chapter 1

 


I should have killed that bastard back then.

Haunted by restless thoughts in sleepless nights, she decided that starting today, she would take action.

The back alleys of the capital glittered with a nocturnal vibrancy, just as always.

Every lane was thick with the smoke of burning poisonous weeds, the piercing cries of parents who had sold their children for next to nothing, and the clamor of lifetime friends exchanging blows.

Anyone who adheres to morality and believes in humanity would assess this scene the same way:

“The world’s sense of loyalty has fallen to the ground.”

After the former emperor conquered various countries across the continent and established the empire, the nation had grown corrupt. Now, with a new emperor on the throne, the situation had worsened. The chaotically expanding capital had become a den of desire.

In such circumstances, a new promising business emerged: the trading of humans.

Among these, the largest auction house was, in a sense, a luxury goods exchange. There were persistent rumors that every night, expensive carriages would roll in and purchase several "commodities."

“Yes! A boy from the Western Desert tribes, a high-quality product not yet fifteen! He has just been sold for 2,000 gold! Congratulations!”

Business was booming. The auction house’s owner, Hilarion, watched the scene from the back, unable to hide his inner satisfaction.

Once a skilled assassin who used his natural fists to make a living, he was now in his thirties. He was starting to grow weary of living like a reckless madman. He had established this business with a fortune he had earned by getting on the right side of the powerful, and it turned out to be quite lucrative.

“A monster born from a mother who received the devil’s seed! Look at this hideous face! 800 gold has been offered! Any more?”

As the auctioneer proceeded with the bidding, Hilarion closely observed a noteworthy guest.

‘He looks like a nobleman, no doubt about it. Definitely the biggest catch of the day.’

A man visiting for the first time today.

Tall height. Broad, squared shoulders. Even just those details clearly indicated his gender. Everything from his hair to his shoes was a solid black, and while his attire was simple, the fabric looked expensive.

His clothes were impressive, but more importantly, the bridge of his nose and his jaw were just barely visible beneath his concealing mask.

From that moment on, Hilarion could already guess what his face looked like.

‘He must have an annoyingly handsome face. He couldn’t be more than a little over twenty. Probably a young noble who stumbled in here with his parents' money.’

Hilarion's youthful good looks had long faded. So, with a mix of unwarranted animosity, jealousy, envy, and yearning, he glared at this guest.

The noble guest, however, was completely oblivious, focusing only on the stage.

He rested his elbow on the table, his head loosely supported by one hand. The leather shoes at the bottom of his sharply tailored pants moved regularly, back and forth.

It was as if he was waiting for something.

“Now, for our next item! This item is… uh?”

The auctioneer sounded bewildered and flustered.

The audience, unaware of the situation, cheered. Unlike the previous item, this one was a woman. Moreover, she seemed like a girl who couldn't be even twenty years old.

The dress designed to showcase her was extravagant. Her long golden hair that flowed down to her lower back was radiant at the roots. Her fair skin reflected the stage lights, shining like porcelain.

Her green eyes with a hint of blue beneath dark eyelashes were like a peacock's. If she didn't blink and breathe, one might mistake her for a high-end doll.

She was undoubtedly a beauty that couldn't be found anywhere in the Empire.

The girl quietly lowered her gaze, staring at the belt that restrained her wrists. Her expression prompted excited customers to call out bids.

“3,000!”

“4,500!”

“5,000!”

“Wait, please, just a moment! You need to hear the description first! Uh, so, this, this item is…”

The auctioneer, sweating profusely, flipped through the pages of his notes. His flustered gaze landed on Hilarion in the back.

Only then did Hilarion realize the situation and jumped to his feet.

Actually, he was a little angry. He was seeing the girl on stage for the first time too. He planned to scold them for their messed up reporting system after the auction.

But seeing the auctioneer's reaction, it was likely an item that had been brought in but not recorded.

Then, today was not the day. He should first take the item off the stage and apologize to the guests. If he sold an unrecorded item and something went wrong, he would have a headache dealing with it.

A sinister desire also crept in. Had this item had any intimate contact? It might fetch a higher price if she didn’t know men, but with her beauty, that didn’t matter much.

‘Charlotte… She reminds me of that haughty one from the past. I'll have to torment her all night instead.’

With that thought, he wanted to finish today's business quickly.

“5,000, and I’ll add 300!”

“I'm sorry! We haven't started the bidding yet!”

Hilarion, with an air of politeness, approached the stage and bowed.

“Let me explain. This item is not for sale today. It’s just a little preview.”

The audience in the front seats openly expressed their dissatisfaction, murmuring amongst themselves. Hilarion quickly added to smooth over the situation.

“Did you get a good look? We will officially present this item with a proper description at the next auction. If you want to own this girl, come prepared with sufficient funds next week! Good luck to you all!”

“No.”

Hilarion had just handed the girl over to the auctioneer when he suddenly noticed someone in the audience.

Among the customers who were calculating how much to prepare, the noble had spoken for the first time.

“How about you sell her today? I’ll pay 100,000 gold.”

The room suddenly fell deathly silent.

It was baffling. All sorts of people came to this auction, but it was the first time someone had directly mentioned such an absurd amount.

Hilarion, a mix of flustered and furious, retorted quickly,

“Don't joke around, sir. Don't you know that false bidding is against the rules? That much money could buy this entire auction house!”

“So?”

The noble lifted his lips into a crooked smile, leaning back with arrogance.

“100,000 without negotiation. Sell me this place including the girl. Then I might reconsider how I should deal with you.”

Hilarion felt a rush of humiliation at being pushed around with money by an unknown guest. On the other hand, a sinister sense of relief washed over him at the noble's sudden interest.

‘There you go. Even the most noble and handsome have their limits. When it comes to a one-night toy, everyone's the same.’

But his desire to have the girl was now uncontrollable. Hilarion shook his head firmly.

“I would appreciate it if you could give it to me next week.”

“How can you be sure this auction will happen next week?”

“Sir, I have loyalty to my customers. I'm certain we will present this girl next week...”

“Loyalty? You? Loyalty?”

The girl, who had been quiet until now, suddenly spoke.

At that moment, screams erupted from the audience. One or two people jumped up and moved back. Hilarion, who didn't know what was happening, turned around and also screamed.

“A-Auctioneer! Auctioneer!!”

It was no use calling for him. He had already been decapitated. Blood gushed out, pouring onto the girl's golden hair like summer rain.

In the midst of it all, the girl quietly muttered,

“If you’d listened to money, you would’ve had an easy time. If you can’t negotiate, there’s no point in waiting. All you human traffickers will die here.”

Was it an illusion, or did the noble nod in agreement?

The girl, who had already released her restraints, took a deep breath and shook her hand once. Energy erupted from her body, and the drops of blood were flung away. Shocked by the sight, one of the guests shouted.

“Aura? A user in a place like this?”

“Run! Where’s my coachman?!”

The guests rushed to the exit. The guards who were stationed at the entrance rushed towards the stage against them. The place turned into chaos as everyone scrambled around.

One guard lunged at the girl. She lightly stepped back and extended a hand. The sword tucked into the guard’s thigh was swiftly drawn and blood spurted from his chest.

“So pathetic. You dare sell people with such pathetic skill?”

The girl swung the unfamiliar sword back and forth, then planted one foot down. The aura pulsed in an instant, sending shockwaves along the trajectory of the sword. Over a dozen people were knocked away without being able to react, and then, blood poured from every hole in their bodies.

The girl gracefully sheathed the sword like a prima donna after a solo performance. Instead of confetti, drops of blood flew, cheering her.

The only person still alive was Hilarion.

“W-What, you, what the hell…!”

Hilarion, who had fallen to the ground, slowly backed away. He almost fell off the stage but quickly regained his balance.

When he looked around, he saw that all the guests were gone.

Except for the mysterious noble.

Before he could even figure out what was happening, he was grabbed by the collar. With gasps, Hilarion's body was lifted into the air.

This was insane. As a former assassin, Hilarion was quite large. But the delicate girl in front of him lifted him up without any difficulty. Even if one had trained their aura, it would be impossible unless you were a master.

The girl smiled sweetly, fitting her beauty.

“Long time no see, Hilarion. You still don't know who I am? Well, that might be asking too much from your fermented brain.”

Hilarion coughed continuously. His head spun, and he couldn't quite hear what the girl was saying.

The aura wrapped around the girl's white arm glowed with a blue light. The force suppressing his breath grew stronger as if fueled by resentment.

“You’ve grown fat and lazy. The payment for leeching off the emperor is human trafficking? Not even good enough to be used as compost. Well, you've always been that kind of petty man, haven’t you?”

It was clear that they had known each other. Then it clicked for Hilarion. He looked down at the girl again.

No, he definitely didn’t know her. There was no way he would forget a beauty like that.

But… there was someone he clearly remembered.

Hilarion had witnessed that kind of strength before.

“Y-You, that can’t, Charlotte…?”

As he stammered the name, the girl burst into a bright laugh.

“Did I need to show you this much for you to recognize me?”

“D-Don’t be ridiculous! You’re Charlotte?! The evil woman who supposedly died!!”

Hilarion thrashed his legs in a semi-frenzy.

“That woman has been locked in prison for five years! Even if she was alive, she would be twenty-seven! What is your relationship…!”

“What if I told you I was reborn from hell just to get rid of you?”

The girl calling herself Charlotte swung her arm. Hilarion was thrown off the stage like baggage. He rolled, colliding with tables and chairs, his body writhing in pain. As he moaned and lay on the ground, the heel of the girl’s shoe pressed down on his chin and throat.

The girl smiled as she held a sword to his face.

“This is your last confession. Tell me everything you did to Charlotte.”

Cold sweat ran down his spine.

Back in the day, Hilarion, as an assassin, had contributed to eliminating many rivals in order for the current emperor to ascend to the throne.

What was before him was a sensation he had never experienced even then. An overwhelming feeling of dread.

Death loomed over him. His voice trembled.

“She, she went mad to be empress. She ordered me to attack her now, Empress….”

“You gave a false testimony. What else?”

“What else? I just watched when that woman’s knee was broken… Uaaagh!”

The pain of being trampled by a shoe overwhelmed him. Hilarion didn’t care who the girl before him was anymore. He begged, putting his hands together.

“I-I’m sorry! I was wrong! I was just upset that she ignored my feelings! I wanted to see her suffer; I didn’t expect it would turn out this way, uaaaagh!”

Hilarion pleaded for forgiveness out of pure survival instinct.

“Please stop, stop, Charlotte. For old times’ sake, please…”

His vision became blurry. From beyond the darkness, he heard a giggle.

“What loyalty would a villainess have?”

Those were the last words Hilarion heard in this world.

The girl looked down emotionlessly at her former subordinate’s corpse.

She heard applause from behind her and turned to see the noble who had been watching quietly stand up.

The man finally removed his mask. The red eyes that had been hidden until then gleamed beautifully like enamel.

“How does it feel after your first revenge? Juju.”

The blonde girl called Juju threw her sword on the floor.

“Dealing with these petty thugs doesn’t feel like anything. I can’t even call it revenge until I take down the ones who truly betrayed me.”

Then she turned to the man.

“I’m tired after moving in this body. Ruslan, pick me up and carry me.”

“You're really outrageous. Ordering Count Kaitel around like a servant?”

“Oh, my. Who was it who said the cleanup was their responsibility? Which count was it who said they would be a proper fiancé at least under the terms of our contract?”

Ruslan chuckled as if he couldn’t help it, and picked up the girl. Charlotte, or rather, Juju, finally relaxed, letting her body slump.

Her body was burning from the recent fight. The memory of being betrayed ignited the flames of resentment in the girl's heart.

The body she had abandoned for today, Charlotte’s memories.

Charlotte was definitely not the kind of good girl that the world recommended. In her past life, she had assassinated, attacked, and eliminated many members of the royal family.

But she did it only to make Albert, whom she had loved, the emperor.

The people who had turned her from a meritorious individual to a villainess were the emperor she had trusted and her old comrades. They had betrayed her first.

‘Trembling in regret.’

It was useless to be sorry or beg.

‘All of you, I’ll repay you one by one.’