Chapter : 2. Everything Was a Lie (2)
“……!”
Elia abruptly raised her upper body.
Instinctively, she brushed off her body. Her hands moved freely, and there were no flames clinging to her.
‘It doesn’t hurt.’
Was it a dream? Then what about that man?
Muttering to herself, Elia looked at her smooth, unscarred skin.
The warmth that had covered her eyes still felt vivid.
The betrayal of the imperial family she had believed to be her own. Even herself being offered as a sacrifice. The memories were far too clear.
Elia lowered her gaze to her hands. As she examined them quietly, her brows furrowed without her realizing it.
“What is this?”
Something had changed. Even her voice sounded subtly different.
‘No way.’
Elia jumped to her feet and stood in front of a mirror.
Golden hair flowing down past her waist. And violet eyes—the exclusive trait of the imperial bloodline.
Inside the clear mirror stood a girl resembling a violet flower.
“…Ugh!”
The moment she saw her reflection, a sharp pain throbbed in her head.
Holding her forehead, Elia staggered before collapsing onto the floor.
Yet, even as her body hit the ground, she felt no pain.
‘What is this?’
But an even greater shock struck her mind.
The records of her first life were not from this world.
‘I remember.’
She had been an ordinary high school student in Korea.
The memory of borrowing a novel from a friend felt as vivid as yesterday.
She had been on her way to return the book—one she had read so many times it had worn down—when it happened. Crossing the street, she was hit by a car and her life ended.
‘Twilight Night.’
That was the title of the romance fantasy novel she had held onto until her final moment.
A heroine destined to be a savior meets the male lead, falls in love with him, and saves an empire swallowed by darkness.
This place… was the world inside that book.
“Are you saying… I was a character inside a novel?”
Clutching her throbbing head, Elia gasped in shock. Regaining memories of her past life was already unbelievable—but she had also regressed. And on top of that—
“I’m just a side character.”
It was beyond absurd.
Even so, the woman reflected in the mirror looked incredibly lovely.
‘Elia Veros.’
Elia was an illegitimate child—a mutation—in the imperial family where only a fixed number of heirs were born in each generation.
She had been discovered after the two imperial heirs of the current generation were already born, making her existence unprecedented in imperial history.
‘It sounds impressive… but in the novel, I only appeared in a few lines.’
Of course. She was merely a side character offered as a sacrifice on the Day of Prophecy—nothing more, nothing less.
Now that her past-life memories had returned, she knew the entire future of the story—things even she hadn’t known before her regression.
After the Elia in the original story died, the black dog that had swallowed the sun reappeared.
‘Originally, the black dog was supposed to spit the sun back out…’
But due to Aexion’s interference, the sacrificial ritual was only half successful.
Instead of releasing the sun, the massive beast went mad in agony.
At that moment, the protagonists appeared as if they had been waiting, and performed a miracle.
‘The heroine performs the miracle, and the male lead protects her from evil.’
The heroine makes the black dog release the sun, and the male lead cuts off the life of the monstrous beast.
‘That man…’
Elia recalled the man who had held her in his arms during the final ritual.
A tragic villain who was saved by the heroine, yet never loved by her—and ultimately fell into darkness.
Unable to bear the union of the heroine and the male lead, he stood against them alongside the black dog.
‘In the end, even Aexion lost his life to the male lead.’
It was the inevitable fate of a villain.
Afterward, the empire entered the most prosperous and peaceful era in its history.
It was a happy ending for everyone.
Except for Elia, who had been sacrificed for the sun, and Aexion, who was killed by the male lead.
Throb.
A crushing sense of betrayal twisted painfully inside her chest.
‘It hurts so much.’
Why hadn’t she realized back then that what seemed so sweet was actually such deadly poison?
Regret over her foolish past clawed at her wounds. But—
‘It’s not over yet.’
Elia faced herself in the mirror.
She had returned to the past.
To the moment when she had still been naive enough to reach out blindly for something sweet.
“If it’s now… I can change it.”
She could not die as a sacrifice again. And the family who had deceived her were no longer on her side.
Elia decided to leave the imperial palace.
‘But how?’
The Emperor would never willingly let her go. She had to find a way to escape.
And yet—
Why was it…
That at this very moment, she kept thinking of the man who had stayed by her side at the end?
Bang!
The sound of the door opening abruptly shattered Elia’s thoughts.
Looking up, she saw a woman entering with a tray.
It was a familiar face. One of the maids who had attended her even on the night before her death.
“Rebecca?”
“…Oh my, how strange.”
Rebecca looked at her as if she had seen something absurd.
Her eyes, as they rested on Elia, were filled with contempt.
The maids had always subtly looked down on Elia for being illegitimate. And Elia, who had accepted it as natural, had been easily tamed.
“What year is it today?”
At Elia’s question, Rebecca’s brow twitched. With an annoyed expression, she answered curtly, as if doing her a favor.
“…It’s Imperial Year 212. You’re acting strange today.”
As soon as the maid finished speaking, Elia turned her head and looked out the window.
It was a bright summer day, with lush green leaves.
Confirming the year, Elia realized she had truly returned to the past.
‘I’ve come back to when I was seventeen.’
Three years before she would be offered as a sacrifice.
“Breakfast is boiled beans. That’s fine, right?”
While Elia was lost in thought, Rebecca placed the plate she had brought onto the table.
The beans looked dry and dull, as if they had been boiled long ago—completely devoid of any gloss.
Looking at the meal, which resembled animal feed, Elia let out a laugh.
‘Well, it’s better than starving for days and being beaten.’
The palace servants had always treated Elia with contempt or coldness.
An illegitimate child suddenly becoming a princess—of course they hated it.
Elia looked at Rebecca with cold eyes.
To the young girl, the imperial palace had always been nothing more than a beautiful cage.
“No.”
“…Pardon?”
Rebecca, who had been idly twirling Elia’s hair, responded as if she hadn’t heard properly.
Elia had no intention of letting this rude maid go.
“Bring proper food. Not something fit for a dog.”
Rebecca’s eyes widened in shock.
Normally, Elia would have been too frightened to even meet her gaze.
But now, Elia’s expression was completely emotionless—like a needle couldn’t even pierce through it.
Rebecca seemed flustered, but she didn’t change her attitude.
“But if you gain weight, you’ll become ugly.”
The maids had always dressed Elia beautifully. And they always said the same thing:
〈Her Majesty the Empress and your fiancé will dislike it. Since you are lacking, Lady Elia, you must at least maintain your appearance.〉
That was why they brought her food fit for beggars—or tightened her waist with corsets even at an age when she shouldn’t have worn one yet.
But now that she had returned, Elia had no intention of tolerating their abuse any longer.
“Rebecca. Call all the other maids here right now.”
Her voice was cold—far too cold for a child.
Her shoulders, once always hunched, were now straight. Her back stood firm.
‘…What?’
Rebecca was momentarily speechless.
For a brief moment, that illegitimate girl looked like a true imperial.
“…Alright.”
Rebecca answered reluctantly and stepped outside.
Soon after, she returned with two other maids.
“What is it, Lady Elia?”
One of them, arms crossed, wore an irritated expression.
Unless it was an official setting, they didn’t even address Elia as a princess.
“Shouldn’t all three of you come together?”
Morning service was always handled by all assigned maids together.
Since she was right, the maids could only frown without replying.
Elia examined each of their faces one by one.
‘Why did I ever think they were good people?’
A child starved for affection had believed that even their excessive “care” and disguised abuse were acts of kindness.
“Who am I?”
It was a short question.
But it carried a force that compelled them to answer.
