0. A Kind Woman

Her mother was right.

Lara should have listened to her mother when she told her to choose another man besides that prince. If she were to pick the name of a stupid woman who had ruined her own life because of a man, then Lara would pick her own name without any hesitation. A round tear mark had spread over the letter that began with "Dear Mother".

"Dear Mother"; The words that she had never once said ever since she grew up. Lara thought to herself that this letter would be her last will. Today was the day that she had died, and, somewhere, her mother would listen to the news of her daughter's death.

Will she be sad?

Will she cry?

Lara would never know.

Lara had been ignoring her mother for too long, this would be her first and last letter to her. She was regretting everything—loving the prince and giving him her whole life, becoming a doll full of lies and pretending to be nice, and eventually, dying without even getting to rebel properly.

[Seeking forgiveness, Lara]

Lara scribbled her name on top of the letter.

Tears flowed again. She quickly raised her head and glared at the ceiling, it was a useless act. Hot tears flowed through the corner of her eyes, passed by her temple, and went to her ears.

"Saintess, you need to go out now."

The knight commander approached her and reached out his hand to her.

"…Wait a minute."

Lara wiped her tears and organized the paper on the desk, along with the pencil she was holding. She did something that could have been done by a servant as if she was trying to avoid her death by delaying the time. Seeing Lara, who even tried to organize the ink bottle herself, the knight commander urged her.

"You're running out of time."

Lara stared at his hand and gently put her hand on top of his.

"Can you deliver this letter for me?"

"Yes."

"What about Prince Sidhar?"

"He's waiting for you outside."

The knight commander grabbed her hand and led the way. When she came out of the hallway and looked out the window, she could see an altar in the middle of

the vast square. Countless people gathered in front of the altar, spitting out screams of madness.

"Consecrate the saintess!"

"Kill her!"

"Throw her to the demon!"

Their voices shook the square. The demon wants the saintess. It suddenly appeared and burned half of the Western Hautean in one day. It was terribly strong and cruel. The people who were horror-struck constantly prayed in front of the royal palace and the temple—asking to be saved, wailing that they didn't want to die.

Then, a rumor began to circulate from someone.

"Everything will be solved if the saintess is offered to the demon."

There was no need for the temple to take action.

Lara's sacrifice was a matter of course because she was the saintess of Hautean. Because she was a noble, benevolent, and kind woman like an angel. Because that was how she was made to be.

Kind? Me?

Lara looked back on her life and laughed while twisting her lips. Those people were being fooled. The saintess was a fake. There was no such thing as a saintess in this land in the first place. She was just a delusion created by Prince Sidhar, who coveted the throne. She was just a mere supporting actor in the screenplay that the temple had devised and directed with Prince Sidhar.

Lara strode down the dark hallway and halted her steps. At the end of the hallway, golden hair drenched in the sunshine stood out outside the wide-open door.

'It's the main actor.'

Sidhar Hautean—the man Lara loved so much.

Their eyes met.

He looked gaunt at first glance. Despair could be seen on his dry eyes and grief was on his rough lips. Of course, one needs to be that good at acting to be the main character of the story.

"Son of a b*tch."

With an accurate and correct pronunciation, Lara uttered a vulgar curse at him. The knight commander shuddered. The saintess he knew was so elegant and noble that she was never the one to speak such vulgar language.

Lara left the knight commander who was frozen in the shade of the dark hallway and came outside.

It was a damn sunny day. Her white dress fluttered softly. Her long, charming hair was loosened like a skein of thread, flowing up and down.

"Are you satisfied now?"

"Lara."

"What would happen to you after I die? Are you going to be a prince who is sad after losing his lover? Or… are you going to be an epic hero who overcomes his grief and defeats the demon?"

Lara asked him with her teeth clenched.

A moment of irritation passed by the prince's face, which seemed like he was about to shed tears in sorrow. His eyes moved slowly. Looking at the crowd gathering like dark clouds in the distance, Prince Sidhar slowly opened his mouth.

"My dear, my love."

"Until the very end…"

As she was about to shout something out of anger, Prince Sidhar knelt toward her. Very slowly, as if he was asking the people to look at him. He knelt on the cold ground and lay down with his hands on the floor. It was a low position, always done by the slaves. And as if that was not enough, the prince bowed deeply towards Lara and even kissed the tip of her dress. The buzzing noises stopped. The square was filled with silence.

The great royal family kissed the feet of the saintess to save the kingdom. He left a tearful kiss at the feet of his lover who tried to sacrifice herself for the kingdom.

…That's what everyone thought.

"Lara, we've talked about this."

Because they could not listen to what the prince talked about.

"Just shut your mouth and die. You're not even a saintess. You've been living in luxury as the lover of the prince and as the one and only saintess. Wasn't that enough already?"

"Sidhar."

"I love you. I told you that every time you wanted it. I love you. You're really beautiful. Perfect. Should I say it even more?"

"Shut up."

"Be nice. You know that I can drag you like a dog. Lara, you have done well all this time. Now that it's time for you to die, you should also die like a saintess. Okay?"

"Hah."

She had already had enough. Nothing good would come if she kept on enduring. She did not even have any more tears to be shed. Lara took a deep breath. She gave strength to her trembling fingertips and dominated her throbbing heart.

"Your Highness."

She was smiling. Though it was not the usual elegant smile, she tried hard to smile nonetheless.

"You shouldn't have betrayed me."

Lara dug up her last remaining courage. Her hands, which were buried in her long, heavy dress, moved quickly. Her white fingers wrapped around a black glass bottle. It was the ink bottle.

"Lara!"

Sensing the ominousness, Prince Sidhar shouted and tried to make a move. But it was already too late. As soon as Lara drank the black liquid in the bottle, black and red blood poured out of her mouth. The same happened to her nose, ears, and eyes. Her body melted from the inside.

"Call, call the priest!"

Prince Sidhar's face, which was covered in the blood that Lara had vomited, was horribly distorted. Watching his mask, which was close to perfection, be shattered to pieces was a much better pleasure than she had imagined.

It hurt. It was so painful that she could not even scream. It felt like her whole body was burning and her soul was torn to pieces. But it was fine. Because she knew this was not the end.

Lara.

Or Laviore Ria Bailey. The one and only saintess in Hautean, and the eternal lover who was chosen by the prince. The woman, who was complimented by everyone to live happily for a long time, like the main character in a fairy tale.

That was how she died.