“I won’t be modeling my life after a lovesick demon. I pity Duke Sharondale, in fact. He never would have had to become a stigmata if he hadn’t fallen in love with you…”
“So you figured that much out, hmm?”
The duchess kept the same pleasant, fearless smile on her face, even when she was being scolded. I felt a cold sweat start to drip down my back, but I kept my gun steadily aimed at her.
“Yes, we know everything already. Duke Sharondale was the second victim that was never discovered, because you resurrected him by turning him into a stigmata!”
On the night of the murder, the duke was stabbed as he tried to protect the victim and her baby. He bled profusely until the life had drained from him. But then the duchess branded him with her stigma and dragged her husband back to the land of the living.
The killer’s message was left with a combination of Kate Edward’s and Duke Sharondale’s blood, causing the agglutination reaction.
The duchess placed her hand on her cheek and smiled as if thinking back on a fond memory.
“What a thrill it was to brand my husband with my stigma. I was trembling with pleasure to finally have his heart in the palm of my hand. But his feelings toward me never changed… He still loved a girl with no fortune, no beauty, and no status.”
“Everyone is free to love whoever they want, however they want. There are plenty of beautiful, wealthy people whose love never comes to fruition.”
Love is cruel. Everyone knows this much, and yet they continue to fall in love regardless. Like an inconspicuous rabbit hole underneath a grove of trees, the outward appearance never tells the true story of what lurks underneath.
“Even if nothing ends up as planned, and heartbreak wounds you thoroughly enough that you can no longer continue on, that’s your own responsibility to manage. Love must never be a reason to cause others harm. You can never allow yourself to forget that, even if your heartbreak is too much to bear.”
The duchess kept a smile on her face as she listened to my earnest declaration. In those gentle eyes of hers, I could’ve sworn I saw feelings of yearning beneath the surface.
“Humans truly are fools. But that’s what makes them so lovable…”
“That’s enough out of you. It’s time to say farewell, Duchess Sharondale.”
“Oh, is that right? Already?”
Dark tightened his grip on his cane, causing the light of his crest to grow stronger. It blazed almost as bright as the afternoon sun itself, wrapping around the duchess and sinking her down into the dirt.
“Miss Liddell. Lord Knightley. I wish you the utmost happiness. From the depths of hell, I’ll be watching the love you share as human and demon…the love I never achieved.”
With those kindhearted parting words, Duchess Sharondale was sucked into the ground beneath her. The galaxy of light absorbed both her body and the floating mirror in one fell swoop.
Dark had sealed the duchess away in hell. She was never to reach the land of the living ever again. Seeing how little she resisted, I imagined this was her own desired outcome as well. A life on Earth would never again be possible with Duke Sharondale, the man she loved.
The duke and his son, Regard, were under the protection of Queen Victoria’s guards, as she knew the details of their circumstances.
It was Queen Victoria, who’d been concerned about the poor safety conditions of the East End, who sent a letter directly to Inspector Dodo, pressuring him on the Jack the Ripper case. That was why the police rushed to make an arrest and why they quickly upgraded Jack from a person of interest to the main suspect as well.
“The Jack the Ripper case is finally over now. Although, the true culprit’s outcome will never be known to anyone else. It will be the same as if the case was never resolved at all, but we can’t exactly tell Inspector Dodo that the duchess was actually a demon.”
Dark released his powers. The light of his crest went fluttering up like fireflies, then faded away into the stagnant air.
“I know it’s wrong to sympathize with a murderer, but I do pity Duchess Sharondale. She only wanted to be the duke’s wife, and she tried so hard to play the role of a loving mother and doting partner.”
“She must have wanted to prove to him that demons can live as humans too. If you hadn’t seen through her, Alice, they probably would have kept playing house like that until the duke’s feelings for her returned.”
“Love between a human and a demon isn’t so simple after all.”
I didn’t know how the Mirror Demon first fell in love with the Duke of Sharondale, or how she managed to become his wife. All I could feel for certain was that she was desperate in her attempt to receive his love.
After all, I was her mirror image—the human who’d fallen in love with a demon.
I looked at Dark, who seemed perfectly content.
“I was raised as a human, so fear not. Besides, my love for you only grows with each new obstacle. Maybe that’s because I’m a demon, no?”
“I don’t think so.”
I placed my hand on my chest, resting it exactly where my stigma lay.
“Because I feel the exact same way.”
My honest revelation drew a pleased, shy smile from Dark. He wrapped me in his arms.
My heart was racing so fast, I felt that the sheer love I had for him might cause my chest to bust.
As long as I feel this way, Dark and I will always be able to walk the same path in life.
Our life together would be a happy one, and when I one day descended to hell, I wished to meet with Duchess Sharondale once more. There I would tell her just how capable a demon and a human were of mutual, unwavering love, even without others coming to their rescue.