episode_0027

Helena of House Estelle.

Her lineage was not one of great prominence. Amidst various noble families, Helena was the jewel herself.

From a young age, her innate beauty and figure turned heads of every man she passed.

Helena became renowned. As time passed, she caught the attention of Esix, the lord of House Estelle.

Eventually, at the age of 12, upon reaching adulthood, Helena was coerced into a strategic marriage with Esix of House Estelle.

Throughout this process, Helena’s wishes were never considered.

Her parents were only interested in the money offered by House Estelle.

In short, they sold their daughter for wealth.

Forced into a strategic marriage with Esix of House Estelle, Helena found herself living among strangers in the Esix household, where she knew no one.

She had no allies.

Coming from a neither powerful nor famous family, those in the Esix household despised and disregarded Helena.

Realizing her safety was at stake if she continued to drift along, the astute Helena swiftly began to manipulate the family.

First and foremost, she bore a son. By securely producing the next heir, Helena grew stronger.

At the age of 15, awakening to mana, people’s treatment towards her changed.

By 17, her beauty blossomed, captivating even the members of the household. Of course, some remained unaffected.

By the age of 20, she surpassed Esix, the head of House Estelle.

Surviving in a family where she had no allies required relentless effort from Helena.

As time passed, with Esix falling ill, Helena emerged as the most influential figure in the household.

With Helena seizing power, House Estelle soared. Her beauty and social skills had an astounding effect.

Most negotiations swayed in her favor, and relationships with neighboring families significantly improved.

Furthermore, her son’s talents as a knight.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly until a problem arose unexpectedly.

The arrival of Lily, a bastard child.

At the age of 6, Helena was taken aback by the appearance of the child. Lily was a child Esix had hidden from Helena, conceived through an affair.

Moreover, Esix brought Lily into the household, allowing her to live there.

Following Lily’s arrival, surrounding families pointed fingers at House Estelle. Years of hard work building relationships with other lords and ladies during tea times crumbled in an instant.

Due to this, Helena disliked Lily and found her presence repulsive, housing her separately.

As time passed, when Lily turned 10, she awakened to mana.

Being the youngest to awaken to mana, Lily instantly drew the attention of the household members.

Her status as a bastard did not matter; being a mana awakener and carrying Esix’s bloodline was crucial.

Growing rapidly, Lily held not just the record for the youngest but also excelled beyond beginner levels of magic, already reaching intermediate mage status.

From then on, the expressions of some household members towards Helena changed when they looked at her.

No matter how hard Ian tried and how talented he was, he could not compare to a mana awakener.

Those who already held a negative view of Helena began to exploit Lily. Of course, Lily remained oblivious.

A division occurred in an instant.

Helena wracked her brain, trying to navigate the situation. And one day, an incident occurred.

Poison had been introduced into the food.

As a result, Helena’s son, Ian, suffered severe consequences, leaving him in a permanent incapacitated state. Additionally, while Helena neutralized the effects through magic, she couldn’t undo everything.

Ultimately, Helena’s body became incapable of conceiving children for the rest of her life.

The culprit was the head chef. Originally a spy from another clan, he had already committed suicide by the time the culprit was found.

Helena was under more stress than ever, knowing she could lose her son and even her own life.

Furthermore, there were gods trying to force Lily into the position of head of the family.

But there was no way to stop it. Currently, Ian had to spend his life bedridden.

The only option left was to prolong Esix’s life as much as possible without causing him to die.

If Esix were to die before Lily took over as the head, Helena and Ian would naturally perish.

In an instant, the Estelle family began to falter.

The flow of neighboring countries became strange, almost to the point where war breaking out wouldn’t be surprising.

Moreover, noticing the instability of the Estelle family, pressure from other clans began to mount.

The gods crossed over to other clans, driven by the money in front of them, aiming to pass the Estelle family onto another clan.

For that to happen, Helena had to disappear. Or rather, she had to die.

However, Helena herself was a mid-level mage who had awakened her mana. That’s why they didn’t directly target her.

First, it was Helena’s family.

Helena’s family disappeared overnight. Even though they had sold themselves off for money, family was the last remaining support for Helena, who had no one else on her side.

Moreover, her younger sister, whom she still communicated with through letters, was also Helena’s last source of solace.

That family perished overnight. The family vanished.

Helena, who had been barely holding on day by day, received three boxes.

Inside those boxes were human heads.

They belonged to Helena’s parents and her younger sister.

The distorted forms of the heads showed how much torture they had endured; their eyes were gouged out, their mouths torn into what seemed like smiles.

On her sister’s head, there was a hairpin Helena had gifted, half melted.

Helena, who had been running non-stop since she was 12, had survived alone without anyone by her side.

Her mind had reached its limit.

– Thud. Degrururu.

A round bead rolled in front of Helena and stopped at her feet.

– Crack.

It was a recording bead.

The bead, lit up by Helena’s foot, displayed a video of her parents being brutally tortured.

Beaten all over, stripped of skin except for their heads, forcibly dismembered arms and legs.

Her parents cursed her while being tortured.

She shouldn’t have existed. It was because of her that she was in this state. She should have died. She should have just married some rich piglet.

Spewing unimaginable words about her parents, she was shocked to death after her eyes were gouged out.

Then the video ended as her throat was cut with a rough saw.

Immediately, the next video started.

“Sister, sister, help me, help me, save me, save me.”

Her younger sister calling out to Helena while being tortured. Her sister met the same fate as their parents.

Helena didn’t move until all the videos ended. Throughout the entire duration of the videos, she didn’t close her eyes once, which might explain why she was shedding tears of blood.

Helena’s mind crumbled.

With her support system gone, Helena descended into madness. Unable to make rational decisions, she became a witch.

Helena thought and acted because of Lily, the cause of all this. So she decided to drag Lily down to hell like herself.

As an advanced sorceress who could only be a select few among sorcerers, Helena thoroughly isolated Lily and slowly dragged her into ruin by transforming into Lily herself.

Before long, Lily had become a legendary villainess, a witch.

And when the long-awaited Lily turned 18, Helena realized her plan.

She incited a civil war, created a revolution by manipulating public opinion she had crafted.

And she imprisoned Lily.

Helena knew that the imprisoned Lily was not the real Lily. But this, too, was one of Helena’s expectations.

Instead of Lily, a maid named Amelia was captured.

Knowing that Lily had a maid named Amelia who she considered a mother, while she had lived alone without anyone’s love, how delighted she was. To think that Lily could suffer the same pain as herself.

Simply killing someone brings no pain. It is more painful to watch someone you truly love and cherish die in agony, as Helena well knew.

Seeing Amelia, who looked like Lily before her, Helena smiled.

Feeling as if she were torturing Lily, and imagining Lily’s true suffering as she watched Amelia die, brought her joy.

Thus, Helena gouged out the eyes of Amelia, who looked exactly like Lily.

After all the torture, before Lily left the city, Helena decided to execute Amelia.

Though Lily was not visible, Helena, knowing for sure that Lily would come to this square, watched with a smile as Amelia was executed.

After everything was over, Helena went to where her parents and younger sister were buried and ended her life.

Wearing the brightest expression since she was 12…