip.
A thin line of blood trickled down her face.
Instead of alarming Jewel, the sight only seemed to excite her further, her ruby eyes gleamed.
"Don't overthink it," Little Yeri said calmly. "She can't hurt you. Remember, this is your space. Don't be afraid."
Yeri stared at Jewel.
The beautiful demon before her looked almost divine, yet there was something deeply unhinged and vicious lurking beneath that flawless appearance.
For the first time, Yeri no longer felt tempted to uncover the rest of Jewel's memories.
Some truths were better left behind a locked mirror.
--
Shin had just finished showering.
After putting on his clothes and fastening his wristwatch, he stepped into the quiet villa.
The entire place was eerily silent. Yet he preferred it that way.
It allowed him to work remotely without unnecessary distractions.
The aroma of freshly brewed coffee enveloped the kitchen as he made himself a cup before settling onto the couch.
He had barely opened his laptop when a loud bang echoed through the villa.
It sounded like a door had been slammed open.
Shin lifted his gaze.
Yeri was walking toward him barefoot, her hair was slightly disheveled, and there was something strangely different about her expression.
"Hexi~"
Before Shin could react, she climbed onto him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"How long was I asleep?"
Shin didn't stop her and simply answered, "Two days."