The realization came in an instant.
A grand orchestral funeral march filled the air as the memorial service proceeded.
Today marked the fifth anniversary of her sister's death.
The ceremony was so lavish that one could have believed the entire annual budget of a Grand Ducal House had been poured into it.
Standing before her sister's coffin, which had yet to return to the earth, Milena suddenly realized something.
No one knew...
That the coffin right in front of them...
Was empty.
As if refusing to believe such an absurd reality, she slowly blinked her long lashes.
Without realizing it, her grip tightened. The stem of the white rose she had prepared for the memorial snapped in her hand. The flower fell helplessly to the floor.
When you place the fifth white rose on my coffin, you'll learn the truth.
It's a truly fascinating kind of magic.
Milena stared blankly at the lavishly decorated coffin, delaying the ceremony.
Whispers rose around her, but she did not move.
Five years had already passed since her sister's death.
And during all that time, not a single person had thought to check what was inside the coffin.
A flood of memories crashed into her.
Pressing her lips tightly together, Milena fought down the nausea rising in her throat.
Milena.
My poor little sister.
Fragments of forgotten memories surged through her like a tidal wave.
I'll come back.
Whether you remember me or not.
Her sister had once stood before the coffin and said those words.
Milena had been looking directly at her living sister.
And yet she had only seen the coffin.
She had believed that her dead sister lay inside that empty box.
Yes.
She had been certain of it.
She had never noticed the contradiction.
Had she truly not realized her sister was pretending to be dead?
Her body swayed.
A strong hand caught her waist before she could fall.
"Milena."
A voice so low it almost sounded unfamiliar.
Following the sound, she lifted her head.
And saw a face that now felt strangely distant.
"Are you alright?"
A man who looked as though the very concept of perfection had been sculpted into human form.
Between strands of jet-black hair, cold silver-gray eyes looked down at her.
"..."
Ah.
Milena parted her trembling lips to say she was fine.
Then closed them again.
She wasn't fine at all.
The shock of the memories returning was too overwhelming.
"If it's difficult to stand, go inside."
His voice was cold.
Milena bit her lower lip.
Callion Luxen.
The Grand Duke.
A man whose authority was second only to the Emperor's.
And the man Milena had desperately wanted.
Her first love.
Her unrequited love.
And the man who had become her sister's husband.
The moment she remembered her sister's disappearance, everything about him looked different.
The old Milena would have stubbornly insisted she was fine just to remain by his side.
She had been far too deeply entangled with him.
But today was different.
"Yes. I'll go in first."
Milena did something she never would have done before.
She left the memorial service exactly as Callion suggested.
The funeral for a body that did not exist continued behind her.
And the magic that had bound Milena all these years unraveled without her consent.
Yes.
The spell had broken.
Forgotten memories poured back into her mind until she could barely breathe.
The magic had been so powerful that it had altered her very personality.
Careful not to trip over the crimson carpet, Milena walked slowly forward.
Her legs felt weak enough to collapse beneath her.
A memorial service for a sister who is still alive...
The funeral march swelled behind her.
"Hah... hah..."
Everything was a mess.
Shivering, she clutched her skirt and quickened her pace.
The fragmented memories connected one after another, slowly clearing the thick fog that had shrouded her mind.
Who am I?
She had been a vicious woman obsessed with her dead sister's husband.
But—
I was never originally that kind of person.
Her breathing became uneven.
By the time she came to her senses, she was already running.
Milena raced toward the mansion.
Her behavior was so reckless that no one tried to stop her.
People merely watched, assuming it was another one of her bouts of madness.
After all, what sane woman falls in love with her own sister's husband?
Bang!
Milena swallowed a scream as she threw open the door to her room.
The memories surrounding her sister's disappearance overwhelmed her.
Every thought and emotion twisted into knots.
Twenty-eight years of life.
Everything she had believed until now was being overturned.
Had my entire world always revolved around my sister?
It had.
Everything in the world belonged to her sister.
Their parents' love.
The gaze of the man she loved.
Even the servants' kindness.
At least in Milena's world, the protagonist had always been Lariat.
Her sister was someone who shone.
And beside that brilliance, Milena had become invisible.
Lariat, accustomed to receiving everything, was always bright and full of life.
The entire world adored her.
Even her marriage had been like that.
Perfect.
From beginning to end.
Yet hidden beneath that perfection was a dark secret.
The Grand Duke had fallen in love with Lariat at first sight.
To obtain her, he had driven her family to the brink of ruin.
Then he had rushed the marriage forward under the pretense of paying off the Count's debts.
Very few people knew that those debts had originated from a gambling house secretly operated by Callion Luxen himself.
Milena had only discovered it by chance.
He was a man who cared neither for noble dignity nor pride if it meant obtaining the woman he loved.
And I loved that man.
A love that was pure and contradictory all at once.
A love for her sister's man.
Milena remembered the firm hand that had supported her waist during the memorial.
Normally, she would have blushed just from the warmth she felt through her clothes.
But now was different.
She was so embarrassed she felt her face might burst into flames.
I've lost my mind.
He was a married man.
Her brother-in-law.
How could she have loved him?
This wasn't some cheap melodrama.
Ha.
Despite holding an extravagant memorial every year, Callion had never officially declared Lariat dead.
A madman obsessed with his wife's corpse.
And she had loved that man.
It felt as though someone had struck her across the head.
Everything was rearranging itself.
Then another question arose.
Her unrequited love had lasted more than ten years.
She had always believed it was genuine.
But looking back...
Something felt wrong.
Magic.
Magic?
Had her obsession with Callion also been caused by magic?
The spell that had weighed upon her disappeared silently.
The unfamiliar sensation felt strange.
The life she had spent drowning in resentment and stubbornness now seemed to belong to someone else.
If all of this was because of magic...
What exactly did you do, Sister?
Someone had manipulated her life.
Her sister had faked her death and vanished.
When the coffin was moved, the truth had been hidden alongside it.
The coffin had been empty from the very beginning.
It wasn't strange that even Callion didn't know.
The person who had helped Lariat was a mage who had transcended human limitations.
And that same being had cast a spell on Milena.
I was under a spell.
She had lived her entire life without realizing it.
Like a villainess.
Unable to see her true self beneath the cruelty.
A bitter smile appeared on her lips.
She looked into the full-length mirror.
Life had returned to eyes that had once been dull and lifeless.
Her green irises gleamed more vividly than ever before.
For the first time, she looked different.
She had always hated her appearance because she compared herself to her flawless sister.
Anyone would describe her face as sharp and severe.
Unlike her sister, who possessed a gentle and elegant beauty.
But why had she spent her entire life diminishing herself through comparison?
Now she understood.
She was beautiful too.
That beauty had simply been hidden beneath years of misery.
Milena, do you know?
Your unhappiness is something you created yourself.
Lariat's voice echoed in her ears.
As if angered, Milena ripped the ornaments from her hair.
Her green eyes blazed.
As though her sister stood directly before her.
"I know, Lariat. I finally understand now."
Pale blonde hair cascaded down her back.
A different shade from her sister's radiant gold.
But beautiful in its own way.
She wasn't sad anymore.
Only foolish.
Her feelings for Callion suddenly felt hollow.
The emotions that had ruled her life vanished.
Only after learning the hidden truth could she finally look at herself objectively.
Like a starving beast desperate for affection, she had begged for his love.
But it was over now.
Her obsession ended here.
She had never belonged by his side in the first place.
When her sister returned, everything would be perfect again.
The one who needed to leave was Milena.
But before that—
She needed to escape.
"Auntie?"
Just as she was organizing her thoughts—
The door opened carefully without so much as a knock.