Alicia didn't remember much.
Just the bright moonlight, the cool autumn air, and the white curtains that were fluttering like sails.
“Your Highness, the Second Prince…?
Where are you?”
Then that silence that was waiting for her.
In the empty bedroom, Alicia bit her lip as she stared at the curtains that were swaying softly.
Stupidly, despite the two years of coldness and neglect since their marriage, she was still hoping.
“Maybe today, he will finally look at me.”
“Perhaps, he will smile at me—not disdainfully, but warmly.”
How naive she was.
She was the daughter of a lower-ranking noble family in the Laurent Empire—merely allowing her to marry the second son of the Great Emperor was more than she deserved.
If it weren't for her possessing fire mana, and if her mana wasn't completely compatible with his, Alicia would never have set foot in the palace.
Perhaps for this reason, from the day of the wedding, Franz made it clear that his marriage to her was only out of duty.
Franz Eustace, the Second Prince—true to his title “Son of the Sun”—was breathtakingly handsome.
His golden hair looked like it had been dipped in honey, his radiant golden eyes seemed to hold the same sunlight, and his face seemed sculpted to perfection.
Every line of his face was drawn with great care—sharp, yet delicate.
While the first prince was known for his intelligence, the second prince was known for his beauty.
So it was natural for a country girl like Alicia to fall in love with him at first sight.
That man—standing at the cathedral altar in his ceremonial white—was her husband-to-be.
How could her heart not fail?
She completely forgot that this marriage was political to save her collapsing family.
She just stared at him, mesmerized.
But when Franz saw Alicia entering the hall, his features changed clearly.
Her golden eyes pierced her, her head automatically lowered, and she walked towards him slowly.
Standing next to the radiant second prince, she felt every sharp gaze penetrating her.
Still, I held out hope.
Maybe... just maybe, I'm not that bad in his eyes.
“Pathetic.”
But that low whisper, uttered between the Archbishop's blessings, shattered her childish dream of a happy royal marriage.
Being called the “Spring Fairy” in the countryside meant nothing in a palace filled with incomparable beauty.
In Franz's eyes, Alicia was less than a wildflower.
She saw him as less than his maids saw him.
They never shared a bedroom.
She wasn't even allowed to call him by his name.
At first, the nobles came bearing gifts to curry favor with her—hoping to establish a connection with the imperial family through her.
But after a year, everyone stopped.
Rumors were moving faster than the wind inside the palace.
Her unreal mother was pressuring her, telling her to tempt Franz with her beauty if nothing else.
But capturing Franz's heart was Alicia's hardest and most desperate challenge.
She was ignorant about men's matters.
She didn't even know how to make him laugh.
For two years, she was just a tool—to organize his mana.
Once a week, that was all she had with him—to calm his restless mana.
Even this meeting only lasted a few minutes.
When she held his hand to calm the storm inside him, his face froze.
Rather, he was turning his head away from her.
He was beating his fists as if her touch alone was torture for him.
As soon as the mana calmed down, he quickly got up and fled the room.
Once, they met by chance in the Second Prince's living room.
Alicia smiled with relief.
Franz covered his nose.
His expression changed as if her very presence disgusted him.
She ran to the bathroom crying that day—scrubbing her body until her skin was irritated and red.
From then on, she began bathing madly before every meal, dousing herself with perfume.
Then a rumor spread: Franz had a mistress.
She was said to be extremely beautiful—and her mana matched Franz's mana was almost perfect.
Compared to her, Alicia was nothing—a miserable Fire Mage, with weak powers, shamelessly clinging to the title of “Second Princess.”
Alicia wasn't jealous.
She was afraid.
If someone can replace her in terms of mana compatibility—then what good is she?
She trembled, afraid that she would be thrown away at any moment.
Then she received a letter from Franz.
A cold request—that you come and organize his affairs.
However, her heart skipped a beat.
She washed carefully, applied perfume until the maids complained, and ran to his room.
But what greeted her...was an empty room.
"Your Highness, I'm here.
It's me, Alicia.
Aren't you here?"
Her voice, charged with fragile hope, was answered only by silence.
Once again, she was left alone.
Like a dog begging for her master's love.
The letter, sealed with his seal, was placed on the side table.
Even in betrayal, she could not tear it or wrinkle it.
He will ask me again.
He still needs me...for now.
As she whispered empty consolation to herself, a gust of wind blew the letter off the table.
I rushed to catch her before she fell to the ground—
Then, she felt a presence behind her.
Followed by burning pain that tore through her chest.
“Hah—!”
Blood spurted from her mouth.
Her eyes widened in shock.
A sword had directly pierced her heart.
A dirty spot spread under her feet.
The letter was smeared with blood, glistening under the moonlight.
No...this is not possible...
Alicia collapsed to the ground and, with all her remaining strength, tried to push the letter away.
Even in her last moments, she could not bear the desecration of his seal.
But its strength was fading quickly.
It barely touched its edge.
Her vision rotated, and the ceiling appeared, which began to color with the pale light of dawn.
“Alesia!”
Franz's voice rang out.
"Liz!
Open your eyes!"
She forced her extinguished eyes open.
Even when she was on the verge of death, his voice continued to have the same power over her heart.
Franz was shouting something—desperate, urgent.
But her ears could no longer hear.
He looked angry.
He hugged her bleeding body, holding the blood-stained letter.
Despite her attempts, she was soaked in red.
“R-Run… Your Highness...”
She tried to warn him.
What if the attacker also attacked Franz?
“Your Highness...”
But the masked man who stabbed her... bowed politely before Franz.
Whispered something in his ear.
Franz's eyes widened.
He bit his lips hard.
His face became blurry in her fading vision.
Only then, Alicia realized the truth.
It's Franz.
Franz—the one she loved endlessly—was the one who tried to kill her.
She had become an annoying burden in his eyes—
And so he chose to get rid of it.
A burning disappointment, an anger she had never known, swept through her.
With what was left of her mana, she gathered her strength.
I didn't like you to throw me like that.
I refuse to die like this.
“...Franz...”
She whispered his name, blood streaming from her lips.
Only in death could she speak his name.
What a cruel husband, Jalil.
She remembered the two years she had spent craving his attention, so she laughed bitterly.
He held her to his chest as her lips curved softly.
How funny.
She always longed for his touch —
And now, only in death, he was holding her.
She would be content to be near him—even if he didn't love her.
But even that, he was deprived of it.
“Huh...”
And so, Alicia made her decision.
She cast a curse—the kind that can't be broken.
A curse that ensures that no other woman will ever be able to soothe Manah.
A constant, eternal curse.
“You will suffer...as much as I did...and I love you.”
Her first and last confession.
"I love you."
A bright light filled the room as if it were day, and with the curse complete—
Alicia took her last breath.
And she died... just like that.