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Chapter 1
Everything had come to an end.
I collapsed onto the white marble floor of the temple.
I no longer had the strength even to stand.
The territory at the foot of the mountain—Ardentruna—had already fallen completely to the barbarians.
“Cassia, run to the temple! Hurry!”
If Mother hadn’t forced me to flee, my life would have already ended at their hands.
The chill of the marble, soaked in the night’s cold air, crept into my body.
With my stiffening hands and feet, I painfully crawled toward the statue deep inside the temple.
“G-Goddess…”
As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, the enormous statue slowly came into view.
I forced out a voice that barely remained.
“Goddess Vesta…”
The statue of Vesta, the Goddess of Fire and the guardian deity of my family, still stood proudly.
Gathering the last traces of mana left within me, I focused it into my fingertips.
A faint warmth spread through my hand, and a tiny flame flickered into existence.
“I’m… I’m sorry… I couldn’t protect you…”
The candle-sized flame dimly illuminated the temple.
Its weak light revealed the enormous relief carved into the walls.
There lay the glorious history of my family.
The statues of countless ancestors who had brought honor to our bloodline surrounded Goddess Vesta as though guarding her.
They had been the sacred guardians of divine flame—the strongest of all.
I had always admired them.
Ever since I learned that I was a descendant of the Ignitus family, I had wanted to become like them.
I wanted to shine as brightly as they had…
To become someone capable of protecting the things precious to me with my own hands.
But…
“Goddess… no… anyone at all… please… save my family.”
Murmuring such shameless prayers, I lowered my head.
How much time had passed?
Footsteps echoed through the darkness.
“Lady Cassia. So this is where you were.”
It was Valonius, the vice commander of our family.
His sword remained drawn as he approached me.
“You came… to save me…!”
But my relief lasted only a moment.
Behind him, our soldiers entered the temple…
Together with the invaders.
As though they belonged to the same side.
There was only one possible explanation.
The people of our territory had betrayed Father and allied themselves with the barbarians.
Now that I thought about it, there had been countless strange things.
Our fortress walls should never have fallen so easily.
Yet the barbarian cavalry had marched straight into the castle in the dead of night without meeting any resistance.
“Y-You… opened the gates?”
I asked with a trembling voice.
The soldiers merely looked down at me with mocking smiles.
“W-Why?! How could you do this?!”
I screamed until my ruined throat burned.
“You… you promised we’d protect this land together! Father and I… we considered all of you family! So how could you… betray us…?”
There wasn’t a single lie in my words.
Protecting the people—
That had always been the highest ideal of the Ignitus family.
There was nothing we wouldn’t do to protect the people of our territory.
We always stood at the frontlines of every battle.
Generation after generation, our family’s wealth had been spent entirely for their sake.
And we never regretted it.
Because the Ignitus family believed those people were part of our own family.
“T-There has to be a reason… Right? There has to be…”
Unable to accept reality, I desperately searched for an explanation.
Valonius sneered.
“A reason? You’re seriously asking that now? You really are the fools I thought you were. Bowing and scraping before a bunch of outdated idiots like you was unbearable.”
“Y-You planned this from the very beginning…?”
“Go complain to the ghosts who burdened your family with that pointless duty. Tell them this is what their precious sacrifices brought about.”
Valonius slowly raised his sword.
The blade flashed.
It was over in an instant.
As I collapsed onto the floor, I listened to his footsteps growing farther away.
As my life faded…
The divine flame I had been maintaining gradually disappeared.
At the same time…
The image of the goddess’s statue was swallowed once more by darkness.
…I’m sorry.
I couldn’t do anything.
* * *
“Miss! Miss!”
Someone’s frantic voice pulled me back to consciousness.
“Miss, wake up! What happened to you?!”
The floor was warm.
But…
I had definitely collapsed onto the temple’s cold marble floor.
Marble couldn’t possibly feel this warm.
…Where am I?
“Miss!”
Someone urgently patted my cheeks.
‘Mother… Father…?’
I hurriedly opened my eyes.
A crowd of strangers surrounded me.
“Miss has awakened!”
Who…?
Miss?
Were they members of my family?
Slowly sitting up, I looked around.
Every face was unfamiliar.
But…
Why was everyone dressed in cloth garments that looked centuries out of date?
As confusion overwhelmed me, a stern voice suddenly rang out from behind the crowd.
“What’s all this commotion?”
The murmuring instantly ceased.
The people stepped aside, forming a path.
Walking through them was a middle-aged man with curly hair.
“H-Huh?!”
I nearly fainted again.
The face carved into the temple wall…
Was standing right in front of me.
There was no way I could mistake him.
I had stared at that portrait countless times.
Tiberius Ignitus.
The 14th Patriarch of my family.
One of my distant ancestors.
‘…Am I dead?’
According to ancient myths, the souls of the dead continued living in the underworld exactly as they had before death.
I rubbed my eyes vigorously before looking at him once more.
‘It’s really Lord Tiberius…!’
There was no doubt anymore.
I had died in the temple.
This had to be the afterlife.
But…
Where were Mother and Father?
Had I arrived before them?
While I searched the area, my eyes met Lord Tiberius’s.
Immediately, I threw myself flat on the ground in respect.
Even though I was the pathetic descendant who had witnessed our family’s destruction…
He had personally come to see me.
With lips that barely obeyed me, I spoke.
“A-A-A-Ances…tor…”
Why was my pronunciation so terrible?
Was I already too weak?
“What is a ‘Dyo-dang’?”
Lord Tiberius asked.
Apparently, my slurred speech was completely incomprehensible.
Trying my hardest to move my tongue properly, I carefully enunciated.
“A-An…ces…tor!”
No!
Speaking slowly somehow made it even worse!
Did I bite my tongue while dying?
Instead of replying, Lord Tiberius turned to someone beside him.
“What exactly is going on here?”
“W-Well… the young lady suddenly collapsed…”
“She doesn’t appear seriously injured. Can she attend the meeting?”
“Y-Yes!”
The answer escaped my lips automatically.
A meeting?
Were they about to judge me…
The useless descendant who had failed to protect our family?
For now, I simply followed Lord Tiberius.
As we walked, countless thoughts filled my mind.
What could I possibly say before my ancestors?
What had become of the living world?
Mother…
Father…
Ardentruna…
Every step felt unbearably heavy.
After walking through a long corridor, we arrived at a chamber containing two large chairs.
There…
A young boy was already waiting.
‘That person is…!’
“You’ve arrived, Uncle.”
The man carved closest to Goddess Vesta’s statue…
The greatest commander in the history of the Ignitus family…
The wielder of the legendary Blue Flame…
Abelus, the 15th Patriarch who had succeeded Lord Tiberius.
But unlike Lord Tiberius, whose appearance matched the murals…
Abelus looked impossibly young.
No…
He looked like nothing more than a teenage boy.
‘All the former patriarchs must have gathered together… They’re really here to judge my sins…’
I quietly knelt in an empty spot, preparing myself to accept whatever punishment they deemed appropriate.
As Lord Abelus’s crimson-purple eyes turned toward me…
I instinctively lowered my head even further.
Soon, the meeting hall filled with people.
Lord Tiberius took the seat of honor.
Lord Abelus sat in the chair beside him.
“Very well. Let us begin the regular council meeting. However…”
Lord Tiberius paused midway through his sentence.
Since I kept my eyes fixed firmly on the floor, I had no idea why.
“Is something troubling you, Calidora?”
Someone must be uncomfortable.
Who could it be?
Who would dare show dissatisfaction during Lord Tiberius’s meeting?
“…Calidora!”
Lord Abelus suddenly raised his voice.
Not knowing who Calidora was, I grew slightly curious and cautiously lifted my head.
Out of the countless people in the room…
I alone was lying flat on the floor.
And every single person…
Was staring directly at me.
