TW: Suic*de.
The world was spinning around her. Anna couldn't understand or focus on the words Prince Adrian was saying. As she knelt on the cold floor, she kept wondering what went wrong. She had thought that, by avoiding the mistake Sera had made before her death, she would also be able to avoid the death flag!
She had avoided being engaged to Prince Adrian, treated her adoptive brother well, and helped the knight greatly when he encountered a dilemma he couldn't deal with on his own. And when Lilian arrived in the picture, she willingly stepped aside and even went so far as to befriend the girl. So how did she become the prime suspect in poisoning the saintess?
Saintess Lilian consumed poisoned wine during the banquet and fell into a deep coma. Anna then knew that she was in a precarious situation because many witnessed that the person who gave the poisoned cup to the saintess was none other than her.
"Sera! How could you do this to Lilian?!" The prince yelled at her.
The beautiful raven-haired woman before him frantically shook her head. Her eyes filled with tears made it look like an amethyst shining before him. Although Anna wasn't originally from this world, she came to accept her new reality and treated everyone with respect regardless of their social status. Anna was merely a seventeen-year-old girl who woke up in Lady Seraphine de Lys's body after an accident.
[Welcome, User #8472. Designation: Anna Park. Mission: Redeem Seraphine de Lys. Reward: Return to your world. Penalty for failure: Eternal Erasure.]
Anna, bewildered, accepted the mission—only to fail.
She never loathed Lilian for winning the prince's attention and never wanted to hurt her. She simply handed the cup to the saintess when she had asked her to pass a drink.
"No, it wasn't me! I would never!" Anna pleaded, but no one believed her.
Not Cedrick, her adopted brother, not Sir Lawrence, whom she thought was her good friend. All of them look at her with disdain and disappointment. The circumstances surrounding the incident, combined with Sera's attitude before she took over her body, made her the sole culprit.
"She must be jealous of Saintess Lilian." One comment from the crowd.
"I know she was merely pretending to change into a better person. Lady Sera terrorized Prince Adrian for years. How could she accept that he's choosing another woman over her?" Another one snickered, her tone filled with mockery.
"Take this wicked woman to the underground prison now! If Saintess Lilian dies, we will send her to the afterlife as well!" The king ordered in anger. Surely, the church would have his neck if the Saintess died under his watch, and he couldn't be bothered by how Duke de Lys would react once he returned from war.
Sir Lawrence stepped forward and pulled Anna's arm tightly.
"Please cooperate, Lady de Lys. It's best not to cause us any more trouble."
Anna's eyes widened in astonishment. Did Sir Lawrence truly believe she poisoned the saintess? She knew that Sir Lawrence had unrequited love for Lilian, but she didn't think he would willingly betray her for Lilian's sake.
"Send her to the Tower of Eternal Penance." Prince Adrian said with finality. "We can't have her escape after what she did to Lilian."
The Tower of Eternal Penance was used only for the prisoners who committed grave sins against the crown and the kingdom. Neither magic nor weapons could break through it, making it the perfect place to imprison Seraphine de Lys, who was known for her astounding magic and swordmanship.
Filled with despair, Anna was led to the underground prison by Sir Lawrence—the scent of decaying flesh and musty air. The original Seraphine de Lys wouldn't flinch from it, but for a normal seventeen-year-old girl who came from the modern world, this place was no better than hell.
Being sent to prison for the first time in her life, Anna was petrified and distressed. She could only weep as her body was thrown inside a room shrouded in darkness. With her wrists bound to magical cuffs that forbade her from using her mana, she was just a normal person.
"I didn't do it…" she sobbed. "You have to believe me…"
But all her pleas fell on deaf ears. Without the Duke de Lys around, it would be impossible to sway the king to change his mind. For the following days, the prison guards insulted her, their words enough to break Anna's mind.
"Saintess Lilian survived, but you will not. Prince Adrian would see to it that you would be punished thoroughly."
Anna, with her long hair down and greasy, her once elegant gown filled with grime and dirt, threw her head back and laughed uncontrollably.
Hadn't she done good deeds since the start?
[Good Deed Detected: Helped a servant. +10 Virtue Points.]
[Quest Completed: Avoided confrontation. +50 Peace Points.]
[Bonus: The Heroine's hostility decreased by 5%. Keep going!]
The system's voice played from her memories. Not only did she do good deeds as Seraphine de Lys, she also worked hard to gain rewards from the system. The system punished her when she acted too much like the original Seraphine, but rewarded her with points for good behavior.
[Unlocked: 'Kindness Aura'—People feel subtly warmer toward you.]
[1000-Point Milestone: Choose a reward—Temporary Charm Boost or a Vision of a Future Ally.]
[Achievement: A Day Without Enemies. +20 Serenity Points.]
The system gave her promising milestones, constantly assuring her that she was right on track, so where did she go wrong?
[You're 40% redeemed! The Empire's corruption can still be undone.]
[New Objective: Befriend the Knight Captain. Reward: +200 Trust Points.]
[Warning: The original Seraphine's memories may resurface. Stay strong.]
All of her hard work was for nothing. She had occupied Seraphine de Lys's body for six years, but she still failed to change the outcome. Even this world wasn't fair to a person like her. She had foolishly thought that by being kind and fair to everyone, they would come to accept that Seraphine de Lys had changed.
Yet, a single cup of poisoned wine was enough to ruin everything.
A week had passed, and finally, Prince Adrian came to her prison to interrogate her. Anna knew he wanted to punish her for what Saintess Lilian went through. Even if Anna wasn't the mastermind for the failed assassination of the saintess, Prince Adrian and the king wanted to pin all the blame on her.
Saintess Lillian was an important figure not only to the kingdom of Solmora but also to the church, which was plagued by greed and corruption. Being the saintess revered by the commoners because of her kindness and healing powers, Lilian had easily won everyone's hearts. However, her existence alone had taken the attention of the neighboring kingdoms of Solmora. It hadn't been the first time Saintess Lilian was subjected to an assassination.
"You shouldn't have hurt her, Sera." Prince Adrian said. Sir Lawrence, now the knight captain, stood behind him.
Anna smiled, but it never reached her eyes. She understood now why the original Seraphine de Lys became cold and merciless. She had begged Cedrick to ask their father to save her, but her brother only gave her a shrug and told her to rot in hell. Everyone had turned their backs on her and abandoned her…
Mustering all the remaining strength she had, Anna woefully stood up, her entire body aching from the torture she received from the prince she once adored as a friend.
"I will die in my terms, Your Highness."
She then ran and bashed her head against the nearest wall, her blood splattering around her.
The system's voice rang through her mind, but it stuttered and glitched.
[E-Error… Host consciousness… uncooperative…]
Prince Adrian and the knight looked at her with horror as her consciousness slowly slipped away.
>> ERROR: HOST INTEGRITY FAILING.
>> MISSION STATUS: [REDEMPTION FAILED]
>> FINAL SCORE: 7,320/10,000 REDEMPTION POINTS
>> ANALYSIS:
Kindness Detected: 89% (Ineffective in this world.)
Trust Earned: 52% (Highest: Crown Prince – now your executioner.)
Legacy: "Seraphine's Shadow" (You changed nothing.)
>> LAST WORDS LOGGED:
"I just… wanted to go home…"
>> FINAL NOTICE:
User #8472 (Anna Park) will be erased.
Original host (Seraphine de Lys) reactivation imminent.
…Would you like to try again? [Y/N]
The system didn't wait for an answer. A sound of breaking echoed within the room, followed by eerie darkness.