CHAPTER 01
“Saint Angelus.”
“Yes, my lady. What is it you wish to know?”
Angelus’s tone was slow and drowsy, like a lullaby.
Despite her soft voice, Everett swallowed nervously.
Everett Gronzie.
The only daughter of the Gronzie family.
Today was her 23rd birthday.
Her loving father, Baron Gronzie, had made a large donation to the temple to arrange this meeting with the saint.
But despite the cost, only one question could be asked.
That made Everett all the more cautious. Her jet-black eyes sparkled with resolve.
“I wish to marry into a very prestigious family, Saint. My dream is to live a life of wealth and honor. Will I be able to live that way?”
Everett’s sole goal was to elevate her status through marriage.
At her question, Saint Angelus gave a faint, enigmatic smile.
Shff—
She began quickly shuffling a thick stack of rectangular cards.
Ah, those must be the Arcana.
Angelus was revered as the incarnation of the goddess Anish, and the reason was the tool she used to divine the future.
Can she really tell the future with just a few cards like that?
As she shuffled the dozens of cards, Angelus looked so sacred it seemed like a religious ceremony.
“Lady Gronzie, please focus on your wish and draw three cards.”
Everett stared intently at the cards laid out on the marble table.
Please… I want to marry a wonderful nobleman.
Her finger trembled slightly as she pointed to each card.
“Lady Gronzie.”
“…Yes?”
“What I’m about to say are the words of the goddess Anish, revealed through the cards you chose.”
“A… Anish…”
At the goddess’s name, Everett straightened her back.
When Angelus lowered her gaze, her long platinum lashes shimmered.
“Everett Gronzie, marriage will never be part of your life. You shall remain single for all your days, and only heavy, deep darkness shall dwell by your side.”
An unbelievable prophecy from the pure-lipped Angelus.
As if to signal the end, Angelus exhaled deeply.
The message was short, but Everett couldn’t immediately comprehend it.
“…Wait, that’s it?”
“Yes, it is.”
“So… what are you saying? That I won’t get married and I’ll live in darkness my whole life?”
Despite delivering the worst possible prophecy, Angelus wore a radiant smile.
“That’s right. Hard to believe, I know—but you selected the cards yourself. I am merely the messenger of Lady Anish’s will.”
In that instant, Everett felt a snap in her mind, as if her last thread of reason had been cut.
Displeasure at the prophecy went without saying.
But more than that, what truly enraged her was Angelus’s innocent smile.
“What is this—she’s a complete fraud!”
Everett, who had been politely kneeling, suddenly stood up and shouted.
Everyone nearby jumped at her sudden outburst.
No matter the prophecy, no one had ever acted that way toward the saint.
All eyes turned to Everett.
Even Baron Gronzie, standing beside her, was stunned.
“Everett… my dear, this is a sacred place…”
But in her fury, she couldn’t hear him.
Everett was known as the “Pretty Goblin”—a nickname earned for her beautiful appearance and fierce temper.
There was no way she would quietly accept Angelus’s words.
“If you’re a saint, then I’m a goddess! Do you know how much was donated for this nonsense?! If you took the money, then do your job properly!”
The delicate Angelus widened her eyes and began to tremble with her arms clutched together.
“Oh, playing innocent now after saying that crap?!”
Overcome with rage, Everett grabbed Angelus’s arm and shook her violently.
Then someone shouted loudly:
“Guards! Call the guards, quickly!”
Angelus had been standing on a small elevated platform within the temple.
Being yanked around by Everett, she looked like she could fall at any moment.
Riiip—
Sure enough, her thin dress tore easily.
Though the platform wasn’t high, there was no railing to stop a fall.
A drop from that height could be dangerous.
Angelus, staggering backward as her dress tore, finally fell off the platform.
“Kyaaah!”
The ladies and noble girls waiting their turn screamed.
“Are you all right?”
Just as people were too horrified to watch, a deep male voice rang out.
When they opened their eyes, it wasn’t Angelus lying on the floor—they saw the broad back of an unfamiliar man.
“He caught the saint!”
The crowd cheered, but the two involved heard none of it.
“Saint, are you hurt?”
The man’s reddish-brown hair shimmered, highlighting his deep green eyes.
An incredibly handsome man—impossible to look away from.
“Thank you… You saved me. I don’t know how to repay you…”
The man gently helped Angelus to her feet.
He removed his coat and draped it over her exposed shoulder.
Seeing the crest on the coat Angelus now wore, someone shouted:
“That’s the crest of Bartmann! Bartmann!”
Angelus looked up at the man in shock.
With a cool smile, he said:
“Kyle Sou Bartmann.”
At the name, everyone around immediately bowed.
“Greetings, Your Grace.”
Kyle Sou Bartmann.
The only nephew of the current Emperor of the Bartmann Empire—and son of the previous emperor.
He had just returned to the capital after completing a long mission in the north.
“Kyle!”
A priest rushed forward, joyfully calling his name.
“Jan.”
Kyle had stopped by the temple to see his old friend and priest, Yankeller Penayo.
When Yankeller saw Angelus, torn dress and all, in Kyle’s arms, his eyes flickered.
“What happened here?”
A junior priest arrived with guards in tow and quickly explained the situation.
Yankeller’s brow furrowed in anger.
“Arrest Baron Gronzie and his daughter immediately.”
Bound by temple guards, the Gronzie father and daughter were dragged to the temple floor.
“Please have mercy! My daughter had high hopes… She was just overwhelmed by a bad prophecy. She’s young and didn’t know any better!”
“Silence.”
Kyle’s chilling gaze made the Baron go mute.
“Jan, what charge applies in cases like this?”
Yankeller’s lips curled into a cold smile.
“Blasphemy.”
“You heard him, Baron Gronzie. And you too, Lady Everett.”
Everett’s pale face grew even whiter with fear.
“It was just… the prophecy was too awful, I lost control. Please forgive me.”
“Lady Gronzie, what you did in anger nearly cost the saint her life. You realize that, don’t you?”
“I-I didn’t mean to… The dress just ripped suddenly… I swear, I never meant for her to fall.”
Kyle scoffed and raised his hand, signaling enough.
Yankeller continued swiftly.
“Baron Gronzie and Lady Everett, hear this: you endangered Saint Angelus’s life. Though the proper punishment would be death, we shall consider your noble status in passing judgment.”
Baron Gronzie bowed his head to the floor, begging.
“We were wrong, Your Grace. Please forgive us.”
“You will be imprisoned in the temple’s underground cells. There, repent—again and again—until the gods forgive you. Only then will you see the sunlight again.”
As soon as Yankeller finished, Baron Gronzie broke into sobs and desperate screams.
Everett, however, was different.
She glared at Kyle and Yankeller, screaming and hurling curses.
Yankeller ordered the guards to take them to the underground prison.
Everett’s shrieking didn’t stop until the cell door slammed shut and all sound was gone.
“No repentance coming from that one. I doubt she’ll ever see the light again,” Kyle said, shaking his head in disbelief.
Knock knock.
“Miss Everett, are you awake?”
It was Daisy, letting her know it was time for breakfast.
Everett let out a deep sigh as she woke.
“The same dream again… I guess it’s a warning not to forget what’s coming.”
“…Miss?”
“I’m up. I’ll be down soon.”
She got out of bed and stood before the tall mirror in the corner.
Though she faced it every morning, the face was still unfamiliar.
“It’s been ten days since I entered The Arcana of the Saint…”
Starlike black eyes that sparkled.
Long hair like flowing ebony.
Beautiful Everett Gronzie.
But her struggle to adapt had nothing to do with beauty.
She was the villainess from the early chapters of the romance-fantasy novel The Arcana of the Saint.
Her role was to be the bridge between Saint Angelus and Duke Kyle, and then vanish like a flame.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m the first villainess to disappear tragically in three years. Got it. But I have no intention of staying locked up in that underground cell forever like in the original.”
Everett looked at her reflection, thinking of what needed to be done.
“First, I need to find a way out of this house. Then I need to see if I can use my skills to make money.”
