Later that night, a single candle flickered awake, its flame stretching across the wooden walls like trembling fingers. Darius stood in the doorway, hair still wet from washing, his white long coat and gloves tossed carelessly onto a nearby chair. He leaned one shoulder against the frame, exhaustion dragging at his eyelids as he watched Ashel sit in eerie stillness.
"Aren't you sleepy?" he asked, voice low.
"No. I'm not."
She didn't look at him. Her eyes were blank, glassy, almost hollow, as though she were staring past him into something far away.
Darius crossed the room and struck the flint. The lantern caught with a soft click, bathing the room in warmer light. "You know… you've changed quite a bit."
Ashel's expression darkened. "Really."
"People change. It happens," he said, forcing a smile, though he kept his gaze angled away from her.
She rose from the bed. The wooden floor creaked under her bare feet. "I'm tired. I'm going to sleep."
Darius watched her drift past him, the false smile on his lips sharpening into something sly once she turned the corner. "Got you," he whispered.
But Ashel didn't return to her room.
Instead, she glided silently down the hallway toward the dim chamber where Edward slept. His breathing was uneven, shallow, each inhale sounding like a debt he couldn't quite afford to pay.
She pushed the door open, letting a trail of cold corridor air slip in behind her.
"It's been a long time, Edward," she whispered. "Ever since I last saw you."
A crooked grin stretched across her face, twisting too wide. Her hand rose, fingers trembling with anticipation as a black aura seeped from her palm, drifting through the room like living smoke.
"You've been resting too long," she breathed, leaning over his sleeping form. "It's time to play."
She stepped closer. One of her fingernails extended in a slow, unnatural slide, sharpening like obsidian. She traced it across Edward's hand, slicing just enough to draw a thin ribbon of blood. Edward flinched, brows tightening, but didn't wake.
Ashel lowered her head. No fangs, no monstrous transformation. Just teeth against skin. She bit softly, tasting the blood, then licked every drop that trickled down her fingers.
Edward twitched at the pain but stayed unconscious.
"Well," a voice drawled. "That's a new appetite."
Darius stood in the doorway, arms folded, brows raised in tired disbelief.
Ashel pulled away from Edward and smeared the blood across her palms. Then she looked back at Darius with a bright, unsettling smile.
"You caught me."
Without warning, she raised both bloody hands and slapped herself hard across the cheeks. Red streaks dripped down her skin.
Darius frowned. "Would you care to tell me your name, demon?"
The smile didn't move.
"I am Tsukuko."
Darius froze, every muscle going still.
"So she's not Ashel," he whispered. "You took her place."
Tsukuko tilted her head, amused. Darius stepped closer, his voice sharpening. "Where is Ashel?"
"Relax," Tsukuko said, lifting her hands in a mock surrender. "We just swapped souls. She's in her seven-day trial. You know how the system works." She closed her eyes briefly, letting her arms fall. "I'm here until she returns. I'm not wasting that time doing nothing."
"So you're the runaway bride devil," Darius muttered.
"You see, I'm more than that," Tsukuko replied. "I can show you exactly how dangerous I am."
She didn't move to attack. She just stood there, smiling, eyes glittering.
"What were you doing to Edward?" he asked stiffly.
"Oh, you know," she said lightly, "I have a carnivore's appetite. We were friends. For food."
"What…"
Darius swallowed the rest of the question. He had always known she was a monster pretending to be human. But hearing she and Edward had once been friends... that hit differently.
Still, something else clawed at his thoughts.
He couldn't hear Ashel's voice. Not even the faintest whisper.
Nothing.
Her first day in the trial chamber.
"You're smarter than you look," Tsukuko said. She tapped a finger against his stomach, her nail lightly grazing his shirt. "Let me tell you something important. If I'm in danger, then Ashel is in danger."
Her smile widened. "But I don't like people ruining my meal time. So you get to face the consequences."
"What…?"
Darius stumbled, knees buckling. His heart lurched painfully, stopping for a split second. Breath tore out of him. His vision blurred into darkness at the edges.
"H…how did… you…"
He grabbed her wrist desperately, fingers trembling.
"You can't stop me," she said, stepping out of his reach. "And in twenty seconds, you'll die."
He collapsed forward, body weakening, breath scraping in his throat.
"But for Ashel's sake," she sighed, "here's the antidote."
She tossed a small vial onto Edward's bed. It rolled to a stop near his hand.
Then she walked past Darius's collapsing form. His limbs were going numb, paralyzed. The world flickered.
Tsukuko stepped into the moonlight, her silhouette lifting as she rose effortlessly off the ground. The glow of the night framed her like a dark omen.
Darius fell fully onto the floor, vision tilting sideways as he watched her ascend into the sky. His lips trembled with the last breath he could manage.
"Ashel…"
Earlier in evening, before the darkness fully rose and before Darius could swing his sword, inside Ashel's mind, she could no longer endure her grip on the rope. The strain was too much. The rope snapped, and Ashel plunged into the void.
A translucent screen flashed into existence above her, glowing cold and artificial.
For a heartbeat, the shock made her forget everything.
SYSTEM: INITIALIZING TRANSFER.
YOU WILL REGAIN CONTROL OF YOUR BODY IN:
5… 4… 3… 2… 1…
PROCESSING…
Ashel shut her eyes in excitement, heart pounding with relief.
But nothing changed.
When she opened her eyes, she was still in the same dark space. The same air. The same stillness.
A heavy thud echoed as Ashel hit the darkness. Only she and the system existed in that empty void. Her body shattered under the impact, and she winced in agony.
Aarrk..
SYSTEM: ERROR. TRANSFER FAILED.
ERROR CODE: 341-HOST-OVERRIDE.
"System? Why am I still here?!" Ashel called out, panic rising. "Why didn't it work?!"
SYSTEM: TRANSFER CANNOT BE COMPLETED.
IDENTIFIED ISSUE: USER LEVEL BELOW MINIMUM REQUIREMENT.
"What does my level have to do with leaving?!" Ashel shouted. "That makes no sense!"
SYSTEM: ALERT.
HOST BODY IS CURRENTLY OCCUPIED.
TEMPORARY OVERRIDE HOLDER: TSUKUKO.
DURATION: UNTIL TRIAL CHAMBER CONCLUDES.
"Huh?" Ashel gasped. "She took my body? You let her take it? You said I was getting out so I could finish the trial!"
Her knees buckled, and she fell forward, tears slipping down her face.
"I hate her…" she whispered, slamming her fists against the ground.
"It's not fair…!"