Chapter 01
The Fallen Holy Knight and the Gullible Villainess (1)
If there was a place abandoned by both gods and humans, perhaps this was it.
The temple where she had once met Leon.
Kasha walked alone across marble floors stained with human blood.
“…This place is closed. Leave immediately.”
The holy knight warning her looked in terrible condition.
Platinum blond hair dulled to gray with dust. Eyes that had lost their light. Rusted, twisted armor with a missing visor and a right arm severed below the shoulder.
But what was broken was not only his appearance.
“Ugh! Ngh! Haaah…”
During the days she stayed in the temple, he would frequently flare up, glaring at her with feverish eyes.
“I told you… to leave… didn’t I…? Weren’t you afraid of me?”
“……”
“Do you want to be… torn apart by a beastly lust-crazed man…? Is that your taste? Heh… ngh… cough.”
Even while drooling and spewing obscene words with eyes burned by lust, he never laid a hand on Kasha.
He would crawl like an animal across the marble floor, relieve himself beneath the statue of the god, and curse the deity aloud—but he never violated her.
Kasha observed him from a corner with dark eyes, watching until his frenzy subsided.
He seemed to know it too—that she was watching him.
Exposing his own corrupted, disgraceful state, he sometimes looked like he was suffering… or feeling shame. And when lust fully consumed him, it almost seemed as if he enjoyed her gaze.
On a night when a full moon rose over the ruined temple, the fallen holy knight and the crouching villainess spent the night observing each other.
When his lust finally ended, he lit a bonfire with a worn-out face. After hesitating, Kasha sat beside him. Exhausted, he did not drive her away.
They sat in silence, staring at the fire for a long time. It was Kasha who broke the silence.
“…Um. I-I’m a villain… Kasha.”
Even after hearing her confession, he said nothing. His once-famous violet eyes—once called the jewel of the empire—reflected only the flickering firelight.
“I was the one… who made you like this…”
Her voice was small and trembling. Only then did he look at her.
Even though his cheeks were hollowed out, he was still beautiful.
“So you’re… the villain Kasha?”
She nodded.
He studied her for a long time, then gave a dry smile like withered leaves.
“Ridiculous.”
And again, silence fell.
“…He doesn’t believe me.”
Kasha realized it. He could not believe that this insignificant-looking girl was the villain Kasha.
If he truly thought so, he might have drawn his rusted sword and pierced her throat immediately.
He did not recognize her.
Not now, and not even from their first meeting long ago.
It was natural. Their encounter had been brief, and her existence had always been insignificant.
But she remembered everything. She had not forgotten a single thing.
That was why she could not leave this man, wandering this abandoned temple like a beast.
For three days and three nights, she awkwardly kept talking to him, trying to find a way to help.
He, who had been silent, slowly began speaking a few words… and eventually revealed everything.
Why?
Perhaps, she later thought, he had already been preparing for death. Regret for a life about to end may have loosened his tongue.
Or maybe it was strange to him—that a girl who was not afraid of the cursed holy knight kept looking at him with such serious eyes.
The three days passed quickly, and after hearing everything, Kasha said:
“I’ll save you.”
For once, her voice was steady, without hesitation.
“I really mean it. I know a way. I… I might be able to break your curse. So please… just a little longer…”
He interrupted her with his usual expressionless face.
“No one can save another person’s life.”
“…But—”
“So go and save your own life first. Mine is already wrong.”
At that very moment, heavy footsteps broke into the silent temple.
“Villain Kasha Tiana Luscino, surrender in the name of His Highness the Crown Prince!”
Imperial soldiers stormed the temple, and she was arrested without meaning.
“Is this really the villain Kasha?”
Leon murmured in disbelief. But his eyes quickly turned dull again, as if even knowing she was his enemy no longer mattered.
Kasha pleaded desperately.
“I—I’ll find a way. So please… survive. Then…”
“Wait. That face… I know it. Leon Aranias, isn’t it? The fallen holy knight wanted by the Order!”
A knight recognized him.
The commander of the knights lit up.
“If we bring his head, His Highness will reward us greatly! He’s dangerous, but we can take him together!”
“No…!”
Kasha turned pale.
But Leon simply stared into empty space, expressionless.
“One squad, escort the villain immediately. The rest, deal with Leon Aranias.”
Dragged away, Kasha saw Leon blocking the knights’ swords with only one arm.
She understood.
He would die there.
He had already decided it.
A broken cry burst from within her.
“Don’t die… please don’t die, Leon…!”
Don’t die like this so meaninglessly. If you die like that, I won’t even be able to believe I’m not a villain anymore.
It will feel like I truly became the terrible villain everyone says I am.
Clang. Clang. Crash.
Like a beast being hunted, violent sounds rang out, followed by distant cheers.
They had succeeded in the hunt.
Kasha was taken away, leaving Leon’s final moments behind.
And from there, she was transported to Arkin, the capital prison for the worst criminals.
Three months later.
It was Kasha’s 21st birthday.
Cold winter wind blew fiercely through the prison bars, along with the sound of people chanting her name.
“Execute the villain Kasha!”
“Kasha Luscino! Die! You villain!”
“Bring back my poor child! You devil who deserves to be torn apart!”
She was used to their curses now, but the sorrow and pain in their voices still pierced her heart.
Kasha curled up, trembling where her frostbitten toes had fallen off.
Winter in the prison was cruel. Her dress, worn since her arrest, was tattered and useless against the cold. Her body was full of frostbite, and her eyesight had nearly been destroyed.
Cough. Cough.
As she coughed violently, footsteps approached.
She instinctively curled up tighter, breathing faster in fear.
Even hearing the guard’s steps made her teeth chatter.
No matter how much she endured, she never got used to torture. Every day, they created new ways to break her, demanding answers she could not give.
“Speak! What was your purpose in committing such atrocities?”
“Who was your accomplice?”
“You stubborn, filthy bitch!”
Creeeak. Clank.
The cell door opened.
Someone entered, clicking their tongue at the sight of her trembling form.
“…Kasha. You look awful.”
A familiar voice.
She lifted her head quickly, but her vision was almost gone.
“Sa… Simon?”
Her voice was cracked and aged like an old woman’s from screaming through torture.
“Yes, it’s me. Hah… even for a prisoner, this is quite something.”
He clicked his tongue again. Kasha dragged her frostbitten legs toward him. She was angry he had come so late, but relieved there was still hope.
“Simon… is everything finally… revealed?”
“……”
“I… I never… said your name… Even under torture… I never spoke…”
“You’re still obedient, I see.”
“So… please…”
Take me out of here. Tell me all this suffering is finally over.
“But even if you had said my name, nothing would’ve changed much, Kasha.”
“What…?”
His mocking voice made no sense to her.
“Kasha. You did everything, didn’t you? It doesn’t matter if I ordered you or not. In the end, you made the weapons. You extracted the curse from the mana stones.”
“N-no! I didn’t know they would be used like that! I didn’t know they’d be used to kill people! If I had known, no matter what you said, I would never—never have made them!”
Simon chuckled.
“That’s exactly why you’re in this state. You really thought those weapons would just be used for hunting beasts.”
His laughter pierced her heart.
“I didn’t extract the curse for that purpose either! You know that! But you stole it and used it for something so evil! Killing innocent people like that!”
Kasha screamed.
The rage and despair that had eaten away at her soul in prison finally erupted.
“I didn’t know… I didn’t know…!”
If she had known, she would never have obeyed him, no matter the threats.
Whenever guards pulled out her nails, broke her joints, or burned her with hot tongs, how desperately she wanted to confess everything.
But she couldn’t.
Because—
“…You are my husband, Simon.”
