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Chapter 1
Prologue:
“Yulian Baph, Grand Duchess. As of today, you are hereby removed from the noble registry and banished from this land. You shall never again set foot on the soil of Latem.”
It was a cliché scene.
A beautiful young lady wearing a fragile expression, men standing protectively around her, and an utterly ruined villainess kneeling before them all. This was what people called a judgment.
“Does anyone object to my decision?”
The emperor—who once doted on Yulian, calling her the daughter of a dear friend and cherishing her as if she were his own—now looked down at her with eyes colder than those he showed to strangers. The others standing beneath the throne wore the same expression.
The woman staring at Yulian as if she were a monster was Angela Reagan, daughter of Count Reagan—once Yulian’s closest friend. Beside her stood Yulian’s childhood friend and former fiancé, her own older brother, and one more man who technically had nothing to do with her at all: the Master of the Mage Tower.
No, he hadn’t been connected to Yulian—but he wasn’t entirely unrelated to this incident either. After all, he was a man who had once chased Angela obsessively, to the point of madness.
In any case, they all accused Yulian of being a once-in-a-generation villainess—someone who had been blinded by jealousy, betrayed a decade-long friendship, tormented Angela, and even attempted to kill her.
Today was a historic day, the moment when every scheme she had supposedly orchestrated was finally exposed. Thanks to the evidence gathered by Angela’s men, the thorn in everyone’s side—Yulian—had been stripped of all her rights as a grand duchess and brought before the stage of judgment.
It wasn’t just them.
The other nobles watching from the lower seats beneath the platform joined in condemning her as well. The fall of a wicked woman who once stood at the highest point of the empire—how could that not be a national celebration?
“If anyone is dissatisfied with the punishment of Yulian Baph, step forward now. Is there a single soul who would argue on her behalf?”
The emperor’s voice echoed emptily through the vast hall.
Even Yulian’s father, who had once acted as her shield, didn’t bother to appear. And there was no chance that the men obsessed with Angela would ever take her side. Knowing this, Yulian smiled—more wickedly than they could have hoped for.
“Let’s stop with the pretentious theater, Your Majesty. I haven’t been able to eat or drink properly for days, and I’m quite exhausted. Could we please get this over with?”
Once family. Once friends.
Yulian met each of their eyes one last time and bid them farewell in her heart. She didn’t feel resentful. If anything, she felt relieved. No one tried to stop her. That made it easier to leave.
“You heartless bitch—she doesn’t even shed a single tear! I’ll kill her myself!”
“Brother, stop it! Yulian, please—just beg for forgiveness already!”
Her older brother, Bilrod Baph, ground his teeth, looking as though he might charge at her any second. Count Randel Mights, Yulian’s childhood friend, hurriedly grabbed his arm to restrain him.
Amid the tense atmosphere, Angela suddenly burst into tears and threw herself into the arms of the man beside her.
“Sob… Even if Yulian was wrong, this is too cruel! If someone who lived in luxury as a grand duchess is chased out of the country, how is she supposed to survive? That’s the same as sentencing her to death!”
“Angela, you’re far too soft-hearted. A vile woman like that would be better off disappearing from this world altogether.”
“But… but… hic…”
The man was Crown Prince Theorn Axel Latem—Yulian’s former fiancé.
He wrapped an arm around Angela’s shoulders and glared murderously at Yulian, who sat on the cold floor. Angela peeked out from his embrace, pretending not to look, and sneered at her.
But no one noticed. Everyone’s attention was fixed on the villainess’s downfall.
“The Mage Tower Master’s time is valuable. It seems the accused herself has no intention of objecting, so let us proceed.”
Lucas Kalten, the Master of the Mage Tower, glanced at the watch on his wrist and spoke to the emperor.
At the casual tone of the young man—who dared speak informally despite his age—the veins on the emperor’s forehead bulged. But Lucas Kalten was no ordinary man. He led an independent organization of mages outside any nation’s authority and wielded power comparable to that of an emperor.
After glaring at the back of Lucas’s head, the emperor redirected his irritation squarely at Yulian.
“The Imperial Knights shall escort the criminal Yulian beyond the northern wall and banish her. No matter what happens to her afterward, she will never again be permitted to set foot on Latem soil.”
At the emperor’s declaration, knights seized Yulian by both arms and hauled her to her feet. Their contempt was obvious in their rough handling.
Once treated as the most precious lady in the empire as the crown prince’s fiancée, Yulian’s disgraceful end drew thinly veiled laughter from many in the crowd.
That was why no one noticed the smile spreading across her lowered lips.
When she was dragged before the teleportation circle leading to the border, Yulian finally couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“Pfft.”
The knight escorting her looked at her like she was insane. But Yulian couldn’t suppress the grin threatening to split her face.
Banishment.
What did that word really mean?
Freedom.
Clenching her teeth, Yulian danced a tap dance deep inside her soul. Tap, tap—ta-de-dep. Today wasn’t just a celebration for them. It was a joyous day for her as well.
She was finally escaping this damn Latem that had strangled her entire life.
“Whoever framed me—I don’t know who you are, but I genuinely respect you!”
She had struggled endlessly to escape the ducal family, noble society, and this godforsaken country called Latem. At long last, her lifelong wish had come true.
Goodbye, Latem.
Long live the country of stubborn old fools!
“Farewell, everyone! Yulian is shedding every chain Latem placed on her and departing in search of happiness!”
As her vision blurred while stepping into the teleportation circle, Yulian offered a graceful farewell to the blazing eyes glaring at her.
Goodbye, everyone!
It was awful knowing you, and please—let’s never meet again!
That was her naïve thought.
Three years later—
“Oh my, could it be… Yulian?”
“I wondered who looked so utterly miserable—so it was you.”
These detestable faces.
“I thought you’d died somewhere along the road. But you survived in that pitiful state? How shameless.”
She never dreamed she would meet them again—like fate mocking her.
“At least now we know for certain who the real criminal is.”
Everyone’s gaze converged on Yulian.
But she was truly wronged.
“No, God! What did I even do wrong?! Is being falsely banished a crime now?!”
1. I Didn’t Know That Was the Prologue
Ding, ding, ding—
Clear, pleasant bells rang from the top floor of a three-story wooden building. It was the village’s one and only school, where children gathered every morning. Classes always ended at one in the afternoon.
The bell rang just the same in the advanced class Yulian taught.
She stopped writing a math equation on the blackboard and set the chalk down. The dozen or so children who had been focused on her followed suit, putting down their pencils and closing their notebooks.
“All right, that’s it for today. Class president, lead the greeting.”
“Yes! Everyone, attention! Thank your teach—”
“Teacher! We had homework today!”
Just before the dismissal greeting, Luke—the class’s resident troublemaker—helpfully reminded everyone that the homework hadn’t been checked yet.
As if on cue, the rest of the class groaned in unison.
“Hey! Someone shut him up!”
“Damn it, why would you say that?!”
“Is doing homework something to brag about?!”
Kids who hadn’t done it, kids who half-assed it, and even kids who had completed it perfectly all turned on Luke together. There was no deep reason—Luke was just unlucky.
But Luke remained unfazed.
The twelve-year-old boy dreamed of becoming a proud lone predator capable of surviving the frozen plains on his own.
It was, after all, the season when the Black Flame Dragon awakened.
