***
In my previous life, I read a novel called “The Goddess of the Sun”.
Cordelia, a woman of immense divine power, was used by the Temple and the Count, and was kidnapped by the mastermind Grand Duke Devan.
Devan asked her to lift the curse.
She lifted his curse, and he took revenge on the Count and the Temple for her. The story was about two people who saved each other and love each other.
So the heroine of the prophecy was not me, but Cordelia.
I’m trying to steal Cordelia’s place.
Isn’t it unfair? Someone dies and someone lives because of a single word that no one knows who will speak.
Of course, I really didn’t mean to take her place. Nor did I even want to marry the mastermind, the Grand Duke.
I acted just like the original story, until I was kidnapped the year I turned 18.
I was kidnapped, and the curse was lifted as in the original story. However, what I demanded was not revenge, but enough money and status to be able to leave this country.
I was sick and tired of both the temple and the Count. It would be better to run far away instead of taking revenge.
Thus, I would forever say goodbye to the role that this dreadful novel had played in my life.
Every time I turned over in my sleep, a sound of pain came out of me. I was sore. I felt guilty.
Originally, I would have to die and disappear from this house next year, so Cordelia could be adopted. But if I continued to be as unreliable as I was now, Count Diego would lose faith in the temple.
Under such circumstances, it was clear that the count would refuse to adopt another child. It meant that Cordelia would not be adopted here since I had decided not to use my divine powers.
Would that change the prophecy? The future story may be distorted.
But even if that was the case, I had no choice………. I wasn’t going to sacrifice my life for some faceless female protagonist.
I shook my head.
“At least there’s the male protagonist, so I’ll leave Devan for you. Cordelia.”
I vowed.
***
Since I did not use my powers until I was fifteen, Count Diego used another method.
“Woof!”
He took a puppy hostage.
“Grab it.”
At the Count’s words, the servants beside me quickly grabbed my head. He made me stare at the puppy in the Count’s hands, while the mother dog was tied by a collar beside it.
As if starting a funny joke, the Count wet his lips.
He had a look of madness in his eyes.
“If you don’t use your powers, this puppy will die.”
No.
Without realizing it, a moan erupted out of my mouth.
There was a faint anticipation in the Count’s eyes.
It was an expression of amusement to see me react, since I had not been daunted by any threats.
“Woof!”
The mother of the pup, a big dog, yelped sharply.
Just a few days ago, she gave birth to her puppies.
I threw my gaze in that direction and gritted my teeth.
It was because of me that the Count had brought the puppy as a hostage.
It was a stray dog and often wandered near the Count’s house.
She was also my only friend.
I had to spend a lot of time in the basement whether I liked it or not.
In the basement, where everything was clogged, there was only one hole that connected the outside, a very low window that could only be seen by lying flat on the floor.
It was also blocked with iron bars and all I could do was reach out to it.
It looked like a hole that was left open to prevent flooding, and not many people seemed to know it existed.
But I couldn’t help but notice myself, always lying on the floor.
And the dog often approached that hole.
That time.
The Count and the servants were gone, and I was left alone on the cool floor, enduring the pain.
The dog, as if it knew my situation, came over without barking, looking at me from the hole.
The round black eyes and the touch of the moist nose that I could barely reach were vividly brought to life.
*Back to reality.
“From what I hear, that’s the dog you cherish, isn’t it?”
The Count’s eyes sparkled viciously.
Often, I hid my little meals and threw a little bit of food to the dog through the hole. This was especially common after the dog became pregnant.
Someone must have seen it and told the Count.
My body shuddered, and a blue vein appeared on my neck.
Before I knew it, the stray dog was looking not at the Count, but at me.
My pupils, which were at peace with everything, shook violently.
“I’ll let it go as soon as you use your strength. Of course, with the mother.”
The Count sighed with exaggerated sincerity and regret.
I stared at him. I wanted to spit in his face.
Eventually, I used my strength to save the puppy. As soon as I encountered the round black eyes, I gave off my strength like an explosion.
The Count jumped up and down with joy.
He seemed to think that he had unblocked my power.
He didn’t know that all my divine power had run out, or that I was deliberately not using it.
It was a natural reaction. What reason could there be for me to endure the torture and deliberately hide my divine power?
He couldn’t have known that I remembered my previous life, and he had a foolish belief that only a shock would unblock my divine power.
And I witnessed the servants digging deep into the backyard that night. The promise that if I used my powers the Count would allow the puppy to leave safely was a lie. He had no intention of letting the puppy live from the beginning.
After that, I stopped the nonsense.
That’s how I lost the three puppies. The Count even took the last remaining puppy one as a hostage.
Even if I used my divine power again, the dog would die anyway.
If I didn’t use my strength from the beginning, would anything change if the Count realized that such a nasty threat did not work?
felt guilty even though I knew it was an inevitable choice.
“You gave up quickly at first, and now you’re not going to use your strength, are you?”
The Count took me by the chin and made eye contact with me. His eyes were glowing with madness and lust. Then he forced my head to turn to look at the stray dog.
“You can’t even feel sorry for the mother who lost three children because of you.”
I couldn’t resist and spit in his face. It was an impulsive act.
“How dare you……!”
The Count’s eyes lit up with color. He couldn’t hold back his anger and hit me.
“Woof! Woof! Woof!”
At that moment, beyond the Count, I saw the pitch-black pupils of the dog looking at me.
Blind pupils with no resentment.
The dog was barking at the Count, as if to tell him to take his hands off me, to stop tormenting me.
She was trying to save me, the one who couldn’t even keep her children alive. I bit down on the weak flesh in my mouth.
I didn’t cry. Because I didn’t deserve to cry.
***
That day, I didn’t use my divine power until the end.
I wished this was the last time, but maybe it would continue.
The Count’s madness was becoming worse, as it had always been. It wasn’t surprising where he would come up with another new move.
Rather, I shouldn’t have used my divine power from the time the adoption began. I shouldn’t have given the Count any useless hope.
If that were the case, no innocent puppies would have been killed.
But I might have been the one who died.
I steeled myself to be weaker.
The original story had already started to go awry when I decided not to use my power. Cordelia’s life, which was originally supposed to have a smooth happy ending, had already been changed.
Yes, I made up my mind to survive, no matter what sacrifices I had to make. Therefore, I must not retreat at this level.
‘No matter what he does, I will not use my divine power.’
I had to make the Count believe that I couldn’t use the power at will. My body went down limp.
I could feel the reluctance of the maids who grabbed my arms on both sides against my skin.
Before I knew it, I was in the second floor hallway. There was my room on the second floor.
The water was cold enough to wake me from my sleep, but I felt a little better knowing that I would be able to wash soon.
Then I would be able to sleep. And tomorrow ……….
The thought of what was to come gave me a headache.
At that moment, the maids suddenly stopped their steps.
What’s going on? I blinked my unawakened eyes.
I saw a large figure standing in the hallway.
Seeing that he was big and in armor, I could tell who he was without looking at his face.
It was Killian.
“I’ll take her there.”
I heard a low voice. I could feel the maids fidgeting.
“She needs a bath…”
“I need to talk to her about something. I’m sure you don’t want to disobey my orders.”
“No, of course not. Young Master.”
The maidservants shuddered.
Then they left me with Killian, who approached me before I knew it. He picked me up with ease. My head throbbed at the sudden rise.
Killian didn’t even care that the maids were stomping on the ground with panicked looks on their faces.
“Send a doctor to her room.”
Not listening to the answer, he strode away.
As usual, he opened the door to my room and carefully laid me down on the bed. Only today, my whole body was especially sore and weak. I couldn’t even open my eyes and sank straight down on the bed. I wanted to sleep like this, but I could feel his eyes staring at me.
I was horrified.
I wondered why this family, father and son, did so many disgusting things.
I forced my eyes to open.
Killian was staring at me with lustful eyes, as if he wanted something.