Chapter 49 : Duke of the North (7)

In the deep grave of the necromancer king, Misty hugged a rabbit doll in a girl-like room created by Haru.

“Oh my… I can really touch it!”

She gently stroked the soft fur of the rabbit doll with her fingertips. Her heart fluttered at the sensation she hadn’t felt in hundreds of years.

“This is my bookshelf. There’s my bed. Everything is mine… Anyone would think I’m a noble lady!”

She touched the blanket, stroked the bookshelf, and fiddled with the curtains. Everything her hands touched felt vividly real.

“Haru. Thank you.”

But soon, emptiness crept in.

Suddenly, the mirror on the wall caught her eye.

“Let me see…”

A translucent reflection appeared faintly.

“So this is how I looked.”

Round eyes, long wavy brown hair, a white dress… It was exactly as she looked when she was alive.

“So this is why Haru called me harmless.”

She tried to force a scary expression by raising the corners of her mouth, but the reflection in the mirror was simply innocent.

“Heh… Can I really never be a scary ghost?”

With a sigh, she sank to the floor, holding the rabbit doll tightly.

“I miss Haru. But how did I appear in the mirror?”

It was then.

Whoosh—

The candles went out all at once. All light vanished.

“Wh… Who?”

A black fog filled the room. An evil aura surrounded Misty’s translucent body.

[What you desire so much…]

A voice echoed from the darkness. Deep and eerie, as if it were reverberating from the abyss.

[I can… give it to you…]

The black fog swirled and took shape. A massive skull, a dark cloak, and deep, unreadable red eyes.

“Ne… Necromancer King?”

[Yes… I am the king of the dead. I can give you what you want…]

The black fog surrounded Misty. A cold energy penetrated her body.

[A soul of the dead wanting to be with the living… You must hate the one who left you. If you just entrust your soul to me… you can return to life.]

“Really?”

Misty’s voice trembled.

[Yes… I will give you bones and flesh. A body with warm blood flowing…]

The black fog enveloped Misty’s body.

[Then you can truly be with the one you love.]

Misty’s eyes wavered. The longing she had held deep inside her chest echoed.

[You can kiss… you can embrace…]

The necromancer king’s voice whispered sweetly.

“But…”

[Are you scared? There is nothing to worry about. You are already dead… there is nothing left to lose.]

“Still…”

[Just entrust your soul to me… and everything will come true.]

The black fog wrapped around Misty’s soul. The sweet temptation shook her consciousness.

“With Haru…”

[Yes… forever… together…]

Misty’s soul slowly began to melt into the black fog.

“Wait… No.”

Misty’s gaze landed on the rabbit doll. Haru’s kind heart was contained within it…

“This is wrong.”

Misty shook her head.

[What is this?]

“Haru wouldn’t want something like this.”

She hugged the rabbit doll tightly.

“I prefer to stay a harmless ghost.”

[How foolish… I do not ask for permission.]

The necromancer king’s red eyes glowed dangerously.

The black fog fully surrounded Misty.

“Now, you are mine…”

A chilling voice echoed from the girl’s throat. Misty’s eyes turned red.

“The soul that has endured for hundreds of years…”

The necromancer king’s remnants echoed through Misty’s body.

“Not to mention the legendary necromancy ingredients I found somewhere…”

A deep laugh escaped.

“Haha… Hahahaha!”

The mad laughter from the girl echoed through the grave.

“Such is fate. For this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come to me…!”

Misty’s body began to be tainted by the darkness. The pure translucent ghost girl gradually turned black.

“Now it begins. The resurrection ritual starts!”

Suddenly, her movements stopped. The rabbit doll fell to the floor.

“…Huh?”

Something felt off. The necromancer king’s consciousness wavered.

“…Why is this? Does this… make sense?”

[Waaah? What, what is this! Give me back my body!]

“Are you… really a soul that’s hundreds of years old? How can you be so weak and harmless…? There’s no aura of a curse at all!”

[Cursed? Oh, that? I wanted to cast a curse too… but it didn’t work well.]

“Don’t laugh! What is this…”

The necromancer king dug deep into her soul. Searching for the grudge and hatred accumulated over hundreds of years.

But all it found was…

The fluttering heart she felt when she first met Haru.

The walks they took under the moonlight.

The conversations they shared, the playful laughter.

Confessions, more confessions, and then confessions.

“Did you say you’ve spent hundreds of years alone in the graveyard… Does this even make sense? Where’s the vengeance? The loneliness? The hatred?”

[Hmm… I don’t have any of those.]

“Then what do you have?!”

[Rabbit doll! Haru gave it to me. Isn’t it cute?]

“……”

The necromancer king’s red eyes went blank.

[And this is my bookshelf. Haru decorated it beautifully. Look at the bed, it even has lace decorations…]

“Wait… Wait a minute… Ugh…!”

The sparkling happiness from Misty’s memories pierced through the darkness of the necromancer king.

[I’ve played well by myself! I had many friends in the graveyard. Frederick and… Rosetta… And my closest friend is Haru. He’s human and my first love! He’s so handsome and kind.]

“Ah… No… This is…”

[We even watched the stars together! Haru held my hand…]

The black fog swayed. The necromancer king’s red eyes wobbled in confusion.

“No! I am the king of the dead! Not…!”

The necromancer king, who had taken control of Misty’s body, howled.

“How am I supposed to resurrect with this soul? This is… too…”

There was no grudge, hatred, or darkness necessary for the resurrection ritual. In fact, it was the opposite.

“This is too harmless!”

Misty even lacked talent for curses and necromancy.

Her abilities were far too weak to complete the necromancer king’s resurrection ritual. She couldn’t even create the minimum foundation for the resurrection.

The black fog staggered and scattered. Misty regained her own body.

“That’s right. I’m just an ordinary, harmless ghost.”

Misty hugged the rabbit doll even tighter.

“But what’s wrong with that?”

Her translucent eyes glowed as clearly as the moonlight.

“I prefer to stay a harmless ghost, as Haru’s friend!”

In that moment, the black energy shook. Misty’s pure heart penetrated the darkness.

[This is nonsense…………]

The necromancer king’s power gradually dispersed. It was the price of failing the resurrection ritual.

Instead of taking control of Misty’s body, his remnants were being absorbed by her.

[This necromancer king… by such a pathetic ghost…!]

Misty shook her head.

“I’m not weak. I have Haru!”

With those words, the necromancer king’s power rapidly flowed into Misty.

“Ah… What is this?”

Misty raised her hand. Her translucent hand started to take shape.

“Does this mean I can finally leave the graveyard?”

She looked out the window. The world, bathed in moonlight, awaited her.

“But…”

She gazed at the rabbit doll, contemplating.

“I need to wait until Haru comes…”

For a moment, she fell into thought, then soon broke into a playful smile.

“But if he really doesn’t come…”

She tapped her lips with her translucent finger.

“I could just go find him, right?”

The candles, now lit, illuminated her playful expression.

“Now I can really cast a terrifying curse!”

The flames in the fireplace flickered.

“I’ll make sure Haru never leaves… No, no, that’s bad.”

Misty tried to hide the strong desire to find Haru right away.

As time passed, her translucent form became clearer.

Misty was no longer the helpless ghost trapped in the graveyard.

The energy of darkness moved according to her will.

Rustle—

The necromancer king’s tomb trembled. The black marble coffin glowed ominously.

The first tomb opened.

A black skull rose. It was Frederick, who always played with her. Blue flames ignited from his empty eye sockets.

The second tomb.

Rosetta’s skeleton gracefully rose. The laughter of the skeletal witch echoed through the graveyard.

As the tombs opened one by one, the dead rose. Misty’s friends, who had been with her for hundreds of years, were now powerful undead, guarding her.

The creepy rattling of skulls. The eerie wails of ghosts.

Ding ding—

Even the rabbit doll stood on two feet and danced, as though celebrating Misty’s ascension.

“I’ll take the rabbit doll with me later! I’ll show Haru!”

Her expression, as she looked out the window, was innocent, as if contemplating the day she would go find Haru.

“Not today. Tomorrow… hmm… the day after?”

She trailed off, smiling shyly. In her pure smile, a subtle obsession lingered.

Misty was a harmless ghost. Still… a harmless ghost to Haru.

“If he doesn’t come soon, I’ll really go to meet him.”

Misty’s laughter echoed clearly under the moonlight. It was the birth of Necromancer King Misty.

She exited the dungeon, ‘Necromancer King’s Tomb.’ Or should it now be called ‘Ghost Girl’s Room’?

Misty would be fine on her own. After all, she was a master at playing by herself.

As the darkness faded, the moonlight illuminated the grave markers.

Rustle—

The leaves rustled under the moonlight, even though it was a windless night.

Suddenly, a chill ran down her neck. An unfamiliar energy crawled up her spine.

‘This feeling…’

“Are you coming out now?”

It was familiar. This chill, this gaze that watched everything about her.

She spoke into the air. The wind howled in response.

Swish—

A long shadow stretched beneath the moonlight. Emerald hair fluttered in the wind.

“Haru…”

A voice as cold as ice. The green eyes of Queen Sylvia of the elves gleamed in the moonlight.

“Why did you run away?”

Her long ears twitched. She no longer even tried to hide her emotions.

“Answer me, Haru.”

Her long ears quivered slightly. Emotions that couldn’t be hidden leaked out through her cold expression.

Spirits circled around her. They distorted in various colors, as though reflecting their master’s heart.