Trampled and Broken (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 5
My mind was still nothing but chaos.
Having finally gained a moment to think calmly, she took several deep breaths.
“Let’s go over things one by one.”
Running her fingers through her long hair and pushing it back, she opened her mouth with a heavy heart.
“Today… the oracle will announce that I have only one year left until my dawn.”
And then Anetsa would add a single clue, as if bestowing a great favor.
The only way for Hestia to survive was to marry within that year.
More precisely, it meant forming a contract with a partner based on marital vows.
Hestia silently turned those words over in her mouth before bitterly pressing her lips together.
In times of joy or sorrow, pain or suffering—
Would you live a life sharing all those highs and lows with your partner?
If the man destined to become Hestia’s husband were to swear such a vow before the gods at their wedding, Hestia’s life would be secured.
However, in that case…
A contract would immediately bind the two of them, and Hestia would spend the rest of her life bound to her husband.
“But even that didn’t go as it should have.”
A bitter smile had somehow crept onto Hestia’s lips.
She remembered Stephan’s gentle face, smiling warmly as he looked at her.
After the oracle’s announcement, many suitors had come forward for Hestia.
Among them, she had chosen the man who seemed most devout—and whom Anetsa herself had personally blessed.
That man was Stephan Chereto.
“Why on earth did Sir Stephan chase after Anetsa on our wedding day?”
Overwhelmed by the pain of betrayal, Hestia buried her face in her hands.
Her chest burned hotly, yet strangely, no tears came.
After steadying her breath for a moment, she bit down hard on the inside of her cheek.
“This isn’t the time to sit around. First, I need to change the course of events.”
Hestia’s slender legs slipped out from under the bed.
As she firmly planted her feet on the floor and straightened her body, reality finally set in.
She took a deep breath, as if reaffirming her resolve—her violet eyes now focused and steady.
Hestia didn’t want to oppose Anetsa.
But neither did she wish to suffer helplessly as she had in her past life.
Thus, swallowing a sigh, she murmured with heavy resolve,
“I need to see it with my own eyes.”
[This is the timeline separator]Having quickly prepared herself, Hestia intended to glance at her reflection in the mirror before leaving her room.
But her eyes reflexively shut. No matter how many times she took deep breaths, she still couldn’t bring herself to lift her eyelids.
‘Am I still so pitiful to look at…?’
Right before her death, she had rarely looked in the mirror—only a handful of times. After receiving the death sentence from Anetsa, her strength had rapidly faded.
Her divine power visibly diminished, and she had lost a great deal of weight.
It wasn’t that she deliberately refused food, but eventually, even the smell of it would make her vomit.
Because of this, she had withered away pitifully.
The mirror, which reflected her approaching death so starkly, had become sheer terror to Hestia.
Of course, that didn’t mean the unique aura surrounding her had vanished entirely.
If anything, her sorrowful beauty had grown even more mysterious—but since her frame grew increasingly gaunt day by day, even she herself found it hard to look at.
Others, too, gazed at Hestia with pitying, sorrowful eyes.
Thus, whenever she happened to catch sight of her reflection, she would startle and quickly avert her gaze or turn away.
Her body seemed to remember that fear, making it difficult to open her eyes now.
‘What if…’
She dreaded facing the death still lingering on her own face.
“I can’t waste any more time. It’s alright. So let’s look.”
Finally resolved, Hestia bit down firmly on the soft flesh inside her mouth and lifted her eyelids with grim determination.
“…Ah.”
She let out a short, involuntary sound.
It was different from the past.
Glowing skin. Silver hair shimmering in the sunlight. Even her pink lips, smooth and gleaming.
Hestia stared quietly at her reflection, unable to believe it—until she finally reached out to touch the image in the mirror.
Though it wasn’t the same as touching herself, the feeling was deeply moving.
The more she gently caressed her mirrored image, the hotter her eyes grew.
“So this… was what I looked like. This was my face.”
It felt as if she’d just recovered something long forgotten, and a warm surge kept rising uncontrollably within her.
Wiping away a stray tear that had slipped down her cheek, Hestia quickly composed herself.
“This isn’t the time for this.”
Biting her lip firmly, she turned her back on the mirror and left her room.
‘Even if it’s just a little—I want to live differently from my last life.’
After all, her death couldn’t be prevented by human will—it was fate decreed by the gods, not illness.
But that didn’t mean she wanted to spend her days locked in the temple again, waiting meaninglessly for death as she had before.
Even if the future was already set, she’d rather take a slightly different path than walk the exact same road.
‘What would be most worthwhile to do during my short life?’
Only one thought came to mind immediately.
That warm embrace that held her without hesitation in her final moments—even as all her senses faded, that memory remained vividly clear.
‘I owe him a debt.’
And so, her decision came easily.
‘I think… I can use my life to repay that debt to him.’
It wouldn’t be easy, but if she could do that, she felt she could leave this world without regrets or lingering attachments.
[This is the timeline separator]As she drew closer to the banquet hall, the rich, savory aroma filled her nostrils.
‘How long has it been since I last felt hunger?’
A bitter smile briefly touched Hestia’s lips before she quickly swallowed it.
Following her memories, she soon found herself at a familiar place.
‘It’s been a long time since I’ve been here.’
Ever since that prophecy, the temple’s festival banquets had always centered around Anetsa—never including Hestia.
Taking a light breath to ease her tension, Hestia pushed the door open and stepped inside.
“Saint Hestia?”
She saw the priests scrambling to their feet upon seeing her.
Only one person remained seated—
Anetsa, her equal in rank.
Hestia masked her expression with a faint smile.
“I’m glad—I don’t seem to be too late.”
Archdeacon Boswa soon emerged and escorted Hestia to the seat of honor.
“Saint Hestia, I heard you weren’t feeling well.”
At those words, Hestia smoothly lifted the corners of her lips.
“That’s true, but isn’t this Saint Anetsa’s festival? I thought it only proper to show my face, even briefly, and offer my congratulations in person.”
Boswa nodded.
“As always, you are thoughtful.”
“Not at all.”
“Please, this way.”
Hestia’s seat was directly opposite Anetsa’s.
Spotting Hestia’s face, Anetsa clapped her hands together with a cheerful snap and greeted her warmly.
“I was worried I wouldn’t get to see you! I even wondered if you were avoiding me!”
It was a subtly reproachful remark.
‘Nasia surely told her I wasn’t well.’
Hestia silently swallowed a hollow laugh.
In her past life, perhaps—but the Hestia of now had no desire to quietly endure Anetsa’s self-serving chatter.
She smiled faintly and looked directly at Anetsa.
“That’s exactly why I came.”
“…Huh?”
Anetsa’s eyes flickered uncertainly.
Hestia watched her calmly, then deliberately widened her own eyes just a half-beat late.
“It’s your festival, Saint Anetsa. No matter how unwell I am, I thought it best to deliver my congratulations face to face.”
“Oh…?”
Anetsa blinked several times in confusion.
She’d expected Hestia to apologize at this moment—but since she didn’t, Anetsa looked flustered.
Hestia raised her smile a little higher, tilting her head slightly as if to say, “Now, isn’t there something you should say to me in return for my congratulations?”
Only then did Anetsa stammer out, her expression dazed,
“Th-thank you…?”
Hestia nodded approvingly.
“Don’t mention it. Please continue diligently serving as the voice of the divine.”
“…Yes, I’ll do my best.”
Anetsa’s voice grew even quieter.
After briefly noting the subtle distortion on Anetsa’s face, Hestia sat down calmly in the seat opposite her.
Soon, delicious and steaming dishes began appearing before her one by one.
In that short time, Anetsa quickly composed herself and sat back down.
After glaring resentfully at Hestia for a moment, she discreetly handed something to the priest seated beside her.
Hestia immediately recognized it as the scroll bearing the oracle’s message—and held her breath.
‘Just as I remembered that day.’
So it really was true—she had turned back time.
Along with that realization came a surge of urgency.
She had no time to calmly devise and verify a plan for what to do next.
Because as soon as this meal ended, Anetsa would announce the oracle she’d received—and from then on, everything would unfold according to their will, regardless of Hestia’s own desires.
‘It’s fine if I can’t change everything. But I won’t fear death anymore.’
Unconsciously, Hestia’s posture straightened, her back firm.
‘I just hope that, at the very least, the rest of my life can truly be mine.’
So let’s play just a tiny little trick.
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
_____
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