Laveria Jeanne Rayes—a name that symbolized both a deep wound and an indelible scar for the Rayes Ducal Family.
A daughter was born only three times in the family’s long history. In the House of Rayes, where daughters were rare, the duchess gave birth to a precious gem, trading her life for that miracle.
The child was named Laveria, meaning “Blessing of the Fairies” in the ancient tongue. A miraculous child, and one the duchess, even in her final moments, asked her beloved husband and two sons to protect with all their hearts.
The tragedy struck three years after the duchess passed away—mere months after giving birth to her youngest daughter.
Though grieving, the three men of Rayes raised the girl with great love. But then came a second tragedy. In an unprecedented event, the three-year-old daughter was kidnapped within the supposedly safest place—the ducal estate.
The one who disappeared with her was none other than the duchess’s trusted nanny, a woman no one ever suspected.
The House of Rayes fell into chaos overnight. The duke poured every resource and soldier into the search. But by the fifth year, it was all for naught—stopped by imperial command from the emperor who ordered the duke to get a grip and move on.
Three years after the duchess’s death, the house had just begun to recover, only to fall into another nightmare.
Still unable to forget his daughter, the duke secretly continued the search using the family’s shadow guild. On the tenth year, he heard of a silver-haired girl living in a remote forest orphanage—and set out immediately.
Silver hair was the trait of the elves, a race said to hail from the faraway continent of Truela. The first Duke Rayes was rumored to have inherited their blood.
Thus, silver hair became a rare but powerful proof of lineage.
Weary after twelve years of fruitless searching, the duke visited the orphanage with only the faintest hope—only to find a girl with a deathly pallor, limping on a cane.
The famed silver hair was dirt-streaked gray with dull pink blotches.
Of all the silver-haired girls he’d searched for, she resembled one the least.
Rayes silver was always a pure, gleaming white, even through generations of dilution. But this girl didn’t have that.
Still, the duke couldn’t leave without her.
Because her spring-green eyes, though dimmed, reminded him of his late wife.
“Please take care of Laveria… our one and only daughter.”
The duchess’s strained, smiling face haunted him with unbearable guilt. So even if the girl was fake—he brought her back.
Despite receiving kindness from the ducal family, the girl now named Laveria acted out daily, as if scarred by her time in the orphanage.
The three men of Rayes, who had once tried so hard, grew exhausted over time. The duke, who had momentarily lit up again, fell deeper into despair than before.
[Father, for the first time, there’s something I want. If the one who was originally mine returns to me, I’ll gladly act the part of the daughter you always wanted.]
Laveria, who had always treated the duke like filth, made a rare request—just after the missing crown prince reappeared.
Astonishingly, the crown prince had been at that same orphanage, living with lost memories.
Laveria seemed to have formed a deep bond with him—and now she wanted him. She also wanted to eliminate Senia, the girl who had rescued him.
The duke couldn’t threaten Senia, daughter of the Cablos Duchy. Instead, he worked hard to promote Laveria as a candidate for crown princess.
But it wasn’t easy to make a common-born, cane-bound girl with only her pretty face to her name into a legitimate contender.
Still, rumors that she had the prince wrapped around her finger—because she was his savior—helped.
In the end, her dream failed for two reasons: she was originally a commoner, and the prince loved Senia.
And so, Laveria Jeanne Rayes lost her mind, using every dirty trick to tear the two apart.
She went as far as endangering Senia’s life—and was imprisoned in a Rayes estate in the provinces. There, she died young from a mysterious illness.
But the original novel never mentioned what came after. That was revealed in the last extra story from the perspective of the sub-male lead.
Drehan Rayes, the eldest son of the House of Rayes, discovered an old tome in the family library. It had been written by the first duke and added to by five generations—a record of the family line.
“Elven blood is inherently toxic to female offspring. Most are miscarried, and those born have a high likelihood of dying young. This is due to the manifestation of dark elf magic, which is far too strong for a human body to contain. No cure exists.”
This was the record left by the first duke, who had once lost a younger sister.
The entries below it described the unique traits of female Rayes children:
“Unlike sons, Rayes daughters do not inherit pure white hair. Instead, dark elven silver manifests with various hues depending on the magical wave. —3rd Duke Rayes”
“Like the earlier daughters, she couldn’t control her power around age twenty. She died of a high fever and red lesions. —5th Duke Rayes”
It turned out that after the 5th generation, no more daughters were born. And now, 500 years later, a girl named Laveria—matching every trait—was rediscovered.
Learning this, Drehan was consumed by guilt for his lost sister, suffered a mental breakdown, and eventually vanished.
That was the final scene of the sub-male lead’s extra story.
“Was the author insane?”
That’s what I remember thinking back then.
Maybe they had no other excuse to write off the sub-lead. And why bother adding backstory to a character already dead?
But to think that the seemingly fake Laveria had actually inherited the blood of the strongest elves—the dark elves…
At least now, I knew exactly how to behave in the ducal house.
The search for the duke’s daughter never ended, and now the entire continent knew the name Laveria Jeanne Rayes.
So when Luca asked where we were headed, I could casually say:
“We’re going to the Rayes Ducal House.”
“The same one you mentioned? The founding family of the empire?”
“Yup. I stole a glance at the paper Ms. Loyola reads, and found something shocking.”
I added with dramatic flair.
“They’re looking for their lost daughter. Silver hair, green eyes, around fifteen years old.”
Aside from my dark hair, every other trait matched me. Had I not been stuck in that orphanage, bounty hunters would’ve dragged me there by now.
“Then… are you really the duke’s daughter?” Luca asked calmly.
I nodded. “Not necessarily. But what do we have to lose? It’s not like we’ve got anywhere else to go.”
And on the way, I had something important to do.
“Luca, I’ll get your memories back.”
Right now, Luca was under two curses cast by Duke Cablos—the one who kidnapped him.
One sealed his memory, the other was a puppet spell.
The latter would activate at seventeen. But the former—I knew how to break.
Because it wasn’t powerful dark magic, eating a Purification Crystal could do the trick.
Senia, a healing mage, had restored his memories just by using her magic in the novel.
“How can you bring my memory back?” he asked.
“I read an article in Loyola’s paper by a famous mage,” I said. That paper really was my go-to excuse.
“There’s something called a Purification Crystal. If you eat it, the memories return.”
“A purification crystal?”
It was a rare item.
Only five were ever found in the world. And I knew one of those places was…
“Wait—do you hear water?”
I stopped. The sound of crashing water was growing louder.
Pushing through the trees, hand in hand, we found it: a huge waterfall.
It really existed!
If the novel was correct, inside the cave behind the waterfall was a Purification Crystal.
Senia had discovered this while getting lost and hungry in the woods on her way to the orphanage. Chased by beasts, she’d hidden in the cave—and found the crystal.
As a healing mage, she could absorb the holy energy right away and restore her strength.
The crystal was a plot device to boost the protagonist’s stats. But now, it was Luca’s only hope of recovering his memory.
The waterfall sparkled like starlight, as if water fairies might leap out at any moment.
Though fierce from above, the cave was accessible below. That’s why Senia found it easily in the novel.
“It’s crazy. The crystal looked exactly like this,” I said as we entered.
With the roar of the waterfall, we had to shout to hear each other.
Luca stared at the glowing blue gem embedded in the cave wall, stunned.
It shimmered with light even in the dark.
I reached out and pulled it from the wall.
But there was a problem…
“It’s a bit big to swallow…”
If you tried, you might die choking.
Senia had simply touched and absorbed it, but that only worked because she was a healing mage.
Luca would have to eat it…
For normal humans, the crystal melted in the stomach, releasing its holy energy.
Then Luca calmly said behind me, “So I need to eat this?”
He reached for it.
“Y-yes, but it’s not something you can just swallow whole—!”
CRASH!
That sound was Luca smashing the gem with a rock.
Inhuman strength. He turned the crystal into powder.
Then he scooped it up and swallowed without hesitation.
“…What if I was wrong? Why do you trust me so blindly?” I asked, worried.
Luca swallowed everything and looked at me.
“If it’s your word, I’d do anything. Even drink poison.”
His ruby-red eyes shone with absolute trust. It took my breath away.
The cave was dark, but his gaze never dimmed.
I’d seen those eyes countless times at the orphanage—yet they now felt unfamiliar.
Luca suddenly clutched the wall, swaying, and sank to his knees.
“Are you okay?!”
Was his memory coming back?
His red eyes trembled, overwhelmed.
Maybe the memories weren’t all good. Maybe most were bad…
I wrapped him in my arms.
He no longer fit completely in my embrace. But I held him tight.
Luca, eyes closed, accepted my warmth like a child lost in thought.
Minutes passed. Then finally, he opened his eyes.
“Ria. I’m okay now.”
His voice had a faint steel to it. I looked him in the face.
“Did your memory return?”
He nodded with a soft smile.
“Were you happy, back then?”
He gently shook his head. The hand in mine trembled.
“Do you know where you have to go now?”
“Yes. Even if no one welcomes me, I know where I belong.”
No one to welcome him? That wasn’t something to be glad about.
My shoulders slumped with sadness, and Luca chuckled, patting my head.
“My true home is wherever you are, Ria. Even if we head to different places—always.”
I hesitated, then finally asked what I had to.
“Then tell me. Who were you, really?”
I braced myself.
Luca gave an awkward smile and answered:
“Azenluca Blake de Grepin. The crown prince who was kidnapped and went missing two years ago. That kid you once told me about? That was me.”
I had once mentioned the crown prince to him—how he’d vanished without even a proper portrait left behind. All the newspaper said was he had black hair and red eyes.
How would anyone else react to this?
“WHAAAAAAT?!”
I slapped a hand over my mouth and dropped to the ground.
But it still wasn’t enough.
“Y-You’re the crown prince?!”
Now it was enough.
