00. Prologue
It was a pitch-black night.
A quiet hour when no one would be awake. Yet at the Blairus Manor, torches flared, and a commotion broke out. The only saint of the Blairus family…
No, the one and only saint of the empire and the second daughter of the Blairus family, Ashley Blairus, had been rescued from a lake behind the manor just moments before she could die.
The greatest saint in the empire had attempted suicide.
Ashley, who always fulfilled her role as a saint with a bright smile every day, attempting suicide was nothing short of an unexpected disaster.
“Good heavens! Miss! Miss, please snap out of it!”
“The safety of the saint comes first! Call every physician immediately, and make sure all the staff are on standby!”
“No! Our saint!”
Amid the noisy chaos, only Ariadne, in a negligee, stood frozen, staring at Ashley being carried out unconscious from the lake.
She felt completely detached from reality. Everything around her seemed to move slowly, like a painting.
Pitch-dark darkness without even a moon.
And the red flames flickering in that darkness.
The black, gaping lake that had swallowed her younger sister.
It all felt unreal.
She threw herself in? Why?
Ariadne couldn’t understand.
Last night, after dinner, she thought she had gently persuaded Ashley when she came to her room late in the evening.
Even thinking back, the request her sister had made was unreasonable.
She had explained it clearly…
Ashley had shown a little sulkiness, but still…
Ariadne thought she had understood and left.
Of course, there was one thing Ashley had said while leaving that had stuck with her:
“If you don’t grant my request, sister, I’ll really die.”
[…]
“I’m serious. Sister. I might really die.”
“Ashley, you can’t say things like that.”
Ariadne had thought such ridiculous threats were still cute. She believed Ashley couldn’t possibly be serious.
She couldn’t understand the weight of her sister’s life outside, living as a “saint.” She thought it was just whining… but that night, Ashley truly threw herself into the lake.
All because I didn’t grant that one request…?
Ariadne still couldn’t believe it.
To take her own life just because she hadn’t gotten what she wanted?
It felt like time itself had slowed down.
Biting her lips unconsciously, she prayed her sister would survive.
Fortunately, Ashley Blairus survived after drifting in and out of critical condition for several days.
Her survival was a blessing to everyone—except one person.
Ariadne.
After Ashley woke up, a nightmare began for Ariadne.
Smack—
Her head snapped to the right. The blow was so strong that her vision flickered.
“….”
Tears welled up in Ariadne’s eyes as she held her cheek.
It wasn’t because of pain.
It was because her father’s treatment of her felt unbearably cruel.
“Go apologize to Ashley immediately!”
The shouting pierced her heart.
The reason she had been hit was because of what Ashley said after waking up.
The moment Ashley regained consciousness, she burst into tears, saying, “I didn’t want to live because my sister didn’t grant my request.”
The manor erupted into chaos.
If anyone in the empire who revered the saint heard those words, Ariadne’s life could even be in danger.
Her father used that as leverage, pushing Ariadne into a corner.
“If His Majesty ever finds out that you were the reason Ashley did that, I couldn’t possibly handle the consequences. If you apologize, Ashley will just pretend it was an accident when she stumbled. Go now and apologize.”
“….”
Ariadne stared blankly at her father.
Apologize? When she hadn’t done anything wrong?
“Ariadne!”
“….”
Apparently, Ashley wanted Ariadne to apologize.
Otherwise, she threatened to tell everyone that she attempted suicide because of her sister.
Ariadne was dumbfounded.
“Just go apologize! One sentence is enough.”
“I—”
Holding her still-sore cheek, Ariadne quietly spoke.
“I haven’t done anything wrong… and you’re telling me to apologize?”
Her father’s face twisted even further.
“Why are you being stubborn! How hard is it to apologize!”
He said forcing her to apologize was the best thing he could do for her as a parent.
Yet when Ariadne didn’t move, he struck the adult daughter across the cheek.
Ariadne knew her father’s behavior was wrong.
He didn’t ask a single thing about the circumstances of the night Ashley tried to kill herself, nor about Ariadne’s side of the story. He only listened to Ashley and demanded an apology.
Shouldn’t a parent listen to both sides?
But of course…
Ashley Blairus was the saint everyone adored. Even her parents were no exception.
Ariadne’s words stuck in her throat.
“….”
When had things gone so wrong? she wondered.
Still, she thought her family would love her, even just a little.
She had fulfilled every duty as the eldest daughter.
She thought she could earn love this way.
If her father demanded something, she endured it.
If it meant sacrificing herself for the saint, she didn’t hesitate.
Still, she wanted her family to treat her as family.
“But… I guess that’s not the case.”
To her father, Ariadne was nothing.
To him, only the saint Ashley mattered—more than anything.
What was so special about a saint anyway?
The meaning was simple: a woman blessed with special powers. Nothing more.
In the empire, some were born with the rare gift of healing.
In the past, half the population was said to have this power at birth, but not anymore.
At most, one or two per generation.
And among those living now, Ashley Blairus was the only one who had manifested it.
Naturally, she gained the title of saint, and everyone admired her.
So for her to attempt suicide… it was a huge, unprecedented event.
Ariadne could understand her father’s attitude—but still…
She finally resolved to cut this dreadful tie for good.
People blinded by the saint, who couldn’t see anything else—those could not be called family.
Overnight, she became a villainess.
“Father… I’ll just leave the Blairus Manor myself.”
Ariadne said it without hesitation.
If she must become the villainess, she would accept that fate.
She smiled faintly, thinking, I’ll live as the villainess you want me to.
