Her mind was still in turmoil.
Hestia took several deep breaths to calm herself.
“Let’s go over everything step by step.”
As she brushed her long hair back with her hand, she spoke with a heavy heart.
“Today… the prophecy will be announced that I only have one year left to live.”
And Anetha would add a clause as if bestowing a great favor.
The only way for Hestia to survive was to get married within a year.
More precisely, to form a contract with a partner based on a marital vow.
Hestia quietly reflected on these thoughts, her lips sealed in bitterness.
Through joys and sorrows, in sickness and in health.
If the man who would be Hestia’s husband swears before God to share all life’s burdens, Hestia’s life would be spared.
But in this case…
An immediate contract would be formed between the two, and Hestia would have to live her life bound to her husband.
“But even that didn’t go as planned.”
A bitter smile formed on Hestia’s lips, recalling Stefan’s face, who had looked at her so affectionately.
After the prophecy, several suitors came forward for Hestia.
She chose the most pious-looking among them, blessed by Anetha herself. That man was Stefan Chereto.
“Why did Stefan run after Anetha on our wedding day?”
Overwhelmed by a sense of betrayal, Hestia buried her face in her hands.
Her throat tightened and heated up, but strangely, no tears came.
After taking a moment to breathe, she bit the inside of her cheek hard.
“I can’t just sit here. I have to change the course of events.”
Her slender legs swung out of the bed.
Planting her feet firmly on the ground, she finally felt grounded in reality.
Taking a deep breath as if to reinforce her resolve, her violet eyes focused.
Hestia didn’t want to confront Anetha.
But she also didn’t want to be helplessly victimized like in her past life.
So, swallowing hard, she muttered with a heavy heart.
“I need to see for myself.”
After getting ready, Hestia tried to look at herself in the mirror before leaving the room.
But she reflexively closed her eyes. Despite several deep breaths, it was still hard to open them.
‘Will I still look so pitiable?’
Before her death, she had barely looked at herself in the mirror. Her vitality had rapidly declined after receiving Anetha’s terminal prophecy.
As her sacred power visibly diminished, she lost a lot of weight.
She didn’t mean to refuse food, but later, even the smell of it made her nauseous.
So she became gaunt and skeletal.
The mirror, reflecting her appearance as death approached, was a source of terror for Hestia.
Of course, this didn’t mean her unique aura had vanished.
It added to her ethereal beauty, but the fact that she was becoming more skeletal was undeniable, and she found it hard to look at herself.
Others also looked at her with pitying eyes.
So, whenever she accidentally caught her reflection, she would quickly turn away or drop her gaze in alarm.
Her body still remembered that reluctance to look.
Afraid of seeing death still lingering on her face, she hesitated.
“No more delaying. It’s okay. Just look.”
Finally, with a firm resolve, Hestia bit the inside of her cheek and bravely lifted her eyelids.
“……Ah.”
She let out a short gasp without realizing it.
Her reflection was different from the past.
Lustrous skin. Silver hair shimmering in the sunlight. Even her pink lips were smooth and shining.
Hestia stared at her reflection in the mirror, not quite believing what she saw, and eventually reached out to touch the image.
It wasn’t the same as touching herself, but it felt significant.
As she gently caressed her reflection, Hestia’s eyes grew warmer.
“I was… like this. I looked like this.”
It felt like she had rediscovered something long forgotten, and warmth surged within her.
Unknowingly, a tear rolled down her cheek, which Hestia quickly wiped away with her palm, steadying her emotions.
“This isn’t the time.”
With her lips firmly sealed, Hestia turned away from the mirror and left her room.
‘I just want a little change. I want to live differently from my past life.’
Her death was inevitable, set by divine will, not by illness.
But she didn’t want to wait meaninglessly for her death in the temple, as in her past life.
Even if her future was predetermined, she wanted to take a slightly different path.
‘What’s the most valuable thing I can do in my short life?’
One thing came to mind first.
The warm embrace that held her unhesitatingly at her last moment, the one sensation that remained clear even as everything else faded.
‘I owe him.’
That made her decision easier.
‘My life… I can use it to repay him, or for him.’
It wouldn’t be easy, but it seemed like the right way to leave the world without any regrets or lingering attachments.
As she approached the banquet hall, the warm, rich aroma wafted to her nose.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve felt hungry.’
Hestia allowed herself a brief smile at the thought, then let it go.
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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