Epilogue

In 1795, the London meteor incident occurred.

It was undoubtedly a disaster. A meteorite struck directly within London, gouging out a crater and sparking an enormous fire. Half of London was reduced to ruins, with nearly twenty thousand dead or injured. More than two hundred thousand people suffered from secondary disasters caused by the impact, while countless others were left homeless after their houses were destroyed. It was an unprecedented catastrophe in modern history.

Yet there were also rumors that there had been no meteorite at all—that a terrifying monster had ravaged London instead.

Hardly anyone believed them, however. Most simply laughed them off.

But decades later, after hearing this rumor from his father, a writer curiously asked whether his father had been there at the time.

His father said that one of his friends, a Londoner, had personally experienced everything.

The writer eventually adapted the rumor into the famous, universally beloved children's tale, The Prince and the Monster.

His name was Hans Christian Andersen.

The Clock Tower classified the incident as top secret and sealed it away in its archives.

Serim Zolgen, the cause of the London Monster incident, destroyed all of his research materials before choosing suicide, bringing the incident to an end.

Before the still-young Ivo Zolgen had time to grieve, he was forced to take over the Zolgen Family.

He spent the family fortune to settle the fallout from the incident. Then, after careful consideration, he decided to relocate the entire family.

He brought the Zolgen Family to Japan, changed his name to—Matou Takayuki—and renamed the family the Matou Family.

This incident made everyone understand the terror of life, and the weight of life.

With his life and his sins, Serim Zolgen told that story.

The Matou Family would surely never forget it.