Chapter 1
. Love Is the Same as an Illusion
2024.02.01.
Prologue
“His Majesty cherished me dearly and loved me.”
“I don’t know why you’re speaking in the past tense, but my love for you hasn’t changed. It never will. So let’s go back, Laurencia.”
Laurencia knew all too well that the sweet tone and desperate gaze of the man before her were lies. She couldn’t believe in the love he spoke of.
“Your Majesty, I have no intention of returning to the Empire.”
“You won’t come back even though I came here myself? Laurencia, you’ve always been such an obedient girl. What’s gotten into you?”
“No matter what you say, I cannot stay by your side any longer.”
You handed me a cup filled with poison without hesitation.
And foolishly, I drank it—knowing full well what it was.
Because I believed that was love.
“I won’t let you leave.”
“I’m not being stubborn.”
After Laurencia’s calm answer, silence filled the space.
He soon realized that the silence was not a good sign.
Unease crept into his expression.
Laurencia was the one to break it.
“I’ve found a future where I can survive, and that’s why I cannot return to the Empire.”
Not the future where you hand me the poisoned cup—
but the one where I hand it to you.
“You may not know this, Your Majesty, but I sacrificed something more precious than my life to create this very moment.”
“What are you talking about? What sacrifice? You don’t mean…?”
What would he think was more precious than my life?
“Laurencia… Don’t tell me you’ve lost your ability to see the future?”
How foolish. He really believed that was my greatest loss.
“What if I did lose it? What if I can no longer be of use to you? Would you then understand why I refuse to return?”
“Don’t joke like that.”
“Do you know what you look like right now, Your Majesty? Like someone who’s lost everything.”
“What are you saying, Laurencia?”
He sighed deeply and stepped closer, his thoughts transparent.
“I abandoned my power to survive. I can no longer help you. So please, return to the Ischter Empire.”
“Even if you’ve lost your power, my love for you hasn’t changed.”
“Did you just call that love?”
“Yes. I love you, Laurencia. My Roa.”
Once, I believed those sweet words.
And as deeply as I believed, the pain returned to me double.
“I’m sincere. Come back, and become my one and only empress.”
“A lowborn bastard like me could never be an empress.”
“Don’t worry. The only one who will ever be my empress is you.”
“But… the love I believe in…”
Laurencia bit her lower lip hard so her trembling lips wouldn’t betray her.
The corners of her mouth wanted to rise at what she was about to say.
“I think love, Your Majesty… is the same as an illusion.”
“Laurencia. You know, when a stalker says, ‘I loved them,’ no one believes them. Do you know why? Because that kind of love comes from illusion. Honestly, I don’t think ordinary people’s love is any different.”
Until her dying breath, Laurencia believed in his love.
That was why she never doubted her death.
“My love isn’t an illusion, Your Majesty. You said you loved me too!”
“Yes, I always said that. But… since you don’t seem to understand, I’ll make it clear, Laurencia. Even if I said I loved you, it’s your fault for mistaking that for sincerity.”
Those final words shattered her completely—
the woman who had once overcome even the fear of death in the name of love.
“You’ve done well, Laurencia. Now, die for me. Thank you. I love you.”
“Even your thanks aren’t real, are they?”
“Do you remember when we first met?”
“I remember.”
“Then let me tell you what I truly felt that day.”
Love, in the end, makes people cry.
And sincerity, when twisted, drives them mad.
“Your red hair burns like blood, and your eyes… they disgust me.”
In that single moment, she understood everything—
why she had to die.
And she realized something else:
To die for love is no reason to die at all.
“Your Majesty, your words of love sound more and more like, ‘Don’t fool yourself.’”
“Laurencia… how could you…”
“I told you already.”
Laurencia smiled, satisfaction blooming as she watched the desperate man’s mask of affection finally fall away.
“I chose the path that lets me live.”
Chapter 1. Love Is the Same as an Illusion
The priest’s solemn voice echoed through the temple, his pure white robes glowing in the light.
“In the name of the goddess Ella, may she protect us and grant us the strength to overcome the wickedness of evil.”
At the priest’s signal, the knights approached Laurencia.
She struggled desperately to free herself, but her arms were seized and forced forward.
Her long hair, which reached her waist, began to fall away as the knights cut it off.
Fear tightened around her chest.
Her whole body trembled; her teeth chattered uncontrollably.
“Laurencia.”
In shock, she looked up—and met the eyes of the man watching her from above.
“Your Majesty Luanse…”
Emperor Luanse rose slowly from his chair and walked toward her.
His face appeared sorrowful, even pained—
but Laurencia saw it.
The faint spark of joy in his eyes.
Her head lowered on its own.
“Don’t bow your head, my Roa.”
Luanse lifted her chin gently with his hand.
“Your Majesty! You must not touch the witch!”
The priest’s voice trembled with panic.
“It’s fine. This witch loves me too much to curse or kill me.”
At his words, tears streamed down Laurencia’s face.
Luanse merely watched her cry, his eyes cold and still.
In that moment, she knew for certain—
he had abandoned her.
“I can’t help it, Laurencia. I can’t save a witch.”
“I’m not a witch.”
“Of course you are. Think of what you’ve done—
you killed my family, and that wasn’t enough. You started a war and killed countless others.”
“I only did it to help you…”
Before she could finish, the priest poured holy water over her head.
“Step back, Your Majesty! She may still have power! The holy water will suppress it for now, but she’s dangerous.”
“Indeed. She’s a vile being who’ll say any lie.”
Luanse stepped back.
A priest drenched his hand in holy water and slapped Laurencia’s face and head repeatedly.
Her lips split; blood trickled down.
Each strike made her skin swell painfully.
But worse than the pain was the betrayal—
the cruelty of the man who once swore he loved her.
“You’re the one who said you could die for me, Laurencia.”
He whispered softly in her ear before standing again.
“I trust the Holy See will handle the witch’s trial well.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. And thank you again for reporting this witch in the name of the Goddess Ella. The Holy See will not forget your devotion.”
“It’s only right to report a witch. Even if she was once the woman I loved…”
Luanse looked at her one last time, eyes filled with false sorrow.
“In the next life, I’ll pray you’re born as someone who isn’t a witch.”
When he left, the torture began.
The agony was so great she couldn’t even speak; her consciousness blurred.
She was dragged before the tribunal, where only high priests and the Pope presided.
“I am not a witch!”
“If you’ve reached that age without ever menstruating, then you are indeed a witch.”
“To declare me a witch just because I haven’t bled—it’s too cruel! I am innocent!”
No one listened.
“A woman who cannot bleed cannot bear children. That is the curse of the goddess Ella herself—proof that she’s a wicked witch!”
“We mustn’t kill her recklessly, Your Eminence. She must be imprisoned instead, lest we be cursed.”
Laurencia was thrown into a dark cell, no light, no sound.
For a brief moment, she was relieved not to be tortured further—
but soon realized there was no food, no water, and no one came.
Hunger drove her to madness.
Her eyelids grew heavy; her limbs felt like lead.
As her mind faded, she thought not of the man she’d loved,
but of something warm and simple—
a steaming bowl of potato soup.
“Where did everything go wrong?”
Once, the only person in the world who cared for Laurencia was Luanse.
From the beginning, he delighted in caring for her.
Laurencia, who had never been treated kindly by anyone, felt her heart fill with warmth whenever he showed her affection.
But when did that warmth disappear?
When did happiness stop living in her heart?
