Chapter 1
1720 Words
The Villainess's Tragic End
"Any last words?"
The execution grounds fell silent.
Thousands of people filled the royal plaza, yet not a single voice dared to interrupt the emperor's judgment. The only sounds that remained were the cold wind brushing against the stone platform and the clinking of iron chains.
At the center of it all stood a young woman.
Long sapphire-blue hair cascaded over her torn white dress, stained with dirt and dried blood. Her wrists were bound behind her back with enchanted chains that suppressed every ounce of mana within her body.
Despite her miserable appearance...
She was breathtakingly beautiful.
Crimson eyes, once filled with pride, stared blankly at the crowd before her.
No.
She wasn't looking at them.
She was searching for someone.
For one person who would believe her.
For one person who would tell the executioner to stop.
But no one stepped forward.
Not the nobles she had grown up with.
Not the servants she had once ordered around.
Not even the father she had spent her entire life trying to please.
Standing beside the emperor was Duke Aleandro Husernien.
Her father.
His expression remained as cold and emotionless as stone.
"..."
Not even a flicker of hesitation.
Not even regret.
It was as though the woman kneeling before him wasn't his daughter at all.
A bitter smile slowly formed on Theletyia's lips.
I see...
So this is how it ends.
The emperor rose from his throne.
Maximilliam Ludwig.
The man she had devoted years of her life to.
The man she loved.
Or perhaps...
The man she had convinced herself she loved.
"You have committed countless crimes," Maximilliam declared, his voice echoing across the plaza.
"You abused your authority."
"You practiced forbidden Dark Magic."
"You conspired against the Empire."
"And..."
His golden eyes narrowed.
"You attempted to murder Lady Roveria."
The crowd erupted.
"Monster!"
"She deserves to die!"
"Execute her!"
The insults came one after another.
Each one louder than the last.
Theletyia lowered her gaze.
How strange.
None of those words hurt anymore.
They couldn't compare to the pain of realizing that the people she wanted to protect...
Had never once tried to protect her.
Her crimson eyes drifted toward the young woman standing beside the emperor.
Soft silver hair danced in the wind.
Gentle blue eyes shimmered with tears.
Lady Roveria.
The heroine of the story.
She looked at Theletyia with sympathy.
"I... I'm sorry," Roveria whispered softly.
Theletyia simply laughed.
A quiet laugh.
One so empty that it made even the executioner hesitate.
"...Sorry?"
Her voice was barely audible.
"What are you apologizing for?"
"You already have everything."
"The emperor."
"The people's love."
"My father's trust."
"The future."
"So..."
She slowly raised her head.
"...Why are you apologizing to someone who has already lost everything?"
Roveria bit her lip.
She looked as though she wanted to say something.
But in the end...
She remained silent.
The emperor raised his hand.
"Theletyia Husernien."
"You are hereby sentenced to death."
The executioner stepped forward.
The enchanted blade shimmered beneath the afternoon sun.
Theletyia closed her eyes.
For the first time in years...
She stopped pretending to be strong.
Father...
Was I really that unlovable?
A single tear rolled down her cheek.
The blade descended.
...
"...What?"
My thumb froze above my phone screen.
"No..."
I blinked.
Then blinked again.
The words remained exactly the same.
No secret rescue.
No hidden twist.
No miraculous survival.
Theletyia Husernien...
The strongest Dark Magic user in the Empire...
Had died.
Just like that.
"What kind of ending is this?"
I stared at the final paragraph for what felt like forever.
My chest tightened.
"This... this can't be it."
I scrolled back.
Then forward again.
Maybe I had skipped a chapter.
Maybe there was an epilogue.
Maybe...
Anything.
But there wasn't.
The novel simply ended.
The End.
"...You've got to be kidding me."
I tossed my phone onto my bed before grabbing it again a second later.
"Nope."
"I'm too broke to replace it."
I hugged my pillow instead, glaring at the screen as though the author could somehow feel my disappointment through it.
The title of the novel glowed brightly against the dark mode background.
Protecting the Male Lead.
The story had been wildly popular online.
Everyone adored Roveria.
Everyone rooted for Maximilliam.
Everyone celebrated the happy ending.
Everyone...
Except me.
I let out a long sigh.
"I don't get it."
The heroine defeated the villainess.
The emperor found true love.
Peace returned to the Empire.
It was the perfect ending.
So...
Why did I feel so empty?
I wasn't supposed to care this much.
She wasn't even the main character.
She wasn't the heroine who saved the Empire.
She wasn't the one who got the happy ending.
She was simply...
The villainess.
Yet from the moment she first appeared in the novel, I found myself drawn to her.
Maybe it was because she was different from the other antagonists I'd read about.
She wasn't evil for the sake of being evil.
She wasn't power-hungry.
She wasn't trying to conquer the world.
She was just...
Lonely.
I opened the character profile at the end of the novel, hoping there would be some hidden detail I had missed.
Theletyia Husernien.
Daughter of Duke Aleandro Husernien.
The last surviving Dark Magic user.
Executed at the age of twenty.
That was all.
Three miserable sentences.
"...That's it?"
I laughed bitterly.
"The author seriously summarized her entire life in three lines?"
I scrolled back to some of my favorite chapters.
Unlike most readers, I had bookmarked every scene involving Theletyia.
The first time she appeared.
The banquet where everyone whispered behind her back.
The chapter where she spent three days preparing a birthday gift for her father...
...only for him to throw it away without even opening it.
That chapter still hurt.
Even now.
I remembered the exact line.
«"A Duke has no need for childish gifts."»
That single sentence shattered the smile she'd worn all morning.
Yet the next day...
She tried again.
Then there was the chapter where she stood outside the emperor's office for nearly six hours, waiting just to congratulate Maximilliam after winning a battle.
He walked right past her.
Without a glance.
Without a word.
Readers in the comments called her obsessive.
Pathetic.
Annoying.
Maybe they were right.
But...
Had anyone ever wondered why she acted that way?
Children weren't born craving affection.
They learned to crave it after growing up without it.
I closed my eyes.
Theletyia wasn't chasing love because she was crazy.
She was chasing it because she'd never experienced it.
"..."
A lump formed in my throat.
The comments beneath the final chapter were even worse.
Finally! The witch is dead!
She deserved every second of it.
Best ending ever!
Roveria and Maximilliam forever!
I locked my phone.
"...You're all idiots."
The words escaped before I could stop them.
No one had questioned why Theletyia became who she was.
No one cared.
To everyone else, she was simply the obstacle standing between the hero and heroine.
But to me...
She felt painfully human.
If someone had reached out to her years earlier...
If someone had simply told her—
"You're enough."
Would everything have turned out differently?
"..."
I wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my oversized hoodie.
"When did I start crying?"
A weak laugh escaped my lips.
"I seriously get way too attached to fictional characters."
Still...
The tears refused to stop.
My apartment was silent except for the hum of the electric fan spinning lazily above me.
The room wasn't anything special.
A tiny studio apartment with faded wallpaper.
A single bed.
A small desk cluttered with empty snack wrappers and unfinished instant coffee.
Stacks of novels covered almost every available surface.
Fantasy.
Romance.
Mystery.
Historical.
If it involved another world, chances were I'd already read it.
Reading had always been my escape.
Real life wasn't particularly exciting.
Wake up.
Go to work.
Go home.
Read novels until three in the morning.
Repeat.
Not exactly glamorous.
But I was content.
At least...
Until today.
I picked up my phone one last time.
The illustration of Theletyia filled the screen.
Long sapphire hair.
Ruby-red eyes.
A confident smile that never reached her eyes.
"...You deserved better."
The words slipped out so naturally that I didn't even realize I'd spoken aloud.
"I wish someone had saved you."
Silence answered me.
Of course it did.
She wasn't real.
She was just a character.
A fictional noblewoman trapped inside the pages of a novel.
"..."
I let out another sigh before placing my phone on the nightstand.
"I've got work tomorrow."
Sleeping while emotionally devastated probably wasn't the healthiest idea...
But neither was staying awake all night.
I switched off the bedside lamp.
Darkness swallowed the room.
The only light came from the moon outside my window.
I pulled the blanket over myself.
"...Goodnight, Theletyia."
Within minutes...
My heavy eyelids finally closed.
...
...
"...Lady..."
A distant voice echoed somewhere nearby.
"...Lady..."
My eyebrows furrowed.
Was my alarm already ringing?
No...
That didn't sound like my ringtone.
"...Lady Theletyia..."
The voice grew clearer.
Closer.
Urgent.
"...Wake up..."
I slowly opened my eyes.
The ceiling above me...
Wasn't mine.
Instead of cracked white paint, an intricately carved ceiling stretched overhead, decorated with elegant golden patterns.
Silk curtains swayed gently beside an enormous window.
A crystal chandelier reflected the morning sunlight across the room.
"...Huh?"
I sat upright so quickly that the blanket slid off my shoulders.
The bed beneath me was absurdly soft.
The mattress alone probably cost more than everything inside my apartment.
"...Where..."
I looked around in confusion.
This wasn't my bedroom.
It wasn't even my apartment.
"...Where am I?"
Before I could gather my thoughts—
The bedroom door burst open.
"Lady Theletyia has awakened!"
Several maids rushed inside in complete panic.
My heart skipped a beat.
...
Theletyia...?
"Theletyia...?"
The name echoed inside my head.
No.
That couldn't be right.
I threw the blanket aside and jumped off the bed.
"My Lady!"
The maids gasped simultaneously, but I ignored them.
There was only one thought racing through my mind.
No way...
No. No, no, no.
I hurried across the room until I found a full-length mirror standing beside an ornate wardrobe.
The moment I looked into it...
I froze.
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