When Iseul regained her senses, she found herself within a dream. Or, more accurately speaking, a memory.

She was in the same room in which she had found the Sword of Seven Stars. The room belonged to the person whose memories she was experiencing.

Casting an invisibility spell, she slipped out of the room. As she walked down the hall, she kept an eye out for people. It was possible that someone would notice her if they could detect the magical energy of her spell, even though it was very subtle.

She scaled a few flights of stairs before emerging onto the fifth floor balcony. Nobody ever visited the fifth floor since the rooms there were normally vacant unless there were guests. On the balcony, she found someone waiting for her.

“What took you so long?” the young man asked. As he shifted, the light illuminated half of his face, leaving the other half in shadow. He had a sharp nose, sensuously curving lips, and long lashes that framed dark eyes, which gazed at her with longing.

“I had to wait until Yoohee was asleep,” she answered, walking into his embrace.

“And here I thought that you’d decided to jilt me, Satbyeol,” the young man murmured.

“Technically speaking, that’s impossible since as far as anyone knows, we’re not courting each other,” she pointed out. Remembering her purpose in meeting him, she pulled herself from his arms. “Listen, Myungsoo, this has to stop. We can’t keep sneaking around like this.”

“Fine. Then let’s elope.”

“Are you mad? This is Sunggyu we’re talking about here. If I run off with you, what do you think people will say? How do you think he will feel? He’s your own blood brother.”

“I know he’s my brother, but I can’t just surrender you to him.”

“What can we do? I’m engaged to him. I’ve been engaged to him since I was born. For years, everyone has been expecting the two of us to get married. My parents would never have agreed to change the arrangement so that I can marry you, and now they can’t.” Both of her parents were dead. She had been taken into the Kim household since she would soon become a permanent part of the family in the near future, anyway.

“Because I’m the second son,” Myungsoo spat. “I’m not the heir. I’ll always lose to Sunggyu, won’t I? Is that my fate?”

Satbyeol remained silent for a while. When she spoke again, her voice was soft but insistent. “If we keep going on like this, we’ll only hurt each other and your brother. There can be no happy ending for us. You know it. We just need to let go of the impossible.”

Myungsoo let out a caustic laugh. “Let go?” he repeated. “Just like that? There’s no way. Trust me, Satbyeol. I’ll find a way to make this work. Wait for me, please.” He drew her in for a brief kiss before leaving the balcony.

The two did not see each other in secret again, so she thought Myungsoo would have given up hope, but he hadn’t. Two nights before her wedding, Myungsoo made an announcement at dinner. Once the meal neared its end, he asked permission to address everyone. His father granted it, thinking he was going to congratulate his brother, but instead, he stood and declared, “I am claiming my right to challenge Sunggyu to a duel to determine who is more deserving of the title of the heir to this family’s holdings.”

The entire room sat in stunned silence for what felt like eons. Then, Lady Kim spoke. “Myungsoo, you can’t be serious. What on earth gave you the idea to invoke that ancient law?”

“Satbyeol,” Myungsoo answered. Everyone turned to stare at her, including Sunggyu, and she could not meet their eyes. The shame of having been involved in a tryst gnawed away at her while the guilt for betraying a man who was one of her closest friends dug into her heart.

“Myungsoo, you must stop this nonsense,” Lady Kim urged. “She is engaged to your brother, and—”

“Let him have his duel,” Lord Kim interrupted, surprising everyone. “It is the law, and I am beholden to it, as all of us are. Hopefully, once Sunggyu gives him a good beating with the Sword of Seven Stars, he will have the nonsense knocked out of him.”

At the mention of the sword, Satbyeol looked sharply in Myungsoo’s direction. She had all but forgotten about the Kim family heirloom, which had been passed down to Sunggyu quite recently. How did he expect to win against a sword like that?

Sunggyu, who had been quiet the entire time, said, “You are my brother, and I love you dearly, but this is one thing I cannot hand over to you without a fight.”

“Of course.” Satbyeol wasn’t sure whether she saw a hint of regret in her lover’s eyes as the family dispersed to their respective rooms.

The duel was held later the next day in the courtyard. Lord Kim spoke the formalities at the beginning. “The two of you must agree upon a referee for this duel, someone whose judgment you trust wholly and will defer to.”

Myungsoo chose without hesitation. “Satbyeol.” To her surprise, Sunggyu agreed.

“Do you agree to serve as their referee, Satbyeol?”

At this, she had to fight back a bitter laugh. She didn’t really have a choice. At this point, she could only agree and hope she would be able to stop the brothers from killing each other.

When Satbyeol voiced her consent, Lord Kim raised his arms toward the sky and called upon the powers of the sun and moon to form a barrier enclosing the two brothers so that no third parties could interfere with the duel except for Satbyeol, who was in turn surrounded by a separate shield to protect her from harm.

Sunggyu stood at one end with the Sword of Seven Stars in hand, its blade gleaming under the morning light. His white armor, which was decorated with gold, matched the hilt and sheath of his weapon. Myungsoo stood opposite him, dressed in black and wielding his own sword, which was strengthened with various spells but did not command the same power that the family heirloom did.

The entire Kim household was gathered on the sidelines, watching with fear etched into their faces. For the longest time, it was quiet, too quiet, as if the universe were holding its breath.

Then, Satbyeol raised her right hand and declared, “Let the duel begin!”

Sunggyu and Myungsoo approached each other at a steady and unhurried pace, neither of them wavering in their steps. When only a few arms’ length remained between the two men, the younger began his offensive, springing forward so suddenly that his brother was caught off guard. However, Sunggyu managed to parry the blow.

It soon became apparent that Sunggyu was up to something. With the Sword of Seven Stars in his possession, he could have struck Myungsoo at any time with a blast of magical energy, yet he was choosing not to. Instead, he used the sword as a normal weapon. To the onlookers, it seemed as if he were simply waiting and playing with his brother until he grew bored and decided to claim his easy victory, but Satbyeol knew otherwise.

He was giving Myungsoo a fair fight.

It wasn’t just his brotherly affection that motivated him to do this, though that most likely played a part. He wanted Satbyeol to acknowledge him as worthy. She had chosen his younger brother over him, and his pride would not accept that. He sought legitimacy.

Myungsoo didn’t seem to understand his brother’s intentions, though. He viewed Sunggyu’s actions as an insult. “Why aren’t you exerting yourself, Sunggyu?” he snarled as their blades met. “I spent all of this time preparing for this duel against you and your Sword of Seven Stars. Why aren’t you using it?”

When the elder did not answer, his anger mounted. “Fine. If you’re not going to make use of your powers, I will make use of mine.” Quickly, he threw up a shield around himself.

Sunggyu’s eyes narrowed at the sight of the shield, and Satbyeol gasped. Instead of glowing gold, the barrier encasing him crackled with black and green flames.

“What have you done?” she yelled at Myungsoo. He didn’t have to answer, though. She knew. Ignoring her cry, he summoned his tainted magic for an attack.

This move accomplished want he wanted, for Sunggyu gripped the Sword of Seven Stars more tightly, and it began to shimmer with copper-gold fire. With a single cutting movement, he broke through the younger’s shield, dissipating the dark energy.

Myungsoo was undaunted by the breach in his defenses. He surged forward with his left hand outstretched, moving inhumanly fast. In the blink of an eye, his fingers closed around his brother’s throat. “Not so confident anymore, now are you?”

By the time Satbyeol read the intent in his eyes, it was too late for her to stop him. With one swift movement, Myungsoo ran his sword through his brother’s heart.

Screams of grief pierced the air as the barrier around the brothers dissolved. Satbyeol’s temporary paralysis lifted, and she rushed forward toward the two brothers. Myungsoo turned to face her, his arms held open and gaze triumphant, but she ran past him to Sunggyu.

The rest of the Kim family attempted to approach, but Myungsoo flung them backward with a wave of his hand. They dropped to the ground, never to rise again.

“What have you done?” Satbyeol shrieked, echoing her earlier exclamation. She was sobbing hysterically now, her hands soaked in Sunggyu’s blood.

“I won,” Myungsoo stated, his voice calm. He didn’t seem to care that he had just massacred his entire family. “Now, we can be together.”

“No, we can’t,” she said. Her hand reached for the Sword of Seven Stars. Sunggyu could no longer wield it, so she claimed it as her own.

Myungsoo’s eyes widened. “You’re going to kill me?” he asked, completely incredulous. “You’re going to kill the man you love?”

Satbyeol shook her head. “You are not the man I love. Not any longer, anyway. You’re a demon, an abomination.”

Their eyes met as she raised the Sword of Seven Stars. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. She plunged it into herself, and a demon’s howl rent the air as the moon embraced the sun. Despite what she had just said, she realized that she could not bring herself to kill Myungsoo. So instead, using her own life blood as a sacrifice, she would seal him away from the world.

The memory released its hold on Iseul, and she swayed, only to have a pair of arms steady her. Looking up, she found a young man with a high forehead, prominent nose, and slender eyes full of concern gazing down at her. She had never met him before in her life, yet she recognized his face.

“Sunggyu!” she gasped. But it couldn’t be.

“Iseul,” the man said in a voice that she recognized, not from the memory she had just woken from, but from the past few days. The voice of the Sword of the Eclipse, which hung at the man’s side.

“Who…what…?” Dozens of half-formed questions surfaced, but Sunggyu held up a hand to quell them.

“Let me explain. I believe you just witnessed most of what happened hundreds of years ago, but there is a bit more. When Myungsoo killed me with his sword, my spirit attached itself to that sword, which was expelled from the palace when Satbyeol cast the spell that removed this place from the face of the earth into another space outside of the flow of time. My body remained here, preserved in my old room, and I just now managed to find it and reclaim it, if only temporarily.”

“What about Satbyeol?”

“When she took her own life using the Sword of Seven Stars, part of her soul—along with her memories—was bound to it. But the rest of her soul was reincarnated…in your body.”

Iseul glanced down at the sword in her hands, finally understanding why it had called to her so strongly.

Suddenly, the ground began to tremble. “What’s that?” Iseul asked. Sunggyu helped her to her feet before responding, “My brother. He’s sensed our intrusion. It won’t be long before he comes for us.”

The two of them made their way to the courtyard. There, they stood side by side on one end to wait for Myungsoo.