Night in the temple used to be peaceful.
Before the rumors.
Before the soldiers.
Before the kingdom decided that a decorative household object might be the center of an international crisis.
Now even the nights felt tense.
Torches burned longer in the hallways. Guards rotated in quiet patrols. The sound of armor occasionally echoed through the stone corridors long after the temple doors had closed.
Inside the mirror realm, Lee Eunwoo floated lazily while staring at the ceiling of his strange reflective world.
"Well," he muttered.
"I'm officially a national security issue."
Earlier that evening, another group of soldiers had arrived from the capital. They spoke quietly with the temple priests, leaving everyone visibly uneasy.
Apparently the border situation was getting worse.
Eunwoo had overheard fragments of the conversation.
"Darmouth scouts spotted near the eastern pass."
"More troops moving south."
"Orders from the king… defend the temple if necessary."
Eunwoo sighed.
"All of this over a mirror."
He slowly turned in midair and looked through the glass at the quiet chamber beyond.
The altar stood still under dim candlelight.
The wooden shelves cast long shadows across the stone walls.
The bench in the corner sat empty.
Constance had already gone for the night.
For some reason the room felt noticeably quieter when she left.
Eunwoo shook that thought away quickly.
"Don't get sentimental."
His gaze drifted toward the shelf beside the mirror.
Sir Frogbert stared back at him.
Still ugly.
Still slightly crooked.
Still suspicious.
Eunwoo narrowed his eyes.
"You know… you've been moving a lot lately."
The frog statue remained committed to its role as an extremely silent rock.
Eunwoo floated closer.
"I'm starting to think you're the real villain here."
Outside the temple walls, the wind picked up slightly. The torches flickered in the courtyard.
One of the guards yawned loudly during his patrol.
The night grew deeper.
Hours passed.
Then—
Footsteps.
Very quiet ones.
Eunwoo sat up immediately.
"…That's not a guard."
The temple doors creaked open slowly.
Not loudly.
Just enough for a single person to slip inside.
A cloaked figure entered the chamber.
The person moved carefully, avoiding the candlelight as much as possible.
Eunwoo leaned forward.
"Okay, that's definitely suspicious."
The figure looked around the room to confirm that no soldiers were nearby.
Then they pulled back their hood.
Eunwoo blinked.
"…Harun?"
It had been weeks since Eunwoo last saw him.
Harun used to work around the temple as a caretaker and occasional messenger. Unlike the priests, he had never been particularly interested in the "divine mirror" situation.
In fact, Harun had always seemed slightly annoyed by the entire thing.
His philosophy was simple.
Stay out of complicated nonsense.
Which made his presence here tonight… very strange.
Harun glanced toward the mirror briefly.
Then he sighed.
"So it really became a disaster."
Eunwoo tilted his head.
"What are you doing here?"
Of course Harun couldn't hear him.
The man rubbed his forehead.
"I knew this place would attract trouble."
He quietly stepped toward the altar.
Eunwoo tensed.
"Please don't break me."
But Harun didn't touch the mirror.
Instead—
He walked to the wooden shelf.
And picked up the frog statue.
Eunwoo blinked.
"…Wait."
Harun turned the statue in his hands, studying its crooked face.
"Ugly thing."
Eunwoo gasped.
"That's Sir Frogbert!"
Harun sighed again.
"You're the reason they all started talking about 'ancient relics' and 'sacred artifacts.'"
Eunwoo froze.
"…Excuse me?"
Harun looked around the chamber one last time.
"They're going to tear this temple apart soon."
He slipped the frog statue into his bag.
"So I'm taking the only object here that might actually cause problems."
Eunwoo stared in horror.
"You kidnapped Frogbert!"
Harun adjusted his cloak.
"Better this way."
Then he quietly walked back toward the door.
The entire event took less than a minute.
Before leaving, Harun paused briefly.
He glanced at the mirror again.
"…Good luck with the madness."
Then he disappeared into the night.
The temple door closed softly behind him.
Silence returned.
Inside the mirror realm, Eunwoo floated in complete shock.
He slowly turned toward the shelf.
The spot where Sir Frogbert had lived for weeks…
Was empty.
"…He stole my frog."
The mirror chamber felt strangely different without it.
Eunwoo stared at the empty space for a long moment.
Then sighed.