CH 1

“My lady, run away!”

Lily’s voice echoed with desperate cries that turned into screaming. When she came close, her thin body crumbled when she saw a blade covered in blood.

Red blood began to pool on the gray-stained floor while silver iron shoes stepped on it. The expression of the man, with a corpse of a small woman under his feet, was full of visible hatred.

A woman stood on the staircase of the hall and watched the whole scene in a way which seemed that she was out of touch with reality.

The garden outside the castle was trampled down by the iron shoes of the knights, and so were the servants protecting her. Shrieks that come into the ear, for a short or long time, are all looking for the same person.

Miss, miss. Run away. Please run away.

However, Beatrice, the girl they cry for, was just looking at a man who wore an expression of disgust as if he were looking at a cheap landscape painting. His face, which shows no agitation or emotion, was reminiscent of a death mask modeled after the face of a dead person.

“Beatrice Amber, a witch should kneel before God and confess her sins.”

The man’s blue eyes fluttered like fire. Beatrice learned for the first time today that he could have those scorching eyes even with such a cold color. I knew that he had never shown me such enthusiasm.

Beatrice, who looked at him in a gentle manner, soon turned her head. Her gaze paced between the castle and the garden, and beyond. It was a pity to see that what I had improved all on my own was being trampled on by their feet, but that was all I felt.

She was worried about her own safety and had no sorrow to send to those who died. Even more so, she has no heart to worry about her own life. She would just let this situation go by with her attitude towards her acts.

The man in front of her was the most proud and beloved knight of the Empire. He said that the number of knights following him was more than a hundred. Yes, it was too many to hunt just one single witch, but considering his reputation spread across the Empire, it’s not difficult to understand.

“If I kneel down and confess my sins, it doesn’t mean that my sins will disappear, so why should I do that?”

There was only one charge against Beatrice Amber. The crime of murder. A number of two hundred people got their lives taken away by her hands. She is even willing to shake her head if she was asked whether she was framed or if it wasn’t true.

It’s true that she killed all of them. If you ask her if she feels guilty about it, she will shake her head once again.

“Your sins are immeasurable.”

“Do you think I know the depth of my sins?”

“You don’t.”

“How can you say so?”

“Because you don’t see humans as humans.”

Beatrice did not deny it because his words were true. She doesn’t see humans as humans. No, she didn’t exactly feel that humans were the same “species” as her.

At the end of the frivolous question and answer, Holy Knights who swarmed into her mansion came in alone. All the servants who rushed towards the knights to protect her seemed to have lost their lives. They all glared at Beatrice, the witch on the stairs, their eyes gleaming.

Francis, the high ranked Holy Knight of the Temple, pointed his white sword out and aimed at the witch as a sign of their advance towards her.  

“The judgment of God will come.”

“Why does your judgement belong to God?”

It’s like hearing a funny joke. The sound of a light chuckle rang through the blood-soaked hall.

With that, the woman was immediately taken to the central plaza of the Empire and was placed on the guillotine. If she has the status of nobility, she won’t receive the trial she deserves.

Beatrice’s notoriety, which lasted for 10 years, ended with 182 male commoners, 32 female commoners, 13 noble men, and 2 noble women.

One of her small misfortunes was the fact that the witch’s neck was so strong that she didn’t die in a single hit, and only after hitting her half-crushed neck five more times, that’s when she completely lost her breath.

Beatrice opened her eyes. I saw a familiar ceiling. To describe her current situation, the two lame sentences were most appropriate.

I got up and sat down, a situation where I don’t know how many times had happened. She was getting sick of seeing the old, deep red duvet and the scenery of my room, where people couldn’t easily catch a glimpse of, and dust that was piled up in every nook and cranny.

I felt a terrible sense of emptiness in this life that I don’t know how long it will end. Without turning her head, she stretched out her hands to get something and accidentally fumbled the side table. That being said, something fell and shattered on the floor.

It was already obvious without even looking at it. A clock. The damn clock pointing its hands to nine o’clock

After rummaging through the table’s drawer a few more times, she was able to get what she wanted. As soon as she got five or six matches, she lit them up without hesitation and threw them onto the bed she laid on. 

Even if the old duvet is expensive, it burns in an instant. Even though she was caught as a witch, they did not burn her alive. It wouldn’t hurt to try it once. She experienced one more death with a terribly twisted smile.

Beatrice, who opened her eyes again, got out of bed roughly. Being burned to death was an experience that I couldn’t do twice. I expected it to be painful, but it hurted more than I had ever imagined.

I strode over to the table in front of the window, picked up a bottle of water, and drank it in haste. It was old water that she doesn’t even know how long it was placed there, but it was as cold as fresh water. It was said that her room was cold, but the temperature of her room was not important to her.

She set down the glass violently and turned around to grab the match on the table again. But this time, she threw the lit match under her closet and not her bed.

Clattering. Clattering. Inside the closet, there were small noises that could be heard if you listened carefully. Thanks to returning back in time over and over again, she already knew what was in it. She left her room in her pajamas without even checking if it was on fire. I think it would be better to get some fresh air.

As the door swung open, the bluntly carved handle slammed against the wall, making a loud noise. One of the servants passing through the hallway looked at her as she saw something strange. Beatrice walked down the hallway without even giving her a glance. While passing by all her servants and her maids, they pretended not to see her or just gave her audacious scornful glances.

Beatrice Amber. The illegitimate child of the late Duke Amber.

As she walked down the stairs of the hall for a while, she heard a scream behind her. She heard them shouting in fear, telling them to get some water. She smelled something burning. It seemed that the fire was lit up properly

She stepped out of the main gate, barefooted, with no emotion written on her face despite what she had done.

There was a carriage standing at the main gate. It was the Duke who had been preparing to go out since the morning. He furrowed his brow as if he had seen something he didn’t want to see, and proceeded to look up and down at her, barefoot in pajamas.

Whatever. She slowly took a deep breath and began to check herself. How many lives has this been? It’s not accurate, but it’s probably the 12th time. It could be the 13th time. She was doubting her memory in her head, but the sharp voice of a maid burst her ears.

“Duke! The lady’s room is on fire!”

“What?”

Calex, Amber’s current head, shot Beatrice a quick glance at once. He snarled at her, demonstrating that he could further shrivel his already distorted face.

“What is she saying, Beatrice?”

“Because there’s a rat in the closet.”

The voice I answered with was overly dry and calm. It meant that she wasn’t the one who set the fire in her room. 

The footsteps of the servants, running in a hurry to pour water, were bustling. It seemed wrong to quietly organize her thoughts, so Beatrice went to go back to her room. But Calex, who was standing in front of the carriage, came right behind her and stared at her.

The height difference between Calex and Beatrice was not even a span, and so their gaze naturally met.

“Are you calling that an excuse?”

“It’s not an excuse.”

Their gazes collided for a long time, a ferocious and heartless one. It was disturb by the voice of a servant who says that the fire has been extinguished after a long time. Calex commanded in a voice that clearly suppressed his anger.

“Leave Felix to take care of the cleanup. Don’t make Mother worry too much.”

“Okay.”

After completing his work, Calex soon passed Beatrice, so fast that she could hear a whiff. The ordered servant also disappeared into the mansion, paying no attention to her standing there.

The servants, who were struggling to put out the fire, started going back to  their stations one by one. Of course, no appropriate measures are taken after the fire is dampened down.

I’m getting hungry. She climbed the stairs again, as if she had never expected anything, and went back to her own room.

The door was wide open. A musty smell creeps out of the bedroom. The room was almost burnt down and a half collapsed closet stood still. Even the traces of the fire were stagnant after pouring water on them. The window was wide open as if they didn’t want to die from the smoke, but that was the only way to deal with the fire.

I flick the bell beside the bed past the closet. No matter how many times the tense bell rang, a maid did not show up. Slowly, she sat down at the table by the window, counting to twenty inside her head, until Mai, her exclusive maid, appeared at a sluggish pace.

She bowed in front of Beatrice with an expression that she was reluctant to pretend.

“Did you call for me, Miss?”

“Prepare a meal for me.”

Mai forgets the idea and raises her head. Her face clearly showed the intention of why she wanted to eat after committing the scandal she had made just this morning.

However, Mai went out of the room to faithfully carry out the order without complaining about it. It will take at least an hour for the meal to be ready, but the wait won’t be boring. This is because there is still one person left to see. He’ll appear soon.

“Beatrice!”

Exactly fifteen minutes later, a charismatic voice rushes into the room. It was my second brother, Felix.

He approached her without hesitation and shamelessly grunted. He immediately looked at her with a disgusted look as she was sitting on a chair and glanced at the burnt closet attached to the wall.