Chapter 2
On the day I died, a festival was held in the city of Rione.
“Finally, the witch is dead!”
“L-look! The Saintess has awakened!”
“The Saintess rises the moment the witch dies!”
“It’s a divine revelation!”
Amid the chaos in the square, I awoke once more—as a ghost.
So even in death, a monster cannot ascend to heaven?
I let out a bitter laugh, when someone slowly climbed onto the execution platform, now reduced to nothing but ash.
It was Amelia.
She stretched both arms toward the sky, tears streaming down her face as she cried out,
“The heavens have answered!”
Everyone celebrated the birth of a great saint who had received divine revelation.
But I knew the truth.
[That’s no revelation from the heavens. It’s my medicine.]
I clenched my fists and screamed into the void, but no one heard me.
They all laughed, rejoicing in my death, while I stood alone in the midst of it.
And yet—there was one person crying.
Sobbing bitterly, striking the ground.
Who could it be?
The voice was familiar, yet no name came to mind. As I took a step toward him, Amelia brushed past me.
A foul stench accompanied her as her hair passed straight through my cheek. Then she ran, like a butterfly, into Dario’s open arms.
The lord who had finally defeated his monstrous wife and found true love, and the saintess blessed by divine revelation.
Everyone offered them their blessings—
Even as the stench of my burning flesh still lingered in the air.
[Aaaah!]
Rage surged within me. Though I was now a soul unbound by flesh, something burned deep inside. I raised my fist at Amelia and Dario as they walked away.
But my blow passed through them like empty air.
As a spirit… could I not even touch a single strand of their hair?
I tried again, following after them—but it felt as though iron chains bound my ankles. I couldn’t move from where I stood.
In the end, I could do nothing but watch as Amelia and Dario disappeared from sight, and the people of the square began to disperse.
As darkness fell, only the ashes of my body, my lingering soul—
And the man still collapsed on the ground, weeping—
remained.
I crouched beside him. He never lifted his head, and even as the sun set, I couldn’t make out who he was.
At last, beneath the rising moon, his sobbing ceased.
He slowly raised his head.
“…Fabio…! No—Michele!”
Michele had once been called Fabio—a slave belonging to my maternal family.
And my very first friend.
[You’re mourning me…]
In this world, Michele was the only one who had every right to hate me.
And yet, he was the one grieving my death the most.
A strange light flickered in his eyes for a moment before he stood and approached the execution platform. Then, like a madman, he began digging through the ashes.
[Memoria.]
The moment I saw the green emerald, I clapped a hand over my mouth in shock.
That wasn’t just any gemstone—it was a magical artifact.
A keepsake left to me by my late grandmother.
So it had survived…
Even as my body and everything else burned, that jewel alone remained untouched, radiating its own color.
As Michele picked it up, his shoulders collapsed. Watching his broad frame tremble, I felt as though I, too, might cry.
If I hadn’t been a ghost, tears would have surely fallen down my cheeks.
After a long while, he rose unsteadily and began to walk.
And then—
It felt as though an invisible hand had seized my wrist.
When Michele took one step, I took one.
When he took two, so did I.
No matter what I did, I couldn’t leave his side.
I had heard of souls bound to a place…
But could it be—
that my soul was bound to him?
It didn’t take long for that suspicion to become certainty.
No matter how I tried, I could not escape him.
Remaining beside someone who couldn’t even recognize me was no easy thing.
At first, I tried speaking to him. I tried breaking free.
All of it was futile.
Neither in heaven nor in hell, my soul lingered in this world—slowly driven mad by loneliness and a helpless thirst for vengeance.
And so, I spent eight years by his side.
When Amelia, made into a great saint by my medicine, entered the temple of Renia—
When Dario became the Commander of the Holy Knights, vowing to protect her—
When Michele took revenge on my maternal family, the Anguists, who had been destroyed, and rebuilt his house—
I was there.
While I drifted through time as nothing more than a fragment of a soul, the traitors seized the temple…
And Michele became the strongest in the world.
“Here we are—the most secret place in the temple.”
Amelia tugged at Michele’s hand. The two had grown noticeably closer these days—enough to stir Dario’s jealousy.
So it wasn’t just my imagination.
Though he had mourned my death, seeing Michele grow close to Amelia—the very cause of it—filled me with something deeper than disappointment.
It felt like betrayal.
Amelia’s feelings for him were obvious.
But Michele… while he allowed himself to be led around and granted her requests, he clearly avoided physical contact with her.
Still, Amelia seemed to take even that as a virtue.
Something about chivalry, perhaps.
In any case, I found myself once again dragged along to one of their secret meetings.
Wherever Michele went, I followed—whether I wanted to or not.
“This is the Dragon’s Heart!”
At the center of the grand hall stood a pedestal, and atop it—a radiant red gem, glowing brilliantly.
“The source of power. The origin of this world. Do you desire it?”
“It originally belonged to my family.”
“That’s right. And with it, the world will be yours again.”
Michele walked steadily toward the gem.
Placing a hand upon it, he reached into his pocket and took out another jewel, setting it beside it.
‘Memoria?’
The green emerald engraved with the initials A.A.—it was mine.
The one he had taken the day I died.
‘He kept it… all this time?’
Then why bring it out now?
As Michele lifted the Dragon’s Heart into his palm, its mysterious glow began to fade.
“Beautiful. A divine treasure said to be obtainable only by descendants of Ether.”
“I wouldn’t have come this far without your help.”
There was an unusual tenderness in his voice as he murmured.
He reached out and placed a hand against Amelia’s cheek.
Ah…
Had Michele truly come to love her?
A sharp pang pierced my chest.
Had I… harbored feelings for him?
Or was it simply the bond formed over eight years together?
Whatever it was—
Amelia truly was loved, no matter what.
Even though she didn’t deserve it.
“No need to thank me.”
At that moment, Amelia’s lips curled into a crooked smile.
In her hand, she held a dagger.
Michele hadn’t sensed the danger yet.
But I—helpless as a ghost—had no way to warn him.
Before I could react, the blade plunged into his chest.
“I want to possess the world.”
As she pulled the dagger free, blood burst forth like a fountain.
“Ghk… You… used me…?”
He barely managed to speak, blood spilling from his lips.
“That’s right.”
“Didn’t you say… you loved me?”
“That was a lie.”
Amelia answered calmly, her face still angelic.
It made my skin crawl.
“You weren’t sincere with me either. I know everything.”
Her quiet laughter echoed through the chamber.
“I know who the woman you truly loved was.”
Her gentle, beautiful face twisted in an instant.
“And I killed her, too.”
Leaning close, Amelia whispered into Michele’s ear as he collapsed to his knees.
“You—!”
With a beast-like roar, Michele seized her slender neck.
Though pain creased his face, she still looked composed—
as if she had something to rely on.
At that moment, a dark shadow appeared behind him.
[No!]
As if hearing my cry, Michele turned—
but it was too late.
A greatsword had already pierced through him.
“Amelia, are you alright?”
I recognized the man instantly.
Dario Rione.
Amelia, now holding the Dragon’s Heart, smiled.
Damn it… she won again.
Letting out a hollow breath, I staggered toward Michele and knelt before him.
[Michele.]
His unfocused eyes trembled as he coughed up blood.
Why… why does God allow people like them to win?
Does God even exist?
As I reached out to touch the face of my long-time friend, I soon clutched at my own chest instead.
It hurt.
It hurt so much I felt like I might die all over again.
If there is a God—
then I curse you, your world, and the humans you cherish.
A silent scream filled my throat.
“What is this? Why is it doing that?”
At the sound, I turned.
Amelia was shaking the Dragon’s Heart, now completely dimmed.
Meanwhile, the Memoria atop the pedestal began to shine brighter and brighter.
And then—
that light swallowed Amelia and Dario whole.
Moments later, it engulfed Michele—
and me.
My body felt as though it were floating.
The world was utterly silent, as if I had lost my hearing entirely.
But something was strange.
Sound began to return—faint murmurs echoing from afar.
My body, once weightless, now felt heavy, as though burdened by layers of fabric.
This sensation…
—it felt like the mortal world.
My eyes snapped open.
The sudden light made me wince. My vision lagged behind, forcing me to blink repeatedly—
and then—
a voice I had longed to hear reached my ears.
“Amira, are you alright?”
Just hearing it made my nose sting.
It was my grandmother—
Thalia Anguist.
The one whose funeral I was never able to attend because of Dario Rione.
