An unusually dreary and sunny day.
Violet Everdeen was walking towards the temple.
That morning, Violet had decided to get rid of the ring, the last relic of her birth mother.
-You!
So you've been hiding your commoner mother's ring this whole time?
A few days ago his father had gotten very angry and had raised his hand at him.
His biological mother was a bad person.
A woman who had deliberately seduced her father, a nobleman from an ancient and prestigious family.
A woman who almost ruined her father's already engaged marriage.
A woman who, after giving birth to Violet, got a large sum of money and squandered it on alcohol and luxuries until she died on the street.
That's why it made her father angry that Violet had such a woman's ring.
—Did your eccentric uncle give you this ring?
Well, you should have thrown it away, sister—her stepmother and stepsister had also scolded her harshly.
In the end, Violet decided to donate the ring to the temple.
He thought it would be fine since, in a broad sense, it was an act of ‘emptying and discarding’ as mentioned in the Bible.
—Please, a handout, just a coin.
On the way, Violet saw an old woman sitting on a mat at the entrance to the temple, begging.
After a moment's thought, he put the ring into his begging bowl.
-Hey?
This ring looks like a real jewel…” The eyes of the old woman who looked at her were surprisingly clear and lively.
—It's cold.
Don't stay here too long.
—But this object seems to have a history...
I can't accept it just like that...
—I give it to you without conditions, don't worry.
This will be enough to spend the winter comfortably.
Violet turned around after speaking kindly.
At that moment, the old woman's hand grabbed her ankle tightly.
—…Excuse me, grandmother?
—Wow, how impatient.
We were still talking.
The old woman's hand was wrinkled and her wrist was dry, but her ankle did not move.
It was as if she was held by an iron bar.
Furthermore, he was afraid to shake it abruptly, since he couldn't kick an old woman.
—He has more strength than he seems.
—Ahem, even though I'm a beggar, I have my own ethics.
You should always be cautious when accepting a valuable item.
—And also a very strict work philosophy…
—Tell me, who did this object originally belong to?
How did he know the ring was an inheritance?
Violet was curious, but answered anyway.
—This ring is the relic of a bad person who abandoned me.
-Bad?
Do you really believe it?
—Everyone says it… the truth is, I don't know very well.
At the beginning of each winter, when she was born, Violet used to wonder if her biological mother had aborted her out of love for the little life in her womb.
Wouldn't he have held her and whispered words of love one cold night with a swollen belly?
Just once, at least once.
—Well, I understand.
Then I will accept it.
Thank you.
—So, now I'm leaving...
—Listen until the end.
I didn't say I'd just accept it.
Even I, who live on alms, have a treasure.
A treasure must be exchanged for another treasure.
The old woman let go of her hand and took out something from her clothes.
Violet reacted instinctively and caught what the old woman threw at her.
—Is your treasure a candy that you have saved?
It was a round, luminous sphere inside a glass jar.
—A candy?
How dare you say such a thing!
This is an elixir.
And a perfect elixir for a talented apprentice knight like you.
Only then did Violet understand the situation.
He rejected it in the most polite way possible.
—I appreciate your offer.
But I'm not going to buy it.
—You already paid the price with the ring!
Trust me and take it.
The effect is incredible.
It will perfectly reveal to you the secret of the universe, regardless of whether it is from this world or another.
—To report drugs, you can call Imperial Guard mailbox 3 directly.
Grandma, I don't know what bad people have tricked you into this, but you could be in big trouble.
Violet advised her seriously.
—Wow, what a serious face, but with so much imagination.
You have a lot of worries, right?
I know how to solve your problems.
—And how is that?
—Knowing the future!
This medicine will show you the future!
Although its only flaw is that it shows it a bit randomly...
Violet began to suspect that she was talking to a crazy person.
—Grandma, I…
—That's enough.
It's time for me to go.
Work-life balance is very important, you know?
—Yes, of course, balance.
It is very important.
Cha-rang, Do-rong.
At this moment, a glowing sound came from the glass jar.
Violet stared at the jar for a moment.
'Have I heard it wrong?
Violet raised her head again.
—I should return this medicine…
However, there was no one in front of her.
The alms bowl and the mat on which the old woman was sitting had completely disappeared, as if they had never been there.
"Were you here a moment ago?"
But the glass jar in his hand did exist.
And that wasn't the only question I had.
'I had to ask her how she knew she was a candidate for knighthood.
Violet, with her delicate figure and girlish blonde hair, was so discreet that people didn't realize she was wielding a sword.
—…Also, 'talent.' I'm useless with a constitution that can't accumulate magical energy.
Everyone calls me a failure.
The worst failure in the history of the academy, that was her nickname.
Of course, he received no response.
—Violet returned home with her heart in knots.
The Everdeen mansion, in the center of the capital, was empty.
That morning, her family had gone on a trip to a winter resort, leaving her alone.
Half of the servants had accompanied them and the other half had taken vacations.
Climbing the creaking stairs, she reached the attic, the only space allowed for her in that house.
Simple and humble furniture, a few articles of clothing.
The only thing of value in that room was a ray of afternoon sun.
—Show me the future?
There's no way something like that could be real.
Sitting on the bed, Violet rolled the medicine bottle around.
It was not difficult for her to imagine her future: she would live in silence, atoning for being an illegitimate daughter, and she would marry Bluideen, the son of the Commander of the Capital Knights, a fiancé her father had chosen for her.
Bluideen hated her and always treated her cruelly.
So chances were that most of their married life would be filled with verbal abuse or silence.
'Then it won't be much different from my current life.
Deep in his heart, however, a hope whispered to him: 'Something will change.
'Can't I at least live a normal and peaceful life?' she thought, although it would be difficult to live a life like that of the outstanding heroines of her favorite novels.
At this moment, the glass jar rang again.
Violet opened it.
'Hey?
Something incredible happened.
The medicine inside the bottle glowed and floated in the air.
—Why is he…?
—Just as he opened his mouth to finish his sentence, the medicine flew and slipped into his mouth.
‘If this medicine came with a forced delivery function, they should have told me beforehand!
Do-ro-rong, Cha-rang, Cha-rang.
Another bright sound.
This time he heard it loud and clear in his ears.
Violet blinked slowly.
A strange scene unfolded before his eyes.
BOOM!
«A loud noise.
‘Violet was firmly immobilized.
His body was not intact, as if he had been tortured.
The herald of the empire, who was in front of her, began to read a document aloud.
Criminal Violet Everdeen, 34 years old, born June 13.
The worst criminal in history, the most heinous villain, the leader of an evil group that massacred 753 people in a demonic summoning ritual.
"Ha," 'Violet mocked the herald's words.
A burst of magical energy spread around him, forming ten magic circles of different colors.
But the circles quickly disappeared.
'Something' in the place where he was was absorbing his magic.
—Oh, you, the evil artist, the mage of the barrier, the first human to create ten circles of magic, the one who possessed the talent of one in ten thousand.
In the end, you used your talent for evil and that is why you will die.
Today, the 30-day torture stops and the sentence is handed down.
Behind the herald, an executioner with his face covered with a cloth approached.
—Immediate death sentence.
The executioner removed the gag that 'Violet had in her mouth.
—Yuck!
Am I the villain?
You made me like this!
I forever curse my family who humiliated and abused me for being an illegitimate daughter, and I curse all of you!
But no one listened to her.
A thick rope wrapped around his neck.
Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet disappeared and the rope tightened.
The sound of his kicking lasted for a moment, and then there was only silence.
Everything stopped.
—Haaa!
Violet opened her eyes.
-What was that?
Did I see an illusion?
The old woman's words echoed again.
(This medicine will show you the future!)
Was the big villain your future?
—It's not possible for me to be like that.
No, I won't be!
—She was the epitome of an ordinary citizen who respected the rules.
—And I'm not a genius, that doesn't make sense to begin with—I was at the cavalry academy.
The academy focused on training sword-savvy knights who could handle magic, that is, aura users.
But after entering the academy, it was revealed that Violet had a constitution that prevented her from accumulating magic in her core, so she could not create an aura.
'But I felt it, and I saw it clearly..., he repeated himself.
He felt the immensity of the ten circles of magic that surrounded 'Violet's body, as infinite as the sea.
'A small portion of magic users, approximately one in ten thousand, cannot accumulate magic in their body.
Instead, they can surround themselves with circles of magic.
These are called geniuses.
I had read something like that in a book.
He thought it was some kind of legend, but…
Violet walked out into the backyard, as if possessed by something.
'I don't have to focus on the core.
I will concentrate on the existence of the circles that could be around me…
When she opened her eyes again, Violet saw a faint, transparent ring floating around her body.
They weren't the ten colored magic circles he had seen, but a magic circle did exist.
Violet reached out and touched the circle.
He felt it in his hand.
"Hick!"
Alarmed, she quickly moved away.
At the same time, he let out a hollow laugh.
The magic circles were constantly accumulating based on the result of his training.
I simply hadn't known of its existence.
Violet was a genius with the talent of one in ten thousand.
…To be continued