Chapter 12
**
The night after visiting the Magic Tower.
I was pretending to read the Imperial Map that Lucian brought me, but in truth, I was deep in thought, trying to come up with a plan for survival.
I was lost in thought when I heard Annette’s voice from outside the door.
“Lady Irene, I’ve brought your tea.”
“Come in!”
“Today’s tea has a lovely bergamot aroma—oh!”
“What’s wrong?”
Curious about her sudden gasp, I pushed aside the bed’s canopy and looked toward the door—and I was just as surprised as her.
Sir Joan was swinging a wooden training sword in the spacious area of the room.
With every swing, he exhaled sharply. He was clearly serious.
“Sir Joan? What are you doing?”
“I’m serving the punishment assigned by the Commander. Hoo!”
“P-Punishment? How many times do you have to swing that thing?”
“Five thousand times.”
“Five thousand?!”
I nearly fainted.
That was torture!
Because of me, someone was being tortured right in my room. I jumped out of bed in shock.
“This is too much! I’m going to talk to the Commander.”
“Please don’t, Lady Irene. Hoo! Thanks to your words, I received a very mild punishment.”
Even as he talked, Sir Joan continued swinging the wooden sword with a calm expression.
“You call this mild?”
“Truly. The Commander showed unusual mercy. It’s all thanks to you standing up for me. I’m grateful.”
He paused, bowed politely to me, and resumed his swings.
‘He really means it…?’
Maybe in this world, swinging a wooden sword five thousand times was just a light morning workout.
Feeling a little guilty, I sat properly on a chair and picked up my book again. I couldn’t just lounge around while he trained so hard.
Annette poured my tea and sat beside me, watching Sir Joan with awe.
“Um, would you like a drink?”
“No thank you.”
“Okay.”
Her offer was politely declined.
For a while, we just watched Sir Joan in awe. Every swing made his arm muscles ripple.
‘Amazing… So women can have bodies like that too.’
But the nickname the thugs used—”Mad Dog”—didn’t suit such a calm and disciplined person.
‘I’ll ask Annette about that later.’
I closed the Imperial Map. Staring at books in my room wasn’t sparking any good ideas.
It was time to go find some real information.
‘Information is my only weapon. And my only armor, too!’
“I think I’ll visit the library.”
“I’ll escort you.”
Sir Joan put down his wooden sword and escorted me there.
‘Hmm. I need to look at some questionable books, though.’
That would be hard with him watching.
After some thought, I asked for some time alone. Thankfully, he agreed to wait at the entrance.
I entered the library with a sigh of relief.
“Welcome.”
The librarian smiled brightly and guided me inside. I hadn’t even completed the verification yet, but thanks to the Commander’s backing, they already treated me like a full-fledged Saintess.
‘Wow, Ian’s influence is really something.’
I looked around the library. It was mostly empty—perfect.
I first picked up The History of Saintesses. I wanted to see if any had the same foresight ability as me.
There were a few.
Some were praised for 100% accurate predictions, which made me feel a bit insecure. But one Saintess stood out.
“Saintess Agnes Bleu: A Saintess with the gift of foresight.”
I paused at her page.
It said she only used her foresight once—right after being chosen. Never again afterward.
Yet she was still praised to this day as a savior.
Because that one prophecy led to victory in the Great War against the monsters.
‘One prophecy for eternal praise… What an efficient life.’
I wished I could get away with that too. Constantly lying was exhausting.
With that irreverent thought, I kept reading.
Then I saw something strange: her final words.
“Back then, I shouldn’t have made that prophecy.”
My eyes widened.
That prophecy saved the world, but she regretted it?
“My foresight started a great war. The fragile balance between humans and monsters collapsed. In the end, we drove the monsters beyond the northern border—but how much blood was spilled in the process? How many lives were lost?”
The regret in her words felt raw and real, even after centuries.
I kept reading.
“Perhaps the power of foresight isn’t a blessing… but a curse.”
That was how her will ended.
The ending felt heavy. I scratched my cheek, troubled.
A saintess that great died full of regret? I hadn’t expected that.
Just then, the bell rang for noon.
‘Already?’
I glanced at the librarian. She was busy checking her ledgers.
Satisfied she wasn’t paying attention, I moved to another section—one about the darker sides of history.
‘Let’s see… Ah, here. Index of Shadow Guilds.’
I pulled out a huge book.
In the original novel, the heroine got crucial information from this book when dealing with the group Nine.
I flipped to the index and found their section.
‘Illegal casinos, human trafficking, contract killings… there’s nothing they don’t do.’
Page after page listed their crimes.
And this was just what had been discovered. They were likely doing worse in secret.
‘In the original, they even corrupted Ian, a Swordmaster.’
Ian was actually a tragic character in the novel.
He spent ten years plotting revenge after learning his father was murdered by his older brother.
He eventually overthrew the throne—but by then, Nine had already cursed him.
The curse fed on his hatred and revenge, eventually taking form.
‘That happened almost as soon as Ian became emperor.’
The curse’s goal was brainwashing.
Normally, Ian would’ve become a puppet ruler under Nine’s control.
But Ian wasn’t ordinary.
He resisted and ended up killing every Nine member who approached him.
Nine’s plan failed.
It had been a massive operation, vital to their survival.
But it was even worse for the empire.
‘Though Ian resisted, the curse magnified his hatred.’
Ten years of simmering revenge and pain became uncontrollable.
He went mad.
‘A tyrant. A bloodthirsty emperor.’
That’s what they called him.
The most respected Holy Knight had fallen.
To stop him, the main characters of the novel—hero and heroine—joined forces.
After many hardships, they defeated Ian and restored peace.
A classic happy ending.
‘Though the heroine was left with trauma from killing her first love…’
Still, better than dying like Ian.
Thinking about Ian’s fate left a bitter taste in my mouth.
‘But what if Ian never gets cursed?’
If that could be prevented, maybe he’d avoid that tragic end.
‘What if I pretended to foresee the events of the novel?’
My heart pounded.
But there were problems.
First, I knew that Ian would be cursed—but not how.
Second, if Nine found out I leaked anything, they’d kill me.
And third—
“Perhaps the power of foresight isn’t a blessing… but a curse.”
Saintess Agnes’s last words echoed in my head.
In the novel, the empire still found peace—even though Ian died.
Under the hero and heroine’s rule, everything turned out fine.
‘If I change that flow…’
I thought of the butterfly effect.
One flap of a butterfly’s wings could cause a tornado on the other side of the world.
Messing with the story’s main plot… Who knows what could happen?
‘…First, I need to survive.’
I shook my head.
My life was the candle about to be blown out by a storm.
Even after more digging, I found nothing useful about Nine.
‘Didn’t expect much, but still…’
I closed the book in disappointment.
Know your enemy, they say. But I barely knew anything.
Nine was like a mist with no form.
‘Do I need to sneak into a back-alley info guild like the heroines do?’
No. I shook my head.
Heroines could go into danger and get rescued. I… wouldn’t be so lucky.
Someone would just yell at me for being reckless. That just made me feel worse.
Anyway—
‘They’ll contact me again soon.’
Nine probably still thought I was working hard on their mission.
I’d become Ian’s fiancée, after all. They might even be proud of me.
So they’d definitely reach out. Probably before the wedding.
Deep in thought, I hadn’t noticed I was biting my lip.
The taste of blood snapped me out of it.
“You’ll hurt your lips, my lady.”
A man’s voice startled me. I quickly turned around.
A handsome man with golden-blond hair stood behind me. Judging by his robes, he was a follower of the Elune Church.
