Episode 2

 

‘Lindsey Kesion.’

 

Lindsey murmured her name. The name felt both familiar and unfamiliar.

 

Lindsey Kesion died 25 years ago. After her death, she was reborn in Korea.

 

Han Ji-yoo, an S-class guide.

 

That was the name she had in Korea.

 

‘Well, then, what’s this about…?’

 

Lindsey cautiously touched her face.

 

While working as an S-class guide in Korea, her skin became rough.

 

It was inevitable after going through battles.

 

But now, Lindsey’s skin was smooth as if she had never suffered.

 

Even if she were condemned, she was a noble’s daughter, so it was natural.

 

Lindsey found that fact despairing.

 

‘Did I really come back…?’

 

She didn’t want to come back.

 

Ji-yoo’s life in Korea was more satisfying than Lindsey Kesion’s life.

 

In the country where she was born, Korea, there were beings called guides and espers.

 

Espers were individuals who used mysterious abilities, and guides were those who could heal such espers.

 

Lindsey liked the profession of a guide, and she also liked the espers who trusted her.

 

It wasn’t without its challenges. But it was rewarding nonetheless.

 

She truly didn’t want to come back to this world.

 

No, I had never even imagined that she would come back.

 

The very act of imagining such a thing felt like an insult to Ji-yoo’s perfect life.

 

But she came back, as if it were a lie.

 

She became Lindsey Kesion again.

 

Lindsey slowly approached the window.

 

Her gaze turned towards the training ground. Her face twisted at the familiar sight.

 

She saw Azhet, her fiancé, and Kenyan, who had spread rumors about her.

 

Azhet, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time, was an astonishingly handsome man.

 

Everyone who saw him couldn’t help but admire him.

 

Beautiful golden hair, as if spun from gold.

 

His purple eyes sparkled like jewels crafted by a master.

 

His swordsmanship was exceptional, with hardly anyone in the empire able to match him.

 

Truly a perfect man.

 

Among the aristocrats of the empire, there was hardly anyone who didn’t like him.

 

Lindsey murmured as she looked at him.

 

‘If you’re so perfect, then what?’

 

Watching them, Lindsey remembered why she didn’t want to come back here.

 

‘No one wanted me.”’

 

In Korea, she was needed more than anyone else. But not in this world.

 

Azhet, her fiancé, not only disliked her but detested her.

 

Azhet and Lindsey hadn’t married out of love.

 

They were engaged out of necessity.

 

“Please don’t love me.”

 

“…”

 

“We’re engaged out of necessity, that’s all.”

 

“…”

 

“All you have to do is lift this damn curse that torments me. If you do that, I’ll give you everything but love.”

 

But Lindsey couldn’t keep her promise to him.

 

Just as there were espers and guides in Korea, there were also transcendent beings and priests in this world.

 

The premise for Azhet and the contractual marriage to take place was her manifestation of divine power.

 

However.

 

Lindsey had not awakened to her divine power.

 

‘It must be now. Before Azhet and I have our wedding.’

 

So she came to the Radian Duchy.

 

At this moment, she begged Azhet for mercy.

 

She pleaded with him not to break off their engagement.

 

She promised to become more useful, to manifest her divine power.

 

Lindsey thought she would become a priestess.

 

People around her said so, and even the temple confirmed her talents.

 

Transcendents and priests.

 

Transcendents, born with the power of the goddess, possessed extraordinary abilities to perform miracles.

 

Their power, intelligence, and appearance were beyond that of ordinary people.

 

But as a price for that power, they suffered from a relentless thirst from birth.

 

Only priests could quench that thirst. But even they couldn’t fully satisfy powerful transcendents.

 

While priestly healing worked, the process was agonizing.

 

‘The priests in this world are like guides of low rank. So it was inevitable that there would be pain.’

 

High-ranking espers needed high-ranking guides.

 

A guide of mismatched rank could alleviate temporary pain, but not resolve the fundamental suffering.

 

So Azhet always suffered. Because there was no guide of matching rank for him.

 

No, it wasn’t just Azhet.

 

Most powerful transcendents in this world were suffering.

 

Even now, Azhet and Kenyan were sparring to alleviate the torment inflicted by the power of the goddess within them.

 

They expended their strength in intense sparring to escape even a bit from that torment.

 

‘The Radian family thought I would awaken to divine power.’

 

That’s why they rescued her from the hellish Kesion family.

 

Normally, priests had to awaken before becoming adults. There were no priests who awakened after becoming adults.

 

But until her recent birthday, Lindsey had not awakened.

 

And that day.

 

Azhet told Lindsey he wanted to break off their engagement.

 

“You didn’t meet the contract conditions, so breaking off the engagement is right. Return to the manor tomorrow when the sun rises.”

 

It was no different from telling Lindsey to die. The manor was hell to her.

 

As Lindsey begged him not to send her away, Azhet said coldly,

 

“Please be quiet. Do you know how many people have suffered because of your lies? Marrying you with your bad reputation was all because of the contract.”

 

“I…,”

 

“But you didn’t fulfill that contract. That’s why I’m telling you to leave.”

 

“Please, Azhet. If I go back to the family, my father won’t leave me alone.”

 

“Do as you please. It’s none of my concern.”

 

Lindsey couldn’t say anything in response.

 

The people of Radian looked at her with contemptuous eyes.

 

There was no one on Lindsey’s side.

 

“How pathetic. It was so ridiculous when it was said that Azhet’s brother would marry a woman so unfitting. Get out of our family immediately.”

 

Azhet’s brother, Kenyan, mocked her.

 

The Duchess of Radian, who was beside him, was no different.

 

She nodded in agreement with Kenyan’s words. She laughed as if it were amusing and spoke to Lindsey.

 

“Your luggage is at the gate. Pfft.”

 

She continued,

 

“People should know their place. Tsk tsk. Did you think you could marry Azhet with your lowly bloodline?”

 

Lindsey was driven out like that.

 

It was a cold winter.

 

Lindsey couldn’t leave for the Kesion family. She waited for the gates of the duchy to open. But the gates of the duchy remained closed until she lost consciousness.

 

Lindsey died and was reborn as Han Ji-yoo.

 

‘I thought so, but..’

 

Lindsey’s gaze didn’t leave Azhet and Kenyan sparring.

 

Their eyes met.

 

Azhet turned his head with an expression.

 

From his body, Lindsey could feel a ferocious energy.

 

‘No matter how much guiding he receives, he won’t be satisfied.’

 

She didn’t know before, but she knew now.

 

Azhet would be suffering now. He must be feeling a mad thirst.

 

He might even be despairing in lifelong agony.

 

Just like the espers in Korea who couldn’t find suitable guides.

 

His dirty personality might be the cause.

 

“Poor thing.”

 

Lindsey’s face as she said that was cold. She loved Azhet.

 

She sometimes regarded him as her savior. But she was the only one who loved him. Azhet was indifferent to her and eventually came to detest her.

 

‘He believed the false rumors spread by Sylvia.’

 

Sylvia Radian.

 

Her mother-in-law hated Lindsey to the point of contempt. She did her best to sow discord between her sons and Lindsey.

 

“Azhet, Lindsey is truly wicked. That girl is ruining our family!”

 

“She indulges in luxuries unnecessarily and torments the servants.”

 

“Azhet and Kenyan both probably think I’m a bad person.”

 

Sylvia often blamed Lindsey for things she didn’t do.

 

‘Even so, they should have been able to see the truth.’

 

Lindsey’s eyes lowered as she looked at Azhet.

 

‘So I won’t pity him either.’

 

Even without trying to guide, she could feel it. With just one gesture from her, Azhet’s suffering would end.

 

There was a misconception among the people here. Lindsey herself didn’t live the life of Han Ji-yoo, she realized.

 

She was meant to be a priestess.

 

Her potential just manifested too late.

 

Even though there was a way to end their suffering, Lindsey Kesionhad no intention of doing anything.

 

She wouldn’t do anything at all.