It is no secret that Erza is a woman of whispering curses, so when her sixty-year-old, fit as a fiddle husband is found mysteriously dead in the middle of a forest, people accuse her.

The only thing they don't know is that she didn't do it. Someone else did. Trust me, I know she did not. I have known her since she was sixteen, so...for two decades. I think it's a pretty long time to know a human being in and out.

There she goes— that vain curve of her frown, hands chained at the back, heading to the general court. The public square. Each one presents their reasons— vague, but nonetheless valid— why she should be stoned.

Before the verdict can be passed, a man pushes through the crowd and stands in front of Erza. I haven't seen him before. His arms are painted in tattoos of skulls and vials— exactly the kind of aura Erza exudes.

"I urge you all to think about it once!" he shouts. "This woman here may be all things wicked, but you have no evidence to show that she is a killer. To gift death to someone who is still innocent in the eyes of divine law may invite uninvited trouble."

The crowd creeps under a hushed veil, but isn't convinced entirely.

"I think you should banish her to the same woods where her husband was found. Let her live there for as long as her life breathes. Give her no food or shelter."

His eyes shimmer scarlet. The crowd nods along, hauling their sticks at the couple who run for the woods. My back leans on the door of the closed bakery. When the streets clear, I get my bicycle and reach her house. It is locked from inside but the townsfolk have shattered the glass windows to enter in and search through her house. They cut her talismans and pitch-black cloak. How foolish of them to not unlock the door! Maybe, it's a superstition. It is hard for me to skip the glass pieces, but I am glad to not let any shard pierce my feet. I join them and pocket whatever I get to put in the big bag that they intend to burn. I throw in her wristwatch and tattered books. Her cards, though, I keep secure.

At the public square, they burn all her belongings. To ashes go her assets. It is a pity, but fortunately she has her cards secure with me.

"The woman will be eaten by foxes," a man says. His grin reveals soot-coated teeth.

"Will the foxes not die?"

He brushes his pointy beard. "Then she may just...perish. By God's grace."

The devil's grace.

"That man who came to protect her looked so odd. Dressed in all black and equally unsettling."

"They were mourning. Mourning the loss of their freedom."

"It's good."

"He wasn't a handsome fellow at all. One look at his tangled hair and scarred cheeks made my stomach twist. Such a horrendous creature. Must have engaged in violence."

"He looked like a devil."

Well, what else? The scriptures approve.

I excuse myself, saying the smoke suffocates my weak lungs. I head straight for the forests. If Erza and the man are planning to walk to the spot of the murder, I can catch up with them. I need to return her her cards. I don't know what the man is planning to do with her, but hopefully, he will do what is asked of him.

To take her to heaven's arms.

Not literally, but you know what I mean. I wonder if she has ever met him. Possibly, yes. Which is why she had wrapped her arms around him so easily. As if she were expecting him.

Maybe I was too. I just didn't expect him to look like that.

I wanted something sunnier. Maybe a few freckles, flowers in his hand and a pair of polished boots. Well, he was wearing boots, rather muddy ones.

The cards glitter in my pocket. I tap them. "Shh, darling. Your lady is not far."

I leave my cycle at the start of the wilderness. From here, I have to walk. I like this feeling of solitude. It is only me and the creaking twigs. And strange flowers, shaped like bells. They are plenty in this side of the country. I often saw Erza crush them and mix in the medicine of old Mr. Smith.

Late Mr. Smith, to be accurate.

She would often ask me if it would work. I told her I doubted. The man had a good constitution and would need some great deal of ancient potions to die. Poor Erza is not someone who wields daggers and swords. She wanted to do away with her abusive husband in a quiet manner.

Things took another turn.

My heart races. I need to meet her before twilight. The sun speeds down fast, so desperate to drown. My legs sprint. This forest is like a maze. I don't know if I am going the right direction, but I was here just this morning. My memory isn't so fragile.

I was here before too. On different occasions.

Just when the sun and moon rise on opposite ends of the abyss, alighting the sky in a strange pale darkness, I see them in the distance. She is crying under the willow. Mr. Smith's body is not here anymore. I believe the man accompanying her has done something to ease her nerves out of the nightmarish corpse.

"Eros," I call. The man turns, surprised to find that I know his name. To be honest, I myself wasn't aware until this very moment when the name rolled out of my tongue like a smooth cube of butter.

"Who is this gentleman?" Erza asks, staring at me.

I know she isn't typically into men who wear ironed shirts and boast neatly combed hair, but I take her words as a compliment.

Eros walks towards me and dips his head in a bow. "I have done my job. I brought her to the forest." He takes her hand and places it in the cup of my palm. "Now she is yours."

"Wait, aren't you the one?" she asks, looking at Eros.

"No. I am the Lover."

"And I had summoned the Lover!" Erza wipes her tears and squints. "What are the spirits doing? I desired for the Lover to rescue me. Although he doesn't fit the traditional archetype, I thought he appeared in the form I saw as perfect in my mind."

"You are right about that. You receive what you get." I put her cards on her hand. "I have them safe."

"Who are you?"

"Another Major Arcana."

"I see. Maybe the Hierophant or the Emperor. But I wanted Lover to help me out. He was the one who killed my husband, right?"

Eros chuckles. "They say everything is fair in love and war. I would have done it if you had summoned me as your beloved. But you didn't." He begins to disperse into dust. "Your man stands before you."

Her eyes widen as Eros vanishes.

"I can explain," I say. "If you may listen."

She feels warm against my cold skin. Her fingers refuse to hold onto mine, but I am not one to see such disinterest, especially after being summoned with such devotion.

"You remember the night clearly, I presume?"

She lowers her head. "Yes. Although I don't want to. He had bruised my eyes and bolted me in the dark. I was famished and in agony."

I nod, asking her to recollect the events of the night.

"I brought out my cards. I felt them and took the Lovers, offering my blood and praying for the spirit to save me."

At this point, she stiffens. Stars scintillate above the canopy. She isn't afraid so much of being alone in the forest with a stranger than with a man who owned her lawfully. Her eyes search for mine in the livid darkness. "Yours are honey-brown."

"They do not turn scarlet like those of Eros."

"You didn't tell me who you were."

"I will, Erza, when you remember the night. What did you ask for, sweetheart?"

Her hands clutch mine when my voice drops below the chill of the weather. She hadn't forseen this. Her grip loosens. I walk closer to her, as much as a reflection can to its mistress. There is a thin layer of oxygen breathable between us. I can touch her if I want. But I won't. She tilts her head up. I see her pupils enlarge.

Perhaps she didn't envision a gentleman in a plain shirt and trousers to have a voice capable of sending shivers down her spine.

"I explicitly stated I didn't want anything loud and bloody. Just something that looked like an accident. But no, you went on to drag him here and kill him brutally."

"So you know I did it?"

Erza gasps. Staggering back, she almost trips over a pebble and falls. But just like in forbidden fairytales, I scoop her up by the waist. My fingers leave a mark on her flesh.

She hisses. "You didn't need to get your hands dirty."

"You are a woman. I will be purified by your warmth, and you will be as untainted as ever."

"No, I—" She swallows, cheeks reddening akin to a hibiscus. "You made a mess by killing my husband so dramatically. Now where will I go?"

"That town was draining you of your energy. I got my hands bloodied to save you and your magic. Is it how you thank me?"

"Thank you for saving me from a criminal." Her jaws clench. "But where will I go?"

"You will come with me."

"I thought...I thought I will be taken—"

"The night was dark. You were alone. Sobbing. Devastated." I close the distance between us. Her bosom touches my chest. She squirms against the bark of the willow. "You thought you had picked the Lovers. You had not."

I trace the wound on her collarbone. She flinches, again.

"His belt." I grit my teeth. "He died at the claws of the wolves."

"The wolves shred him?"

"Not without me. I have fangs too."

Erza shut her eyes as I proceeded to kiss the wound. It healed, leaving no scar behind.

"You prayed to be saved, to be taken to the land of the spirits to dwell in. How could the spirits deny your request when you are so in tune with the otherworld? You shall come with me. Not in the realm of the Lovers."

"The Emperor, then?"

"There are wounds all over your body. In your heart. I must heal them too."

"You speak as if you are the Lover." She smirks. "But you aren't."

"I am your lover. Whatever I may be, you wished me to be your lover. In the darkness of the room, you chose another Arcana to be your swain."

"And whom did I choose?"

"Finally, you do not ask who I am, but whom you chose." I smile. "I am pleased."

I sweep her off the ground and put her over my shoulders. A portal appears before us. The portal of my realm.

"Card number fifteen. Horns and shackles. The Lovers stand under me. A choice to be made, and a choice was made. By you, Erza. In the dark you missed who sits above the Lovers."

My shirt melts in the heat of the gates. Her hands nervously graze over my bare back. She ducks her head in the nook of my neck. When she flutters open her eyes, we are in my territory.

The land of the beast.

"I am the Devil, and the Devil shall be your Master."