[Don’t move out of that room until I call. Do you know what will happen if you disobey me?]
So, Leticia was locked in her waiting room for three full days.
Cold, hungry, and fearful of the curse. Suffering from extreme stress, she eventually passed out from exhaustion.
When she opened her eyes, it was a room without a single light. Hearing only her own breathing in the dark seemed like she would go mad.
[Please, mother, let me go. You can hit me instead. Please.]
It was only when she was about to faint after begging and praying that Josephina appeared.
Josephina smiled contentedly as she watched Leticia desperately grab the hem of her skirt.
She then grabbed Leticia by the shoulder and whispered softly.
[Leticia, it will be even worse if you leave. The Principality’s delegation hates you. Everyone wants to kill you. I made it like that. Do you still want to go out?]
As if to brag, she talked about what she had done.
Her mother’s first victim was Enoch. Enoch was on his way to the Empire as one of the envoys from the Principality and fell ill.
If he had received treatment in time, he would have been able to fully recover, but he died because he couldn’t.
When it became impossible for the delegation to enter the Capital, Dietrian turned his eyes to outside the castle.
He sent his men to the surrounding villages to fetch a doctor. And that choice led to irreversible consequences.
At her mother’s command, the doctor used poison instead of a cure. They even spread rumors that it was Leticia who made Enoch that way.
Dietrian, blinded by hatred, wanted to hurt Leticia.
Just as her mother had planned, all the delegations of the Principality hated Leticia to death. Except for one, Dietrian. Surprisingly, he was infinitely courteous to her from the first meeting.
“Nice to meet you. I am Dietrian.”
It’s been a long time, but her first meeting with him was still vivid.
Maybe it’s because of the hard work for the past few days, but his cheeks were a little thin, and maybe because of that, his features looked more distinct. Those black eyes seemed to suck her in.
The firm knuckles that wrapped around her hand, the touch of cold lips on the back of her hand, and even that faint smile.
How did she react to him?
[Don’t touch me!]
She slapped his hand sharply and even splashed water on him.
[Don’t come any closer!]
She believed that Dietrian hated her.
All his kindness were false, and she thought it was a trick to catch her off guard.
[I must have disturbed the young lady’s heart. I apologize.]
However, as if putting her beliefs to shame, Dietrian remained the same.
Not only was he always courteous to her, but he also severely punished his vassals for treating her disrespectfully.
[This is the person who will be my wife. If anyone does her disrespect, I will not forgive them.]
Ironically, the more that happened, the more Leticia hated Dietrian.
Because she couldn’t understand his kindness.
She was afraid of that kindness for no reason, rather than being happy.
Kindness for unknown reasons made her afraid rather than happy.
In the meantime, something happened. On the way back to the Prinicipality, Leticia hurt Dietrian.
[I told you not to come near me!]
Leticia shuddered and shouted as she held up the shard of glass she clutched. The desert sand wind pierced her clothes.
Dietrian checked the blood flowing down his cheek for a moment, then quietly said.
[I just want to check your wounds.]
[There are no wounds or anything. So please get out of my sight…]
[You hurt your foot, right?]
Before she could ask what he meant by that, he strode forward. Leticia reflexively withdrew, collapsing to her knees as she screamed at the pain she felt in her feet.
Leticia, who was about to collapse, was easily caught by Dietrian. Dietrian whispered softly to Leticia, who stiffened in surprise.
[It’s a wound that often happens to those who walk the gravel desert for the first time.]
He very carefully seated her on the ground. He peeled off her blood-stained shoes and carefully wiped away her blistered feet.
The feeling of sand through the thin fabric was terribly soft.
Maybe that’s why. She just couldn’t push him away.
[It doesn’t matter what you do to me. It’s okay to do worse than now. But.]
She just stared into his deep eyes as if possessed.
[You must not get hurt.]
Blood was still flowing down his cheeks.
***
After coming back from the dead.
As soon as the prayer of thanks was over, Leticia quickly rose from her seat.
‘I have to hurry and save Enoch.’
By now, Enoch must be wandering between life and death. And if this continues, he will die in three days.
‘I’m the only one who can save Enoch.’
She didn’t know why she returned to the past. What was certain was that she knew what was about to happen.
‘I have to protect Dietrian with my own strength in this life.’
With her determined resolve, Leticia took off her wedding dress.
Wearing a chemise, searching through the chest of drawers, she found a gray cloak worn by priests of the shrine.
She took off her veil and pulled out her hairpins, organizing what she knew.
‘The delegation should be in the temple by now.’
Only after Enoch was poisoned did her mother open the gate. She had harassed them enough outside, so she intended to harass them inside.
‘I will never let things go the way Mother wants this time.’
As long as Leticia held the curse in her heart, she couldn’t help but be vigilant.
She wanted to take advantage of that opportunity to make the Principality prosper and give Dietrian the strength to stand against the Empire.
‘The remaining time is half a year.’
It’s neither a long nor a short time. She was already nervous because she had a lot of work to do.
Leticia donned the cloak, gathering her long blonde hair to one side and tucking it into the hood.
She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Soon after, she checked the empty hallway and boldly stepped out of her room.
No one would come for the next three days so she had no worries.
‘By now, mother must be announcing that I refused to marry and locked myself in the palace.’
She blamed all the humiliation suffered by the Principality on her. That wasn’t the only false accusation her mother laid on her.
‘She’d been claiming that I am a murderer who had killed countless people.’
In her past life, it seemed like it’d be unfair, but now it didn’t matter. Rumors like that can’t hurt her anymore.
Now she had more important things than her reputation.
‘I have to protect Dietrian. I will protect all of his people.’
So, she must get the antidote to save Enoch. Looking straight ahead, Leticia moved on without hesitation.
‘The antidote will be in the herb storage managed by the priest, but… if I go there, I’ll meet someone who will recognize me.’
Then there’s only one way left.
‘The holy relic storage next to the western villa. Let’s go there.’
***
It was right after the Principality was destroyed that she learned about the abandoned reliquary next to the western villa. More precisely, it was after Dietrian died and Leticia’s curse was lifted.
In her previous life, Leticia was unable to harm Dietrian until the end of the curse.
That night, with only one day remaining in the half year Josephina spoke of.
Suddenly, the imperial army invaded the Principality.
The knights of the Principality, including Dietrian, did their best until the last moment, but were unable to defend their country.
Leticia thought she would die soon, but she didn’t.
Dietrian died during the battle, and Leticia’s curse was lifted. Leticia, who survived, was taken to the Empire and imprisoned in her villa.
It was the beginning of another hell.
All of her courtiers treated her as a ghost and did not even heal her wounds.
In the end, holding on to her sores and wandering around, what she miraculously found was the reliquary she was about to go to.
***
As she passed through the hallways, she saw people walking around. Leticia moved with her head bowed. In particular, she was careful not to expose her long hair.
‘Because my blonde hair stands out.’
Unlike the Principality, which had a lot of blonde hair, most people in the Empire had dark hair.
After walking for a while, she came across another garden full of knee-high grass. Leticia’s face lit up at the old gray building in the corner of the garden.
‘I found it.’
The old reliquary was as it was in her memory. She quickly lifted the hem of her skirt a little and walked over to the storage room.
‘I have to find the key first.’
She leaned over and put her hand through the crack under the locked door. She then took the key that she could feel in her hand and pulled it out.
Click.
She inserted the rusty key into the lock and turned it, and the lock opened with a click.
Kiik. Opening the door that had been closed for a long time, Leticia entered.
Dusty relics were strewn about under the hazy sunlight. Green eyes twinkled as she quickly scanned the area to find the item she wanted.
‘It’s over there!’
She grabbed the hem of her skirt with one hand and rummaged among the sacred relics. Her hands were covered in dust and were scratched and bleeding, but it didn’t stop.
And finally.
‘I found it.’
Discovering a small box with peeling plating, Leticia carefully opened the lid.
The green leaves inside it appeared, and the refreshing scent passed her nose.
Leticia said in a trembling voice.
“It’s a detoxifying plant.”
The wooden box was a holy relic that enhances the function of an antidote. Although the holy relic lost its function, the potency of the herbs within it remained.
Leticia’s expression brightened as she touched it with the tip of her tongue just in case.
“This is enough. Now I can save Enoch.”
Leticia quickly put the herbs in her bosom and stood up. Before she left the warehouse, she looked at the piled up holy relics for a moment.
‘A holy relic that has lost its power should be able to be repaired sufficiently if there’s a proper method.’
It was difficult to fix, but not impossible. Bringing it to Dietrian would be of great help, but she had no choice but to leave it for now.
Swallowing her regret, she moved toward the door, but suddenly, a bright light burst from the side of her vision.
“Ugh!”
Leticia groaned and reflexively covered her eyes. In the meantime, she kept her hands on her clothes to protect the herbs in her bosom.
‘What’s going on?’
After a while, Leticia, feeling the light gone, gently lifted her eyelids.
Her heart was pounding at the sudden event. As she looked around nervously, she saw something strange in her eyes.
‘A ring?’
In the corner of the pile of relics was a ring that glistened under the sunlight. Leticia’s eyes widened as she identified the shiny black jewel in the middle of the ring.
“Is this an elixir?”
Elixir.
It was the most powerful relic in the world, containing the Goddess’ soul fragment.
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