The mocking laugh said, "Did you really think I didn't know anything? I saw everything, Damian. Your little flirtation with that maid, your so-called relationship… I know it all!"
Damian felt as if he had fallen from the sky. He wanted to shout, "Seraphina, what you're thinking is completely wrong! That was a conspiracy!"
But Seraphina was not in a state to hear anything. She erupted in rage and pain, screaming, "Ahh! That's right! I was just a doll to satisfy your drawing hobby! And your real heart… it belongs to those maids, right? I said it exactly right, didn't I?"
Seraphina's departure
With that, Seraphina did not stay another moment. Damian reached out to stop her, but she stormed past him in intense fury. As she walked down the corridor, the faint red glow of her wings flickered again—as if her anger had reignited the volcano inside her.
She went into her room and slammed the door shut with a resounding "THUD!" The entire palace seemed to shake.
Damian's helplessness
Outside, Damian stood like stone. He realized that the cunning maid had not only poisoned Seraphina's mind but had also staged some scene or evidence that made Seraphina misunderstand him.
Gritting his teeth, Damian muttered, "She's destroyed the garden I carefully nurtured. Before I lose Seraphina, I will bury that maid alive!"
His jaw tightened. His eyes were no longer their usual gray—they had darkened with rage. Standing in the center of his chamber, he shouted thunderously, "Zorina! Come before me, now!"
The whole palace trembled at his voice. The terrified maid, who had thought she succeeded in poisoning Seraphina's mind, froze. Seeing Damian's wrathful figure, her courage melted away.
Damian's judgment
Damian stepped toward her slowly, each step freezing the floor beneath him—a cold manifestation of his anger.
Damian (in a bone-chilling voice): "Such audacity? You tried to build walls between Seraphina and me? You lied to her about our relationship?"
Maid: "M-Master… I… I only…"
Damian did not let her finish. As he reached out, she was lifted into the air by an invisible force. Whispering into her ear, he said, "You thought you could say whatever you wanted because Seraphina had lost her memory? Don't you know I would give my life for her? I will not let a trivial creature like you take away my love."
Maid's confession
Terrified for her life, the maid stammered, "F-forgive me, Master! Queen Mother sent me… she wanted you two to be apart. I only followed her orders!"
Damian threw her to the ground. He realized that this was not just the act of one maid—there was a greater force at work behind this.
Next move
Damian said to the maid, "I will punish you later. First, you will go before Seraphina and tell her the truth with your own mouth. Come with me!"
With a dark aura, Damian dragged her to Seraphina's locked door. He struck the door and shouted, "Seraphina! Open the door! Hear the truth from this cunning maid!"
He struck the door with force, but there was no sound from inside. A strange silence filled the room. Damian's chest ached. Without hesitation, he kicked down the door and entered.
Empty room and open window
Upon entering, Damian froze. The room was completely empty! Only the heavy curtains of the window fluttered in the wind. Seraphina's beloved silk scarf lay on the curtain rod.
Damian ran to the window and saw no trace of her in the garden below. But in one corner of the sky, a streak of crimson light lingered, slowly blending into the distant forest. He realized that in her anger and humiliation, Seraphina's inner volcano had erupted again—and she had flown off into the unknown.
Maid's pitiful state
Damian turned back, lost in rage. The maid was cowering in a corner. Damian grabbed her by the throat, lifting her into the air.
"For you! Because of your poisonous tongue, I lost her! If even a strand of her hair is harmed, you will find no place in the fires of hell!"
Damian wasted no time. Abandoning his human form, he unleashed the full extent of his magical power. A black whirlwind of smoke surrounded him. His eyes turned blazing red.
The chase
He handed the maid over to her guards and commanded, "Lock her in the oubliette. And spread a warning throughout the palace—Master Damian is on the hunt!"
Without delay, Damian leapt from the window, flowing like a spectral shadow through the air, chasing Seraphina's red aura. He muttered, "Seraphina, come back. What you saw was all staged. Don't destroy yourself!"
Deep in the forest
In the forest, where the red aura had paused, Seraphina was not alone. The light of the locket shone intensely. Before her stood a mysterious woman, like a shadow, holding a black mirror.
The shadowy figure spoke to Seraphina, "See, Seraphina? Human love is like a sandcastle. Come to me instead. I will give you infinite power and the ability to take revenge."
As Seraphina trembled in the dark forest with anger, the mysterious woman vanished. In her place, a strange young man (The Boy) emerged from the mist. His face was extremely handsome, but his eyes carried the cunning sharpness of a predator.
He was not as solemn as Damian, but a crooked smile played on his lips. He stood close to Seraphina's neck.
Mysterious conversation
The boy looked at the residual red glow of her phoenix wings and feigned admiration. He carefully touched her lips with his fingers. Seraphina tried to recoil, but the boy's enchanting magic seemed to paralyze her.
He whispered into her ear, "Beautiful… what are you doing alone in this dark forest? Damian couldn't understand you, but I know how precious this red fire inside you is. He wants to bind you, but I want to set you free."
Seraphina's confusion
Seraphina felt an unusual attraction to his eyes. The hatred she had felt toward Damian now grew stronger because of this boy.
The boy whispered again, "Seraphina, your smile on your lips and the fire on your back—together, they will make you the queen of this world. Don't cry for a betrayer like Damian."
Damian arrives
At that moment, Damian broke through the forest foliage, his eyes blazing with a murderous aura. He saw the strange young man standing close to Seraphina, whispering into her ear and touching her lips.
Damian exploded in rage, roaring, "Hands off Seraphina! How dare you come near her?"
The mysterious boy pulled Seraphina closer and smiled at Damian. "Why, Damian? Are you afraid? She came to me by her own will."
Seraphina's behavior was beyond Damian's imagination. He had come running, desperate to save her, but she looked at him with disdain. There was no warmth in her eyes—only the thrill of revenge.
The ultimate blow
Seraphina looked Damian in the eyes and smiled wickedly. Slowly, clearly, she said, "Farewell, Damian! Your drama ends here. I have chosen my own path."
With that, she pulled the boy closer by the collar and planted a deep kiss on his lips—right before Damian's eyes.
Damian's shattered heart
Seeing this, Damian felt the ground vanish beneath him. His eyes emitted not tears, but a crimson glow of rage. The girl he had worshipped, for whom he would have given his life, was now humiliating him with another!
He whispered faintly, "Seraphina… what have you done? Don't you see he is using you?"
The boy's triumphant smile
After the kiss, the mysterious young man gave Damian a victorious smile. He held Seraphina's waist and drew her even closer. Then he taunted, "See, Damian? Your love is now under me. The one you drew, now writes a new story with me."
Seraphina's transformation
Her locket now burned brightly red. Two phoenix wings emerged again from her back, this time darker and more terrifying. She was no longer the gentle Seraphina—she had become a destructive queen under the boy's magical control.
Seraphina and the boy began to float slowly in the air. Damian screamed from below, but they merged into the darkness of the mist.
The boy's true identity
The boy was no ordinary man. Damian, using his magical vision, realized the truth: this youth exuded a strange dark-purple aura.
Real identity: Arias, the Shadow Prince
The boy's name was Arias. He was the exiled prince of the Shadow Realm. His power was to manipulate hatred and suspicion to control others.
Three key facts about Arias:
Old rivalry: Arias and Damian once learned magic from the same master. Arias became addicted to forbidden dark magic, and Damian expelled him from the kingdom. Since then, Arias sought to seize Damian's most precious possession.
The locket's secret: The red locket around Seraphina's neck was actually a "heart-trap" created by Arias. Through this locket, he had been manipulating her memories and creating hatred toward Damian.
Attraction to the wings: Arias did not love Seraphina. He wanted her phoenix powers. Once fully awakened, he would kill her and absorb her power to become immortal.
Arias' true intention
Seraphina believed Arias had freed her, but in reality, he was using her as a living weapon. He knew Damian would never harm her, and thus he could execute his plan to destroy Damian.
Damian realized that the kiss Arias had given Seraphina was actually a "sealing spell," binding her completely to Arias' will.