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Chapter Text

“You wish to marry Sir Vergil?” The Queen voice echoed throughout the throne room, filled with shock and contempt. She glared at you, with her sharp eyes assessing you up and down. “You do know he is a widower with a son?”

“Yes, I do. Your Majesty.” You nodded and glanced to your side to look at the man you intended to marry, Vergil. “I’m aware of his status as a single father even before I met him.”

“She has known my son, Nero, before we even met, Your Majesty.” Vergil added. “And she has been such a wonderful friend towards my son that I dare say, he likes her more than he does towards his own father.” A brief small smile appeared on Vergil’s face, recalling the times where Nero kept on asking him when could he visit you again. He never saw his son to be so excited over meeting someone until you came into his and Nero’s life. Nero was an active kid but a bit shy with strangers, so to see him opened up to you easily was very much a surprise for him.

As Vergil looked at you softly, the Queen scoffed. “Is that so? So she has been nice to you and your son?”

“More than that, your Majesty. She has brought light into our home.” You met with his soft gaze and the two of you basked in each smile, unaware of the growing scowl that appeared on the Queen’s face.

“Are you sure it’s not because you're too blinded in love that it skews your judgement towards her?”

Vergil's smile dropped as he turned to face the Queen. “Certainly not-”

“Save me from your love-sick excuses nonsense, Sir Knight. I thought you are intelligent enough to distinguish true love from fake ones. Turns out you are nothing but a fool.” Queen Malphas seethed from her throne from hearing the tale of your love. You froze at your place when you saw the way the Queen pointed at you with disgust. “How certain are you that she’s not faking it? She may be nice to your son just because she wants to seduce you. It’s a common technique cheap women like to use. You should remember your status, Sir Vergil: You’re the Crown Prince’s knight. Your reputation precedes everyone in this kingdom, and your son is your only heir to your father’s, Sparda, great legacy. Every single lady in this kingdom wants to have you as their husband in order to secure a status in the court, and that includes her!”

“No, Your Majesty. You misunderstand-”

“Did I give you permission to speak, peasant?” Queen Malphas cut you off, not even giving you a chance to defend yourself. “You don’t even know your manner while in my presence. And you dream of wanting to marry him? My loyal knight?!” She huffed as she stood. “Tell me of all the men in this kingdom, why did you choose him? You’re younger than him. You could have married any single man of your age and create your own family. Heavens, you could have chosen his twin bachelor, Dante, who is yet to find a partner! And yet you choose him, a widower with a son, why is that?”

Seeing that the Queen was expecting an answer out of you, you steeled yourself to reply: “I do not choose to fall in love with Sir Vergil because of his rank or status in the court, if that’s your concern, Your Majesty. I also do not control who my heart chooses to love. Yes, I could have chosen any men of my age to be my husband, but… they are not Sir Vergil.” You gave a nod to Vergil, silently telling him that you could handle the Queen’s interrogation. “The people of the kingdom regarded Sir Vergil as aloof, cold and intimidating. But that’s not all there is to him. Behind those stoic exterior, Sir Vergil is actually a very kind and caring gentleman, a strong one too. He may not wear his heart on his sleeves, but he is very honest with his feelings towards his family, especially his son, Nero. What makes me fall for him isn't because of his handsome looks or his status, but it is his love towards his family… and that touches my heart”

“So you don’t mind being the step-mother to the child?”

“Not at all, your Majesty. In fact, it may be bold of me to say it out loud, but I already see Nero as my own son.” You declared firmly with full conviction, hoping that your sincerity would reach the Queen.

However, the Queen cackled with disbelief. You anxiously glanced to Vergil, fearing that you might have screwed up. His calm demeanor eased you a little but you saw the way he tightened his grip on the Yamato.

“Don’t make me laugh! See him as your child?! He doesn’t even come from your womb and you thought him as your own?! ” She spat.

“That is true but a mother’s love can transcend even to those who are not from their blood-”

“Enough with your nonsense! You’re not even a mother, how would you know about a mother's love?” She walked down the throne, her robe fluttered behind her as she stepped closer to you. “You can claim whatever you like but I know people like you. You only pretend to be nice just so that you can get whatever you want. And once you get it, you are going to toss them like trash like what the rest of those wretched beings did when they no longer had fun playing with their prey. You are the same, just like them. Do not think you could dare to lie to me.”

“My Queen,” Vergil quickly interjected, making the Queen stop and turned to him. “I assure you that she has no ulterior motive towards me and my son, as you of all people aware that I do not simply let others into my life as easily as that. This decision does not come out of blindness, Your Majesty. I trust her with all of my heart, and Nero trusts her too. And that trust does not happen overnight. So please, your Majesty, she is far more dignified to even consider lying to your face.” It pained you to hear your beloved begging to the Queen like that as you knew how little Vergil shared about his life towards people other than to his loved ones. Vergil may hide his it to everyone present in the throne room but you saw the way his eyes were in turmoil.

“What a fool.” She stared directly at his silver blue eye. “To think that my nephew’s best knight would be such a slave to love… Very well then,” She turned around, walking back at her throne before she called forth one of her servants to make an important note. “If you can’t see the truth then I believe we have no other choice: Let the lady prove her love in the Trial of the Heart.”

Both of you and Vergil glimpsed at each other, clearly expecting this outcome from the audience with the Queen.

“If what the lady claims today were the truth then she would definitely prevail. But if she did not, then not only would you know of her hideous nature that she kept hidden from you and your family, you would also realise how such a fool you’ve become, my dear Sir Knight.” She sat back at her throne chair, smiling so smugly as if she had won a race. “So, you dare to take up the challenge?”

“I do.” You answered with no hesitation. You knew this would happen in the end, as the law had dictated that the future bride or groom of a widow must undergo the trial before the couple could tie the knot. Which was why you were having this audience: to state your intention to marry Vergil and to accept the challenge.

“No second thoughts? You are aware that this trial will expose you of your vile nature?”

“I have nothing to hide, My Queen. My feelings for Sir Vergil and Nero are genuine. If you don’t believe me then this trial will show you how truthful I have been throughout this meeting.”

“Very well then. We shall see who is wrong when the trial commences. Until then good luck,” The Queen scoffed as her expression darkened, “and you are all dismissed.”

Trial of The Heart. You mused to yourself as you and Vergil walked on the busy street of Fortuna Plaza after that tense audience with The Queen. You knew it would be filled with tension but the two of you did not expect for the Queen to be so vicious with her insults. As far as you knew, the Queen had always appeared to be cordial while in public... but that might be just an image she had to maintain.

Plus, everyone knew that the Queen hated the notion of a single person marrying a widow, so you should have seen that reaction coming from miles away.

10 years ago, when Queen Malphas stepped on the throne to become the Queen Regent after the death of the King due to mysterious illness, she introduced a new law to the Kingdom of Fortuna for future bride and groom who wished to marry widowed fathers or mothers. The law dictated that in order for them to marry the widowed fathers or mother, they would need to undergo a series of many tasks called ‘The Trial of The Heart’. These tasks were done in order to expose the true nature of the future bride or groom of the widower so that it could prevent any future abuse on the step children and/or future spouses.

Many were receptive of this new law for its noble reasoning. They praised and sympathized with the Queen for her attempts in protecting these vulnerable people as everyone knew she was brought up in an abusive household, forced to be a slave by her own step-mother and siblings before she managed to escape her fate by marrying The King. It was expected that the law was welcomed by the people.

However as years passed, nobody had passed the trial.

The kingdom was then filled with contempt and remorse by their widowed father or mother as they felt deceived by the lies of their then ex-partner. Those who failed the trial were scorned by the public until they had to live a solitude as wherever they go, whispers of their deceit will follow.

Supposedly it should be something to be grateful for… but this had led the widower to become more wary towards new people and caused them unable to feel love due to the trauma and paranoia.

And the fact that almost everyone who partook the trial failed… felt like something was off.

“Y/N!! Dad!!!” Nero's bright voice snapped you out from your thinking. You searched for the little boy, who was standing at the fountain, waving his hand at you and his father.

“You’ve been awfully quiet after we left the palace, are you fine?” Vergil asked as you made your way to the fountain to meet up with Nero and Dante.

“Ah, sorry. I guess I caught myself overthinking again.” You smiled at him, trying to not worry him more. When you left the throne room, your legs suddenly collapsed from nervousness. Vergil was quickly by your side, holding you as you left out a shaking breath. The audience with the Queen was very nerve wracking, and you couldn’t believe that you could remain calm while confronting the Queen.

“Thinking about the trial?”

“Yes... I wonder why until now, no one seems to be able to pass it...” You stopped on your track seeing Nero was running towards you. Then you crouched down to meet him in a hug.

“Y/N!!” Nero beamed at you as you broke the hug. “How was it? What did Her Majesty say? Do you have to do the trial thing to become my mom?” You smiled at the boy question, unsure how to break the news.

“Yeah Sunny, how did it go?” Dante asked the two of you and you can see from the corner of your eye, Vergil shook his head.

“Just like how we predicted, she still has to take the trial.”

“What?! Her Majesty said that?” Dante choked in disbelief. ”That’s bullshit! You’re the Crown Prince’s trusted sword, and everybody in town and the palace knows who Sunny is. There’s no need for her to go through all of that when we all know Sunny is not that kind of person. How could Her Majesty still doubt her?!”

“It’s the law, Dante. No matter how hard we tried to convince Her Majesty, she would not give a special pass just because I’m the Prince’s sword.”

“And you can’t blame her for doubting me either, considering what she had to endure back in the past. I believe it is her way to cope with her trauma.” You tried to reason as you carded your fingers through Nero’s hair.

“But just because her step mom was a piece of shit-”

“Language, Dante!” Vergil cut him off as you covered both of Nero’s ears.

“I mean, bad- Just because her step mom was bad, doesn't mean every single person who wants to marry a widower is a freaking gold digger.” Dante raised a valid point and you found it hard to refute him. “By the way, when is the trial?”

“In two weeks time. Tomorrow the Royal Messenger will announce it to the whole Kingdom.” Vergil said as matter of factly.

“Two weeks? Is that alright for you, Sunny?”

“I’m alright, I think. I already told The Queen that I have nothing to hide so I’m good. Thanks for worrying about me, Dante.”

“How could I not? We don’t know what exactly is going on during those trials. It could be anything dangerous.” Dante's tone was serious and you understood why. You and Vergil had tried to search for more details on what happened on past trials but other than the outcome of it, you found none that detail the challenges or tasks of the trial. It was as if it was a top secret.

Dante heaved a heavy sigh as he pinched his nose. “Seriously though, when mom told us the story that the Pope tried to prevent her from marrying Dad, I thought that we would not see those kinds of situations when we grow up.. But here we are, Verge. It seems like you inherited our Parents’ curse.”

Despite your circumstances, you couldn’t help trying to hold your laughter at Dante’s joke. Vergil however, did not take it lightly and proceeded to chide his younger twin. A soft tug to your skirt made you look down to find Nero calling you, so you sat down to meet his eye.

“Nero what is it?” You asked as you cup his cheek. Nero appeared to be thinking something as his brows knitted together like the way Vergil did when he was deep in thoughts. Nero really did mirror his father sometimes, you realised.

A deep breath then quietly Nero said: “Her Majesty may not believe you, but that’s okay! Dad and I believe you! We know you are not a bad person like Her Majesty said. A bad person can’t make people smile, but you make Dad smile a lot, and that's proof that you’re a kind person.”

You were stunned by Nero’s words that you felt that your eyes started to water as you didn’t expect him to say that. How could you not love him even more when the boy had so much faith in you. After everything that happened today at the Throne room, hearing the boy’s word erased all the lingering doubt you had towards yourself. Steadying yourself, you pulled Nero into a hug, trying to hide the growing tears. “Thank you, Nero”

Nero returned the hug, “Good luck, Y/N. Dad and I believe in you!”

Tomorrow was the day. In a few more hours, dawn would break and it was time for you to take the trial. You should be sleeping though, but you found yourself unable to go to bed as your mind was in overdrive.

For the past two weeks you tried to gather more intel regarding the trial by asking the townspeople. Most folks already know that you were about to take the trial soon and almost all of them wished you luck. Some however, expressed their concern as they believe the trial to be cursed by the Queen’s resentments. But you tried to ease them by telling them that you would be fine and it was something that you must do.

Truth be told, you were nervous and scared for tomorrow’s trial as you remember some of the things you had heard. Few days ago, you had a chance to meet with a lady who had participated in the trial back in the past. To meet them was a rare chance indeed as most of them prefer to seclude themselves from the public eye, so when the lady approached you, you quickly grabbed the chance to know more. And what you learned after that, added more to your worries as you found out that the lady did try her best during trial but she still ended up failing.

And you also realised that she wasn’t as bad like what the trial judged her to be.

Which brought you to these thoughts, were all of the previous participants wrongfully judged by the trial or was the trial used to bring out people’s inner malicious desire?

Vergil was right, you really do have a bad habit of overthinking things.

You wished you could have more time to discuss this with Vergil but apparently his knightly duty to the Crown Prince and your duty at the Royal Archive had kept you both busy from one another that the only time you met were spent with him preparing you for the trial.

You sighed into your cup of now lukewarm milk. Guess you only had tomorrow to tell him this before the trial started.

Knock, knock.

You looked at the clock to see the time and the clock showed a few minutes before 11. You placed your mug on the coffee table as you walked to the door, wondering who might be visiting you at such late hours.

“Evening, Lady Y/N. Pardon me for visiting you so late.” You paused as you saw an elegant red haired woman in a black dress standing in front of your door.

“Emm who are you and how may I help you?” You asked warily. You had never seen this woman in your neighbourhood before. Was she someone from the Palace?

“Oh forgive me for not introducing myself, dear.” She gasped. “My name is Nevan. I came here because I heard you are going to the trial tomorrow?”

“Yes, I am…” You answered. Ever since the announcement of the trial, a lot of people had been paying you a visit to wish you luck.

“Oh you poor, poor soul. I can’t believe the Queen made you do this.” She shook her head in utter disbelief.

“It’s the law, it can’t be avoided.” You replied sadly.

“Such an unjust law. Why must she create a law that further deprives a person from achieving true love.” She sighed heavily and you couldn’t help it but to silently agree with her because it was the truth. “That’s why I came here to give you this.” She handed you a bracelet made out of pearl and you stared at her, confused.

“It’s a good luck charm. You should wear it for tomorrow, my dear. Who knows you could be needing it”

You took the bracelet from her surprisingly cold hand and immediately you wore it. You were not sure why you did it but you felt a strong urge to do so, as if you were bewitched by the pearls. Plus, the pearls really did look beautiful under the night sky.

“Ah isn’t that lovely, my dear.” Nevan smiled at you as you were checking out the bracelet on your arm.

“Thank you for this bracelet. I’ll make sure I wear it tomorrow.” You politely curtsied.

A small chuckle left Nevan’s lips. “You should be. You need all the luck in this kingdom for tomorrow, my dear.” She leaned in, hand hovering above your eyes. “Now, you should go to bed and have some sleep, my dear.”

As if you were being hypnotised, suddenly your eyes started to feel heavy and your sight became blurry, unable to see the woman in front of you as she took a step back.

“Rest well, my dear. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.”

Chapter Text

When morning arrived, you found yourself sleeping on your bed, feeling surprisingly refreshed and calm despite yesterday’s anxiety of the upcoming trial. Moving out of the bed, you didn’t even remember when you fell asleep. Your memories were somehow fuzzy but you did remember seeing a red haired lady… but you couldn’t remember her name.

While you were tying your hair into a ponytail, your eyes caught a glimpse of the pearl bracelet on your arm. Oh yeah, that woman last night gave you this as a good luck charm but you swore the colour was supposed to be white, not red. Or maybe you were mistaken since you were sleepy when you greeted her.

Shrugging to yourself, you decided to not dwell on it and kept wearing the bracelet. The lady did say it was a good luck charm and why would you say no to more luck in your life? You would be a fool if you rejected it.

So with one deep breath, you checked yourself on the mirror as you steeled yourself. You can do this. You have nothing to be scared of. You mentally prepared yourself, calming yourself from the anxiety that started to build up slowly. Then you were off; your navy blue cape fluttered as you rode your horse to the venue.

The trial today would be held at the infamous Mitis Forest. The forest had been off limits to ordinary citizens ever since the sudden demonic attack on a rural village nearby that killed off all the villagers there 10 years ago. The knights had deemed the area to be dangerous as after the attack, more people who went into the forest started to go missing or being randomly attacked by the demon. And since the demons kept on spawning there when one of its kind was slain, people ended up afraid to go there and avoided that place all together.

So you were not sure why would the Queen choose that location of all places to do the trial. But they had done so for 10 years now, maybe that place was heavily protected?

As you were nearing the venue, you saw Vergil standing in front of a tent, meant for you to get ready before the event started in an hour. You then jumped down from your horses, giving it a pat as its neck before you went to meet your beloved.

“Good morning, Y/N.” He greeted you as you walked closer to him, noticing the way his brows were knitted together.

“Good morning, Vergil. Is something the matter?” You asked, trying to hold down the anxiety that was bubbling inside of you. You didn’t see Nero around and part of you felt a little bit sad to not see the boy before the event.

Vergil’s face was hard to read but you knew that there was something bothering him at the moment. “Nothing.” He deflected as he brought his hand to massage his temple. “Just tired from work.”

“Tired?” You cup his face to look at him better. His eye bags were apparent. When was the last time he slept? “Vergil, don’t tell me you haven’t gone back to your home to rest?”

“I did.” He held your hand in his. “But only for a short while. I have to go out early to settle something with His Highness.”

“Oh,” You raised your eyebrows at that. Lately the Crown Prince had been very busy with his duties that you found most of his knights, Vergil included, to hardly had time for themselves. You wonder what could it be but you never pressed on Vergil regarding it. “Hmm, is that why Nero is not here with you?”

“Yes. He is with Dante as we speak. And since children aren’t allowed to visit the contestant for the trial, Nero told me to give you something.”

“What is it?” You tilted your head, curious at the gift the boy had planned for you.

Vergil stepped forward, closing the gap between the two of you as he bent down, cupping your cheek to give you a soft kiss on your lips. You were surprised by the gesture for a quick second before you closed your eyes, leaning into the kiss. It was a short kiss, full of warmth that it ease you from your worry.

“For good luck.” He whispered after he broke the kiss, breath entwined with yours. “Nero said that you need it for today.”

“How thoughtful of him... and his father. Thank you.” You said, letting out a sigh.

“Is something bothering you, my love?” Vergil asked, concerned.

“There is...” You bit your lower lips, as you remember all the rumours that you had heard from the townspeople and your conversation with the former contestant. “Do you think that the rumours are true? That this trial is cursed and anyone who enters is bound to fail regardless if their hearts are pure or not?”

Vergil brows furrowed deep in thought as you raised your concern. Then his thumb ran circles on your cheek, an attempt he always made to soothe you. He then called your name with such clarity that would always make you look up into his blue eyes, “What did I tell you about overthinking, my love?” he said, smiling softly at you as he then added. “Don’t dwell too much on it. You will be fine, trust me. I believe in you regardless of what the outcome of the trial will be. I know who you are,” He brought your hand in his to place it on your heart. “I know the sincerity of your heart, my love. It’s genuine, pure as the spring that breathes in life after the cold winter. Tell me how could someone with a rotten heart do that?” He paused, his forehead touched yours. “Nero and I believe in you, and we want you to have faith in yourself.”

It was assuring to hear Vergil said that as for the past few days you had been doubting yourself, afraid that no matter what you did, no matter how pure and sincere your intention was, you would still ended up failing the trial as the trial found you to be lacking in something that even you didn’t know what it is!

Gripping his hand tightly, you leaned into his embrace, letting your insecurities slip past you as he wrapped his arm around you.

“We believe in you, no matter what. Remember that.”

It was all the words that you needed to hear.

The two of you stayed like that until it was time for the trial to take place. Vergil excused himself as he was going to go back to his son at the coliseum, despite it being apparent that he didn’t want to leave your side. Before he left, he gave you another quick peck on your lips, which you appreciated the gesture deeply. Then, you followed one of the guards there to bring you to the main stage.

When you stepped onto the main stage, you realised that the coliseum was full with spectacles from all across the kingdom, cheering for you to win the trial. All of them were hoping to see you break the 10 years losing streak record that the trial held.

As you were searching for a certain white haired family, The Queen’s messenger stood and announced you as the contestant for the trial. The rules were simple: Overcome the obstacle to prove your heart or you would end up exposing your sinister side by failing. There were no other rules and the messenger then guided you to an entrance to the trial arena.

As far as you knew, nobody knew what was inside of the arena other than the fact it consisted of elaborate maze, but even so, nobody knew how the maze looked like.

Before being ushered to the arena, you managed to spot the family, sitting at the top rows, away from the crowds. Nero saw you too and gave you a big wave, followed by Dante who sat next to him. Vergil, being the most reserved out of the three, gave you an encouraging smile. And that gave you the encouragement that you needed before you stood in front of the gate to the maze.

“It’s now or never” You murmured to yourself as the gate to the arena opened.

With determined steps, you then marched forward.

****

How? You ran frantically, out of breath, as you searched and searched and searched for an exit at every intersection you could find in the maze, but all of it led to another dead end and another path, making the chase never ending. The growling behind you was getting closer, frost forming on the leaves on the maze wall. It clawed the vine of the maze, snapping some of the branches.

How can there be a demon in this maze?!

Another crossroad and you had no time to think for clues, so you ran to your left, hoping it would lead you out to the first clearing. The maze was bigger than you ever thought it would be, as it seemed endless no matter how far you ran. Some part of the maze was foggy and you were not sure if your eyes were playing with you or not as you swore you saw the vines moved when you entered here, before the Demon suddenly appeared by your right, making you immediately run for your life, as you realized that it started to chase after you.

Nobody had warned you about the demon. For years the guard had told the people that this trial arena was protected and safe from demonic attack. Then why? Why was there a Frost appearing out of nowhere chasing you? Was this part of the trial because ever since you entered the arena, you had encountered nothing that indicated a challenge other than being chased by that demon and navigating the maze.

Is Her Majesty out of her mind? How can surviving this proves that their heart is pure or corrupted?

Another junction and this time you turned to your right…

Only to find out you were running into an open rounded area with no exit other than the one you just came out from. And turning back was not an option as the air surrounding you started to chill, indicating that the Frost Demon was closing in.

In short, you were trapped...

Or so the maze wanted you to think like that.

One thing about being The Royal Archiver was that other than having to work in the boundless collection of knowledge in Fortuna’s Royal Library, you got easy access to all the books - forbidden or not - to your perusal. And based on your readings regarding situations like these, there must be a hidden door located behind these vine walls.

Without waiting any further, you quickly examined the wall of the maze for any sign of hidden door, key, mechanism or whatever that could get you out of here. Yet you found none still and the crackling of ice could be heard clearly behind you. The temperature had dropped low and your body shivered from the lack of warmth. The Frost Demon was behind you, you knew that for a fact as you searched frantically for anything on the wall when the demon shot an ice block to your right, which you quickly dodged it out of reflex.

Finally facing the demon with your eyes, you froze on the ground seeing the demon crawling closer to you, frost forming from its nuzzle.

This couldn’t be the end of the trial. You barely even took any! You couldn’t just die out here in the maze while people out there would judge your death as some kind of karma bullshit!

In fact, screw the trial! What kind of a trial that judged someone’s heart by sending out demons as the obstacle? The Queen better had a sound explanation for this because this was clearly used to torture people rather than to prove their virtues.

As the real purpose of the trial finally dawned on you, fear started to slip away, replaced by the anger of the Queen’s injustice.

The Frost Demon lurched towards you and instead of running away, you stood still, sparks of violet electricity flickered on your fingertips as you screamed, bringing forth an array of electric shots to the Demon, shocking it to death.

“That’s quite an anger you got there, my dear. Never thought you could use that anger to use my power without summoning me.” You broke down from your daze as you recognized the owner of that sultry voice. “Well even if you didn’t summon me, I would have appeared after all to protect you, but it seems that I don’t have to worry that much.”

Looking up to the voice, you gasped as you saw a familiar red haired woman from last night. But instead of her wearing that elegant black dress, the woman was topless, her breasts were only covered by her long hair while she wore some kind of a black long skirt.

“H-how?”

“You shouldn’t be surprised, honey,” She chuckled darkly. “I did say that you need a lot of luck for this trial last night. Or have you forgotten about it?”

You glanced towards the bracelet on your right arm, and to your surprise, the pearls were white in colour instead of red. You looked up at the woman again and back to the bracelet on your arm. Just a moment ago, you did feel a pinprick of static coming from the bracelet when you faced off the Frost Demon.

“What are you?” You asked carefully.

The woman flashed a grin, showing off her long fangs to you. “What am I? I guess you can say that I’m one of the Fae.”

“A fairy?” You repeated.

“Exactly, my dear. A fairy.” She stretched her hand out for you, her dark nails were long and sharp, as you carefully took it for her to pull you to stand up. “Haven’t heard of them before?”

“I did, but only in books and scripture…”

“Well then, now you get to see a real fairy up close and personal instead from those boring books. And you’re in luck because I’m here to make sure that you will win this trial.”

“You will help me?” You blinked, still trying to process the whole thing that had just occurred.

“I don’t think I need to say it twice, honey.” She played with her hair, and you saw the same violet sparks flickered in between her fingers. “But yes- I am offering a hand to you so that you can marry your beloved without that miserable old hag telling you otherwise. Seriously, with how these mazes are built, it is no wonder that nobody ever wins this trial.”

What the fairy said was true and you can’t help but to agree with her after that encounter with the demon. In fact, you were starting to believe that your eyes weren’t playing with you when you saw how some of the vines in the maze moved. But, if you accept the fairy assistance, wouldn’t that be considered as cheating though?

“Oh Sugar, didn’t anybody ever tell you that it’s bad to overthink things?” She pulled your chin up to face her. “You’re going to give your pretty little face wrinkles if you keep this up.”

“You can hear my thoughts?”

“Well of course I can. What kind of a Fairy I am if I can’t peek inside of your head? Also, my dear, why the fuss about fairness and such when this trial is not even fair in the first place.” Your perked up as realisation dawned on you. The fairy smirked and continued: “You notice it too right? That there is something peculiar about this maze.”

You scanned around your surroundings, noting that the fog was still there even though the demon was killed. In fact, the sun was shining brightly outside before you entered the maze, but here, you could barely even see the sun with this fog. And the maze? You had been running for awhile now and so far it had felt as if there was no end with it… and this was just the first area of the maze.

“Magic.” You concluded, mouth turned dry as everything started to click. “She’s using magic to prevent anyone from advancing!”

“Clever girl. You guess it right off the bat.”

If magic was involved then, there must be something hidden on the walls. You scoured the wall of the maze again but this time with your mind more focus. Then a moment later, your hand pressed on something akin to a switch, and then a wall five steps to your left opened to reveal another pathway.

“That switch wasn’t even there when I checked it before.”

“Of course, now that you’re more aware of the existence of magic in this place, the effect is slowly wearing off of you. But that’s only for temporary. You need to be careful, my child. The deeper you go into this maze, the stronger the magic and its illusion will be as you will be near to its source.” She warned.

You hand balled into a fist as you realised how cruel the Queen had been, giving false judgement towards the past contestants, ruining their lives and their partner's trust. You couldn’t fathom why would her Majesty go too far over this. This was way beyond than ensuring the safety of the party involved in the marriage like what she claimed it to be.

“If we find the magic source, then would the illusion stop?”

“Quite the sharp lady here. No wonder the elder son of Sparda falls for you.” She said, sounding very amused by it. “Yes, that’s true. Find the source for the magic, and everything will end. That’s why I’m here to help you; to help you seek for it as I’m more in tune with magic than you mortal beings.”

“With a price right, Nevan?” You finally spoke her name after awhile as you recalled the many scriptures you read regarding making a deal with the fae folk.

“Sugar, you don’t have to worry about all of that. What I want is not too big of a price, and you can easily give it to me later after all of this end.” She winked.

“What is it?”

Nevan leaned in closer to your ears, whispering in a hush voice only you could hear. And your face suddenly flushed bright red. Mouth agape, unable to utter any single words as you tried to register the salacious request that the Fairy had asked off you.

Nevan leaned back, pleased to let you know of her request. “Wonderful, we have a deal then!”