Jisoo
The weight of the truth
I never wanted to come back here.
Not to this realm.
Not to this throne.
Not to this lie.
But now I carried the truth like a blade in my gut — and I had no one left to blame but myself.
Rheon stood by the cliff’s edge, the wind pulling at his coat, his shadow magic curling around his feet like smoke ready to devour anything in its path. He hadn’t slept. Hadn’t spoken. Just stood there, waiting for a miracle… or a war.
I stepped into his storm anyway.
He turned, slow, deadly. The fire in his eyes wasn’t rage — it was grief wearing a crown of fury.
“If you’re here to make excuses,” he growled, “don’t. I’ll kill you.”
I didn’t flinch.
“I’m not here to defend myself.”
He stared, silent as the grave.
“I’m here to tell you the truth.”
I saw it — that flicker in his eyes. The part of him that was begging for it to not be worse than what he’d imagined. But it was.
“There’s something I’ve heard before, something I thought was just rumor,” I said. My voice didn’t shake. Not yet. “About a child born of both flame and light. A child with the power to unite or destroy both realms.”
Rheon didn’t move. Didn’t breathe.
“I didn’t believe it,” I continued. “Until I heard the King say it himself. I watched through my looking glass still in the throne room.”
He went still, his body tightening like a bowstring.
“She’s not just a hunter, Rheon.” The words scraped out of my chest. “She’s the daughter of the Demon Queen.”
He blinked once.
“And… her father,” I said, “was an archangel.”
It landed like a blade. I saw it — the moment the air left his lungs. The quiet unraveling of everything he thought he knew.
“She’s at the palace,” I added. “They’re dressing her in silk and gold like she’s already one of them. The King says only she can open the gates between Heaven and Hell. He wants her to help him take both.”
Still, he said nothing.
So I kept going. I had to.
“I thought I was protecting Minji,” I said, quieter now. “I thought if I gave them Seori, they’d let Minji go. But I didn’t think... I didn’t know…”
Rheon didn’t look at me. His head bowed, hands fisting at his sides.
“She’s in danger,” I finished. “And I let it happen.”
