"Actually, I Was the Real Saint" was a typical fantasy novel aimed at a female audience, with a fairly recognizable, even openly stereotypical plot. And yet, despite that, it never became any less beloved to me.
At least for me, it remained special.
The main heroine, an orphan named Liliana Blaze, had lived in a temple since childhood. And not out of mercy: she was taken there because she turned out to be a true saint — a rare chosen one capable of saving the Empire of Berria from catastrophe once every hundred years. However, the temple concealed her existence, using her power for years and presenting another girl — the daughter of an influential aristocrat — as the saint.
For fifteen years, Liliana lived in this practically prison-like existence, until one day, during a festival in honor of the false saint, one of the guards helped her escape. He was in love with her and paid for it with his own life.
Once free, she was taken in by Duke Tristan Eclipse — the head of the Order of the Holy Sword, an organization dedicated to exterminating monsters throughout the empire. Handsome. Noble. Strong. A true main character. Together with Liliana, within a year, they cleansed the empire of corruption and monsters, uncovered the truth about the temple, and exposed the false saint and her father. Then, of course, they fell in love with each other. Happy ending. Everyone is happy.
Or... almost everyone.
It seemed that the true villains of this story had been punished in the first half of the novel. The aristocrat’s daughter, the stolen title, the greedy priests... But the author decided to go further. The "final" villain, it turned out, was waiting around the corner.
Kayla Regwerd.
Tristan’s childhood friend. His right hand, his deputy in the order, the woman who had gone through thick and thin with him. She had secretly loved him for many years. She knew her feelings were unrequited, but she accepted it. Just being by his side — that was enough for her.
And then Liliana appeared.
And Kayla’s world collapsed.
Tristan looked at this woman in a way he had never looked at her, Kayla. His faithful comrade. The woman who had watched his back in battle, pulled him back from the brink of death, shared hunger and cold with him. He looked at her as a friend. At Liliana — as the light of his entire life.
Jealousy. Pain. The feeling of being replaced, discarded like an unnecessary object. Kayla could not bear it. Gradually, step by step, the author turned her into an antagonist. First petty mischief, then unforgivable acts. In the finale, Kayla crossed the line.
And she paid for it.
Tristan personally expelled her from the order. He severed all ties — those very bonds that had connected them for half a lifetime were shattered with a single blow. Kayla Regwerd’s name was cursed on every corner. Her family’s reputation was destroyed. Her fortune was partially confiscated. She fell ill with an incurable disease caused by the corruption she had accumulated in her body over years of hunting monsters. And she even went blind.
She became an outcast.
For most readers, this was a "well-deserved punishment for the villainess." The comments under the final Chapters were full of gloating: "Serves her right," "She brought it on herself," "Good riddance."
But for me, this was... cruel.
Far too cruel.
Because Kayla Regwerd was my favorite character in this entire novel!
And I simply could not accept it.
After the final Chapters were released, I left the author so many angry comments that she probably remembered my username forever:
"Author, are you out of your mind? How could you give Kayla such a monstrous ending?! This is just disgusting!!!"
"I spent so much time on this novel only to get... this? Where is the justice for Kayla? It feels like the author deliberately made her the villainess just so this novel would have some scapegoat!"
"The author of this novel is completely talentless. Kayla deserved better. Much better!"
Other readers just twirled their fingers at their temples. "Are you seriously trying to defend the villainess?.." they asked.
And I could not explain to them what I was feeling. Kayla had become the only character who truly "grabbed" me. I saw myself in her.
We were both those who had to fight for survival. Those who stood against an unjust world alone, while everything fell from the sky for the main characters. Kayla was not born with a divine gift. Her strength came from years of training, scars, broken hopes. Her loyalty was a choice, not a role forced by the plot. And her love... her love was real. The kind that was not deserved.
Plus — why hide it — her appearance and character perfectly matched my taste.
And so, of course, I was utterly crushed when my favorite character was treated so cruelly and ruthlessly.
I was furious at this talentless author!
I poured out all my anger in the comments.
And after that...
I woke up inside this novel.
A true isekai heroine. Reborn in a world where my beloved Kayla lived. Given that luck usually passed me by in my past life, this seemed like a cosmic jackpot. I almost screamed with delight when I realized where I was.
But there was one huge problem.
I had been reborn as Liliana Blaze.
That very "naive fool" whom I considered the most irritating factor in the entire book. The saint who — albeit unintentionally — caused Kayla so much pain. The girl for whom Tristan had betrayed his faithful comrade.
"...No," I whispered, looking at my hands in the mirror. "No, no, no, not this!"
I begged. Seriously, I was ready to make a deal with anyone — the gods of this world, the author, the devil himself. "Give me a second chance!" I cried into the void. "Make me anyone! A maid, an assistant, even Kayla’s shoe! Just not Liliana!"
...
Hah.
As expected, my prayers were ignored.
Not only that — I had the misfortune of being transported not to the beginning of the story, where I could have changed everything. Nor even to the middle. No. I arrived almost at the very end. To the point where Liliana had already done all the things I hated her for. Where Kayla was already exiled, sick, and nearly broken. Where Tristan had already made his choice.
Phew...
After that, I really just wanted to shoot myself.
But then I took a deep breath.
I could not fix this. But I could do something else.
I had an advantage. One single, but decisive, advantage.
The holy power.
The rebirth had made me the possessor of all of Liliana’s divine energy.
And that meant I could heal Kayla!
So, despite everything, I was going to do everything possible to make my favorite character healthy and full of life again — as strong and beautiful as I remembered her from the pages of the novel.
So, from the moment of my transmigration, I immediately decided to take action.
I ran away from my own wedding with the main character.
Then I secured a job at Kayla’s mansion under a false name.
I had a plan: quietly, discreetly, without revealing my identity, to heal my favorite character. Fortunately, the holy power did not reveal my true essence — there were other people in this world with a weak manifestation of this gift, and they usually became priests at the temple. The main difference of the true saint was the scale of her abilities and the ability to cleanse corruption.
And Kayla’s illness was directly related to that contagion.
This meant that in the entire empire, only I could truly help her.
But Kayla would never accept help from Liliana. Never.
Because of pride. Because of hatred. Because of the monstrous pain that lay between them. She would sooner choose to die than accept healing from the woman for whom she had lost everything.
Therefore, I had no choice but to act in secret.
No matter what, I could not leave my favorite character in trouble!
And even if the author had destined Kayla for such a cruel and unjust fate, I was not going to accept it.
My plan was simple:
Heal Kayla completely. Restore her health, her sight, and her ability to live on. Hope that she does not discover my true identity. And then — quietly disappear from her life.
She will never know who I really am.