Chapter 1
Alesia didn’t remember much.
Only the bright moonlight, the cool autumn air, and the white curtains billowing like sails.
“Your Highness, Second Prince…? Where are you?”
And the silence that awaited her.
In the empty bedroom, Alesia bit her lip as she stared at the softly fluttering curtains.
Foolishly, even after two years of cold indifference since their marriage, she had hoped.
“Today, maybe he’ll finally look at me.”
“Maybe, he’ll smile at me—not with scorn, but with warmth.”
How naïve of her.
She was the daughter of a low-ranking noble family in the Laurent Empire—being allowed to marry the second son of the great Sun Emperor was already more than she deserved.
Had she not possessed fire mana, had her mana not been perfectly compatible with his, Alesia would have never even set foot inside the palace.
Perhaps that was why.
From the day of the wedding, Franz made it clear that he had married her only out of obligation.
Franz Eustace, the Second Prince—true to his title “Son of the Sun”—was dazzlingly beautiful.
Golden hair like it had been dipped in honey, radiant golden eyes that seemed to hold sunlight itself, and a face sculpted to near perfection.
Every line of his face was as if drawn with careful precision—sharp, yet delicate.
If the First Prince was known for his intelligence, the Second Prince was famous for his beauty.
So it was only natural that a country girl like Alesia would fall for him at first sight.
That man—standing on the cathedral altar in his white ceremonial uniform—was to be her husband.
How could her heart not flutter?
She forgot that this was a political marriage to save her crumbling household.
She simply stared at him, spellbound.
But when Franz saw Alesia enter the hall, his face twisted in visible displeasure.
His golden eyes pierced into her, and she instinctively lowered her head and walked slowly toward him.
Standing beside the dazzling Second Prince, she felt every sharp gaze stabbing into her. Yet, she still held onto hope.
Maybe… just maybe, I’m not that bad in his eyes.
“Pathetic.”
But the low mutter, slipping out between the archbishop’s blessings, shattered her girlish dream of a happy royal marriage.
Being called “a fairy of spring” back in the countryside meant nothing in a palace full of incomparable beauties.
To Franz, Alesia was less than a wildflower.
She saw him less than even his maids did.
They never shared a bedroom. She wasn’t even allowed to call his name.
At first, nobles came bearing gifts to win her favor—hoping to connect with the imperial family through her. But after a year, they all stopped.
Rumors traveled faster than wind within the palace.
Her stepmother pressured her, telling her to seduce Franz with her looks if nothing else.
But capturing Franz’s heart was the hardest, most desperate challenge for Alesia.
She was clueless when it came to men. She didn’t even know how to make him smile.
For the past two years, she had been nothing more than a tool—to regulate his mana.
Once a week, that was all the contact she had with him—to neutralize the volatile mana inside his body. And even that lasted only minutes.
When she took his hand to soothe the storm inside him, his expression would harden. He would even turn his head away.
He clenched his fists as if mere touch from her was agony.
And the moment his mana calmed, he would spring up and flee the room.
Once, by chance, they bumped into each other in the drawing room of the Second Prince’s palace. Alesia had smiled, relieved.
Franz covered his nose.
His expression twisted as if her very presence sickened him.
She had run to the bathroom crying that day—scrubbing herself until her skin turned raw.
Since then, she compulsively washed before every meal, doused herself in perfume.
Then came the rumor: Franz had a lover.
And she was said to be stunningly beautiful—her mana compatibility with Franz near-perfect.
Compared to her, Alesia was nothing—a pitiful fire mage with barely any power who clung shamelessly to the title of Second Princess.
Alesia wasn’t jealous. She was terrified.
If someone else could replace her mana compatibility—then what use was she?
She trembled, afraid she’d be discarded at any moment.
And then she received a letter from Franz.
A cold request—for her to come and regulate his mana.
Even so, her heart had fluttered.
She washed thoroughly, applied perfume until the maids complained, and rushed to his chamber.
But what welcomed her… was an empty room.
“Your Highness, I’m here. It’s me, Alesia. Are you not here?”
Her voice, tinged with fragile hope, was met with silence.
Again, she had been left alone. Like a dog desperate for her master’s love.
She placed the letter bearing his seal on the nightstand. Even in betrayal, she couldn’t bring herself to tear or crumple it.
He’ll call for me again. He still needs me… for now.
As she whispered empty consolation to herself, a gust of wind blew the letter from the table.
She lunged to catch it before it hit the ground—
And then, she felt a presence.
Followed by searing pain piercing through her chest.
“Haa—!”
Blood gushed from her mouth. Her eyes widened in shock.
A blade had stabbed her, clean through the heart.
A crimson puddle spread beneath her feet. The letter was slowly stained red, glistening under moonlight.
No… this can’t…
Alesia collapsed to the floor and, with her last strength, tried to push the letter away.
Even in her final moments, she couldn’t bear for his seal to be defiled.
But her strength was fading fast. She barely grazed its edge.
Her vision spun, and the ceiling dyed in pale dawn light came into focus.
“Alesia!”
Franz’s voice rang out.
“Resa! Open your eyes!”
She forced her dimming eyes open. Even as she stood on the edge of death, his voice held the same power over her.
Franz was shouting something—desperate, urgent. But her ears had gone numb.
He looked furious.
He clutched her bleeding body and the blood-soaked letter. Despite her efforts, it was drenched.
“R-run… Your Highness…”
She tried to warn him. What if the attacker turned on Franz?
“Your Highness…”
But then, the masked man who had stabbed her… bowed politely to Franz.
He whispered something in Franz’s ear.
Franz’s eyes widened. He bit his lip, hard.
His face blurred in her fading vision.
Only then did Alesia realize the truth.
It was Franz.
Franz—whom she had loved endlessly—was the one who had tried to kill her.
To him, she had become a bothersome obstacle—
And this was how he chose to get rid of her.
A searing betrayal and a rage she had never known surged through her.
With the last of her mana, she summoned her strength.
I didn’t love you just to be discarded like this. I refuse to die like this.
“…Franz…”
She whispered his name, blood spilling from her lips.
Only in death could she finally say his name.
What a cruel, majestic husband.
As she recalled the hollow two years she spent chasing his attention, she laughed bitterly.
He pulled her closer as her lips curled faintly.
How laughable. She had longed so badly to touch him—
And now, only in death, was she held.
She would have been content just being near him—even if unloved.
But even that, Franz had denied her.
“Haa…”
And so, Alesia made a choice.
She cast a curse—a binding one.
One that would ensure no other woman could ever calm the mana within him.
A curse of eternal bond.
“You will… suffer. As much as I hurt… loving you.”
Her first and last confession.
“I love you.”
A blinding light lit the room like daylight as the curse completed—
And with that, Alesia took her final breath.
She died just like that.
