[Hiatus] Catastrophe

"Catastrophe:파국" #01

With her upper body facing the sun and her lower body facing the moon, she lay on an ambiguous boundary, as she did every day.

Under the dazzling sunlight, she placed her hand on her forehead and quietly recited numbers with unfocused eyes.

1

2

3

She jumped up immediately after counting to exactly three, and a fierce hunter stood before her.

헌터

"Miss, didn't you see the vampire that passed by here? He was wearing some pretty nice clothes."

정여은

"What do you mean, sir? I've been sitting here all day, not moving an inch, and I haven't even seen a human, let alone a vampire."

She smiled brightly at the hunter and spoke to him as if reciting a line from a play.

헌터

"Hmm, I'm sure it went this way... Did you really not see it, Miss?"

정여은

"That's right~"

헌터

"Damn it. I can't catch those rat bastards these days! How much money is on the line...!!!"

정여은

"This time... how much is the bounty?"

헌터

"500 million dollars!! 500 million dollars!"

정여은

"It's amazing.... Oh, the sun is already setting."

헌터

"Hmm, it's already like that... Today's over. You should go home quickly, young lady. As always, vampires, be careful."

정여은

"Yes... I'll keep that in mind."

The hunter was disappearing from her sight, and the smile that had once filled her face vanished as soon as he disappeared.

정여은

"Today... has passed too."

김태형

"Your Majesty, it's been a full ten seconds. Why are you acting so uncharacteristically...?"

She sighed at the sound of a man's voice coming from behind a tree, and sharp fangs appeared at the corners of her mouth, and her once black eyes had become a redder than wine.

In fact, she is a vampire. Unlike other vampires, she is the only one who has achieved 'humanization' after countless training sessions.

As the 13th Empress of the Vampire Empire, she was forced to live in hiding due to the limitations of being human. She was living her life fulfilling her role.

정여은

"I was just... curious. Just how valuable our lives really are..."

She looked visibly exhausted, and weakly answered the questions of her most trusted confidant, Taehyung.

"Haha, something big has happened!!! In the village..!!!"

At that moment, a man with eyes as deep as hers came running in a hurry.

김태형

"What are you talking about? How dare you be so rude to Her Majesty the Queen!!"

정여은

"That's not important right now!! You look urgent, what on earth is going on?!"

"Humans...!! Humans are coming and killing everyone!!!! A few barely escaped, but most..."

정여은

"G,what is that...!!!!"

정여은

"No, no... that can't be. I'm sure...!!!!"

She was stunned by the fact that her efforts, which had spanned countless days, including today, to bring peace to her empire for nearly 300 years, were now bursting like bubbles before her very eyes.

정여은

"I have to go right now!!!!"

김태형

"Your Majesty!!! What are you talking about? You should flee immediately! There must be countless knights...!!"

정여은

"What are you talking about!! The Master is over there!! Do you think that's all!? We have to save those who are still alive!!"

김태형

"Your Majesty!!! Please!! How can you, knowing full well that without You, this kingdom has no future..."

정여은

"Kim Taehyung... no, Taehyung oppa."

정여은

"I'm the one who has to take responsibility for this country, just like you said!!! I might look like a foolish Jeong Yeo-eun to you, but right now, I'm a queen..."

정여은

"If you're scared, if you're scared of those people, then run away as much as you want, I'll let you..."

Could it be that her red eyes are no darker than the sense of responsibility she feels at this very moment?

Despite Taehyung's dissuasion, she returned to human form and headed back to the village. Taehyung, with his head bowed, soon followed her.

정여은

"S, Master!!!"

스승

"Your Majesty... why on earth did you come here... sob!..."

정여은

"Master!! What the hell happened?! I'm sorry...sob...sob...it's all...my fault...I was so careless...sob...sob..."

스승

"Queen... Your Majesty... Your Majesty... You did your best..."

Her only teacher, who had helped her humanize, had already been horribly transformed by humans.

The stake in his heart was as deep as human cruelty, and even speaking seemed painful.

스승

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty the Queen..."

정여은

"You have to be careful with your words!! Please...don't leave me...ugh...ugh..."

스승

"Your Majesty... how much time... gulp... gulp... haa... there isn't much time..."

스승

"Your Majesty... when everything calms down... then go meet the human emperor... sob... gulp..."

정여은

"Master...!!! Please...come to your senses!! I won't let you suffer!...please....uhhhh...ugh...."

스승

"Remember...everything I taught you..."

정여은

"Sh...Master...no...no...no!! Sob...sob...sob..."

The teacher, who seemed proud of her humanized appearance, caressed her cheek, which was not pure white but had a human color, and then closed his eyes.

As the empress, she continued to blame herself while embracing her master.

정여은

"It's because of me...sob...me...uh-huh..."

김태형

"Your Majesty, please don't blame yourself. It's all my fault..."

정여은

"I guess what you said was right.... I was acting out of character... That's probably why I was like that.... I should've just shut up and counted... Everything's gone...!!! This empire!!! And the master!!! Everything's gone!!!... Hehe...."

Her efforts, which had protected the empire every day on the border between the two without a single error, were suddenly turned against her overnight.

Perhaps, as she said, it was due to her excessive curiosity, or perhaps not.

But more importantly, the ruins of the empire that had fallen before her spoke pitifully to her.

The border between the two moons, humans and vampires.

The boundary line that we believed was a line of peace for each other's safety has now collapsed at this moment.