“Lady Lucille Gustelanola! I know you’ve cursed my beloved Mina with your abhorrent dark powers, and I will not tolerate such inhumane deeds from my fiancée!” Prince Bernard accused loudly. He was our country’s second prince, and it was his birthday party we were currently attending at the royal castle.
“Huh?” The word blurted out of me in an unladylike manner.
“Your curse is eating away at my poor Mina’s body, forcing her to endure painful treatment! Did you think your crime would escape my notice?”
There were so many issues with his statements that I didn’t know how to respond. For starters, I didn’t think anything of my “crime” because I had no recollection of committing it in the first place.
The alleged victim, Lady Mina, stood at Prince Bernard’s side, clinging to his arm. She was the daughter of a baron, and recent rumors whispered of her taking every opportunity to flirt incessantly with my fiancé, unconcerned with the public eye. She was a flashy woman with an hourglass figure, and though her blonde hair and violet eyes didn’t differ all that much from my own blonde hair and blue eyes, her aura of sensuality was leagues beyond what I was capable of. Not to mention, the mole dotted under her eye was downright alluring.
Yep, she’s definitely Prince Bernard’s type.
My fiancé was into glamorous older women who were sultry and bewitching. In contrast, I was petite and had more of a baby face. For the record, I did have curves, but they were difficult to perceive beneath the layers of my clothes. Life is so unfair!
Still, under my father’s order to “win the prince’s heart,” I had worn chunky heels so tall that the average person would have struggled to even stand in them, adopted a carefully curated posture to give myself a more flattering figure, donned fancy dresses, and spent a copious amount of time under the talented hand of my attendant as she applied layer upon layer of makeup to turn me into a vixen. She was practically a painter at this point.
In short, I had put in tremendous effort. So had my attendant.
But in the end, he still got snatched away by someone who’s his type?! And what even is this “painful treatment”? She’s been happily flirting with him in public this whole time!
“I ought to execute you for your sins,” Prince Bernard continued. “However, my benevolent Mina has requested that I restrain myself from taking your life. Be grateful that she has the compassion of a goddess.”
“Huh?” I blurted out again, unable to keep up with the quick succession of events. Execute? That’s awfully severe. Uh, has Prince Bernard always been like this?!
“Nevertheless, a crime cannot go unpunished! Therefore, I am annulling your engagement to me and ordering you to marry the cursed marquess!”
His loud proclamation sent the nearby nobles into a stir. “The cursed marquess” referred to Lord Leeuwenhoek, a key figure in the national defense of our country, the Kingdom of Eldar.
Wait, even if everyone thinks he’s cursed, should you really be treating marriage to an important marquess as punishment?
No sooner had the retort crossed my mind than I was struck by an intense headache and dizzy spell.
Oh no. If I faint now, people will assume it’s from shock that my engagement was canceled or that my crime was exposed—even though I did nothing wrong!
With that final thought, my vision blurred, and my consciousness faded away.
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“You really won’t give me the slightest bit of attention, will you?!” I muttered, the words delivered in such a low voice I could hardly believe they’d come from me.
Despite being falsely accused of an absurd crime and forced to wed Lord Leeuwenhoek, I had accepted my fate as his wife because of his good looks. But would you believe it? Even after I’d married the man, he refused to give me the time of day!
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His first words to me after we became husband and wife? “I hate despicable, foolish women like you the most.” Upon hearing that, I had flown into a rage, flinging everything I could get my hands on and making a mess of the room.
Nevertheless, I had believed that he would change his mind after spending time with me...but as it turned out, Lord Leeuwenhoek—Felix—had chosen to avoid me entirely. He would only grace me with his presence when I was taking out my pent-up frustrations on the servants.
“To harm a servant without remorse... You truly are as wicked as they say. If the king hadn’t imposed this marriage on me, I would be divorcing you right this instant.”
His eyes had been ice-cold with contempt as he’d said that!
It’s because he hates women. Actually, he hates people in general.
I had convinced myself to take his feelings into consideration and to wait patiently for him to ask for my forgiveness. However, much to my chagrin, a year into our marriage, that damned woman had appeared.
Elvira Larache, with her beautiful strawberry blonde hair, eyes that shone like emeralds, and light magic as rare as my dark magic, was a nasty woman who constantly spewed superficial ideals.
And Felix... Felix loved her. To make matters worse, she loved him back. They were always together, walking side by side, whispering sweet nothings, and gazing into each other’s eyes.
When I reprimanded her for this, pointing out that I was Felix’s wife, she spat, “Miss Lucille, you’re always bothering Felix by taking your anger out on others. Doesn’t it make you feel empty inside?”
This marriage had been forced on me as punishment, yet now this woman was implying it was I who was being clingy? Fueled by jealousy, resentment, and rage, I resolved to get rid of Elvira...only to fail.
My powers were already much stronger than the average person’s, and the hatred in my heart further enhanced my dark magic beyond my control. As a result, I inadvertently attacked not only Elvira but the entirety of Felix’s domain. Much to my shame, Elvira repelled my assault with her light magic and came to be praised as a saint. Ironically, thanks to me, that woman’s magical power grew, and she managed to lift the curse on Felix, freeing him from his derisive nickname.
This time, I was in fact sentenced to death for my crimes. And Felix, no longer bound to me, intended to take Elvira as his legal wife. When I heard this news in prison, I didn’t even have it in me to cry anymore.
The story had a happy ending. The tragic, cursed marquess was saved by the saint. Together, they defeated the wicked witch and lived happily ever after. All’s well that ends well.
But what about me? Doesn’t anyone feel bad for me, being unjustly treated by Prince Bernard and Felix Leeuwenhoek even until the very end? Are you saying that I was the only one at fault? That I’m the only one who doesn’t deserve—
I awoke with a start, my face streaked with tears and sweat.
It seemed I’d been having a nightmare. What’s more, I instinctively knew that it was no mere dream. It was a premonition. With this realization came memories of a time when I often had such prophetic dreams—a time before I was born as myself, when I lived as a different being.
In other words, memories of my past life.