Kang Dan-ah. She had lived the past twenty-odd years with a strong spirit, as her name implied, a name given to her by the orphanage director instead of the parents she had never seen. She had never wavered, despite experiencing storms a hundred times worse than what regular people could imagine about living as an orphan. But now, Dan-ah’s once unshakeable mind was unraveling.
“I knew you were out of your mind when you spilled wine on the Emperor’s lap like that….”
“Wait, what did you say?”
Dan-ah pushed the mirror aside and grabbed Marie’s shoulders tightly.
“Ah, it hurts! Let go! Let go of me!”
“What did you just say?”
“Hm, hmph! Do you think you can scare me by acting like this? Let go, you brute!”
Despite her strong grip, it seemed her body wasn’t naturally strong. Marie easily slipped out of Dan-ah’s grip. But Dan-ah wasn’t about to give up, so she jumped back in, afraid to let go, and grabbed Marie again.
“Say it again, what you just said!”
“What? Are you really going to deny pouring wine on the Emperor’s clothes during the ‘purification ritual’? Are you seriously going to argue that you didn’t do it?”
“No, I mean, I’m not that person…”
Bang.
“Purification ritual… wine…”
The forgotten memory that hadn’t even crossed her mind when she fell from the rooftop unfolded in Dan-a’s mind. Something similar happened in 『Empress Rosaline』, a novel she bought in both e-book and collectible paperback copy, and repeatedly read.
In the earlier part of the novel, there was a ‘purification ritual’ held annually in a humble shrine, where a clumsy priest overturned the wine used in the ceremony. Because of this, the young nobles who were witnessing the ritual burst into laughter.
From the beginning to the end of the ritual, everything must be carried out in silence in order to receive the blessing of the god Rahan and ensure a successful harvest that year. Naturally, people chattered that it was ominous.
Perhaps it was the aftermath of that. It was as if they had incurred the wrath of the god Rahan, a severe drought occurred that year, and many lower nobles fell into commoners’ status as they couldn’t afford the noble taxes.
The main character, Rosaline, also suffered from the aftermath. As the only daughter of Baron Francis, who owned a small rural estate, Rosaline travels to the Imperial Capital, Avalon, to work as a governess and earn money.
And then, she briefly stayed at the mansion of Countess Bloomberg, a distant relative. Countess Bloomberg, who noticed Rosaline’s grace and knowledge, recommended her to become the governess for the Emperor’s young brother, Duke Levi.
Coincidentally, the palace was in search of a replacement for the fleeing female governess who was overwhelmed by Duke Levi’s extraordinary personality. Typically, female tutors are only bright enough to prepare girls for their debut in society, so it’s hard for the royal court to find another noblewoman as knowledgeable as Rosaline about politics, diplomacy, and other subjects that are considered male subjects.
And so, in the midst of her life at the imperial court, Rosaline received the love of the Emperor, Duke Levi’s guardian, and several influential men, eventually becoming the Empress, as told in the story of 『Empress Rosaline』.
Shwirrr.
The slide in Dan-ah’s mind, which switched from scene to scene like an old silent film, came to an end, and at the same time, Dan-ah’s body fell back with a thud.
Despite the loud thud and the pain of hitting the ground, Dan-ah felt a sense of despair. Not only was her role like dust, not even worthy of mention, but she had to come into such an important ceremony with the body of a foolish novice who made a mistake in such a crucial ritual.
Of all times, of all times!
“And so it went for an entire year…”
From then on, Dan-ah began her life as Elena. And it wasn’t easy.
It wasn’t me who spilled wine on the emperor’s clothes. The owner of the body ran away in the aftermath of such a major incident, and all the consequences of that mistake had to be borne by her.
Originally an intermediate priest, Elena was demoted to a low-ranking priest due to her sin. She ended up performing the despised tasks of cleaning and laundry, which even other low-ranking priests shunned, as part of her penance through labor. If she failed to complete the given tasks, her meager pay would be further reduced, and her two monthly rest days would vanish.
Elena could hardly believe that she had endured a year on her own. The inhumane and brutal workload, akin to the garlic factory slaves or the island slaves she had seen on TV, made it seem like a miracle to survive another day.
For a few days, she even tried rebellion and pondered if there was a way to escape this world.
But as she struggled to survive in the midst of the busy and relentless work without a moment’s respite, such concerns gradually became a luxury. When she returned to her lodging after work, any slight sense of relaxation would be instantly replaced by exhaustion, causing her to fall into a deep sleep.
“What, is this my twenty-year-old face and hands….”
Her hands were rough and calloused from working so hard, and she had lost weight from eating so little compared to the work she did.
When she looked at her reflection in the well, only a sigh came out. Dark circles had formed under her eyes, and her unruly hair was tied back carelessly with a single band. It was because it got in the way of her work. As Elena briefly gazed at her own reflection, she couldn’t help but tear up.
I didn’t do anything wrong, and yet, they’ve made me suffer like this for a whole year.
She had endured through sheer willpower until now, but she could feel her body weakening. Filled with a sense of injustice, tears welled up in her eyes.
“Elena, you need to heal Father Pedro’s ankle.”
Someone approached the well and spoke. When she raised her head, it was Father Yohan, a senior priest, and his apprentice, an intermediate priest named Father Pedro.
A simple explanation of the Rahan system is this. The lower-ranking priests are composed of commoners. It was common for those in financial difficulties to place their children in a temple where they didn’t have to worry about their livelihood.
Both intermediate-ranking priests and high-ranking priests are of noble birth. Actually, with the exception of very rare cases, commoners could never attain a status higher than lower-ranking officials. That was a more accurate description.
In contrast, the nobles became intermediate-ranking priests without going through the lower ranks, starting their lives as priests. It was a different starting point.
In the suffocating social hierarchy that applied without exception to priests, Elena from the past was a rare case of a commoner-born intermediate-ranking priests, like finding a bean during a drought. It was said that such cases were extremely rare in the entire empire, and Elena’s unique ability was the reason for that.
However, these were all stories of the past and had no relevance to the current Elena.
Elena wiped her wet hands on the apron she wore over her priestly robes, and gently touched Father Pedro’s ankle.
“Oh, it’s cold!”
When Elena’s wet fingers touched him, Father Pedro frowned.
“I’m sorry. I was handling water just now.”
“Tsk, hurry up and heal.”
“Yes, Father Yohan.”
Elena placed one hand on Father Pedro’s ankle and closed her eyes. A few seconds later, a small but bright light emanated from her hand. As a result, Father Pedro’s swollen ankle noticeably improved. Although it still hurt a bit, it was a significant change compared to before.
“You committed such a grave sin, yet it seems that god Rahan has not yet taken away your abilities.”
Father Yohan’s attitude towards Elena, who had healed his disciple, was still cold. Elena gritted her teeth at Father Yohan’s lack of gratitude as he took Father Pedro away without uttering a word and left.
After confirming that they had entered the building, she angrily threw a pot with all her strength. The pot hit the stone floor and shattered.
“Argh! Why me! What did I do wrong? Why do I have to endure this suffering!”
Initially, she had considered using this healing ability to improve her status. Although it was a weak power that couldn’t completely heal Simon’s sprained ankle, she thought that this uncommon healing ability could be a good foundation in this world. Elena herself had been able to rise to the rank of intermediate priest thanks to this ability, despite being an orphan without a known status.
But in this harsh caste system, she was never given the opportunity to turn what she had into a weapon and change her destiny.
