Lina let out a frantic cry.
Knowing Callis was standing nearby, I wondered what he would make of it.
Would he pin me as a villain tormenting the pitiful and pure Saint?
Would he see me as an evil woman and leap in to execute me, just as he slayed Seria in the original storyline?
Lina’s actions that night were beyond comprehension.
But why, exactly?
“Lina,” I said.
I just couldn’t accept it.
I simply stared at the sweet, pale face of the Saint.
Her dark, innocent eyes.
The short bobbed hair dancing on her shoulders.
“Callis is outside…” I continued.
“Why are you saying such things now?
Do you want him to hear you?
Are you hoping that he won’t misconstrue your true intentions?
Or are you trying to make me into the villain?”
Lina did not respond.
Her eyes flickered wildly about, likely mirroring my own.
Under normal circumstances, I would have maintained a respectful distance from Lina, but now was not the time for such formalities.
I stepped towards her, genuinely curious.
“Why on earth are you doing this?
I have done you no wrong…”
I did not wish to clash with Lina on this issue.
Honestly.
Sure, I harbored ill feelings towards her, but that was all.
I had never once considered actually tormenting the story’s blessed heroine.
The only thing that mattered to me was my own life.
I simply wanted to survive.
Everything I had done in this world went back to my desperate desire to avoid the gruesome fate of Seria Sterne.
So what had I done wrong?
Lina’s face grew pale, her expression twisted with childish fear.
The way the story went, Lina was the clever heroine who outsmarted the villainess.
But every story hinges on plausibility.
So even if we had reversed roles, Lina couldn’t even properly deal with the conniving Ladies of Hanneton.
Therefore, there was no way she could be painted as the villain at this stage of the narrative.
“Leave,” I ordered and turned my back on her.
I saw no point in continuing.
“Seria!” she cried.
Lina rushed toward me and clutched at my arm.
It seemed like she lost her footing, as her body twisted violently before me.
Just as I thought she would fall at my feet, her entire body unbelievably lifted off the ground, floating in the air before my eyes.
I staggered back, gazing up at her in shocked wonder.
The full moon, larger than on regular nights, seemed to fill my entire field of vision.
One of Lina’s shoes plummeted to the ground, and then she directed her terrified eyes at me.
She was being pulled away, sucked into a void I could not see.
Though I reached out to grab her, it was too late.
There was nothing there to grab.
In the spot where Lina had been, all that was left was a single shoe.
“Seria!”
As this was all happening, the door had swung open.
It was Callis, with the servant chasing behind, his face pale and ashen.
Callis rushed to the railing, looking down below.
However, there was no sign of Lina’s twisted limbs splattered on the ground below.
The only visible trace of her was the shoe that was lying right in front of me.
“Seria…” Callis’s voice quivered as he turned to me.
“Did you… push Lina over…?”
His words struck me like a blow to the head.
My hands turned icy cold.
“My Lord!
What are you suggesting?” the servant burst, but quickly shut his mouth.
I glanced at him.
I knew that my daily rounds of the glacier had earned me a good reputation amongst the servants of Castle Berk.
I shifted my gaze back to Callis, staring at him in dismay.
“Can you do nothing but cause pain for others, Callis?”
As soon as I got the words out…
The moonlight, like a slippery con artist weasling his way out of a lie, spat Lina back out.
She gasped for air as she tumbled to the terrace floor.
“Ahh!
Ahhh!
Don’t leave me… Please, don’t abandon me…!”
“Lina!” Callis called.
“The Lady Saint!” exclaimed the servant.
Overcome with panic, Lina screamed as she clutched her head and curled up into a ball.
She looked as if she had just witnessed something mortally terrifying, her face distorted with pain and fear.
However, at the same time, I noticed the pure white light of divine energy glowing on her wrists and cheeks.
Though I hadn’t been here to see it myself, I had been told that similar markings had marked her skin when she first descended upon the frozen lake in House Berk’s dominion.
The residing priestess in House Berk’s dominion had immediately informed the High Church of Lina’s strange markings, which led to the disclosure of a previously untold prophecy foretelling that a divine messenger would one day appear from within the glacier on the frozen lake.
Between the prophecy and the markings of divine energy, everything pointed to Lina being the Saint.
But there was a problem…
How many more times would Lina be transported between this world and hers?
On this night, it only lasted a few moments.
But the second time, I knew, she would be absent from this world for an entire year.
However, I had not anticipated that the first time would be so soon.
“To suspect me of murder…” I muttered before biting my lip.
My voice shook despite my efforts to steady it.
A voice still deeply in shock.
I looked up, hoping that Callis hadn’t heard me, but he was looking right at me.
“I will escort the Lady Saint!” declared the servant.
The servant put Lina’s arm around his neck and hoisted her up, then carefully led her out.
From where we were outside, screams circled around like a panorama.
I was about to go to them, but Callis grabbed my wrist.
Callus knew better than anyone—it made no difference that Seria was a Sterne.
Even a Sterne does not possess the ability to make people disappear and reappear.
“Seria, I was mistaken.
Please, don’t look at me like that.”
My expression must have been pretty serious.
Ever since I had been reincarnated as Seria, a villainess with no hope of redemption, I had always been careful to maintain a composed countenance.
If I meant to survive, I had no other choice.
It was no easy feat, restoring a reputation that had hit rock bottom as a result of Seria’s wickedness, but somehow I had done it.
This time, however, everything had happened too quickly.
My utter stupefaction and resentment had settled into my features before I ever had a chance to realize it.
I would never be able to undo the evil deeds that clouded Seria’s past, but Callis must have seen the good deeds that I had been striving to stack on top of them.
That’s why I was genuinely happy when he proposed to me, grateful even, for the fact that he was able to trust me despite having experienced Seria’s wrath firsthand.
Although Callis had chosen the heroine over me, pushing me to the brink of death in the process, I had to believe that my efforts over the past year could not be so easily erased.
With his accusation he made all of my painstaking efforts seem meaningless.
I never expected that the man who, only days ago, claimed to love only me and begged me to give him another chance, would deliver such a heartrending blow…
Just like that I was going to be suspected as a murderer.
Just because Lina disappeared for a matter of seconds.
It felt as though everything I’d done, in all my sincerity, was in vain.
Whether it could be traced back to Lina’s inexplicable behavior or Callis’s unexpectedly hurtful suspicion, the resulting shock I absorbed was tremendous.
“Your Grace?”
A voice suddenly cut in on my demoralizing reflections.
It took me a moment to recognize Lennon standing beside the doorway.
“His Grace the Archduke begs your permission to enter the terrace.
Will you allow it?”
“Ah… I’m coming,” I answered.
“Seria, wait a moment…” Callis tried to grab my hand.
Seeing this, Lennon’s voice dropped to a more somber tone.
“His Grace the Archduke cannot ascend these stairs without the archduchess’s permission.
It’s an inviolable tradition which even His Highness cannot breach.
The same applies, of course, to all others attempting to enter the terrace…” Lennon leveled his gaze at Callis.
“The details of such a breach will be communicated directly to the Marquis of Hanneton and the High Church through an official decree.”
As Lennon spoke, it occurred to me that House Berk might use this to exploit Callis and the High Church for a monetary payout.
Lennon came to my side, taking my extended arm and leading me away.
He looked at me and said, “My lady, why the wounded expression?
Has something happened…?”
I was about to respond when Callis interrupted.
“Chief aide of Berk.” Callis stepped into our path, blocking Lennon and me from leaving.
Callis glanced at me quickly, then looked at Lennon.
“I shall leave first.”
“That is what I was hoping to hear, my lord,” Lennon replied.
With all the commotion and then Lina being carried out by the servant, every pair of eyes in the grand hall would surely be fixed on the entryway to the archduchess’s terrace.
They would be wondering who would be the next to emerge.
It would have to be Seria Sterne, the only one with unfettered access to the archduchess’s terrace.
They might have been placing bets as to what sort of expression she would be wearing.
But if Callis went out now, he would take the brunt of those eyes with their recriminating suppositions.
In high society, such an act was considered a deep courtesy.
With a wounded, regretful look in his eyes, Callis looked at me, clenched his fists, and then descended the terrace stairs.
As expected, the sound of murmuring below grew deafening.
I spoke to Lennon as I peered into the hall through a window.
“Lennon, go and have them change the music to something quieter and more soothing.
And the iced champagne?
Have it served now.”
“As you wish, my lady.”
“On your way down, please tell His Grace not to come up just now.
It would be too conspicuous if he came right away.”
“Are you…?
Yes, I understand.”
Soon after Lennon left me, the music changed.
At first, I had considered having them play lively, raucous music, but that seemed too obvious, like putting on a blindfold and pretending nothing had happened.
It thought it better to have music that would put the guests at ease.
And everyone wants to sample the iced champagne when they visit the lands of Berk.
Likewise, I had meant for this highly sought-after drink to be served around midnight, but it couldn’t hurt to serve it a bit early.
Another distraction from the unfortunate incident.
This was supposed to be a year-end party.
I had worked so hard on the preparations.
I even owed Sir Elliot a favor for his assistance.
I did not want it to be remembered only for the scandalous scene on the archduchess’s terrace..
Once the noise from the grand hall returned to its former level, I left the terrace and descended the stairs.
I was worried about what I should do if Rouche were to be standing at the bottom of the stairs, but fortunately, he wasn’t.
Rouche could not avoid attracting attention, so if he had been standing there, dozens of admirers would have been gathered around him.
I casually made my way along the wall, passing by most of the ladies who were present.
Everyone was sipping iced champagne.
Thanks to that small distraction, I was able to make it to the grand hall’s main doorway and out into the corridor…
…where I ran directly into the one person I did not expect to meet there.
“Your Grace.”
Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, Rouche’s brow was furrowed with deep creases.
When he saw me, he stood up straight and approached.
I figured he might be upset because I told him not to come up to the terrace.
But, as usual, he displayed no particular emotion.
He didn’t say anything or ask any questions.
After looking down at me for a moment, he merely extended his arm to me in the typical fashion of an escort.
It was the best possible gesture he could have made at that moment.
I placed my hand on his arm.
“You look like you’re about to cry,” he observed.
Without responding, I wiped my eyes.
In another gentlemanly gesture, Rouche kept his eyes trained straight ahead as we walked, which allowed me to continue wiping my eyes without fear of being judged.
After all that had happened, the year-end party somehow ended without further incident.
But the next day, I received some shocking news.