Chapter 3

“It means there’s no longer a duke’s house in this empire. Everyone who bore the name of House Sihen is dead. Elise Sihen, that detestable duke and duchess, even the innocent little Xenia Sihen—every last one of them.”

Darkness fell over my mind. I couldn’t breathe. It was as if I had forgotten how to.

“Why… why are you doing this? Stop it! Rienette, stop!”

Seiden clutched my hands tightly, as if trying to pry them away from my chest, where I had been clawing at myself.

“Rienette!”

The most hated name in the world, called out by the most loathsome man.

“What’s wrong with you? Are you hurt? Can’t you breathe? Say something, Rienette!”

His hands, still gripping mine, trembled uncontrollably.

* * *

The place where I opened my eyes was my bedroom. Not Rienette’s, but mine—Elise Sihen’s bedroom, the room of the pure noble lady.

If I had never tried to live so purely… if I hadn’t been so obsessed with the original story, could I have avoided all of this tragedy?

If just once I had doubted Seiden instead of blindly following the script—would the story have changed?

Seiden sat at the bedside, waiting for me to wake up. I turned my body away from him.

Hot tears rolled down my cheeks. They burned more than the blood that had poured from my pierced heart.

The tears traced the contours of my face and soaked into my disheveled hair. A deep, aching pain filled my chest.

The man who murdered my family was sitting beside me. Waiting eagerly for me to open my eyes.

And in front of that very man, I—wearing the body of the woman who killed me—wept.

Even mourning my family in this woman’s body felt revolting.

But crying would change nothing. Now that I had become Rienette, I finally had something I could do for the people I loved.

I slowly sat up and looked at him. Seiden handed me a glass of water, and only then did a faint smile of relief cross his face.

“It’s okay now. I think I just had a bit of a headache from being so tired…”

His fingertips were still trembling slightly. He looked at me with more concern than ever before.

“I was worried, Rie. I think you should get a proper check-up from the royal physician.”

I leaned back just slightly to avoid his outstretched hand.

“I want to ask you something.”

I spoke slowly, watching his expression carefully. I didn’t miss a single detail of the sickening love he showed.

I had to become Rienette. The saintess without purity. The one who naturally received this man’s love.

Because as Elise Sihen, there was nothing more I could do—for my family, or for myself.

“…Seiden, what did you do with the duke and duchess’s bodies?”

“Oh, those? I was planning to hang them in the square soon. You told me to, remember?”

Rienette—if I could just meet you again, I would tear you apart.

“…Move them to this estate.”

Seiden looked at me as if he didn’t understand. He seemed moments away from questioning who I really was.

“What are you talking about, Rienette?”

“I said, move the bodies of the Sihen family here. To this estate.”

He stared at me in silence for a moment. I held my breath, not making a sound.

Finally, with a sigh that sounded like he was suppressing something, he took my hand and spoke.

“But Rie, there’s the dignity of the royal family to consider, and besides, you’re the one who wanted it done this way.”

“There’s no need to put them on display in the square. They were Elise’s family, after all.”

“What does that girl have to do with anything?”

So this is what I meant to you all along.

Even just hearing my name, Seiden’s eyes turned to scorn, as though he had seen something filthy.

“People will talk. That you’re doing all this out of spite, against Elise’s wishes. More importantly, I’ll be reinstated as saintess soon—there’s nothing good in showing the public such a disgrace. Make it public. Say that I, as saintess, showed mercy and requested the sinners not be hanged in the square. I have a reputation to maintain too, don’t I?”

His eyes wavered slightly, as if he hadn’t considered that.

“Let’s do it my way. It’s for both of us, Seiden.”

“…Alright, if that’s what you want, we’ll do it that way.”

With that, I was able to protect my parents’ final dignity. It was hard to believe this was the last thing I could do as their child.

His hand brushed through my hair, with the utmost care, as if I were something precious.

The corners of my lips, forced into a smile, trembled faintly.

“I’ll go down first. You come down a little later.”

I didn’t want to be near him. I gently pushed him away and hurried out through the door, almost as if running away.

Only then did I truly see the home where I was born and raised. I hadn’t been here for nearly half a year, having lived at the royal palace since my engagement.

New flowers bloomed in the garden beyond the window, and unlike the barren winter, the trees now wore shades of green.

And in this beautiful mansion, just yesterday, my family had fallen.

“You’ll find the room at the end of the second-floor hallway.”

The funeral was held in the estate’s small banquet hall. My steps were heavy; I could hardly move forward.

To attend my own funeral…

“This is the room. Please go in.”

The opened bedroom was filled entirely with black roses.

As I approached, I saw myself lying in the coffin, as if merely sleeping.

Ironically, the first time I saw my own face—it looked beautiful. As if I still believed I was the protagonist.

The stab wound had been hidden beneath flowers, and surrounding the white blossoms were jewels I had favored in life.

Staring at the lifeless body, lost in a daze, a baron approached me.

“Saintess, you’ve arrived.”

Saintess Rienette Seriatina, Countess.

I wondered when I’d ever get used to that name.

Would I ever?

As the baron bowed to me, the attention of the room shifted toward me.

“It was our failure not to believe your prophecy, Saintess.”

“Who would have imagined the duke and duchess’s kind smiles were all a lie? We were the fools.”

One by one, they made excuses, trying to justify how they had been so easily deceived.

Among them were those who had been helped by my mother, those whom my father had raised with his own hands.

“We’d like to speak formally once His Highness the Prince arrives.”

I looked upon the nobles with the same expression Rienette would wear and said,

“I intend to request the royal family transfer ownership of this estate to me.”

I lived for 24 years as the perfect heroine. There’s no reason I can’t now live as the perfect villainess.

I will reclaim everything that was taken from me—piece by piece—so that he won’t even notice it slipping away.

Seiden, who had arrived late, looked at me.

“I want to reclaim the honor I lost because of the royal family. Therefore, I formally request that the ownership of this estate be granted to me.”

With the body of the woman you loved, I will shatter you into pieces.

So that you can be more miserable than anyone else in this world.

Seiden’s eyes were filled with confusion. Even Rienette had never handled matters like this—so bold, so direct.

“Now that the truth has come to light, your name must be cleared.”

“Most people still call me a fallen saintess.”

A fallen saintess. A villainess wearing the mask of divinity. That was the name that suited Rienette.

But I had to clear the name of the woman who had killed my family—myself.

“I’ve been in confinement for six months. My place of residence is long gone. I have nowhere to stay.”

“…”

“There’s only one thing I ask. To be compensated for the honor and dignity my family and I lost because of the royal family’s mistake.”

Silence settled over the room like a heavy fog. The nobles standing by only gave small nods; none dared to speak.

They could neither support my words nor defend Seiden and the royal family.

After a moment of hesitation, Seiden parted his lips, then gave a small nod as if he had no other choice.

“Very well. In celebration of the saintess’s return, the royal family will present this estate as a gift.”

I will live as the perfect villainess. As the perfect Rienette Seriatina.

And I will drag him into a suffering worse than death.

Until he comes to believe that dying would have been easier.

* * *

Night had fallen deep.

I stood on the terrace, gazing outside. The pitch-black darkness had swallowed the entire estate, making everything feel powerless.

All those who had come to offer condolences had already left, and Seiden too had gone—after spending quite some time acting like the heartbroken lover left behind.

Now, the only ones left in the mansion were the servants and me. And of them, the only one who spoke to me was the butler.

“I greet the new master. Your room has been prepared. I’ll explain the current condition of the estate as we move.”

He was the butler who had devoted his entire life to serving our family.

His face clearly showed his reluctance. Accepting a new master overnight was no easy thing.

Even more so when that new master was Rienette.

Just as looking in the mirror drove me mad, facing me—wearing her face—couldn’t have been pleasant for him either.

He was, after all, someone who had unwittingly aided in the murder of the people he served.

“Tomorrow morning, the bodies of the duke and duchess will arrive. Prepare for a small funeral.”

This was likely all I could do for the butler. He, too, deserved the right to say a final goodbye to the masters to whom he had dedicated his life.

I remembered the stifled sobs that came from behind me. The tear-soaked sound of a man weeping in silence.

Leaning halfway over the terrace railing, I let Rienette’s upper body dangle forward in a precarious pose.

It felt like I might fall at any moment. The liquid in the bottle I held swayed as it lost its center.

The dark sky filled my vision. Because of the surrounding lights, only a few stars could be seen.

I wondered if they were watching me now. Mother, Father… my little sister, Xenia.

“I’ll repay it all.”

Hot tears streamed down my face, as though they meant to devour it. I didn’t want to cry—but I couldn’t stop.

They were the first family I ever had. A real family—something I hadn’t even dared to long for in my past life.

I cried like that for a long time.

Then, in the distance, a horse came galloping toward the mansion and stopped at the front gate.

My tear-filled vision made it hard to see clearly, but there was one thing I could be certain of.

“…Pel?”

Pel Abrotis. It was him.