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Chapter 1
Prologue
On a night of drizzling rain,
the emperor stepped into a damp prison filled with heavy humidity.
Medeia, who had been gazing up at the dark sky through a tiny window, turned around.
Her frail body, as thin as a branch, showed through her ragged dress.
Her complexion was pale, her eyes sunken and lifeless. She looked like a corpse barely clinging to breath.
The emperor frowned.
Even so, she was a woman who had been with him for half his life.
The woman who had remained dignified even through harsh expeditions—
to see her in such a miserable state…
“Iason.”
The hollow echo spread through the room.
A knight standing behind the emperor flared up.
“How dare a criminal speak His Majesty’s name—!”
“Let her be. Before she dies, can I not grant even that small mercy?”
Medeia turned her dazed gaze, as if she hadn’t heard their exchange.
“I did everything for you.”
She looked at the emperor.
“I am the princess of Valdina. Please call me Iason.”
That gentle greeting still lingered vividly in her mind.
He was the man Medeia had loved all her life.
The one she had wanted to possess even if she had to give up everything—and she truly had.
She stole her nation’s treasure and offered it to him.
She sacrificed her youth to slay the evil dragon.
She gave up her homeland’s soldiers to place him upon the imperial throne.
And yet, what returned to her was a cruel betrayal.
Her brother died.
Her homeland fell.
Her husband married another woman.
“You abandoned me and took the Saintess as your empress.”
She had heard of her husband’s wedding while carrying their second child.
“It was all because of the prophecy. That’s why I made your son, Rian, the crown prince instead.”
And Rian died.
Only half a year after being sent alone to the imperial palace so his legitimacy could be acknowledged.
“That’s when I realized… next would be me and Lea.”
After a hunt ends, the hounds are boiled—
she had understood that truth far too late.
“Another prophecy came, did it not? That you and your daughter would bring ruin to this empire!”
The emperor instead rebuked her.
“Medeia. Instead of burning you at the stake as the prophecy demands, I showed mercy and allowed you a peaceful death in consideration of our past. And yet you still resent me.”
The shamelessness of a man who drove her to death and demanded gratitude was no longer surprising.
“Whether it’s a prophecy or any other reason… it doesn’t matter.”
Medeia let out a faint, bitter laugh.
“You always stood one step behind, merely watching. When I stole the national treasure, when I cut down the dragon and dethroned the late emperor, when our child died… somehow, none of it was ever your fault.”
The gentle man with a shining smile was gone.
Only a vile man blinded by ambition remained—one who betrayed her and cast her into the mud.
“Finish it quickly. I don’t want to look at your disgusting face any longer.”
She lifted her chin proudly.
A knight opened the black vial hanging at his waist.
Lea will survive… thank goodness.
Three days earlier, Medeia had secretly asked her beloved cousin to help her young daughter escape.
She had sold all her possessions, converting them into jewels and giving them to her.
At least until Lea reached adulthood, she would be safe.
Though Medeia herself had been captured after exhausting all her resources and influence, she had no regrets.
“…It is unfortunate about the children. But since you’ll be with them soon, you won’t be lonely. How fortunate.”
Children?
Medeia’s face froze like ice.
It was the instinct of a mother sensing her child’s fate.
“Lea… surely Lea wouldn’t—”
At that moment, pink hair fluttered into view behind the knights.
Medeia went rigid.
“I’m sorry, Medeia.”
“Birna, why are you here—?!”
Her cousin, who should have been crossing the border by now—why was she here?
Medeia’s body began to tremble in shock.
“I couldn’t betray His Majesty. I’m sorry, Medeia. But this… this isn’t right.”
Birna leaned gently against the emperor’s shoulder, her pale hand brushing down his arm.
Thud.
Medeia collapsed to her knees.
Birna held out a small bundle.
It was the pouch Medeia had tied to Lea while prying her away as she clung to her.
The floral-patterned pouch was soaked dark red with blood.
“Ah—!”
Medeia couldn’t even grasp it properly—her fingers trembled as she screamed.
Lea… my little Lea!
How scared she must have been.
How much she must have resented her mother.
“The children will understand me.”
The emperor’s face was cold—nothing like a father who had lost his children.
“Iason, you beast!”
Her eyes burned with fury as she glared at him.
“Even animals don’t harm their own young!”
Clanking armor blocked her vision.
“How dare you speak such nonsense to His Majesty! Silence the prisoner! Your Majesty, please.”
The emperor smiled gently at the wife who had shared a lifetime of hardship with him.
“Medeia, farewell. I will remember your contributions deeply.”
He did not forget to leave a tender word for Birna as he turned away.
“The weather is cold. Lady Claudio, do not stay too long.”
“Your Majesty’s kindness moves me deeply.”
Once Iason disappeared, Birna’s sweet smile vanished.
A cold sneer replaced it as she looked down at Medeia.
“How does it feel, Medeia? The price of giving everything?”
“What…?”
“Hahaha! You acted so proud as a princess—look at you now. Valdina has fallen, your brother was torn apart by beasts… all because of a foolish woman like you!”
Medeia couldn’t understand.
Birna was family—so why…?
Why was she saying this? Why was she so happy?
Why betray her? Why hand over her child?
“No, I shouldn’t blame you. Thanks to you, we made it this far.”
“…We…?”
Gasping, Medeia slowly turned her head.
Then realization sank deep into her eyes.
“…It was your family who urged me to steal the Sage’s Eye for Iason. Was it from then?”
“You’re wrong. Much, much earlier than that. You had no idea, did you? Poor dear.”
Birna laughed gleefully.
“Your entire life has been in our family’s hands.”
“……”
“Thanks to that, my father will become king of Valdina, and I will become the emperor’s consort.”
“….”
How she wanted to scream—that Birna had been nothing but a puppet from the beginning.
“….”
Memories flashed through her mind like a lantern.
Rebellion. Ruin. Death.
Her uncle’s family had been behind every tragedy in her life.
“Iason knows too. He’s been with us for a long time.”
“….”
“You were just our chess piece. Do you understand now?”
Her green eyes sank into darkness.
A silent groan slipped between her bitten lips.
“…Iason.”
Instead of spitting blood in rage, she spoke his name—
So she would never forget.
All his lies.
All her sacrifices.
A dark red tear slid down Medeia’s cheek.
The knights stiffened in unease.
But Birna couldn’t hide her delight at her cousin’s suffering.
“Don’t be too sad. You’ll soon see your beloved family. Aren’t you happy?”
“Birna… you as well.”
Her dry lips curled upward.
Her crimson eyes locked onto Birna.
“I will not forget. Not you, nor your family. I will never forget any of the Claudio.”
A chilling smile beneath bloodshot eyes—
Only then did Birna step back, startled.
“W-what…?”
Then anger quickly replaced her fear.
“What are you doing? Pour it into her mouth already!”
At her command, a knight grabbed Medeia’s jaw and forced it open.
“Hold her still!”
They pinned down her struggling limbs and poured the poison down her throat.
It splashed everywhere—black poison and red blood mixing, dripping grotesquely over her pale skin.
Even as her eyes closed, Medeia repeated in her mind:
The sin of my foolishness—failing to recognize beasts—I will repay with my death.
But your original sins…
No matter how many lifetimes pass, I will return to claim them.
Even if I am reborn as a low creature,
even if I must wait for eternity—
Those who follow fate, those loved by the gods—none will escape me.
Until your blood lights my path,
I will never stop.
