Late into the night.

I was being transported to the imperial palace in a carriage sent discreetly by the emperor.

At this hour, it should have been natural for everyone to be asleep.

Yet, to my surprise, both the Emperor and Empress were waiting outside as I stepped out of the carriage.

“Thank you for coming at such a late hour, Saint.”

“It was Your Majesty’s summons—of course, I came. What is the matter?”

The Emperor hesitated.

“It is shameful to admit, but… even after hearing of your miraculous healings—both for the impoverished and the nobles—I could not bring myself to fully believe in you. It was only after meeting you face-to-face at the banquet that I became certain. Please forgive my doubts.”

He fell into a long silence before finally speaking again, his voice heavy.

“Have you heard of my daughter?”

Princess Almeine.

I had.

Only by name.

That was all I knew.

She never appeared in public.

She had never been featured in any newspapers.

A mystery of the imperial family.

“Is the princess ill?”

The Emperor remained silent for a moment.

Then, instead of answering—

“Come inside,” he said.

I followed the Emperor and Empress deeper into the imperial palace.

A princess I had never seen before.

Why were they bringing me to her now?

As I pondered this—

I stepped into a room… and froze in place as if struck by lightning.

Lying quietly in the corner of the room was a woman I had seen before.

The woman from my dream.

The one who had been bleeding out on the ground.

Unlike with Erfa, I never expected to find a clue this quickly.

The cheat code.

The cheat code to skip my trip to Hell was calling out to me.

“My daughter, Almeine. Please, take a look at her.”

“Can you heal her?”

The Emperor and Empress’s voices dripped with desperation.

I nodded.

“I will do my best.”

I slowly approached the princess and placed my hand on her forehead.

This was my first time seeing her face.

And yet… it was strange.

A magic circle-like symbol was engraved over her left eye.

Because of it, she could not open that eye.

And her face…

She looked horribly malnourished.

Like someone suffering from severe influenza.

After briefly examining her, I activated my healing skill.

The fuck kind of explanation is this?! Get the hell out!

…But wait.

Her body is fine?

Physically, she was completely normal.

Just to be sure, I checked again.

And again.

And again.

Nothing changed.

There was nothing physically wrong with her.

So why?

Why did she look so sickly?

Why was she so frail?

“Princess Almeine is not ill. Since she is not ill, I am unable to heal her.”

I spoke honestly.

If someone were truly sick, my skill would show it clearly.

If there was an affliction, it would be marked in black.

But there was nothing.

Since she was not sick, there was nothing I could heal.

This was a first.

Could it be a psychological issue?

“So… it is impossible after all.”

The Emperor lowered his head with a sorrowful expression.

The Empress’s face was devastated.

But Almeine…

She smiled.

“It’s okay, Father. I can endure this.”

But her parents did not react to her words.

Not even a flicker of hope crossed their faces.

Instead—

Their despair only deepened.

“Rest now, Almeine.”

The Emperor turned and gestured for me to follow.

I complied, stepping out of the room.

The moment the door closed,

The Empress could no longer hold back her tears.

“My love…”

“Almeine is dying! If even the Saint cannot heal her, then what do we do?!”

Her desperate sobs filled the corridor.

The Emperor could say nothing.

He simply held her in his arms.

I stood silently, watching.

After a long while, the Empress finally calmed down.

Only then did the Emperor turn to me.

“I believe I must explain things in detail. It may take some time. Will you listen?”

I nodded.

“I will listen, no matter how long it takes.”

If I was going to get myself cursed and die,

I needed to know everything.

The Emperor and Empress led me to a vast reception hall.

They took a moment to compose themselves.

Then, at last—

“Nineteen years ago, my wife and I gave birth to twins.”

His voice was filled with grief.

There is a concept called Twinborn.

It refers to twins who are born with their souls connected—an extremely rare occurrence.

The Emperor’s twin daughters, Almeine and Iomene, were such Twinborn.

They shared everything.

Sensation.

Thoughts.

Memories.

Even emotions.

Because of this, Twinborn were classified as two bodies but one entity within the empire.

Since Twinborn were incredibly rare, their birth was always considered a great blessing.

Thus, when the Imperial Palace welcomed the birth of these twin princesses, the celebration was immense.

However, before the empire could even properly celebrate,

Joy was quickly swallowed by an even greater sorrow and despair.

“Wings… Iomene’s back… has wings!”

They were as dark as the deepest night.

Black wings sprouted from Iomene’s back, their presence an unnatural omen.

The Emperor and Empress, horrified, immediately summoned priests and mages to investigate.

And the answer they received was shocking.

“She carries a fragment of the Evil God.”

“A fragment of the Evil God?! How is that possible?!”

“It appears that someone placed a long-term curse on Her Majesty, the Empress.”

Panic erupted within the palace.

The joyous announcement of the Twinborn princesses was immediately silenced.

Instead, a bloody search and inquisition swept through the imperial court.

Who?

Who had cast such a terrible curse?

The palace staff, maids, butlers, even distant relatives—anyone who had ever been near the Empress was interrogated.

But no one could uncover the culprit.

Time passed.

Three years after the birth of the Twinborn princesses,

The black wings on Iomene’s back began unleashing an uncontrollable curse.

It started with a single maid who had been caring for Iomene.

She collapsed, struck down by the curse.

Though holy magic and miracles managed to remove the curse infecting her soul,

She never fully recovered.

She died soon after.

“This is no ordinary curse. It doesn’t simply corrupt the soul—it destroys it. Once the soul is gone, the curse takes its place, leaving behind something that is neither living nor dead.”

“And that’s not all. The curse is contagious. It will spread rapidly, infecting those nearby.”

“If left unchecked, an army of the undead could rise from within the capital!”

“Your Majesty, you must…

…dispose of Princess Iomene.“

The Emperor did not need further explanation.

He knew what they meant.

Iomene had to die.

If he wished to prevent an undead outbreak in the heart of the empire, there was no other choice.

But then…

“If one Twinborn dies, what happens to the other?”

No one dared to answer.

Two bodies.

One soul.

If one died, the other would follow.

To kill Iomene was to kill Almeine.

The Emperor hesitated.

He thought.

And thought.

And thought again.

At last, he made his decision.

“I will not kill my daughter.”

“Then, Your Majesty, you must find a way to purge the fragment of the Evil God.”

At first, no one had an answer.

Only one organization—one that had spent centuries battling monsters, demons, and the darkness itself—knew of a solution.

The White Order.

“Long ago, a warrior chosen by Dulanier managed to remove a fragment of the Evil God.”

“How did they do it?”

“The child carrying the fragment must be isolated. Locked away in a secure chamber, with no contact with the outside world.”

“Then, at regular intervals, powerful holy magic must be cast upon them to weaken the connection between the soul and the Evil God’s fragment.”

“Once fully severed, the fragment can be extracted and destroyed.”

“How long will this take?”

“At minimum… ten years.”

“If the process is endured to completion, there is a high chance of success.

“However… each time the holy magic is cast, the fragment will resist.

The child will suffer unbearable pain.”

The Emperor’s face twisted in agony.

“You mean to tell me that every time holy magic is used, Iomene will suffer?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“…Then it is nothing more than torture.”

The High Priest lowered his head.

“We will do everything possible to lessen the pain… but we cannot eliminate it entirely.”

The Emperor’s hands trembled.

“Is there no other way?”

“If a Saint or Holy Maiden were to appear and perform a miracle, it might be possible.”

“But there has not been a Saint or Holy Maiden in the empire for 300 years.

“This is the only option, Your Majesty.”

“Gods of the Pantheon… why…?”

The Emperor revealed the truth to the Empress.

“Absolutely not!! That’s torture!”

“It is the only way.”

“Twinborn share one soul! If Iomene suffers unbearable pain, then Almeine will suffer as well!”

“There is a spell that can sever their connection.”

“No!! No!! Those are my children!

“My own flesh and blood! How can you even suggest such a thing…?!”

“If we do nothing, the entire empire may be consumed by the Evil God’s curse.”

“And if the fragment within Iomene is allowed to grow, do you truly believe Almeine will remain unharmed?”

At this, the Empress broke down, sobbing.

“How… how could you do this to a child barely three years old…?”

The Emperor clenched his fists.

“It must be done. No matter what.”

“You are the worst father in the world!”

The Empress screamed, overwhelmed by emotion.

But the Emperor, his eyes filled with sorrow, simply replied:

“Between the empire and my daughters…

I chose my daughters.”

“By all rights, I should have killed Iomene.

“So, my love, please… never say that to me again.”

At that, the Empress could no longer respond.

The couple held each other and wept—again and again, unable to stop.

They grieved over the cruel reality that, from this moment on, they would have to subject their own flesh and blood, only three years old, to relentless suffering.

But this was the only way.

On the day of their third birthday—

A powerful spell was cast upon the twin princesses, whose backs had just sprouted wings.

With the ritual severing their souls’ connection, Iomene and Almene were separated.

Iomene was left isolated, confined in a secluded palace imbued with every miracle and spell imaginable to contain the curse within her.

Once a week, she had to endure the agony of feeling her body torn apart.

Meanwhile, Almene grew up in the imperial palace as a noble and dignified daughter of the emperor, bathed in light.

And so—

For sixteen years—

The sisters lived apart.

The long tale had come to an end.

The empress was weeping, and the emperor wore the expression of a man whose very soul had been shattered.

“Sixteen years… We have subjected Iomene to unspeakable torment. No parent—no matter how vile—could have done what we did. We even had to forcibly stop her from taking her own life multiple times.”

“…What of the Fragment of the Dark God?”

“The connection between it and Iomene’s soul has weakened significantly. However, in exchange, her mind—her very self—has been irreversibly damaged. The spell that blocked the link between their souls was strong, but the Fragment still managed to seep through and affect Almene.”

So that’s why Almene couldn’t be healed.

It wasn’t a physical ailment—it was a wound upon her soul.

Of course treatment wouldn’t work.

The emperor takes my hand.

“Saint… I do not speak to you as the ruler of an empire, but as the father of these children. I beg you. Save Iomene with your miracle. Her mind is deteriorating even before the Fragment of the Dark God can be fully expelled from her soul. You are the only one who can remove the Fragment while simultaneously restoring her sense of self. Please… I beg of you…”

Tears fall from the emperor’s eyes.

I had heard that the emperor was a ruthless ruler—unyielding, iron-fisted, an absolute military authority.

Even in the newspapers, every image of him depicted a stern, unrelenting man, always issuing commands with an unwavering gaze.

But the man before me now—this middle-aged man—looked only lost and broken.

There was no majesty left in him.

And in this grave moment—

I was inwardly cheering.

A curse!!

And not just any curse—one powerful enough to bring about the end of the world!

A cheat code!

Delivered straight to me, without me even needing to search for it!

If I extract the Fragment of the Dark God from Iomene and use it to shatter my own soul—

The princess will be saved, and I’ll get to go back to Korea!

A win-win situation!

Two birds with one stone!

“Leave it to me.”

Wait for me, curse!

I’m coming for you!!