Time passed...
“His Highness will be alright, won’t he?”
Zeedee gripped both of Nora’s shoulders tightly after Mr. Dan and The Raven stepped outside together.
“I swear, if anything happens to him, I’m going after you first.”
Nora swallowed hard.
——
Outside the palace.
Inside the Snowhaven command center—The Raven’s office. A private meeting, free from interruption.
Bitter tea was poured and passed across the table by The Raven to Mr. Dan. He sat at one end, Dan at the other, eyes drifting from the emblem of the eagle clutching an ice crystal to the crystal clock carved from faceted diamond… then back to The Raven.
“Your Highness… I won’t ask too much. But I need to know—this human form you’ve taken… does it have the ability to copy someone else's appearance?”
The firmness in The Raven’s voice made Mr. Fury visibly uncomfortable. But he understood immediately why the man asked.
Because now, The Raven and his people would be inspecting everyone in the kingdom—checking if any Shadowkin had infiltrated their society. For the safety of Snowhaven.
But if Mr. Fury revealed the truth…
The Raven might use that method to uncover other Diablo agents hiding in Snowhaven.
“To my knowledge… we do not mimic the appearance of any human.”
“I need proof, Your Highness.”
“I’m sitting right here, aren’t I?”
“…Your Highness…”
“I swear it. I swear it on Casca’s name.”
Dan’s voice was firm.
“I’ve already sent word back to Diablo. If you choose to report this to the Empress, then so be it—Diablo is willing to cooperate fully.”
“…You don’t want to reveal how your transformation works, do you.”
“So I offered for us to do the inspections instead.”
The Raven laced his fingers together, violet eyes fixed on Dan.
He’s meticulous, Dan thought.
“Either way, both sides benefit. Your kingdom stays safe. We clean up our own.”
“And protect your agents while you’re at it.”
Dan: pretends not to hear
“Your Highness.”
“Look, I never had ill intentions toward humans to begin with… So what’s so wrong with sending a few eyes, ears, and noses to listen in?”
Honestly? Nothing. They all did it. Even Snowhaven had spies in other nations. It was just… unspoken.
"Besides, I took care of the dragon your ancestors couldn’t even touch. You should be thanking me instead."
Fury had a point.
No one from Snowhaven had ever managed to defeat Iskaryx—not even The Raven.
The Raven’s strength alone wasn’t enough to overcome Iskaryx. That creature had evolved its entire body into a shell of black ice crystal, capable of reflecting every kind of magic, including black ice spells, with terrifying precision—like a mirror that could bounce back a laser beam at full force.
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So the only way to deal with the beast… was to use brute *physical* power. Like smashing a mirror with a hammer instead of shooting it with lasers. Spellcasting from a distance was utterly useless.
It was, undeniably, a near-perfect evolutionary strategy.
If you were to name just one human in the world who might stand a chance against such a creature, it’d be Casca. She specialized in physical combat. But the problem was… she wasn’t of Snowhaven. She had no authority to act on their soil without permission—and Snowhaven wasn’t about to disgrace itself by begging an outsider to fix its problems.
The truth was, Snowhaven had no “hammer” big enough to shatter the mirror.
No ordinary human could stand toe-to-toe with Iskaryx. It could crush entire battalions just by stomping—like a person effortlessly trampling an ant nest. And on top of that, it could escape by flight the moment it was in danger.
An ant has no chance of defeating a human in combat. But if that human was already locked in a battle with another human—one who could actually fight back—then that might just give the ant an opening to act.
And that ant… was Nora.
“But Her Majesty may not feel the same.”
“…You’re right.”
Just mentioning that woman made Dan’s face darken.
But The Raven saw something more.
“Why did you help Princess Nora?”
“Why did I help her?”
“From what I’ve gathered… you’ve gone far beyond what a so-called ‘imaginary friend’ should be doing.”
Dan fell silent.
He leaned back in his chair and looked out the window.
“Maybe I pitied her.”
“Pitied?”
“You know, Lamar… in the ten years I spent with Casca, I learned a lot about humans.”
Dan continued.
“It was complicated at first. I didn’t understand a lot… honestly, I still don’t. But there’s one thing I do understand—every human wants freedom. A human without freedom is a human without happiness. And the moment I met Nora, I knew—she had no freedom. That’s something every Diablo can relate to. So if I could help her, even a little… I think it was worth it.”
“Worth it how?”
“Like it was worth it for Casca to be free of Luminus.”
“!”
The Raven froze for a long moment.
He was stunned by what Fury had said.
Diablo… could think like this?
“Nora killed the dragon. That should’ve been enough.”
“What you did raises questions, Your Highness. She should’ve conquered it herself—not you doing it for her.”
“The agreement was that she’d land the final blow.”
The Raven narrowed his eyes at the clever prince.
But then… he thought of Nora. Her relationship with her mother.
He saw the girl who trained every day since she was barely waist-high to a maid.
The child who gritted her teeth through the searing pain of black frost chewing through her hands.
She studied. She trained. She memorized tomes. Day after day.
He saw the little girl who cried in secret at the training grounds after dark.
And he saw the Nora who labored without rest for fourteen long years… until the light in her dimmed into cold, glacial silence—all for a mother who never once gave her a nod of approval.
And now it was too late. Nora was ready to fly free.
If she wasn’t seen, then she wouldn’t stay.
That’s why the image now burned into his memory was…
Nora standing between him and Fury. Willing to fight The Raven, a living legend, without fear—for the one person who had seen her worth. Who understood her better than anyone, because he too was an eldest child.
It was no surprise at all that Nora had chosen this path.
But… if this truth ever came out—
“The Empress won’t sit still.”
“Exactly. I’ve thought about that. I saw the newspaper article your people wrote about me, you know…”
Snowhaven’s eldest princess ensnared by a demon, seduced into betrayal!
“Lamar… can’t you do something for that girl?”
“Do you know what you’re asking?”
“I’m asking a former hero to conceal facts from the crown.”
“You know what you’re doing—and you’re still doing it.”
“You’re the one who can help her. You can do more than I can.”
“And I’m supposed to stain my name for that?”
“What binds us… is Casca, isn’t it?”
“…So what?”
Dan closed his eyes. Let out a long breath.
“I just want to see Nora smile. That’s all the reason I need.”
He wasn’t the only one who heard that answer.
Princess Nora—who had been standing outside the door, back pressed to the wall, listening—heard it too.
“Think of it as doing it for the glory of Snowhaven,” Dan added. “You’re ambitious about survival, aren’t you? Who knows? If you help Nora… then you’re helping me. And maybe, when we open our borders… Snowhaven will be the first port of call. Do you know how much Diablo’s women adore fine goods?”
“!!!!!”
Nora froze.
It brought Fury’s words back to her—
You just have to know what kind of person they are. Once you do, you’ll know how to persuade them the way they’ll listen.
With her mother, she used one method.
And with The Raven… Fury had used another.
He invoked his status as Prince and future Emperor—for her.
The Raven hesitated for a moment.
His violet eyes drifted up to look at Dan…
Even heroes, even men of honor…
If you understood their true desires, negotiations weren’t so hard after all.
The Raven’s truest desire was love for his country. He wanted Snowhaven to thrive. To survive. To rise.
And Fury had just offered him a way to make that happen. If he didn’t take it… he’d be betraying his own ideals.
A long sigh left The Raven’s lips.
“…You’ve made up your mind, haven’t you.”
“Do I really have a choice?”
Nora’s eyes widened—
And as Mr. Dan opened the heavy iron door to The Raven’s office…
He walked out with the deal struck.
But Nora was no longer there.
She’d slipped away earlier, retreating alone into a quiet, shadowed corner of the structure… pressing her hand to the wall, bowing her head—
—and letting the sobs break free from her throat.
It had ended more beautifully than she’d dared hope. And luck had stood on her side.
And so this day drew to a close—
—along with the cancellation of her engagement at last.
