The Heart of a Hound [Western Fantasy]

On the first day Yilanna became a princess of a fallen kingdom, she was offered as a sacrifice to the Demon King, who would always love her.

The Demon King took her back to his endlessly luxurious bedchamber, caring for her as if she were a fragile rose.

In her first month as queen of the demon realm, Yilanna happened upon the malevolent spirit who, by the Demon King's command, had always watched over her from the shadows, spying on her.

The Demon King was busy with the war and had rarely come to see her lately.

Yilanna lived in seclusion in the endlessly luxurious bedchamber. Bored and unable to keep her hands to herself, she teased the taciturn, pallid shadow spirit into coming out, just for the fun of it, like playing with a dog.

But a dog is a dog, and a person is a person. A person doesn't know what kind of dog it is: devoted or foolish, infatuated or mad.

Nor does a person know what kind of teeth and tongue a dog has.

Yilanna knew only that it hurt whenever he sank his teeth into her.

But if she made the dog let go, even more blood would flow, and it would hurt even more.

She had wronged the Demon King, and she had wronged the dog. She was neither a fit queen nor a fit master.

The seasons of the demon realm turned again and again, and the princess's heart had long since become a canine fang.

She could no longer even wander.

The demon realm's sky screen was eternally blood-red. Standing on the palace terrace, the hot wind from the lava made her vaguely recall the wind along the shore on the day her kingdom fell...

Last night, Yilanna had received a whole night of affection from the Demon King, whom she hadn't seen in ages. She had also received her dog's promise of love.

Today, she was happy.

But she didn't want to be happy.

Then let her end all these mistakes that should never have happened, in another way.

Coming soon: Reborn on the Night the Zombies Wandered the Manor

Only as she lay dying did Skadi learn that her earl husband truly loved her.

Her husband, who had barely ever come home, had spent seven years tracking evil spirits for her. At last, on a night of torrential rain, he died in a horde of corpses at an old mountain castle.

In the very end, the raven brought back only his wedding ring, caked in blood and flesh.

Skadi thought, If I could see him again... then I wouldn't pretend to be indifferent or run away anymore.

She would love him back just as fiercely.

And so...

She opened her eyes and returned to fifteen days before the calamity began.

Rotting evil spirits crawled back to the surface. The infected became monsters and surrounded the castle.

They staggered through the manor.

The man held Skadi tightly in his arms. Before the castle window, lit by flashes of lightning and thunder, they kissed, caressed, and joined together, wishing they could die the very next second.

Drenched in sweat, she remembered to look up.

A young, blond knight stood outside the door, watching her with tearful eyes, as vulnerable as a stray dog.

"Please... stop hoping for anything from him."

"Your husband is the rotting evil spirit who spread all this calamity."

That was what the knight told her.

Of course, Skadi understood what he was trying to do.

But she had made a promise to herself.

So it didn't matter who the evil spirit was.

On this night when monsters wandered the manor, since he had returned safely from that old castle, she was prepared to care about nothing anymore.

Theme: True love above all