Prologue : Letter from the Villainess

Do you remember the day we first met?

It was a night when the moon hung lonely in the sky, shining with a solitary light.

That night, Your Highness sat alone in the royal garden, keeping company with solitude.

Had I not appeared, perhaps Your Highness would have remained alone until the end of your birthday celebration.

But, upon finding me wandering alone like a lost lamb, Your Highness kindly extended a warm hand to me.

Like a lifeboat adrift in the sea of despair, sitting in a corner of the garden, I found salvation in that hand.

In the darkness, the shadows looked like monsters to me.

I was so frightened.

And terrified.

I still cannot forget those feelings even now.

Because that was the moment I was able to meet Your Highness.

If it weren’t for Your Highness’s help, I wonder if I would still be trembling alone in the darkness.

From that moment, I began to admire you, Your Highness.

Why does love need a grand reason?

My heart just resonated that way.

That’s all I can say.

From that day forward, I tried my best to become a woman worthy of Your Highness.

I mastered etiquette, accumulated knowledge, and learned refined arts like music and painting.

Of course, it was not easy.

It felt as if I was enduring bone-carving pain, like a storm.

But even so, I couldn’t give up.

Even now, I think it was because my love for Your Highness was that strong.

And finally, on the day Your Highness accepted my engagement, I was so overjoyed by the fact that we shared the same feelings, even more than the fact that my efforts had paid off, that I couldn’t help but shed tears.

It wasn’t just a moon I admired alone.

Your Highness felt the same way as I did.

Foolishly, I misunderstood.

Even if the child Your Highness adored hadn’t appeared, was that love just an illusion, like snow melting on a warm spring day?

When Your Highness first brought that child into the palace, at first, I didn’t think much of it.

I simply admired Your Highness’s kindness.

But as time passed, I could see Your Highness’s heart changing.

Though Your Highness claimed to control your emotions, I already knew everything.

Your heart had drifted far from me.

I was angry.

I was jealous.

But over time, I began to grow accustomed to it.

At first, I fought to win Your Highness back, adhering to the strict royal laws.

Whether it was a duel, refinement, or knowledge—there was nothing that child could rival me in.

However, as I watched Your Highness endlessly defend that child, I eventually realized the truth.

Ah, it’s over for me.

Even my once-praised golden hair, admired by my mother, had lost its shine, and only then did I accept my fate.

Even if I couldn’t be the main wife, I would have settled for being a concubine.

All I wanted was to stay by Your Highness’s side.

But Your Highness didn’t even allow that.

Your Highness despised me, and beyond that, coldly rebuked me, publicly humiliating me as a villainess.

Me, who once stood by your side as a partner.

Thanks to that, people now point fingers at me, calling me a villainess.

But more than the public’s scorn, it was the sudden change in Your Highness’s attitude that hurt so much.

Your Highness, did you truly hate me that much?

Did you find me so repulsive that you couldn’t bear the sight of me?

Why do you shower all your affection on that child, while treating me, who spent my entire life devoted to you, so cruelly?

If your feelings were genuine, why did you accept my engagement in the first place?

Why didn’t you reject me harshly from the beginning?

Why did you spend so much time with me?

It wouldn’t have hurt this much if you hadn’t.

Your Highness, I resent you more than anyone for taking away my family and my honor.

But at the same time, there remains a small part of me that still wishes for Your Highness’s happiness.

I don’t ask for much.

Just remember.

Remember that there was once a foolish woman who loved you more than anyone else.

I must now leave for the northern lands.

I doubt we will ever meet again, but that’s alright.

If that is what Your Highness wishes, then I will comply.

May the Goddess watch over you until the day your life comes to an end.