♥ Prologue ♥
The castle was silent as darkness fell.
The servants had already gone home, and even the guards who usually patrolled the castle had disappeared. The mansion was filled with a lonely, eerie silence.
Normally, guards would be coming and going at every hour, but tonight, it was as if someone had ordered them all to stay away.
“I’m sorry, Sierra. As you know, no one can go against the House of Vozbon. Anyway… I’m truly sorry.”
As I walked down the hallway, fragments of old memories echoed in my mind as clearly as if they had happened yesterday.
My footsteps felt heavy.
Every breath I took was filled with exhaustion.
This mansion had once been my home.
Now it felt like a stranger’s place.
The quiet hallway echoed only with the sound of my shoes against the floor.
Then, faint moans reached my ears.
They were sounds I should never have heard.
Sounds that should never have existed.
This was the bedroom my husband and I shared.
And yet, it was the room where he had never once held me in his arms.
I stopped in front of the tightly closed door.
Closing my eyes, I leaned my forehead against it.
A dull vibration spread through my head.
It felt as though all the strength had left my body.
The world was dark and silent, yet unfamiliar voices rang painfully in my ears.
“I’m afraid we won’t be able to keep it. As long as Vozbon stands behind them, the ownership will be taken.”
I slowly opened my eyes.
It was time to face the reality I had kept denying.
“How is it? Am I better than Sierra?”
A warm, playful voice spoke my name.
Another familiar voice answered immediately.
“Much better.”
The moment I heard that voice, I let out a long breath.
It belonged to my husband.
I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to calm my frozen mind.
I had to see it.
I had to witness it with my own eyes.
With that thought, I slowly turned the doorknob.
The room came into view.
A woman sat carelessly on the bed.
A man was holding her as they kissed.
The bed they were lying on…
…was the bed where I slept.
“Oh my, you’re here?”
I bit my lip as I looked at the woman greeting me so casually.
So…
It had finally come to this.
My longtime friend.
“Bellietta.”
Bellietta smiled faintly.
Still sitting on the bed, she gently placed her hand on the man embracing her before speaking in a relaxed voice.
“Why did you come back so early, Sierra?”
She smiled lazily.
I looked away from her and turned to Layton.
Instead of looking surprised, he simply looked annoyed that I had interrupted them.
The smile he gave Bellietta was nothing like the fake smile he had always shown me.
Where had everything gone wrong?
“Why do you look so hurt, Sierra? Don’t tell me you’re upset just because I borrowed your husband for a while?”
Her cheerful laughter echoed through the room.
Strangely…
I didn’t even feel angry anymore.
After losing everything I had spent years protecting…
Losing one more man wasn’t enough to make me grieve.
“The fool who gets robbed is the one at fault. You can’t blame the person who does the taking, can you, Sierra?”
The one who gets robbed is at fault…
Yes.
To someone like you, that probably makes perfect sense.
From the very beginning, my relationship with Bellietta had never been equal.
She was always the one who took.
I was always the one trying not to lose what was mine.
Bellietta, the only daughter of the mighty House of Vozbon, possessed power that no one could challenge.
When someone like her wanted something that belonged to me…
There was nothing I could do.
No matter how hard I fought…
No matter how many steps ahead I planned…
She always used her power and authority to crush the distance between us.
“Layton.”
At the sound of my voice, Layton looked at me.
He was still holding Bellietta in his arms.
His eyes were cold.
“You used me… just to win Bellietta…”
If I tried hard enough…
I could understand Bellietta.
She had always been this kind of person.
But Layton’s betrayal…
That wounded me more deeply than anything.
After my parents died in an accident…
He had been the only one who reached out and supported me.
How could I not have fallen for him?
“There’s no need to look so disappointed. There was only one thing I ever wanted.”
Layton kissed Bellietta before speaking quietly.
“Bellietta. She’s the only one I ever wanted. You were nothing more than a tool to reach her.”
A tool…
Was that why?
Was that why he had never once held me?
On the day I married him…
He told me he would wait until I was ready to open my heart.
I believed it was kindness.
I had been grateful for his patience.
How ridiculous I must have looked.
Mistaking lies for love.
Bellietta gently pushed Layton away and stood up.
The mask she had worn all these years was finally gone.
She looked delighted that this endless play was finally ending.
“I’m sorry, Countess. You’ve done so much for Brilloksen, and I wanted to stay until the end. But I can’t continue my business while standing against Vozbon. I’m truly sorry.”
How many things had she taken from me?
I tried counting them.
Then I laughed.
What did it matter anymore?
She had already stolen the most precious thing of all.
Mother… Father…
As I pictured the faces I would never see again, Bellietta spoke.
“Bellietta’s shadow.”
“Bellietta’s maid.”
“Bellietta’s mirror.”
“Bellietta’s doll.”
“…”
“Everything you have belongs to me. Even your man.”
It was unbearable.
It was horrifying.
I was exhausted.
Twenty-five years…
For twenty-five years, I had struggled to escape Bellietta.
I first met her in a small class.
We became friends there.
She guided me through my very first banquet.
Bellietta had been clever.
Bright.
Loved by everyone.
The beloved only daughter of a duke.
She had been the first to approach me.
Thanks to her, I had become a better person.
At least…
That’s what I once believed.
Then one day…
She changed.
Instead of leading, she began copying me.
She wore the same clothes.
Studied the same subjects.
Ate the same food.
Copied the same habits.
It was like standing before a mirror.
By the time I realized it…
People had stopped calling me Sierra.
I had become…
Bellietta’s shadow.
How far would this obsession reach?
When would the hand dragging me back finally let me go?
I struggled to escape.
I struggled to run away.
I fought with everything I had.
But fighting the House of Vozbon…
Was like a dwarf trying to defeat a giant.
They stood even above the Imperial Family.
They destroyed Brilloksen without mercy.
Even my parents…
The only people who had protected me…
The only people I wanted to protect…
Were killed.
Everyone called it a carriage accident.
I never believed that lie.
The day Bellietta “found” my parents’ wrecked carriage…
I saw the Vozbon family crest inside.
There were even witnesses who claimed Vozbon’s knights had been there.
But the Empire ignored the evidence.
The witnesses disappeared.
And so…
I lost everything.
Friends.
People.
Wealth.
Power.
Property.
My name.
My family.
Even my parents.
All I had done was struggle to survive.
Yet all I held in my hands…
Was a handful of dust.
If I had to describe my life…
It was like sinking into a swamp.
A bottomless swamp where only my head remained above the mud.
I couldn’t escape.
I couldn’t climb out.
A quiet laugh escaped my lips.
“Bellietta… You always wanted what belonged to me.”
“Have you finally taken everything?”
Bellietta smiled and slowly shook her head.
She walked toward the window overlooking a deep lake below.
Then she slowly opened the box resting on the table.
“Do you know what this is?”
She gently stroked the box as though it were a precious treasure.
Then she opened it while watching my face.
Inside…
Was the urn containing my parents’ ashes.
I hadn’t even been able to scatter them yet.
“How did you get that…?”
It was the final trace of the parents she had murdered.
Bellietta chuckled softly.
The moment I saw the urn in her hands…
My heart pounded violently.
“Don’t lie to me. That’s a fake…”
“Oh? Did you think I couldn’t touch it because the Archbishop was protecting it? How pitiful.”
She smiled coldly.
“Even the Archbishop is nothing before the name of Vozbon.”
She gently caressed the urn.
I couldn’t wait any longer.
“Give it back.”
“I can’t do that. Once I take this, I’ll finally have everything that belongs to you. Well… almost everything.”
She pointed at the necklace around my neck.
It was the only necklace in the world.
A gift from my master—
The great mage and sage,
Ezekiel Ross.
Behind me, knights blocked the door.
They had once been Brilloksen’s loyal knights.
Not anymore.
“My precious friend, Sierra.”
“The friend I always wanted to become.”
“Please don’t hate me.”
“You brought all of this upon yourself, didn’t you?”
“I brought this upon myself…”
A hollow laugh escaped me.
Even looking back…
I couldn’t think of anything I had done to deserve this.
And I no longer cared.
No matter what mistakes I had made…
No one deserved this.
I could endure anything done to me.
But insulting my parents…
Even their ashes…
That I could never forgive.
“…Give it back.”
“I’ll give you the necklace.”
“Just give me that.”
“Why would I? It’ll all belong to me anyway.”
As Bellietta spoke, the knights stepped closer.
There was nowhere left to run.
“Don’t get hurt, Sierra.”
“It would be a shame to ruin that beautiful face.”
She smiled as though she were showing me mercy.
A cold wind blew in through the open window behind her.
The instant it touched my face…
My mind became clear.
The wind showed me the path I had to take.
“…Take it.”
I slowly walked toward her.
Very slowly.
Bellietta’s eyes sparkled with victory.
She believed everything was finally over.
I removed the necklace from my neck.
Then I placed it into her open hand.
“I’m not dying alone, Bellietta.”
In the same instant—
I grabbed the urn from her hands and shoved her with all my strength.
“What are you doing?!”
She stumbled.
I pushed her again.
She struggled desperately not to fall.
I forced her backward.
“Die!”
This was my only chance.
The only moment she had let her guard down.
I refused to let go.
Suddenly—
A burning pain pierced my body.
I turned around.
Layton stood behind me.
His sword was buried deep in my shoulder.
“That’s enough.”
“You…”
Thud.
He shoved me.
My body lost its balance.
Someone pulled Bellietta back to safety.
I…
Fell.
As I plunged headfirst downward…
The last thing I saw was Layton holding Bellietta in his arms.
Then the sound of water filled my ears.
The lake swallowed me whole.
I sank into the darkness.
Holding my parents’ urn tightly against my chest.
The necklace slipped from my fingers.
It floated slowly upward.
Watching it rise while I sank…
I couldn’t help but smile.
This wasn’t the ending you wanted.
And it wasn’t the ending I wanted either.
My body grew colder.
But inside…
My hatred burned hotter than ever.
If only I could climb back up…
I would kill Bellietta with my own hands.
But now…
Even that was impossible.
I slowly reached toward the floating necklace and grabbed it.
Maybe not now.
But at the end of my death…
I curse you, Bellietta.
Even if you are born again… and again… may every life you live be filled with tragedy and despair.
If I am ever given one more chance… I will carry this curse with me.
I will make you kneel beneath the executioner’s blade.
The day your head is raised upon the highest tower…
You will regret everything you did to me, Bellietta.
We’ll meet again, Bellietta.
My fake.
My body sank deeper…
Into the endless abyss.
