After the academy ended, I sat facing Olivia’s older brother in her dormitory room.
This situation wasn’t uncomfortable.
After all, it was bound to happen sooner or later.
I just didn’t expect it to happen so suddenly.
“Oh. Um. Brother. What brings you here?”
Testing the term “brother” made Rokton’s face contort amusingly.
“Are you calling me ‘brother’? Don’t you usually call me by name?”
‘What, does she usually call her own brother by his name?’
“Since the situation with the nobility in the capital isn’t ideal, I plan to take only Lily and leave as soon as possible. I happened to see you on the way.”
“Is the situation that serious?”
“Maybe I should go out to the capital market once to see it for myself.”
“Is that so? Then what brings you here?”
“I’ll be straightforward. This time, you went too far.”
“Too far? What do you mean?”
“At the very least, you should have given us a hint. How are we supposed to prepare if you don’t give us a chance?”
“I’ll admit, I might have crossed the line. Honestly, I thought I went a bit too far.”
“But even so…”
“If I had, it might have been too late.”
“No, even so. You should have informed the family. You know how your father is.”
Nagging is my least favorite subject.
It seems that the title “brother” makes him uneasy, judging by his earlier reaction.
I’ll make sure to use it a lot.
“Brother, this was all for the sake of the family.”
“What on earth does that mean?”
“Even if I had informed you in advance, Lily would have been caught regardless. In that case, it would have been better for me to secure my position as a saint and take control of the church for Ashtar.”
Rokton is the next head of the Ashtar family, so he’s someone who has to prioritize the family above all else.
By attaching the phrase “for the sake of the family,” he wouldn’t be able to refute it.
“Well, I suppose that’s true.”
“Brother, it’s also for your benefit as the future head of the family.”
Calling him “brother” repeatedly, his embarrassment becomes increasingly evident.
“You’ve turned into quite the fox.”
Look at him.
He seems to enjoy being called “brother,” judging by how uneasy he gets each time I call him that.
If I can sway the future head of Ashtar, what’s the difference between “brother” and “older brother”?
“Thank you for listening.”
“So, can you definitely take control of the church?”
“Just provide funds for the church. I plan to use the members of the assassination guild to gain control over it.”
“But you’re the first saint. Is it really okay to go that far?”
If this were a church with a significant history like a kingdom’s, I wouldn’t dare touch it.
However, with the central nobles so corrupt, we can’t rely on the provincial nobles or the hero’s party to handle the Four Heavenly Kings.
In that case, the empire’s church would have to lend a hand.
Besides, Eugene will eventually come to the empire.
“Brother, isn’t this all for the family? The hero’s party will surely come to see the saint of the empire anyway.”
From what I’ve seen so far, that guy won’t be able to handle the Four Heavenly Kings alone.
He’ll definitely come to seek help from the empire.
With the capital in chaos, he’ll likely seek assistance from me, the saint.
“What do you mean by that?”
“With the fall of Fort Berta, the Four Heavenly Kings will begin their assault on the empire.”
Rokton’s brows furrowed at my words.
“So, they’ll attack the empire, thinking they can crush the kingdom at any time now that Berta has fallen?”
Indeed, Ashtar isn’t rotten yet.
You can tell a lot by observing one detail.
It seems like someone with a perceptive mind will be the next head.
Rokton has an eye for the world.
“Yes. Therefore, the hero’s party will inevitably come to the empire. If even the hero’s party comes to see the saint of the empire, the Empire’s Goddess Church will solidify its position.”
On the surface, the hero’s party enjoys a good reputation.
They are regarded as humanity’s representative, humanity’s guardian, the only hero who can defeat the demon king.
“So Ashtar’s influence will grow.”
“Yes. Brother. But if you managed to take Lily out…”
“I reached an agreement to send her to the convent.”
So, does that mean she’ll live?
Impressive, they managed to pull that off.
The commoners will likely criticize Ashtar severely.
“Wait a minute; after all, it’s a military trial, and half of the military judges participating would be from Ashtar’s territory.”
“Aren’t more than half of the judges from Ashtar’s territory?”
“You’re quick-witted. Yes, since they’re Ashtar’s hands and feet, they supported her release.”
But still.
They should be prepared for criticism.
If they let Lily live, what happens next?
After all, my contract with Nora is over, and the engagement with the crown prince must have been called off.
It doesn’t seem like she’s useful anywhere.
At least, the convent it is for now.
Or does he have something else in mind? The current head of Ashtar isn’t one to just let things slide.
“Surprising. So, in the end, you’re going to spare her? From what I’ve seen, public opinion against the nobility seems stronger than expected.”
“No, she won’t survive. She was ordered to be thrown into the Flanon River on her way to the convent.”
The Flanon River lies along the empire and the kingdom’s border.
If the carriage is overturned into the river, she’ll certainly die.
Although there’s hardly any connection between Lily and me now, I still feel a bit sorry for her.
“So this way, you can protect Ashtar’s reputation and appease the angry public.”
“I suppose that’s how it will turn out. Why, do you feel concerned for your sister?”
“No.”
‘As if I’d care about that.’
“Don’t concern yourself. Lily’s mother tried to kill you by casting black magic on you. Accepting a disgusting woman’s daughter like Lily into Ashtar was your father doing all he could as kin. But now that she’s betrayed him like this, he can’t let her go.”
What? What did he say?
“Wait, black magic?”
“Yes. Black magic. She once lured you to Moran and cast black magic on you. Don’t you remember?”
“What are you talking about?”
Since I’m not the original Olivia, it’s natural that I don’t have Olivia’s memories.
The problem is the fact that I was cursed with black magic.
“Lily’s mother cursed you so that you could never return to Ashtar. She even used monsterification black magic.”
“Monsterification black magic?”
“Please tell me more. I don’t remember.”
“You wandered all the way to the Land of Ruin.”
“So, could it be?”
“The girl who wandered into the Land of Ruin was Olivia?”
***
“In the year 1563 of the Empire’s calendar, near the western border of the empire, in the Land of Ruin, a girl in a dress and a woman in ragged clothes were fighting each other.”
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“Because with you gone, my daughter will be the only noble lady!”
“Lily is my sister! Do you think I would abandon her?”
“No, you will be discriminated against. That’s why I’ll push you away, making Lily the noble lady of Ashtar! Then, she’ll be the one to get engaged to the crown prince!”
The girl’s face turned pale.
She had come to Moran at the invitation to be friends with her daughter, but things had turned out like this.
It turned out that she was just a mere prostitute with greed that knew no bounds.
“Are you out of your mind? Do you think Father will just sit back and let this happen?”
“You won’t return to Ashtar anyway! I spent my entire savings to buy a black magic scroll! It’s a curse based on the Demon King’s curse!”
The woman tore the scroll, and a purple glow emerged, rushing toward the girl and enveloping her body.
“Aah!”
Watching the purple aura spread over the girl’s body, the woman pulled out a teleportation scroll.
“Well then, goodbye. I won’t say I’m sorry. I’m just doing what I need to survive.”
The woman vanished, leaving the girl abandoned near the Land of Ruin.
The name of the girl, cursed by the black magic of a common village prostitute, was Olivia Rapha Ashtar.
The princess of the Ashtar family, the crown prince’s fiancée.
The noble girl who was supposed to be the empire’s empress had fallen into the perilous, desolate Land of Ruin.
Not only that, but the girl, cursed with black magic, couldn’t control her body properly.
“Keuh… Cough… I need to… get home… to report this quickly…”
Olivia struggled to keep her mind clear and to keep walking, but her thoughts grew increasingly muddled, and breathing became difficult.
Was she really going to die like this?
Forget the engagement with the crown prince—none of that mattered now.
She just couldn’t let that woman and her daughter ruin her family.
‘I have to survive somehow.’
She absolutely had to survive.
That woman, Lily, would destroy the family.
She couldn’t let that happen.
“Ah… someone, please help… Keugh.”
Olivia collapsed in the Land of Ruin, unable to walk much further.
By now, a dark aura had already tainted her face.
She was left there to die, but this area also happened to be the home of a pair of siblings.
The siblings came out of their house to check on the girl.
***
“Brother Noah, where do you think this girl came from?”
“I don’t know. But judging by her appearance, she seems like a young noble lady who got caught up in something unfortunate.”
The clothes she wore were those of a noble family’s daughter.
“Brother, can you save her?”
“With her condition as it is… Sigh. She’s as good as dead already.”
“So, there is something you can’t do.”
As his sister kept provoking him, Noah’s irritation started bubbling up.
“Noella, do you have to talk to your brother like that? Her soul is so corrupted; how could I possibly save her?”
Although he could use holy magic to heal, he could only regenerate limbs or reattach a severed head right before death.
But if the soul itself is damaged, there’s nothing he could do.
“Brother, aren’t you good with forbidden magic too?”
“Is this girl insane?”
There’s a reason it’s called forbidden magic—it’s magic that crosses boundaries and touches upon taboos.
“I just feel sorry for her, honestly. I only learned proper magic, but you learned the forbidden arts too, didn’t you? Don’t you know how to do it?”
“It’s not impossible.”
Noah scratched the back of his head in frustration.
“There was a way.”
“He could tear off a piece of his own soul and attach it to hers.”
“She might lose some memories, but it could work.”
“Honestly, he felt like ripping a piece off his sister’s soul, but doing so might create some sort of monstrous fusion.”
“Then do it right away!”
“You crazy girl. I need to prepare for this since I’ll be tearing off part of my soul.”
“Ugh, useless.”
“Should he smack her for this?”
Noah seriously considered giving his sister a thrashing, but he shook his head.
“What good would hitting her do? It would just hurt his hand.”
“You can’t even do it yourself, and yet you keep asking me to do things.”
Still, he couldn’t just leave the body outside his house.
He’d never tried this before, but if he messed it up, he might end up trapped in her body instead.
That was definitely out of the question.
“Well, there’s no other choice.”
It was a gamble.
He’d never attempted it before, but if he had to, he might as well try.
Noah focused his mind.
Mana was closely connected to the soul.
When he reached his mana’s limit, he could touch his soul.
Noah slowly squeezed out part of his soul, feeling it flow down into his hand.
At his fingertips, he ignited a tiny spark, a fragment of his own soul.
With his other hand, he touched Olivia’s head, connecting with her soul.
In this case, it was easier than usual; souls under a curse of black magic naturally began to deteriorate.
A lesser sorcerer wouldn’t have been able to detect it, but Noah could easily sense her damaged soul.
He drew Olivia’s broken, shattering soul up from her chest.
“This is crazy. It’s completely cracked and breaking apart.”
Even if he saved her, she might need someone by her side for the rest of her life.
Her soul was crumbling into dust even as he held it.
He’d have to fuse it forcefully.
‘This is going to be tough. The curse is stronger than I expected, but let’s give it a shot.’
Perhaps the girl couldn’t defend herself or didn’t realize the curse was striking her, but the curse itself was indeed potent.
The only fortunate thing was that he intervened at the right moment before the curse fully consumed her soul.
‘If I fuse it like this, it’ll eventually fall apart again.’
He’d have to extract more of his soul to coat her entire, breaking soul.
First, Noah began coating the girl’s cracked, crumbling soul with a piece of his own, carefully drawing out his soul and applying it to her.
When she awakened, there might be some confusion in her memories, but that could be managed later.
Noah’s soul began binding the shattered pieces of her soul back together.
“It’s done.”
Though still unstable, he had successfully fused his soul’s essence with hers.
The girl’s soul, once dimming, now shone brightly.
“It’s done.”
“Oh, did it really work?”
“I’m going to sleep, so put up a shield around her and send her back when she wakes up.”
“Got it.”
Noah went back inside, leaving Noelle to shield Olivia until she awoke.
***
When Olivia finally woke up, a woman was leading her out of the Land of Ruin.
Her mind was a whirl of confusion.
How was she alive, and what were these strange memories in her head?
‘Am I really Olivia?’
More than anything, she felt uncertain.
“Lady Olivia!”
Once she exited the Land of Ruin, Olivia was greeted by knights from her family.
The woman who had guided her out of the Land of Ruin was nowhere to be seen.
Olivia returned to the Ashtar family.
However, before long, with her soul still vulnerable, she fell under Lily’s succubus brainwashing powers, which drove her into an obsession with the crown prince and led her to torment her younger sister, Lily.
Years passed this way.
***
“Olivia, I’m breaking off the engagement!”
When the engagement was finally broken, and she slit her wrist, Olivia regained her senses.
‘Am I going to die?’
Just as her consciousness was fading, she felt a sudden weight in her heart.
It was as though half of her soul was vanishing.
It felt like another part of herself was dying somewhere else.
For the first time, Olivia understood what those unknown memories in her head had been.
‘I remember it now.’
If she had known earlier, things might not have come to this.
“So, I was never truly Olivia.”
She had been saved from dying under black magic, but only because the man who lived in the Land of Ruin had given up a part of his soul to save her.
She remembered everything now.
Despite being given a second life, she had neither lived it to its fullest nor sought revenge.
She was powerless to even attempt revenge.
Judging by her bleeding wrist, she knew she wouldn’t survive this.
“Ashtar repays its debts, and I won’t let my other half die.”
The sorcerer who had fused his soul with hers had become one with her.
In her final moments, she realized she and Noah were essentially the same.
So, she thought of a plan.
Perhaps, if her soul faded here, Noah could return to life.
It was painful to think about this as she was dying, but Olivia couldn’t let Noah, her other half, die.
She used her last strength to surround her wrist with mana, stopping the bleeding as much as possible.
Then, remembering what Noah had done long ago, she began materializing her own soul.
According to Noah’s theory, if my soul disappears, his soul, which had lost its body, will complete itself in its place.
Slowly, she began to melt the coating of Noah’s soul around her own with her mana.
Almost there.
As the coating fell away, her forcibly bound soul began to scatter in the air.
If it were Noah, he’d find a way to save a dying body.
The only thing left was to leave a message for Noah in case he awakened in her body and was startled.
“I’m sorry to leave you with this defeated body.”
She had only met him once without any awareness, and they hadn’t met again since, but having shared souls, she felt a closeness to Noah.
“You’ll be surprised by this body, but isn’t it better than dying? Besides, I’m confident in my looks, so even if you’re a commoner, I trust you’ll handle it well.”
‘Goodbye, Noah.’
With her final words, Olivia closed her eyes.
Olivia’s soul dissipated into dust, and in its place was filled by Noah’s soul, who had perished at the Demon King’s castle.
Thus, a new Olivia was born.