Prologue
“Huh? Red eyes?”
In a hidden chamber within some ancient ruins, I stared intently at my own reflection.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Pink hair and red eyes… Isn’t this the sign of a High-Rank ‘Witch’?”
On the continent I was married into, there’s a legend that everyone believes, regardless of nation or race.
“‘The Witch’—she of pink hair and red eyes—is of the ‘First Race,’ a being who bestows blessings upon all.”
The only problem is, the entire Witch clan was supposedly wiped out long ago. Not a single one is left. And yet, everyone reveres the Witch and faithfully believes that she will one day return.
The voices of the heads of the ‘Eight Holy Ducal Houses’—the Imperial Emperor’s closest aides, who never miss a chance to mock me—echoed in my mind.
“To us, the Witch is a sacred and inviolable being! Everything we have today, we owe to her!”
“The Witch is the most ancient of races, the First Race. Our debt to her is etched into our very blood and flesh.”
And then, the voice of my own fiancé, Emperor Eckardt of the Zaldein Empire.
“I have sworn my heart to the Witch. If she commanded me to die, I would. If she were to appear, I would give her everything.”
“Hold on, wait just a minute! Me? The person hated by everyone in the entire Empire, is the long-awaited Witch? This has to be some kind of sick joke, right? My eyes are supposed to be blue! …Ah, but no matter how I look at them, they’re definitely red. When did they even change? Ugh, what am I going to do? If anyone finds out, are they all going to start kneeling to me?”
No way. Absolutely not.
The thought of those men—the ones who spout nothing but insults every single time they see me—suddenly flipping 180 and starting to suck up to me… It’s unbearable just to imagine. Besides, it would be humiliating for them, too, having to worship me all of a sudden.
…Or would they just be ecstatic that the Witch has finally appeared? Considering their usual obsession with the Witch, they probably would be ecstatic.
“Ugh… I don’t want to see those dukes who always look down on me suddenly start speaking to me in that sweet, syrupy-voiced way.”
I can’t even picture it.
“Worse, would even the Emperor, who clearly hates me, suddenly become obsessed and start whispering sweet nothings to me?”
No, surely that’s not going to happen. He hates me way too much. He wouldn’t be able to do something that embarrassing.
…Or would he swallow his pride and humiliation, and whisper words of love anyway? I accidentally imagined the Emperor kneeling before me, and my face flushed bright red.
“Gyaah! That was not something I should have imagined!”
That’s right—the Emperor is devastatingly handsome. If a man that good-looking were to touch me, pleading with that pained look on his face… my heart wouldn’t be able to take it!
I shook my head hard, trying to banish the image of the handsome emperor from my thoughts. Then, I let out a deep sigh.
“Haaah… How did things ever get this complicated?”
Full of resentment, I forced my mind back to how this whole mess began.
Join the Discussion