Mary kicked and screamed as Dante carried her. Finally, he placed her down once they were alone. She quickly scrambled away from him with a horrified reaction, "Y-You... You monster!"
He tilted his head as he coldly stared into Mary's eyes. He stepped towards Mary causing her shriek in terror. Her body trembled as she looked into Dante's lifeless eyes. He hesitated in his steps when he noticed just how afraid she was of him.
His voice was calm, "Why are you so upset?"
She glared at him with tearful eyes, "You killed her..."
"She tried to kill you."
"She didn't try to kill me!" Mary choked on her tears, "She saved my life."
Dante stared at her for a while before looking away, "She would have died eventually. Why does it matter that she died sooner?"
The original Seri stood between the two of them with a blank expression. Her eyes never once left Mary.
Mary turned to him. Her expression of horror turned to one of disgust, "Don't you even have remorse?! Are you not human!?" He just continued to stare at her. It was clear he didn't care about the life he had just taken. Mary glared at him in revulsion, "I... I hate you."
This would be the first and only time that Mary had ever said those words. It was also the first time she had meant it. She pushed the speechless Dante to the side and ran out of the room. The original Seri silently followed her. Mary didn't know where she should go. She didn't know what she would do. Eventually, she found herself in the middle of Seri's precious flower garden.
She collapsed to her knees, "S-Seri... P-Please don't leave me..."
The original Seri went to reach out to hold her, but her hands went through her body. She pulled her hands back and looked at them closely. Her expression didn't change nor did it reveal what she was thinking. She only silently moved to sit next to Mary as she sobbed in agony.
William had noticed Mary earlier and decided to follow her. When he finally caught up, he saw her wailing in the middle of flowers. He ran over to her, "Mary! What's wrong?!"
She looked at William still sobbing, "He-He-He killed her!"
She fell into William's chest and continued sobbing. When the original Seri saw the two holding each other, she ran to push William off. However, her body went through his and made no impact. The original Seri watched the two hug while she could do nothing. She pinched her lips together.
William held her in confusion, "Who killed who?!"
"D-Dante killed Seri!"
William gulped in shock, "W-What..."
"She was my only friend and he killed her!!!"
William tightened his fists, "Why did he... Kill her..."
"He thought she tried to kill me b-but she was really saving me." She broke out into louder sobs, "It's all my fault!!! I was the one begging her to talk to me!"
"Mary..."
She pulled away to look at William. Her lip trembled, "William... I loved her..."
William looked down pinching his eyebrows together. However, he didn't look too surprised. It seemed he also had a feeling they were closer than they appeared.
"My love... Killed her... It was all my fault... If I had just left her alone that day... Then maybe... Maybe she would still be alive..."
The original Seri watched the two with dead eyes. It was hard to tell what she was thinking.
William had an uncharacteristically somber expression, "No... It's my fault too... I knew what her mother was doing all these years and I did nothing... I also found her on the ground and knew she had been tortured, but I did nothing then either... I... I was the one failed her..."
William wasn't truly an indifferent person. He had feelings like any other person.
The original Seri glared at the two hugging. She was consumed by her envy as she watched them. She reached out to pull them apart once more, but she wasn't able to. She looked at her hands closely before slowly turning back to Mary. As she sobbed, Seri's hand yearned to touch her face.
However, she was dead.
She would never be able to hold her face again. She would never be able to comfort her again.... But William could.
Her envy disappeared with this realization. All that was left was a gentle smile. She was relieved to know that even though she was dead and gone, Mary still had someone by her side.
She whispered to William softly, "William... Please watch over Mary for me..."
As he held the sobbing Mary, he whispered in her ear, "At least... At least Seri isn't suffering anymore..."
The original Seri stood up with a frown, "However, they were wrong. My true suffering had just began."
The original Seri could only watch as the world moved on without her. She didn't really care that she was dead, however she was pained to see how her death affected the ones she loved. Her father packed his bags and left her mother for good. He disappeared from society leaving behind no trace. Everyone assumed he just moved to get away from his sorrow.
However, the original Seri had seen it all. She watched as her father gave up everything and decided to die in solitude.
When her mother found out that her only child died, she surprisingly took the news very harshly. Every day she would go to her grave to sob and beg for forgiveness. Unfortunately, she would never hear Seri's reply. She was completely overcome by grief and guilt from the way she treated her daughter. She refused water and food until eventually she was admitted into a psychiatric hospital.
Her mother would spend the last of her days begging the empty air for forgiveness.
The original Seri had always thought that no one would care if she had died. However, she was wrong. The small remainder of her family was destroyed. Even the ones she didn't know she was close to were affected as well.
Artie had seen what had happened between Mary and Seri and realized that Seri had been right all along. This kind of love was impossible. He cut off his ties with Lucius and moved away to work with his father.
The two never saw each other again.
Mary was so heartbroken, she took solace in William. The two of them became gradually closer as they both worked to move past their grief and guilt. The original Seri watched the two as the original novel progressed.
She spoke, "At first, I thought I would feel jealous and hate William for stealing Mary from me... However, now that I am dead I realized that this isn't the case. After seeing Mary so depressed, I was grateful that he was there for her..."
A soft smile crossed her face as the scene of he wedding appeared before her eyes. "I was just happy that she was happy."
This was the end of the novel. I stepped forward voicing the last line as the two kissed, "And they lived happily ever after."
The smile on Seri's face disappeared, "Except there was no happily ever after." Her eyes turned hatefully to a single person in the crowd who was biting her thumb in irritation, "And it's all because of her."
"Millie?"
The original Seri turned to me with a firm look, "You must kill Millie."
I blinked in confusion, "Kill Millie?"
She stepped closer to me clenching her fists, "You must kill Millie and save Mary."
I shook my head and stepped back, "Whoa, whoa. Didn't you say my Dante wasn't the same as your Dante? So why is it different for Millie?"
"Millie isn't different. No time or experience will change her. She was born evil."
"Okay, Millie is bad. But she's not THAT bad."
The original Seri glared at me, "She IS the same. She is a threat to everyone in my world and yours."
"You're overexaggerating. It's not like she can actually destroy a world or anything."
"You don't believe me? Then I will show you. I will show you just how terrible she truly is."
The scene changed. This time we were watching Millie. We saw her horrified face as Dante slashed off Seri's head. She wanted to kill Mary. However, her plan backfired and ended up killing the only thing she had ever cared about.
Her toy.
She was filled with overwhelming grief and hatred. Hidden in her underground dungeon she screamed as she smashed and destroyed things. Millie grinded her teeth seething from anger, "Dante. Mary. William. I will kill you all. I will make you rue the day you ever took my toy away from me."
Her malicious laughter echoed off the walls as she put her plan into action. First, she wanted to demand justice for Seri's death and condemn Dante to death for wrongfully killing a noble. Although William also tried to have his father punish Dante, it seemed to fall on deaf ears. The King refused to get retribution for Seri's life and he refused to punish Dante.
Seeing that Seri's death wouldn't be avenged by the King, Millie's plans turned even darker.
Next, she decided she would get rid of Mary. She wandered around until she found Ilene. She stood in the background as Ilene and her goon's glared at Mary who was sitting outside looking up at the sky with a dazed expression.
Ilene clenched her jaw, "I hate that stupid commoner. Does she really think she can just step in and steal Prince William from me?"
Mel spoke, "Don't worry Lady Ilene. Prince William would never like her."
Ilene crossed her arms, "Then why is Prince William always with her?!"
Millie stepped forward, "It would be better if Mary just disappeared."
They all turned to her. Ilene frowned, "That would be better... I wish that b*tch would just drop dead."
Millie looked away apathetically, "Be careful what you wish for. I heard that there is someone in the red light district who makes a deadly poison that does just that. Even worse, it's undetectable. If I were you three, I would stay away from the abandoned warehouse on Tally road."
Ilene took the bait, "Why?"
"That person sells that poison there. I heard it's very dangerous so I just wanted you to be aware."
As Millie slipped away, the suggestable Ilene took the bait. She went to the abandoned warehouse where Millie hid her identity and sold her the poison she personally made. Ilene slipped it into Mary's drink and waited. Mary was still not as hungry as a result of losing Seri, so she only drank a few sips and ate a few bites before stopping. She fell ill from the poison, however she didn't die.
William and Dante did an investigation into who poisoned her and discovered that it was Ilene who attempted to kill Mary. She hadn't been very secretive about it so it wasn't too hard. However, they were unable to discover who she had bought the poison from. They didn't pay this too much attention since they were only focused on punishing Ilene.
Meanwhile, Millie had been let off the hook, but she didn't give up. As she crept through the darkness of the underground tunnels, she appeared behind the walls at the Imperial Palace. She watched every movement. Silently memorizing. Silently planning. As she moved hidden behind the walls in the secret passage, she came to another area where she heard a muffled conversation.
Her malicious smile spread across her face as she heard them planning.
Millie then waited outside in an alley, completely hidden in the darkness. When she saw two other cloaked figures enter the abandoned alley, she stepped out. They immediately drew their swords. Her crazed smile spread more, "We finally meet, your highness."
Simon stared at her with sharp eyes, "Stupid girl. You just dug your own grave."
Without waiting for him to charge, she flicked her wrist. Several small needles flew out towards Simon and his companion. Simon barely managed to avoid it, however his follower wasn't as lucky. The other trembled before collapsing on the ground.
Millie bellowed out in deranged laughter while holding her sides, "You dodged it! How impressive! You truly are the best in the kingdom!"
Simon didn't charge at her, but instead looked at her in interest. "What did you just throw at him?"
She wiped away her tears still giggling, "It's my personal creation. Don't worry, he's not dead. Just paralyzed."
Simon looked at the man closely, "How could you make it work so quickly? That's true ingenuity."
Millie smiled at him, "Oh, I can do much more than that too." Seeing that she got his attention, she continued. "I want to make a deal with you, your highness."
"Deal?"
"You want to kill the King and take over the Kingdom. I can help you."
He scoffed, "How can a little girl like you help me?"
He strolled closer to her with his sword still in his hand. He bent down to meet her eyes with a threatening aura. Her eyes were not afraid, but instead seemed dangerous. They looked like mines, ready to explode at the slightest touch. This made him even more interested.
She spoke, "I know things about the Kingdom that would be very useful to you."
"Oh? And I suppose in exchange for this information you want something else in return."
Her smile disappeared replaced by an expression of pure hatred, "I want William, Mary, and Dante. I want to torture them until the light leaves their eyes. I want to make them suffer until their last breath."
Simon nodded, "Well, I don't mind giving you this if your information is useful. As long as you kill them, you can do whatever you want with them."
"Oh, don't worry. When I'm finished, they will be begging for me to kill them. And I will graciously oblige."
Thus, a deal was made.
The condemnation event occurred and Millie watched with excited eyes as her plan was progressing with no problem. Ilene was stripped of her nobility and William and Mary announced their intentions to marry. During the time before the wedding, Dante kept receiving honors from the King and when William pestered him for the reason, the King accidentally revealed that Dante was his son. William and Dante had no idea and were shocked by the sudden realization.
Dante couldn't stand to see his love marry another nor could he come to terms with knowing his father had been in front of him the entire time. Thus, he left the kingdom. William and Mary got married while Dante disappeared. The novel reached it's natural conclusion. However, that was only the novel. The world kept going.
And so did Millie's plan.