Eve blinked blankly at the woman's familiar voice.
She was wrapped in black cloth from head to toe. Her appearance was not clearly visible.
'But it doesn't feel unfamiliar.'
Eve desperately retold her memories.
"I finally met you."
A voice came from beyond the black cloth. As expected, it was a familiar voice.
"...Who are you?"
"The person who manages this place, the underground. Right, the exact opposite of your dragon."
"Underground?"
Eve looked around once again. Piles of skulls and an unsettling, eerie atmosphere.
'No way...'
Eve recalled the legend she had read in the South.
...With the heavens ruled by God and the underworld by Death, a being was needed to rule the earth. Therefore, God sent the dragons down to the ground in his place.
The sky is the god, the earth is the dragon.
And if this is the basement, surely not...
"Death?"
Death paused at Eve's call.
Calling me that? That's a bit arrogant.
Death spoke in a slightly unpleasant voice.
" Still, it’s not bad that a person is calling me. Skeletons can’t speak."
Death chuckled in a self-deprecating voice and muttered.
"It's funny. I'm alive like this, yet I have to manage only the dead. As if being next to me makes everyone miserable."
Eve's eyes widened at the sound of those words.
"It's because no one gets happy when they're with me. I'm sorry, sister."
"Surely not." Eve slowly sat up.
Before falling here, she clearly saw red eyes that resembled Noelier's.
Red eyes and a familiar voice.
“Please find me!”
Even Rachel's voice, who cried out to find her before she came here.
Eve swallowed hard and put her hand into her pocket.
The ring Rachel had given her before she came here was felt in her hand.
Eve placed the ring on her palm and showed it to Death.
"You've... seen this before, right?"
Death glanced at the ring and narrowed her brows.
"What is that? I've never seen it before."
"...You're saying it's your first time seeing this?"
Eve looked at Death before her with a flustered voice.
"Why are you showing that to me?"
"..."
Eve closed her lips.
It was because even she herself hadn't sorted out her thoughts yet.
Eve slowly reached out her hand.
"What are you doing?"
Death stepped back and shouted in a sharp voice.
"Wait, wait, can you show me your face?"
"What do you want to do with my face?"
“I have something to check.”
Then, Death shook off her hand as if displeased.
"Get lost... There's nothing good to be gained from looking at me."
"Why?"
"..."
Death kept her mouth shut.
She was Death, who governed the underworld. She didn't know if she might be afraid of her hideous appearance, which contrasted sharply with that woman.
'It’ll be inconvenient to keep you around if you eat and cry.'
That was Death's thought.
However, this woman was not scared at all.
No, on the contrary, she pretended to know her and tried to come closer.
"It's okay!"
Death violently shook off Eve's hand.
"I know you're struggling to survive, but I can't let you go. I need that dragon's heart."
"... What?"
Eve's body froze at the words Death coldly spat out.
Death tightened the black cloth it was wearing.
"So, stay here quietly. If I catch the dragon, I will let you go alive."
As soon as Death finished speaking, the shadow at Eve's feet began to grow larger.
"So stay locked up quietly. Until that dragon comes."
"For a moment...!"
Feeling threatened, Eve stepped back.
However, the approaching shadow turned into shackles and ended up binding her.
At the same time, Eve's body dropped down.
Before falling into the darkness, Eve stared intently at the red eyes hidden inside the black cloth.
“Rachel!”
Eve shouted Rachel's name without realizing it.
However, her cry did not reach Death.
"...Rachel?"
Death muttered as she watched Eve fall into the darkness.
However, Death dismissed that name as insignificant.
She caught that woman.
All that remained was to wait for the dragon.
***
The darkness that suddenly enveloped them swallowed Eve.
The phoenix busily scanned its surroundings.
But Eve was nowhere to be seen.
All that could be seen were snow-covered trees.
The startled bird came straight down into the winter forest.
It was because there was no way to know that Eve had fallen underground.
Kieeek!
The phoenix, which had been shouting at the top of its lungs looking for Eve, suddenly spat something out with a cough.
What the bird spat out was a ring it had picked up in a ruined southern castle before coming to the north.
It was something humans brought to cause the dragon to run wild.
Something round and sparkling, made of gold. It looked so beautiful.
Unable to resist its curiosity, the phoenix swallowed it whole.
That is how the ring was brought from the South to the North.
The startled phoenix swallowed the ring buried in the snow again.
However, it didn't go down smoothly and ended up getting stuck in its throat.
*Cough!*
The phoenix flapped its wings as if in pain.
It was then.
Pop!
With that sound, the body, which had been as big as a house, shrank to the size of a palm.
Kiiiiieek!
The startled phoenix let out a cry that was like a scream.
However, the body did not return.
"What should I do?" It was when the panicked Phoenix was scrambling frantically.
Someone caught the Phoenix's eye.
A woman with silver hair wearing a white cloak.
It was the Eve he had been searching for so desperately.
Lieeem!
The phoenix quickly flew to her side.
"...Huh?"
At the sound of unfamiliar crying, the woman wearing a cloak raised her head.
It was Lily, a woman with silver hair and golden eyes.
However, Lily and Eve are very much alike.
Because of this, the Phoenix thought that Lily was Eve.
The phoenix flapped its wings repeatedly and cried out in welcome.
"W-what? Who are you?"
Lily stammered in a flustered voice.
The phoenix whined and cried as if it were upset.
However, it was the first time she had seen a phoenix with its whole body engulfed in flames.
As Lily recoiled, the wolves barked.
The phoenix let out a fire at the wolves' howl.
However, he could not breathe out a large fire because of the ring around his neck.
The bird coughed as if in pain.
Confused by this, Lily approached the phoenix.
"Is something stuck in your throat? Are you okay?"
Then, a bird landed on Lily's hand. Its whole body was on fire, but it was easy to touch.
After coughing a few times like that, the Phoenix gave up spitting out the ring.
Then the coughing stopped abruptly.
The bird, now much more at ease, flapped its wings happily toward Lily.
Lily blinked blankly.
She looked around, but there wasn't a single person who looked like the owner.
Lily lowered her head again and looked at the phoenix.
“Where are you from?”
Then the bird cried out, as if asking why she was pretending not to know.
'This is a dilemma. I need to find the owner...'
It was when Lily looked around with bewildered eyes.
"Lily, what are you doing there?"
Lily's older brother, Raven, approached her.
He paused after checking the bird in Lily's hand.
“...Where did you get that?”
"Huh? Oh, that suddenly flew in and..."
“Throw it away now.”
Raven shook off Lily's hand.
Having lost its support in an instant, the phoenix soared into the sky, letting out an angry cry.
"Brother, what's wrong!"
Lily grabbed Raven as if scolding him.
However, Raven merely looked around with an anxious expression.
“Hurry up and go home.”
“Brother!”
"Immediately!"
Raven dragged Lily inside the house.
The remaining phoenix let out a loud cry.
However, no matter how much it cried, the firmly closed door did not open.
As if reflecting its gloomy mood, the flapping of its wings gradually slowed down.
The bird had no choice but to land on a tree near their house.
"Brother, what's wrong?"
Lily, having entered the house, grabbed Raven and asked.
"Do you happen to know anyone related to that bird?"
"..."
Raven remained silent with a stern face.
"Surely… it’s not a bird related to Lily, is it?"
At Lily's words, Raven looked up at her. The golden eyes, resembling her own, affirmed it. Lily bit her lip.
"...That makes no sense. Why would Lily's bird be here?"
Lily smiled faintly.
"She's the kid who stole all our money, too."
"...Lily"
"Enough, let's stop talking about this. I don't want to think about someone like that anymore."
Lily forced a smile and looked toward the wolves.
Raven looked at Lily without saying a word.
A face that looked exactly like Lily naturally came to mind.
Raven recalled that day.
***
On the day Lily—or more precisely, Eve—disappeared, Raven, who was about to head out to the top, realized that he had left something behind.
"Wait here for a moment. I'll be right back."
Raven returned home, leaving Lily behind.
And then he faced the house that had turned into a complete mess.
The wolves were lying down, and the cup was broken.
And then, Lily disappeared.
Raven paused as she was about to leave the house to look for Eve.
A brooch with a wolf pattern was lying on the floor.
A wolf shapeshifter living in the north couldn't possibly know that.
It was the upper-level owner, Theo's item.
It seemed like he understood only then.
Theo had kidnapped Eve.
If he hadn't left home early.
His younger sister must have been taken away.
"..."
Raven looked around the messed-up house.
After standing there for quite a while, he started cleaning the house.
The collapsed door leaned against the wall, obscuring the interior of the house, and the broken plates were thrown into the snow.
Raven, who had come back in, opened the drawer.
It contained the money saved while working at the top.
Raven put the money in his pocket.
It didn't take very long to set up the whole situation.
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