“I-it’s the Egrich Empire we’re talking about! Even with a Hero on its side, Bern would be foolish to challenge them!” she said.
“I never said that’s what I wanted. I just want to shine a light on the people inside it who targeted my husband.”
And I would. I’d make them atone. They’d answer to Bern and to Lucas. When I put that out there and locked eyes with her again, she let out a pained breath and raised her hands in surrender.
“All right, fine. I give in. What are you, anyway? You’re more intense than I expected…which I guess makes you two perfect for each other.”
She pointed a finger at me, then mockingly tapped her neck while grinning broadly. I panicked and quickly covered the marks on my neck.
“D-did you overhear it?!”
“No. But it was way too quiet in there, which I thought was quite suspicious. And honestly, I figured your husband probably did it just to shut me up. Still, you’re nothing like the rumors.”
“In what way?”
Her blunt way of speaking was honestly kind of refreshing, and I found myself talking more freely with her. But then she dropped a name I wasn’t expecting to hear.
“Why didn’t you say anything when that loser Felix dumped you? You’re a clever girl. You could’ve easily turned the tables on him.”
Her words hit me like a thunderclap.
She’s right. Why didn’t I fight back?
I could have. Even if Felix and I didn’t belong together, I still could’ve stood up for myself. As a daughter of Marquis Cline, I should’ve never let him get away with that kind of cruelty, especially not after my memories of reincarnation returned. I could’ve run if I’d wanted to.
So why had I stood there on the stage like that, and let myself be cast aside without a fight, without argument, without even a single word in my defense? Why did I just let myself be cast as the villainess as I felt Lucas’s hostile gaze upon us?
Why did I accept being discarded, even though I knew it was coming?
I knew…
The realization hit me.
I would’ve remained trapped in Felix’s grasp unless the story ended, never able to truly belong to anyone, not even Lucas. Because I was born a villainess, a pawn meant to serve the heroine’s love story. Nothing more, and nothing less. For such a pawn to be loved, truly loved, by someone like Lucas, the secret character from the hidden route, would have been unthinkable.
I had to start from scratch to overturn that fate. So I let the story unfold exactly as it should have. I let myself be cast aside so that when Lucas saw me, he’d choose me, and I would be his.
But was that it?
A chill enveloped me. My teeth chattered, and in the back of my mind, I heard the agonized cry of a dragon who had received divine punishment for not choosing its true love.
“I’ll find you right away after I’m reborn, and this time I’ll give you all of myself, just as I am…”
That was the vow the dragon in my dream made after sacrificing its lover in order to change their fate.
What if it wasn’t a dream, but a past life? And if my very birth as Cecilia Cline, the villainess in an otome game, was the punishment the goddess gave me in the life that came after…
“Is loving someone so deeply a sin?”
Felix abandoned me, so why should loving Lucas be wrong?
We’d been through hell together since then, and our bond had only grown stronger for it. And when the goddess tried to take him from me, I proved my love was real.
The divine didn’t act without reason. So if the goddess let those memories return to me now, perhaps it was to prepare me for what was coming.
But what if our love and our vow angered someone who blindly worshipped the goddess?
“The Holy Emperor, the mouthpiece of the goddess…he’s the one behind all this.”
“You really are terrifying, Princess Cecillia. Correct. That emissary from Egrich reports directly to that smug Holy Emperor. He said something like, ‘Not only did the Hero enslave a dragon, who is a messenger of the goddess, but he and his wife refuse to swear true love, and we cannot abide that.’ Oh, and something about your current suffering not being enough to cleanse your past life’s sins. He said you needed to atone as a Saint. His face was covered by some creepy mask, but he was flaunting the Holy Emperor’s crest. I’m sure of it.”
“A Saint…”
In the Egrich Empire, there was a sacred spring known as the Depths, and the one chosen to pray for peace there was called a Saint.
No one knew how they were chosen because the process was a closely guarded secret, but apparently, priests called Apostles found girls with the right qualities and took them away. And once they were taken, those girls were never allowed to leave the Empire again.
That was why people whispered, behind closed doors, that the Saints were just sacrifices. It was said the Saints gave up something to the Depths each time they prayed, and by doing so, they kept the monsters from running rampant across the continent.
And so, when the girls were taken, no one resisted, and the Saints prayed and prayed until they died.
It was impossible to dig belief out of someone’s heart once it had been so deeply rooted, just like vows and faith couldn’t be shaken easily.
That meant it wasn’t something even the Hero could fix. If we challenged the tradition of sainthood, we would risk alienating any and everyone who believed in the goddess, which counted for more than half the world’s population.
And if that happened, even Bern would have to abandon me. And Lucas wouldn’t accept that. He’d turn the world upside down for me.
How could I stop them? How could I make them leave us alone?
Slaying an ancient dragon had nearly cost us our lives. Lucas made it back only to be cursed, called a monster, and shackled by divine power. We broke that curse, but if they pronounced our love false, would I just lose him anyway?
What if I were the one who would push him too far? What if I were the one who would lead him to his death?!
My body shook, and I gritted my teeth as I clutched my arms tightly around me.
Then suddenly, someone grabbed me and pulled me into a tight hug.
“Don’t look so scared! They won’t get to you that easily! Think about it: your husband already foiled Akeem’s lurid scheme to turn you into the next Saint, right? So come on, smile already. Please? Just smile right now!”
“Huh?”
I blinked at her pale face. Her reddish-brown eyes were filled with tears, and her lips trembled. I turned to see what had frightened her so much. It was a demon, gliding toward us with black mana swirling around it like a storm. No, wait… It’s Lucas! I realized, suppressing a scream.
He was dragging what I could only assume was his final opponent behind him.
That wasn’t a prince. It was a cold-blooded killer, and he was headed straight for me.
Who even cared how many people Lucas took down in the end? That wasn’t the issue right now!
“Princess Yana, do you have any idea when he started watching us?” I asked.
“No clue! But the guy he’s dragging around was supposed to be one of the strongest soldiers in Majaar, and everyone’s saying the match was over in a split second! Princess Cecilia, please save me! I’ll do anything! I’ll cooperate, I swear!”
Oh, a verbal contract? There’s nothing like a brush with death to make someone reassess their priorities… But hey, if this lets me knock down a few of Prince Islan’s pawns, then so be it.
I very pointedly avoided looking at my absolute menace of a husband while plotting my counterattack. Princess Yana clung to me tightly.
“Eeeep! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”
The sound of heavy footsteps cut through her pleading. And then a shadow fell over us. Lucas stood on the railing above, looking down at us with golden eyes full of hostility. I instinctively pulled Yana closer, shielding her.
It’s Lucas, after all. He definitely noticed that something’s bothering me, and no doubt concluded that ‘something’ was Yana.
But even if I tried explaining the whole dragon memory flashback thing right now, it wasn’t like he’d just believe it. I mean, I wouldn’t believe it if someone else told me the same thing. No explanation in the world would calm him when he saw his beloved’s face so twisted in pain.
Karma sucks, so I need to be careful!
That meant I only had one possible move here…
“That was the third time now. What happened?”
The moment Lucas’s quiet voice stirred the air, Finn and the maids went sheet white.
“U-um, Alfred, you’re a little young for this part. Time to head out now!”
“W-Wait. What about my sister? Why? What’s…”
“Just come with me!”
They scooped up Alfred and jumped off the edge of the viewing deck into the arena below.
How rude! I wanted to escape, too!
But the fact that my husband, already bloodthirsty by default, was feeling this murderous over my well-being lit a little fire in me. Because I cared about him just like he cared about me, I’ll explain eventually, I promise! But first, you’re getting a taste of your own medicine, dear husband!