Then, a tragedy occurred.
One morning, Theophilus was waiting outside the room where his master and her family were eating breakfast. Upon hearing commotion and cries of pain from the other side of the door, he raced inside as quickly as he could. Inside was the head of the family; his wife; his eldest son; his eldest daughter, Ixeris; and his second daughter.
The four of them aside from Ixeris were all behaving strangely. Their faces were pale, their eyes were vacant, and they were groaning, spilling their food on the floor. The moment Theophilus and the other servants opened the door, those vacant eyes immediately locked onto them. Their arms swinging, they slowly approached their servants.
“Wh-What in the world is this?”
“Ah, Theo. Everything is fine here. Shall we go?” With a captivating smile, Ixeris took Theophilus’s hand and exited the dining room. Theophilus was so taken aback that he couldn’t even resist. Behind him, he could hear the screams of his coworkers. In contrast to his confusion, Ixeris was happily humming as they continued down the hall.
“L-Lady Ixeris.”
“Yes, Theo?”
“What was that just now?”
“What do you mean?” She giggled. “You’re funny. But I like that about you.” Something was wrong. Her casual and relaxed disposition was out of the ordinary given the situation.
Ixeris returned to her room and, still giggling, ushered Theophilus inside.
“So!” she suddenly called out to him. “I’ve been thinking about this ever since that day! I was really sad that we wouldn’t be together anymore! You know that, right?” Her eyes were sparkling, but the light was like a torch being held in total darkness. Rather than seeming reliable, it only emphasized the horror of the spreading dark—it was a dangerous brilliance.
Still, Theophilus could tell she was talking about their trip home after her engagement had been confirmed. “I can’t stand the idea of having a child with someone I don’t even love,” she continued. “He even told me to leave you behind! He must not have liked how close we were! How awful! I thought I’d rather die than marry someone like him! But Lady Candy showed me the path to salvation!”
The witch must have enticed her somehow. Although Theophilus’s confusion nearly swallowed me up, I knew it was the witch who had caused Ixeris to change for the worse.
Ixeris took something out of her pocket—a bottle filled with black liquid. “This is called a ‘Drop of Blessing.’ It’s incredible! It gives whoever drinks it eternal life!”
“Eternal life?”
“That’s right! I’ve been thinking a lot. Like, why do I have to get married in the first place? Leaving behind kids is important for nobles, but why is that? To continue the family, right? So if the family can continue forever without needing kids, then I don’t need to get married!”
“Princess.”
“If father and my fiancé can continue ruling their territories forever without having kids, then that solves everything! I can be free!”
“Princess!”
“And when I’m free, we can be together forever, can’t we?”
At that moment, Theophilus realized that rejecting her that day had pushed her down this path. “P-Princess, what have you done? What happens to the people who drink that liquid?” The intelligent knight that he was, Theophilus quickly pieced together that she had slipped the liquid into her family’s breakfast.
“You’re interested too, huh? I’m glad! The people who drink this turn immortal! And when they kiss somebody, that person turns immortal too! Isn’t that lovely?”
“I-It can’t be...” It was a curse. The cursed individuals turned into living dead—the targets of holy knights. There was no way to save them.
“Oh, am I sensing some doubt? Don’t worry. I know it seems like the curse of the living dead, but it’s actually different. That one is a curse that just makes people’s bodies continue moving after they die, but this blessing can keep their souls inside their bodies! We can remain who we are and live together forever!”
Theophilus had to do something. If this curse spread, it would cause incalculable damage. Yet to stop it, he would have to lay his hands on the family he served and kill his coworkers who had already been infected. To begin with, the undead sought out the living. However, they hadn’t made any attempt to attack Ixeris while she had been in the dining room. There could only be one explanation—she was already cursed and just wasn’t dead yet.
“Princess... Did you drink it?”
“Of course I did,” Ixeris said happily, throwing herself into Theophilus’s chest.
Despite knowing that she had cursed her family (and soon the city and entire world) to be with him, he couldn’t shake her off. She didn’t even seem to be aware it was a curse in the first place, which only served to make her seem more off. Theophilus was terrified of her looking up and trying to kiss him—yet he couldn’t stop it. He was infected with an eternal curse by kissing the very master he had resigned himself to never be united with.
“With this kiss, our love is eternal. Unlike that nonsense people swear in front of the goddess, this eternity is the real thing. There is no sickness, only health. Let’s support each other for as long as we live, Theo, my knight.”
“Princess...”
Her cheeks flushed red, Ixeris put her hand over her lips and giggled. “I’ve always wanted to do that, Theo.”
Had it not been for the curse, Theophilus might have been happy. Although he would feel guilty about it, being united with his beloved might have been worth it. “But, Princess...”
“What? You’ve been sulking this entire time.” Seemingly unconcerned about her actions, Ixeris puffed out her cheeks—just like an ordinary maiden.
“About this blessing.” He had to calmly think of a solution. All Theophilus could do at this point was to come up with something, anything, to lighten the burden of her sins—even a little.
“Oh, you must be curious! Sure, ask away.” Getting the wrong idea, Ixeris puffed out her chest with confidence as though she fashioned herself a tutor.
“You said their souls remain, but your family just now...” Didn’t look like they were in their right mind.
“Right, apparently it takes time to adapt. But in your case, I’m sure it’ll be instant. You’re really clever. Anything else?”
“If it’s similar to the living dead, then does that mean our bodies will eventually rot away?”
“That’s correct.” Ixeris nodded like it was merely a minor detail.
“A-And you’re okay with that?”
“Hey, Theo. Have you ever thought about what love really is? I love those yellow flowers, but would I hate them if they were blue? What if they were the same color but the shape of their petals changed? If they bloomed during a different season? What has to change before you perceive something as a different object?” Theophilus had no idea where she was going with this. “At the end of all that thinking, I realized something—it doesn’t really matter. As long as I remember the flowers were yellow, then no matter how they change, that feeling of love within me will never fade.”
“Princess, I’m not sure I follow.”
“You’re so thickheaded. I’m saying that obviously I love your blue hair, blue eyes, gloomy face, occasional smile, calloused hands, strong muscles, and pale skin, but my love for you won’t change when all those things are gone. And I’m confident you feel the same way. Right?”
Theophilus thought she was beautiful, but he couldn’t imagine his love for her would disappear if that beauty was marred. No matter how appealing, it was just one piece of the whole he loved. Even when it was lost, he would remember her as she was, so he could appreciate her point.
“And you’re smart, Theo, so I’m sure you’re worried about holy knights too.”
He was indeed. She had served the infectious liquid to her family at breakfast and they had turned immediately after ingesting it. The curse spread at a terrifyingly fast rate—and once it did, it wouldn’t remain the secret of a single town. The holy knight headquarters in the capital would dispatch an army including the Twelve Knights to conduct an extermination operation. If that happened, their eternity was nothing more than a dream.
“Don’t worry about them. This is all Lady Candy’s plan. She has a bunch of helpers like me across the country, and we’re all spreading the blessing at once today.”
“Th-Then this is happening all over the country?”
“That’s right! Isn’t it lovely? Lady Candy said she wanted to create a world where nobody dies. She’s such a wonderful person. I was so moved when I heard her plan!”
Instinctively, Theophilus knew that was a lie. The young noblewoman his master affectionately called Lady Candy didn’t have such a compassionate heart. As the two spoke, the commotion around the estate grew louder. It seemed to signal that the town’s collapse was progressing quickly.
“So, Theo. Now we can be together forever without any— Ah...”
“Princess?” Ixeris looked at Theophilus with dead eyes, devoid of even their dark sparkle. Her healthy skin was now as pale as a corpse. Her lovely face was emotionless, drool running down her chin. She groaned and turned away from Theophilus before exiting the room. He had already been cursed. There were still others who needed to be infected.
“Princess...” Soon, Theophilus would be joining her. He would wander the streets and bite people until he adapted to the curse. Given what he had heard, he knew what steps were necessary to get the situation under control—quarantine and extermination. But if this same chaos was occurring throughout the country, such a feat would be immensely difficult to accomplish. Quarantine aside, extermination was beyond his means. He couldn’t lay a hand on Ixeris or the family he served. The only option left to him was to prove his loyalty. “I promise, I’ll find you and protect you.”
It was all he could do. Then, Theophilus lost consciousness. The voice inside his head preached about the magnificence of his blessing, and he left the mansion full of undead and headed into the city.