The Hollow was quiet now.
The skies no longer burned. The cursed flame had dimmed. And in the center of the ruins where once there had been death and prophecy—
Now there was nothing but wind and silence.
And three souls, still standing.
Mona watched the fireflies dance in the garden behind the palace.
Her bare feet pressed into the soft grass. No shoes. No sword. No more fight.
Sunghoon stood beside her, sipping tea, eyes a little brighter than they'd been in weeks.
Niki leaned against the stone rail, his chest bandaged, head tilted back to the sky. He had said nothing since returning to Lumora. But he was here.
And he was free.
"You could go," Mona said quietly, glancing over at Niki.
"I could," he replied.
"Do you want to?"
He looked over, face unreadable. "Do you?"
Mona exhaled, looked down at her hands. "I don't know anymore."
Sunghoon watched them both. Calm. Still. A quiet flame like always.
"You don't have to choose again," he said. "That part's over."
Niki smirked faintly. "Is it, though?"
Mona smiled, wiping a tear that had escaped. "Maybe not. But… I'm not who I was before. And neither are you."
She looked at Niki. Then Sunghoon.
"You both survived me," she said. "Even when I didn't survive myself."
A few days later — in the Hall of Flame
The council stood, robes drawn back, marking the end of the prophecy and its curse. The ashes of Veylor's crown were scattered in the Veil Lake. The hollow beasts had disappeared.
Mona stepped forward, dressed not as a Queen…
…but as a girl.
No prophecy.
No legacy.
Just her.
And the people bowed—not because she carried power…
But because she had given it back.
That night — on the roof
Niki sat beside her, arms around his knees.
"You think we'll ever be normal?" he asked.
Mona looked up at the stars. "Probably not."
"Good," he said. "Normal is boring."
She laughed softly.
Sunghoon joined them a few minutes later, balancing cups of hot cocoa in one hand, and a blanket in the other.
"You two look like drama characters," he said.
"We are," Niki muttered. "The messy kind."
Sunghoon grinned. "Well, the world didn't end. So I say that's worth a toast."
They clinked their mugs together in the moonlight.
And for the first time in forever…
It was quiet.
No magic.
No monsters.
Just them.
Three hearts, scarred but still beating.
Alive.
Epilogue
A year later, Mona stood on stage at a fanmeet in Seoul.
She looked out at the crowd and smiled—because somewhere in the third row, Sunghoon was cheering with flowers.
And in the fifth—
Niki, in sunglasses and a hoodie, was pretending he wasn't crying.
They had made it.
Not because fate let them.
But because they fought for it.
Together.
THE END.