THE DUCAL house of Shinoha was eerily silent. Thick curtains covered the large window panes and dimly lighted candle chandeliers provided luminance to the estate. Handmaidens and the old butler, James, came and go into their master's room franticly like they were chased by the devil. Yes, they were. After all, they were against time.

The young mistress of the estate, Duchess Selene Shinoha, grasped her husband's cold hand as tears dropped continuously on their bedroom's mattress. The glum-looking doctor was just standing behind the tear-stricken Duchess. The devastating news brought nothing but heartache for the twenty years old mistress.

"Can you leave us alone?" The muffled and sorrowful voice cracked the silence in the room. The doctor together with the remaining handmaidens left to respect their mistress. A gaze of sympathies was shed as the majority left the room.

Selene lightly traced the contours of Duke Kyla Shinoha's face. She remembered the very first time she laid her eyes on him. He just came from the North Expedition and the Kingdom had decided to celebrate the Northern Hero's arrival.

"Did you remember, Kyla? The very first time you saw me, you immediately send a marriage proposal to my family. Imagine my parent's surprise when the Immortal Duke of Shinoha Duchy proposed to a commoner and a human such as myself."

Selene sat on the bed's corner. Selene lowered her head onto the Duke's chest. She wanted to make sure that he's still with her.

"I know that you never loved me not even once for the two years that we lived as husband and wife. But you are my husband and in my own way, I love you so please don't die on me. You're supposed to be an immortal."

The Immortal Tribe was the guardians of the minor gods. Kingdoms around the world worshipped many gods from the prime gods like Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. But there were kingdoms like theirs, the Kingdom of Aistin, which worshipped a minor god like Lykaon, the god of the wolves. Every minor god created a tribe closed to their image to guard their temples. Some minor gods resided in their temples while some minor gods chose to leave the world and resided in the stars.

For Selene, a human commoner, to marry the Alpha of the Immortals and the Duke of the Aistin Kingdom was like walking on a cloud nine.

But Selene later realized that the Duke did not marry her for love when he abandoned her alone in their chamber on their first night as a husband and wife. She thought that his aloofness was because he came from the Immortal Tribe.

She was young and naïve, she had read a lot of romantic novels to even dream her own prince charming that she realized too late that the look he gave her was not the look that a lovesick fool would have.

"Don't leave me here alone, please." Selene grasped her husband's hand tighter. She brought his hand on her face to kiss his cold and unmoving knuckles.

Duke Kyla groaned in his sleep like an answer to her plea. Sweat drenched his silver hair and his head was painfully buried in his pillow. He clutched her hand painfully as he opened his eyes. His gaze shot right through her. "Luna, are you here to get me? Please, take me with you."

His golden eyes met Selene's lilac ones but he was not entirely seeing her. He was looking at her with those eyes that held eternal longing and love. He's looking at Selene but he was not seeing her. Instead, he was looking at the only woman he ever loved.

After all, Selene looked almost the same as the woman he only loved.

Selene leaned on his hand that was touching her cheeks, her tears never stopped flowing. With a cracking voice, she answered him. "Yes, this is me Luna. I can't take you with me yet because if you do your wife will be very sad. You see, she loves you very much Kyla."

A lone tear slipped from the Duke's eye as he closed them dejectedly, surrendering to the curse.

His sudden collapse shocked not just the Shinoha estate but the entire Kingdom of Aistin. After all, Duke Kyla Shinoha was the Alpha of the Immortal Tribe that guarded the Lykaon Temple for many generations. Upon summoning a High Priest and a doctor, Selene found out about the reason why he collapsed. Her husband was cursed by the prime god, Hades.

According to the High Priest, the markings that littered his body were a result of a bargain that the Duke made with Hades. He exchanged his immortality for something he wished and now he's suffering.

Biting her lips, Selene let go of his hand as she hugged herself. "Please don't leave me. I can go on living even if you will never love me but please stay by my side. Stay with me even if you take my identity from me. I can be Luna just for you so please, please wake up."

Duke Kyla married her for something else, something painful to stomach. Selene tried everything. She served him like god himself. She became the benevolent Duchess just to be worthy of him. But none of those made him loved her for every time he looked at her he was only seeing Luna, his only love.

"He won't wake up." A cold and deep voice resonated inside the room. The wind from the opened window brought a cold night breeze together with the voice. Selene sharply turned towards the voice and was welcomed by a pair of red eyes.

"Y-you're a god." Realization dawned upon Selene when she saw the golden markings in the intruder's body. "You're not the god Hades, are you?"

Stepping out from the darkness of the room, Selene saw the white fangs that shone brightly when hit by the moonlight. "You're the god of the undead, Victor. Why are you here?"

Wariness crept inside Selene's mind. After all, Victor was the minor god who sealed Lykaon.

"I came here to help an old friend."