🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 3
“It turned out just as you said.”
“Why do you look like that, Lorencia?”
“Your Highness Ruanse… I saw something strange.”
“Something strange? Tell me.”
“You might not believe me, but… I saw a brown-haired maid putting white powder into the food you’re about to eat. I don’t even know why I can see things like that.”
“Don’t be afraid, Lorencia. I believe you. So tell me everything you see. And don’t worry—lean on me.”
The next day, Ruanse came to find Lorencia. He embraced her tightly, grateful that she had helped him avoid being poisoned.
“The brown-haired maid’s name was Jan. She just started working here recently. She poisoned my food. Thank you for saving my life, Lorencia!”
Lorencia couldn’t hide the joy she felt at being of help to him.
She remembered how her mother’s purple amethyst necklace, the one she had left her before dying, suddenly glowed that day. Lorencia took off the necklace and examined it closely. The rough, uneven surface of the amethyst looked like shattered glass—ordinary at first glance. Yet every time the necklace glowed, she could see the future.
She didn’t understand why she suddenly gained this ability, but seeing Ruanse’s joy made her feel grateful. Perhaps the goddess Ella had pitied her and granted her this power.
Lorencia’s ability bloomed like a flower in full spring—all for Ruanse.
She saw glimpses of profitable ventures in the future and told him about them. She even helped him uncover people plotting betrayal.
Each time, Ruanse showered her with praise. His compliments were sweeter and more addictive than chocolate.
“Lorencia, thank you. You’re truly such a lovely, kind girl.”
The more she longed for his affection, the harder she pushed herself to use her power.
To see the future, she had to hold the amethyst to the light and gaze into it—each vision bringing unbearable pain to her eyes.
One day, the pain was too much to bear. Lorencia told Ruanse that she couldn’t use her power for a while. But as if by magic, he stopped visiting her from the very next day.
After Ruanse stopped coming, Lorencia was slapped by Brant. Then, as if waiting for the chance, Countess Anne and her daughter Illina entered and hurled cruel insults.
Lorencia could endure the beatings and the insults—but not Ruanse’s absence.
“Have I been abandoned? Because I didn’t use my power? Maybe I should’ve used it, even if it hurt…”
Just as she was drowning in regret, Ruanse appeared before her again. Lorencia clung to him desperately.
“My situation is bad right now because of my brother Adrian. I’m in danger. If only you had looked into my future, I might’ve avoided this.”
“I’m sorry…”
Seeing Ruanse’s grave expression filled her with guilt for not using her ability.
“Even though you’re illegitimate, I had you registered as the Count’s daughter. I came to the mansion every day to protect you from abuse. I’ve done all that for you… so why won’t you protect me, Lorencia?”
“I’m sorry. I’ll use my power from now on, even if it hurts.”
“Don’t forget—if I’m ever in danger again, that’s your fault.”
Lorencia was terrified of him leaving again. So she used her power—just to be loved. She revealed the grim futures of those who stood in Ruanse’s way. Even his brother, Crown Prince Adrian.
They all died—and Ruanse ascended the throne.
“To become Emperor… my father must die, right? Yes. I’ll send him to join my brother.”
Lorencia sought out the future and gave him the answer he wanted. Many people died because of it, but she thought it was better that others perish than to lose him.
“I’ll start a war.”
To grant Ruanse his wish for victory, countless people perished. The land was left in ruins, corpses lay scattered everywhere, the forests burned, the lakes stained red with blood.
It was all the world Lorencia had created for him.
Ten years passed. Ruanse unified the empire, just as he had wanted.
Lorencia waited for his proposal—but what came instead was death.
As her consciousness faded, she recalled all the lives she had condemned for his sake. Yet all she had wanted was to be loved. She didn’t think love was a sin.
<Don’t mistake my affection for love.>
That’s what Ruanse told her. And with that, everything she had done became meaningless. Even her death.
Maybe it was punishment for what she’d done. The thought made her nose sting, and tears began to fall.
<For you, I’d do anything.>
When had the man who said those sweet words changed? Was it when he brought her out of the attic? Or when her powers first awakened? Why had she been able to see the future at all?
<Do it for me… don’t you love me? You must, or you wouldn’t have refused me.>
She had thought she’d live loved by his side, that she’d help him achieve his dreams and share a happy ending. But at some point, she started feeling guilty whenever she refused his requests.
Ruanse only held her gently when she obeyed him. It became suffocating.
Still, she believed in his love.
She never imagined she’d be discarded like this. Though deep down, she’d always feared it.
“Marquis Teishar Spencer of the Floid Empire… it happened just as you said.”
Lorencia remembered the man who had come as an envoy to stop the war.
<My lady, the Emperor will use you and then throw you away.>
He had looked straight through her. His jet-black hair and crimson eyes were sharp and cold like a predator’s. When their eyes met, she couldn’t look away.
<Use me? I’m just an ordinary count’s daughter, Marquis.>
<How could the child of the Goddess Ella ever be ordinary?>
<What did you just say, Marquis Spencer?>
<I said you are the child of Goddess Ella.>
<How…?>
Teishar had looked at her with a sorrowful smile. She had wanted to ask more, but Ruanse interrupted their conversation.
<Can’t I take my eyes off you for a second before you start flirting with every man you see, Lorencia?>
<Your Majesty, it’s not like that.>
<Didn’t I warn you not to let people see you as the bastard you are?>
Ruanse humiliated her in front of everyone, calling her illegitimate.
<Even if she is illegitimate, it’s wrong to call her that in public, Your Imperial Majesty Ruanse von Ischter.>
Teishar’s words pierced her heart. There was sorrow in his voice, and the fierce look he gave Ruanse made it hard for her to breathe. Her chest tightened.
He had spoken the very words she’d always wanted to say.
After Teishar left, Ruanse declared war on the Floid Empire. Lorencia hesitated to use her powers, haunted by Teishar’s warning. Ruanse grew furious, shouting at her until her ears rang.
Her eyes burned with tears. She became nothing but a marionette, moving as he commanded.
<You will be discarded.>
Teishar’s words came true. She was thrown away—branded a witch.
Lorencia knew it was too late for regret. She was indeed a villainess—blinded by love, responsible for countless sins. History would remember her as the worst witch who ever lived.
She closed her eyes and prayed for the first time to the Goddess Ella.
If there is a next life—
May I not be lonely.
May I not be born illegitimate.
May I wear a white wedding dress adorned with flowers and lace, marry a man who truly loves me, bear children, and live an ordinary, peaceful life until I grow old.
May the emptiness in my heart be filled.
That was all she wished for.
Lorencia slowly opened her eyes. She sat up and unclasped the purple amethyst necklace from her neck—it was glowing brightly. She turned her head and looked around. Objects floated all around her.
“This is…”
It was just like the night her powers had first awakened.
“What’s happening…?”
She was confused. She had been betrayed by Ruanse and left to starve in a cold prison—so what was happening now?
But one thing was certain. She hadn’t died.
Lorencia clenched the necklace tightly. Her heart pounded violently. She looked into a floating mirror before her—dark red hair, violet eyes. Her own face.
She reached out and touched the reflection. Tears welled up in her mirrored eyes, then streamed down her cheeks.
Lorencia stared for a long time, then struck her chest with her fists and cried until her strength was gone.
As she gazed at the glowing amethyst, realization struck her.
“The necklace showed me my future.”
Tears still flowing, a distorted smile crossed her lips.
Then she knew exactly what she had to do.
She had built her happiness on the deaths of others just to stay by his side. True happiness couldn’t exist atop such misery.
At twenty-nine, imprisoned, she had finally understood. In that cell, regret had nearly driven her insane.
Now she had a chance to set things right. Her body trembled uncontrollably at the thought. Tears poured down as she squeezed her eyes shut and reopened them.
<You will be discarded.>
“Now I will be the one to discard you.”
Teishar Spencer’s words echoed in her mind once more. Lorencia grasped her crimson hair in both hands, her cold eyes blazing in the mirror. Black smoke coiled sharply around her body as the amethyst’s light began to fade.
“Return to your place.”
At her words, the floating furniture, drawers, and objects all returned to where they belonged—just like magic.
Before, she could never control them; she would cry through the night as everything flew around wildly. Brant, Anne, and Illina had all called her a monster.
“Yes… I’ll show you what a monster really is.”
The naïve nineteen-year-old Lorencia who once lived in that room—
was gone forever.
