Episode 1
My breath came ragged, rising to my chin, and my heart pounded as if it would burst.
Thinking I might actually die if I kept running, I turned to check behind me, and only then did I stop.
My waist buckled on its own, and ragged gasps tore from my throat.
“Haa, haa… fuu…….”
Once my breathing had somewhat evened out, I straightened my back.
The tears that had covered my face had dried at some point while I ran.
Raising a trembling hand, I swept the long strands of hair that had fallen forward back behind me, and an unfamiliar landscape caught my hazy vision.
“Is this Malitau Forest…….”
My voice was completely hoarse, cracking as it came out.
Well, I had cried my eyes out; there was no way my voice would be normal.
The hair that had been elegantly pinned up just hours ago was now a disheveled mess, and the dress I had put on to show him was torn by branches and had become nothing but rags.
At my appearance—convincing enough to believe I was a madwoman—a self-mocking laugh escaped me.
The one who had made me like this was none other than myself.
Bewitched by the illusion they showed me, I had trusted those I never should have, and in the end, it had come to this.
“Where should I run…….”
My mind, still unable to shake off the shock, was nothing but confused and heavy.
Still, since I had to survive somehow, I looked around in every direction.
I had thought I might be familiar with the forest, having occasionally come here for walks, but in this forest draped in the thick veil of night, I was a complete outsider.
While I was at a loss, not knowing which way to go, the rough footsteps and fierce shouts of men rang out.
It was not far away.
“She can’t have gone far! Find her!”
“There are traces of her passing this way!”
I was terrified. It felt as though they would catch me at any moment and drag me back to the mansion.
Without realizing it, I stepped backward and turned around.
I had to run. Anywhere was fine. I couldn’t simply surrender my life to them.
Grabbing the cumbersome hem of my dress in both hands as I tried to flee, my body collided with something hard.
Startled, I raised my head, and a familiar face filled my vision.
“Sir Hekeus……?”
The one looking down at me beneath the moonlight was Rakein Hekeus, my bodyguard knight.
For an instant, relief surged through me, but upon remembering that he, too, had betrayed me, it quickly turned icy.
The handsome face I had always admired now looked like a reaper who had come to claim me from hell.
The one who had thoroughly deceived and tricked me…….
He who had acted as though he were mine while being my elder half-sister’s man…….
No, no. Thinking about it, that, too, had been my delusion. He had simply remained still while I convinced myself he had become mine.
As I hastily came to my senses and tried to step back, his two hands firmly grasped my arms.
Thinking I absolutely could not be caught like this, I resisted with all my strength.
“Let go! Let go of me!”
But he did not loosen his grip. Rather, he pulled my body toward him with even greater force.
I had raised my knee, prepared to kick him anywhere—even his groin—to break free, but at his resolute voice, I froze solid.
“If you wish to survive, listen to me carefully, my lady.”
“What?”
For a moment, I doubted my ears. What was this man saying to me?
When I raised my bowed head, I saw a pair of red eyes looking down at me.
In those eyes, which had always been nothing but emotionless, a profound, unnameable emotion churned deeply.
That must have been why I simply stared at him blankly.
His lips pressing tighter, the strength entering the hand gripping my arm—none of it felt real.
Because until now, I had no memory of him ever expressing emotion like this.
“Agh……!”
He and I came to our senses when a groan of pain slipped from my lips.
As if surprised, he released his hand from my arm and quickly stepped back. Then he drew his sword from the scabbard at his waist.
The pale blade gleaming under the moonlight looked as though it would cut my throat at any moment; I froze in place like a statue.
The fear of death ensnared my body like a spiderweb.
Feeling his other hand—the one not holding the sword—grab my arm and pull me, I closed my eyes in despair.
Of course. There was no way he, my elder half-sister’s man, would save me.
As I was hoping that if he was going to kill me, he would finish it in one blow, his hand fell away from my arm.
Surprised, I opened my eyes and saw his back.
Having pushed me behind him, he spoke, turning his head only slightly.
“Run to the left. Once you escape the forest, there will be a boat prepared at the river. Untie the rope and board it, and the current will guide you to the border.”
He was telling me to flee.
Wondering if I had heard him correctly, I stood blankly, and Rakein urged me in a firm voice.
“What are you doing? There is no time. I will hold them off, so you must run without fail, my lady.”
At the word ‘them,’ I raised my head and saw torches flickering between the bushes.
The pursuers had already arrived right before us.
“A-alright…….”
Faltering, I turned around. I didn’t know why he was helping me, but I had to survive first.
Just as I tried to move in the direction he had indicated, his voice reached me again.
“From now on, trust no one. No matter what happens, never stop running.”
“I will. Th-thank you…….”
Drenched in confusion, I offered an awkward thanks and began running in the direction he had shown me.
My head was still nothing but a whirl of confusion.
Not having gone far, I glanced back at the clamorous clashing of metal and shouts.
He was truly blocking my pursuers.
Why are you helping me? You of all people, my elder half-sister’s man? You who betrayed me?
Questions surged like floodwaters, but I had no time to ponder them.
If nothing else, as one of the Empire’s foremost swordsmen, he would be more than capable of holding them off. So for now, I had to run as he said.
But my footsteps did not get far before they stopped.
“……Leonard?”
Waiting for me beneath the moonlight was my fiancé, Leonard Osman.
My beautiful, gentle fiancé with golden hair brushing past his shoulders and golden eyes.
Wondering if it was a dream, I stood blankly, and he curved his eyes into crescents as he gently called my name.
“Herna.”
At his voice ringing in my ears, tears burst forth again even though I had thought I had none left to shed.
Ah, yes. There was still one person left for me. A person who cherished and loved me…….
Hot teardrops rolled down my cheeks and fell drop by drop. At that, Leonard clicked his tongue lightly and approached me.
Wrapping one arm gently around my waist, he looked down at my crying face and spoke like a whisper.
“Do not cry, my Herna.”
He had likely meant to comfort me, but far from ceasing, my tears surged up like a spring.
How could I not cry? I had met the only person who could save me.
Relief spread throughout my body, and my tightly tensed frame began to loosen.
My head whispered slyly that I was safe now, that I only needed to hide in his embrace.
And so I had forgotten. I had forgotten Rakein’s warning not to trust anyone.
Rakein’s advice came to mind when Leonard whispered again.
His voice was still soft and gentle, yet it held words whose meaning I could not understand.
“Once this moment passes, you will not suffer any pain whatsoever.”
An inexplicable chill swept down my spine.
What did he mean by ‘once this moment passes’……?
I tried to ask what he meant. But I could not speak.
Was this what it felt like to be struck by lightning? The excruciating pain starting from my left chest soon pierced through my entire body.
“Kuk……!”
Something surged up from within, and I retched it out. The thick, metallic taste spreading in my mouth made me realize it was blood.
Lowering my trembling head to my left chest, I saw a dagger embedded all the way to the hilt.
Wrapped around the dagger’s hilt were the fingers of a man all too familiar.
It was Leonard’s hand—the one that had stroked me, calling me beautiful and lovely.
“……Why……?”
Spitting out the continuously surging blood, I asked powerlessly, and the corners of his lips tugged up slightly.
In his golden eyes, I could see no love, no affection, not even pity for me.
“What I need is an unblemished successor to House Croisen. But you carry the title of bastard. Of course, I will not deny that you are more lovely and beautiful than she is. Even so, it is not charming enough to overshadow the title of bastard.”
“…….”
Each and every one of his words became daggers, wildly stabbing my chest.
He was cruel to the very end.
“Now your power will pass to your elder half-sister. Then I shall marry her. So I would appreciate it if you disappeared. Forever from this world. As she wishes.”
Even my last remaining faith shattered, and despair surged up from my feet as if it had been waiting, twisting around my body like an inescapable quagmire.
Without the slightest hesitation, he pulled out the dagger embedded in my chest.
The pain was even greater than when it had been thrust in, and my eyes flew wide open.
His arm, which had been supporting my slackening body, also let go without a hint of regret.
In the scattering red blood, having lost my support, I helplessly fell backward.
As my breathing faltered, in my dilated pupil, the image of Rakein running toward me with a face full of despair was reflected clearly.
‘Why…….’
Feeling my vision darken beyond my will, I muttered.
The fiancé I loved looked calmly upon me dying, as if killing me wasn’t enough…… why do you run to me with such an expression, such eyes…….
The expression I had seen last would not fade from before my eyes.
It was so intense that it made me forget even the anger toward those who had made me like this.
With that memory as my last, my consciousness plummeted into a churning, fearsome darkness.
Yes. If not for that voice…… if not for that small whisper, I might have been swallowed whole into the abyss.
[Don’t you want revenge?]
“What……?”
[Don’t you want revenge on those who thoroughly deceived and killed you?]
It was a whisper so sweet that it made my whole body tremble, an intense temptation.
Even if it were the devil’s whisper, I could not refuse that temptation.
“……I want revenge. I want to take everything from them and repay the pain I received twofold.”
At her answer, the voice laughed, sounding satisfied.
It was a strange laughter that seemed it could belong to a man or a woman.
[If that is what you desire, I must grant it. You are a precious existence to me. I do not wish for you to die, either. But to do that, a small price is needed for me to exert my power. That price is…….]
Listening to the voice whispering by my ear, I nodded.
Fortunately, what it wanted was something I had desperately wished to discard, so there was no need to hesitate even for a moment.
Was it because I agreed so easily?
The laughter was heard once more.
[Taking everything seems excessive, so I shall leave you a little. Who will you use this on?]
At that question, without realizing it, I thought of Rakein’s face.
Recalling his figure running toward me with a despair-filled expression, the voice spoke again.
[That is your answer. Now then, I shall send you back. So that you may achieve what you desire.]
The instant the voice vanished, a blinding light burst forth—that brilliant light seeming as though it would steal my sight—and devoured my consciousness in an instant.