Chapter 2
My Lovely Saintess was a dark reverse-harem novel where the heroine, Leila, constantly suffered and got dragged around.
She was born with a weak personality, but the biggest reason for her misery was my death—Tian Ellopez.
The main male lead kidnapped people around Leila to control her, using them as hostages.
The one who got chosen was Tian.
Tian Ellopez, the duke’s daughter closest to Leila—the person she relied on the most.
In truth, Tian was a genius mage, so talented she was called the strongest in the world.
At a young age, she rose to the rank of Archmage and even took control of the Mage Tower.
In the novel, Tian treasured Leila deeply.
And yet, she was fooled by a single sentence from the main male lead, Lionel—
“If you go to war for me, I’ll never touch Leila again.”
That alone was enough for Tian to rush straight into battle.
In that war, one of the male leads’ schemes caused Tian to lose all her magic power.
Unable to use magic, Tian became extremely weak and fell into the perfect vulnerability for controlling Leila.
Of course, unlike the original Tian, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to be tricked into going to war.
And I certainly wouldn’t lose my magic.
Anyway, once Tian lost her abilities, she took her own life.
Because she didn’t want Leila to suffer or be manipulated because of her.
But naturally, Leila was never told about Tian’s death.
Believing Tian was still alive, Leila sacrificed herself to save her friend.
One month passed with Leila imprisoned in a mansion.
By chance, she discovered a suspicious basement.
There, she found markings that looked like a contract with a demon.
Believing that destroying it would erase the man’s power and save Tian, Leila used her holy power to remove it.
The attempt was discovered quickly.
And it failed miserably.
That day, Leila learned of Tian’s death.
A single sword lay in the basement.
Embedded in it like a jewel was something purple.
It was a human eyeball.
In the present empire, only one family had purple eyes—the Ellopez Ducal House.
And among them, only one person could have ended up like that.
Overcome by despair, Leila lost the will to live.
After that, she was trampled by male leads, bullied by the villainess Charviel, and even pushed around by mere extras—
And so the meaningless, miserable story dragged on until the end.
‘Even thinking about it again makes me angry.’
I had the bad habit of always finishing novels, so I read it to the end.
But remembering the plot still made me sick.
By this world’s timeline, it had been nearly twenty years since I read the original story.
I closed the parchment notebook where I had written the plot down so I wouldn’t forget.
Two years remained.
Two years until the original story began.
I had thought the fourteen years of early education had all been for nothing—
But it seemed I was at least getting a small reward for all that tearful effort.
…Just two days ago, I had been lamenting that changing Leila’s personality was hopeless.
“Tian… sniff… the viscount’s daughter again…”
Even though she herself was the daughter of a count, she frequently came back crying after being bullied by a mere viscount’s child.
“Charviel stepped on my dress by accident, and it tore… I-I’m fine, Tian! She already apologized…!”
Accepting apologies that weren’t even apologies, despite their obvious malice, had been her daily routine.
And yet—
What on earth was this?
‘She actually poured wine on Charviel.’
Remembering yesterday’s incident, I looked out the window.
Heavy rain tapped against the glass.
The sky was dark, despite it being morning.
“Ah, such nice weather.”
Anna, my personal maid who had come in to tidy the bed, looked between me and the window.
Her gaze clearly said, “Is something wrong with your head?”
I coughed awkwardly.
After finishing the bedding, Anna helped me change clothes.
Even if it was just breakfast with family, I was still a noble lady.
And not just any noble—
The only daughter of the sole ducal house in the Persent Empire.
Going in pajamas wasn’t an option.
I’d lived in this world since childhood, so it wasn’t unfamiliar…
But wasn’t this a bit much?
“Anna, isn’t this too thick…?”
It was humid because of the rain, but the temperature wasn’t low.
It was March—once the rain stopped, it would be a warm spring day.
But judging by what Anna put on me, it might as well have been midwinter.
When I took off the heavy winter coat, Anna silently put it back on.
“Why am I bundled up like this when spring’s coming? Look, how many layers is this already?”
Ignoring my complaints, Anna tightened the ties firmly and replied flatly,
“Madam is waiting for you to come down.”
My body flinched instinctively.
I tightened the ties one more time myself.
“Sh-Should I put on one more?”
The moment I went downstairs, I was certain a fierce hand would strike my back.
I wrapped myself in an extra cloak and prepared for the worst.
My anxious future unfolded exactly as expected.
The moment I stepped onto the first floor, the mistress of the house—my mother, Sylvia Ellopez—glared at me with raised eyes and swung her hand.
“So you finally corrupted that sweet Leila!”
“Ah—! Mother, that hurts!”
“I’m hitting you because it hurts! Who told you to do something worth getting hit over?!”
I couldn’t exactly deny it, so I took a few hits out of guilt before skillfully dodging.
“Father! Please save me!”
I dove behind my father, Abellian Ellopez, who had just appeared.
“Dear, my wife—if you keep going, our daughter’s back won’t survive.”
“Move aside this instant!”
At some point, my mother was holding a house slipper.
My father, caught between us, hesitated—then turned toward me with resolve.
My body lurched forward.
I barely caught myself before falling.
Green eyes filled my vision.
Only then did I realize—
My father had pushed me right into my mother’s grasp.
Abellian Ellopez.
Known to the public as a doting father—
But like all rofan dukes, he was truly a wife fool.
“I’m sorry, Tian.”
It had been twenty years since I began living as Tian Ellopez.
I was far more used to this life than my previous one.
Which meant—
I had fully expected this.
“Big brother—!”
“Tian? What happened—Mother, why are you holding a slipper…?”
The Ellopez family’s eldest son, Ruente, had just come down from the second floor and looked around in confusion.
He whispered to me, asking what happened.
I didn’t answer.
Instead, I tugged repeatedly on his collar, silently begging him to do something.
His purple eyes trembled.
“M-Mother… what did Tian do this time…?”
“I didn’t do anything wrong, big brother?!”
At Ruente’s confident assumption that I must be at fault, I screamed.
“Tian Ellopez! Can’t you be quiet?! How dare you raise your voice at your brother!”
My mother looked far too young to be middle-aged.
Raised as the daughter of a marquis, she carried noble blood to her core.
If you asked who the most prestigious noblewoman in the present empire was—
Everyone would name Sylvia Ellopez without hesitation.
“Stop hiding behind Ruente and come out here right now!”
…Of course.
She only showed this side to family.
“I can’t just sit back and let it happen! You know how badly Charviel bullies Leila!”
“And who said anything about that?”
Huh…?
Wait.
This isn’t about the wine incident?
If not, then I really hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Then why are you doing this?!”
No matter how much I thought about it, nothing came to mind.
When I asked boldly, my mother clenched her teeth and stared at me coldly.
Even though I hadn’t done anything, my body trembled.
“Leila says she’s breaking off her engagement!”
“…?”
What?
Leila is… doing what?
I stared blankly, doubting my ears.
After blinking a few times, I asked again stupidly,
“W-What did you just say, Mother…?”
“Leila has requested to break her engagement with His Highness the Second Prince!”
T-This is insane.
The curse slipped out loud.
Ruente stared at me in shock.
