Imperial Year 1314, Rubellia, Capital of the Great Erzel Empire.

Following the end of the Great War between Humans and Demons, the Empire held a banquet adorned in gold.

The victory of humanity, having struck down 'Demon King Gramos,' and the peace reached after hundreds of thousands of sacrifices.

Under the dazzling chandeliers, nobles and high officials raised their glasses to praise that glory.

...But that light felt too foreign and painful to me.

The West Gallery of the Imperial Palace, made of pure white marble. I stood there alone, like a shadow.

Seven years ago, I left for the battlefield. The Emperor's secret order, a dispatch into the abyss to stop the Demon King.

Everyone assumed I would die, and the Empire practically erased my name. However, I returned alive.

—As the hero who saved the world. But no one was waiting for me.

The center of the banquet. Amidst the glowing crowd, she was there.

Elia Veloce.

Once my lover, the person I promised a future with.

Before the war, in the West Garden of the palace, we spent every day researching magic formulas and sharing our dreams—all those memories were collapsing now, beneath the sight of her back as she held another man's hand.

The man standing beside her— Erwin Zard. My own brother. Supreme Commander of the Imperial Army after the war, and Minister of State directly under the Imperial Family. He remained in the palace during the war to seize power, and now, he was the man engaged to her.

"...So you've returned."

Elia's voice was quiet. With her short golden hair elegantly put up, she had the same face as seven years ago, yet she had become a completely different woman.

"I imagined your death every single day. Those memories brought me, and this person... this far."

On her wrist, she still wore the old magic-engraved pendant I gave her before I left.

But it was hidden beneath her cloak. Kept away from the light.

"I waited. At first, truly. But one day, I found myself burning your letters. And... eventually, I forgot."

She spoke calmly. Without apology, without anger, without tears. Simply, as if acknowledging the time that had passed.

"This man was by my side during all the time you were gone."

Erwin said nothing. But in his eyes, there was not the leisure of a victor, but the stains of unspeakable guilt and sorrow.

"I guess there's no place for me to return to anymore."

I said that and turned away.

I wandered the battlefields and slew the Demon King, but the real wound was happening right now,

Under the palace lights, in front of the back of the one I loved most.

At that moment, a bell tolled in the distance. Imperial Year 1314, the first day of peace. But to me, that bell was not a beginning, but a declaration of the end.

"……Right, it's over."

I walk. Into the darkness, beyond the memories. —And toward the battlefield I will one day return to.

The war between humans and demons is over. Now, what remained was the war between people.