Chapter 1. Ever Ever After.

The Outer Castle

The old castle at the eastern end—the lord of Yuliana was a young boy who had just turned fourteen this year.

His younger sister, Ailea Elgar Yuliana, who turned thirteen this year, had been managing the household affairs of Yuliana Castle ever since their father died in battle two years ago.

Now leaving the castle, Ailea was pressing into the hands of her older brother Cyril the necklace she had cherished so dearly. It was a precious object that seemed ill-suited to the shabby boy and girl—a red ruby set in the center, surrounded by diamonds.

"When our third sibling Sophie turns thirteen, give this to her, brother."

"I understand, Ailea."

Their mother, who had been bedridden all along, and their younger siblings still lacked the strength to help.

Their father, Ron Elgar Yuliana, who had lived righteously his entire life, left his children nothing but a castle so old it would be difficult to maintain without repairs, and a small territory granted by the emperor.

There had been a castle and territory he had earned through his achievements in war, but those had been recaptured and taken by the enemy not long ago.

Following Teniac's tradition where the eldest son inherits the title regardless of age, Cyril became the lord of the castle, and he and his younger sister Ailea were more desperate than what children their age could handle. However, no matter how much a thirteen and fourteen-year-old boy and girl struggled, their lives grew increasingly impoverished.

Then one day, before the Elgar family.

A letter arrived from the Emperor of Teniac, Murray Theresia de Calise.

The letter contained plans to betroth Ailea Elgar Yuliana, daughter of the great hero who saved Teniac, to the crown prince Roylin Theresia de Calise. It was the highest reward for a hero who saved the nation.

On the day Ailea was to leave, a festival was held at Yuliana Castle. That night, Ailea spoke to Cyril, who would bear the burden of protecting this castle even after she left.

"Don't think this household will change greatly just because I'm betrothed to the crown prince. Father wasn't that kind of person, you know. Even when Sophie gets married, I probably won't give any more jewelry. This is the last time. You understand?"

There were times when Cyril felt his sister, only one year younger, seemed more like an older sister. Cyril shrugged his shoulders as if accustomed to this nagging.

"I'll handle it myself, so worry about your own well-being. Don't act like a country bumpkin and be shocked when you go from living your whole life in this small castle to the imperial palace."

"How can I entrust our mother to someone who jokes around like this..."

"Ailea, I am Cyril Elgar Yuliana."

The boy thumped his chest confidently.

"Father protected this country—does it make sense that I couldn't protect one family?"

"Wow, our brother has grown up."

"I'll take care of the house, so don't worry about it. You just go to the imperial palace and live happily, you old soul."

When Cyril pushed her back, Ailea laughed and nodded.

Worried that their sick mother and still-young siblings would be hurt to see Ailea leaving, she only said goodbye to Cyril before secretly slipping out of the castle late at night.

Climbing into the carriage, she looked back until the very end at Cyril and her hometown Yuliana, which she might never see again.

Her heart ached terribly.

Seven years had passed since then. In all that time, Ailea had been able to see her family again only once—when their mother passed away.

For the first five years, fourteen-year-old Cyril couldn't afford to leave Yuliana Castle and come to the imperial palace alone, and for the recent two years, Ailea, who had contracted an illness, refused to let him come.

Now nearly twenty years old, Ailea sat alone in the empty outer castle, gazing at a dress. A place that required an hour's ride by fast horse from the imperial palace. The surroundings were wasteland, and even the few maids who had been there had long since fled, fearing her contagious disease.

"Still, time does pass."

Ailea looked at the dress, which appeared even whiter in contrast to her hands that had turned pitch black.

When she entered the imperial palace, all sorts of beautiful women were showing off. The young girl from the countryside couldn't capture the crown prince's heart. And in her sixteenth winter, she contracted a disease that spread black spots all over her body.

Because of that disease, the crown prince, who was supposed to marry Ailea on May 15th when she turned eighteen and came of age, had been postponing the wedding without much explanation. Today, two years after that, a wedding dress finally arrived for Ailea.

Ailea gazed quietly at the dress, then could no longer contain her excitement and finally took off the clothes she was wearing.

"It might not fit, so let me try it on."

She made excuses to herself as she changed clothes. She was accustomed to dressing without a maid's help. Even at Yuliana Castle, there had been no one to help her, and it was the same here.

Wearing the dress, she made a troubled expression. During the three months it took to make this dress, her body had grown even thinner.

Living in the outer castle, food had gradually become scarce. Food was delivered in small amounts only after Ailea sent multiple letters.

The servants who knew of her disease whispered that she was cursed. She thought so herself. However, today, receiving this dress, she felt as if all her previous heartache had completely disappeared.

Ailea put on the dress and turned this way and that in front of the mirror.

"I'll need to take it in."

She murmured with a smile. Since she was wearing the dress, she decided to practice the makeup she would wear on her wedding day. She carefully applied makeup while looking in the mirror and practiced the smile she would show that day over and over.

For a very long time, she who had been forgotten by everyone would appear before people again. Though frightening, Ailea found even that fear manageable in her anticipation of no longer being alone.

She began writing a letter with a happy face.

'Brother Cyril, the wedding date has finally been set. You must have had a hard time making excuses to the family because of your inadequate sister all this time. Today I tried on the ceremonial dress for the first time. Choosing one from over ten dresses was incredibly difficult. I felt sorry seeing the maids getting tired.

My beloved brother, I'm sorry, so sorry, for leaving all the work of caring for the family to you while I alone live a luxurious life.'

As Ailea was writing the letter, she looked up at the sound of hoofbeats.

When Ailea rushed to the window in surprise, she saw the man she would soon marry—Crown Prince Roylin and his subordinates—entering the outer castle. Her heart swelled as she rushed frantically outside the outer castle.

Roylin had come. He had come to see her again. Thinking the wedding must truly be near, Ailea's heart pounded.

Having rushed desperately to the front door, Ailea stopped. She remembered the superstition that the groom shouldn't see the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding. She looked around and found a blanket that had been hung out to dry, draping it over her shoulders.

Meanwhile, a beautiful man with reddish hair brought his horse straight into the castle. Though he had learned royal etiquette, Ailea's castle was not a place where he needed to observe courtesy.

Roylin, who had entered the castle, greeted her.

"Ailea, it's been a while."

"Your Highness Roylin."

He looked at Ailea and grimaced. The black parts had spread almost all over her body, so that now the white parts were scattered here and there like dots. Even that wasn't a healthy skin color, but a rough black like something burned and left behind. Ailea spoke in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry for looking like this. But if the groom sees the wedding dress before the wedding..."

Seeing her like this, Roylin found it even easier to say what he had prepared to say.

"Rita says she won't think of meeting me unless I get rid of you."

"...What?"

'Rita' meant Rita Brea, daughter of Marquis Alex Brea. She was a celebrity that even Ailea, who couldn't even approach high society, knew about.

"So I came to tell you. I have no intention of marrying you."

At those words, Ailea was momentarily so dazed that she couldn't hear properly, but she came to her senses at Roylin's cold gaze. Roylin continued matter-of-factly.

"They say when people die, if they're too obsessed, they become ghosts and come back. Since you kept going on about the wedding dress, I sent you one, and it seems you like it."

The blanket fell from Ailea's hands, which had turned pale.

Until just moments ago, she had been dreaming a futile dream.

That if I adorned myself, you would love me.

That I would be able to meet other people and no longer have to be alone.

With such thoughts, she had tightened her corset until she couldn't breathe and applied makeup until she was unrecognizable. Thanks to that, today her face looked white as if she were wearing only a mask.

Despite all the ups and downs, she had finally put on the wedding dress. For her, whose body was covered with pitch-black spots, white was a horrible color. It made that blackness stand out.

The crown prince she first met at thirteen was six years older than her, and as if uninterested in a child, he went around meeting other women.

And briefly, he had shown her affection before she got sick, but after she contracted the disease of unknown cause, he banished her completely outside the imperial palace.

Ailea had clung to his brief affection. The only man in her life. The man who had laughed pleasantly saying "what a little kid" when they first met—he was her first love.

So she wanted to marry him. For the past seven years—from the thirteen-year-old girl she was to the nearly twenty-year-old woman she had become—Ailea's dream had always remained the same.

Though it was a relationship forced by the emperor, when she put on the pure white dress today, she thought she could finally become his wife.

Ailea approached Roylin with an expression as if bewitched by something. As if even her approach was unwelcome, Roylin' expensive leather shoes stepped back.

"Look in the mirror."

His sharp words pierced Ailea's heart like an awl.

The dazzlingly white dress made her look even more hideous. Roylin spoke irritably.

"I am the crown prince of this country. I have at least the right to marry a woman with clean skin. Rather, your trying to marry me in such a state is deception against the royal authority, Ailea."

"Why are you saying this only now?"

"I didn't know you'd cling so persistently. I couldn't break the engagement with you because it was His Majesty the Emperor's command. Damn, what rotten luck this is."

"You never... called a doctor for me."

Thinking she would die anyway, there was venom in Ailea's words.

You never showed any interest, not even once...

When the imperial palace doctor said he didn't know the cause, Ailea had asked Roylin to call an outside doctor or magician, but after Roylin said he understood, there was no response.

That he didn't know she would cling so persistently was an excuse. He had simply forgotten about her existence and was only speaking now.

All the air around her seemed to exist to strangle her throat.

As tears ruined her makeup, the pitch-black skin that covered almost all of her face was revealed. That mottled face made even the knights, trained not to show expression changes easily, frown.

Ailea said.

"I'll return to Yuliana Castle even now."

"Don't talk nonsense. If I don't kill you here, His Majesty won't permit the broken engagement. That damned national hero or whatever."

"Don't insult my father."

Ailea glared at him even while sobbing. Even the whites of her eyes, which should have been pure white, had black spots scattered here and there.

Roylin responded with a sneer instead of words and turned around, telling his knights.

"Seal the castle and burn it immediately. Ailea's contagious disease might spread."

Roylin no longer even felt she was human. She was nothing more or less than a pitch-black beast that troubled him.

When Roylin left the castle, Ailea sat down where she was as if giving up everything, not moving at all.

And that day, Ailea's castle burned. Her wedding dress burned, and she burned with it.