Chapter 1

My last memory was of a car accident.

I'd been hit by a speeding car, so I figured I must have died on impact—yet when I opened my eyes, I was staring at an extravagant room.

'Where the hell am I?'

Unable to process what was happening, I blinked stupidly and looked around.

"What the..."

It was far too large and old-fashioned to be a hospital room.

Maybe I'd died and gone to heaven, I thought blankly as I moved.

Rustle—

The sound of fabric brushing against fabric reached my ears. Looking down, I saw a white slip.

'This is ridiculously soft.'

It felt almost like I was wearing nothing at all. I gave a little shudder and walked carefully forward.

As I glanced around the room, I spotted someone in the mirror off to the side.

"Holy shit, that scared me."

The woman in the mirror was strikingly beautiful, but her features were distinctly exotic.

I'd flinched, and she'd flinched too with the exact same expression. When I froze, she froze.

"Huh?"

I moved my hand.

She moved hers.

There wasn't another woman standing in the room with me—it was just a mirror.

"You've got to be kidding me?"

Thinking it had to be a dream, I stretched my cheek out hard. It hurt like hell.

That was when someone knocked at the door.

Knock knock—

"My lady, it's time for you to rise."

My lady? What was this '{my lady}(#b2xqzsgo1uqi)' business?

I tilted my head, and silky strands of hair slid down with the motion.

The person did seem to be addressing whoever was inside this room.

Knock knock—

"I'm coming in."

I figured it'd be better to have someone—anyone—come in and explain what was going on, so I stayed quiet. Soon the door opened cautiously and a woman stepped inside.

The moment she saw the room's occupant, her eyes went round with surprise.

"You're awake already?"

She acted perfectly familiar with me as she came over and started tidying the spot where this body must have been lying just moments ago, then went around opening the windows—a flurry of brisk activity.

"Um."

"Yes?"

I figured I had to know something, anything, to figure out my situation, so I spoke up cautiously.

"That, um... where is this place?"

"My lady, what's wrong?"

"Hold on—'my lady'? Is this person married?!"

"What?!!"

The shock of 'married' made me cry out, and the woman let out a shriek of her own and practically jumped in place.

---

Not long after, a physician was summoned and diagnosed me with amnesia.

It was only after talking through a few things with the personal doctor that I realized I'd been transported into a novel.

A romance fantasy called The Saintess Who Would Save the World.

This body's name was Iberin Sherburn Lecashe, and she was the mother of the dark second male lead, Grand Duke Ether Lecashe.

"I'm screwed."

"Pardon?"

It was a role that only got a few lines of description, but Iberin was terminally ill.

In other words, she didn't have much longer to live. She'd carried and given birth to the cursed Grand Duke's child, and this was the price.

Honestly though, it was better that she died.

She contributed absolutely nothing positive to Ether's personality development.

Her already hysterical temperament had gotten worse after the curse handed her a death sentence, and she'd taken that rage out on her own child.

Ether had been born into a cursed family already, fated to live the life of a murderer—and on top of that, the human being who was supposed to be his mother had drenched his childhood memories in blood.

To make matters worse, Ether's father took his own life.

"M-my lady?"

That should never have been allowed to happen. Because of all this, Ether didn't know how to love when he later met the female lead, so he obsessed over her and turned dark.

The kind-hearted female lead accepted all of Ether's obsession and tried to understand him, but the novel ended with Ether's death.

The heir of a cursed Grand Duke's house carrying the seed of evil could never end up with the saintess—it just wasn't possible.

But later, it all turned out to be a misunderstanding.

I remembered how fans who'd loved Ether most absolutely roasted the author after seeing the ending.

All the suffering gets dumped on Ether, and then ta-da, it was all a misunderstanding?

Iberin thought to herself: if I ever meet that author, I'm going to make them pay.

"Wh-where's Ether?"

"What? You confined him to quarters yourself, my lady."

"I did? Where?"

"In the west tower..."

"I have to go right now."

"B-but my lady, why do you keep speaking so formally to me? Have I done something wrong?"

Iberin looked at the trembling woman in front of her.

The woman was the personal maid of this body's owner—meaning Iberin's own personal maid. Calling her a 'personal maid' didn't mean much, though; none of them ever lasted long. Iberin had been so foul-tempered and violent that hardly any maid stayed at her side for any real length of time.

So it made sense the woman was scared, with her mistress suddenly speaking to her like a lady.

"It's nothing. Hurry, let's go to Ether."

Iberin dropped the formal speech as she spoke.

For now, getting to Ether was what mattered.

Since things had ended up this way, she'd decided to give young Ether some happy memories.

A side character whose story was nothing but suffering from beginning to end—she couldn't even count how many times she'd cried reading it.

---

The west tower where Ether was being kept looked desolate.

Iberin muttered curses at the real Iberin under her breath.

According to the doctor, Ether was only five years old. And the real Iberin had locked a five-year-old child up in this empty tower.

He surely hadn't done a single thing wrong to deserve being locked away. Iberin huffed her way up the stairs, and only when she reached the very top did she finally see him.

Ether was inside what amounted to a prison cell of iron bars at the top of the tower, and as if that weren't enough, his ankles were wrapped in chains as he lay collapsed on the floor.

"Open it."

The maid hurriedly opened the cell door, and Iberin stepped inside.

Ether, who had been lying there as if unconscious, opened his eyes at the sound of someone approaching, and then he saw Iberin.

"Eth—"

Their eyes met.

Fear spread across Ether's eyes.

Shaking violently, Ether dropped to his knees and begged for forgiveness.

"I-I'm sowwy... I won't call you Mommy anymowe, I'm sowwy... my lady, I'm sowwy. I won't come near you... pl-please don't kill me... hic..."

His face and his entire body were covered in unhealed wounds—Iberin must have beaten him before locking him up.

Iberin's expression hardened as she met his eyes.

When she got a little closer, he dragged his body backward to get away.

"I won't hit you. It's okay."

It was a devastating sight.

Iberin almost forgot that she was now the owner of this body and nearly slapped her own cheek.

What could a five-year-old child possibly have done to deserve being treated this cruelly?

And this was the child she'd carried in her own womb, no less.

People could have their own circumstances, sure—but this was beyond the pale.

Unable to find the words, Iberin reached out toward Ether.

She moved her hand carefully, worried she might frighten him, but Ether—conditioned by countless experiences of violence—instinctively flinched and squeezed his eyes shut.

Gently.

Iberin extended her hand with care. Then she stroked the black hair that looked as though it had been spun from night itself.

The direct line of the Lecashe Grand Duke's family had been born with black hair and black eyes for generations.

The world pointed at them and called it ominous, the mark of demons—but the truth was, their coloring had changed because they carried the seed of evil within their bodies.

If you traced the bloodline far enough back, the Grand Duke's family was descended from the imperial line. That was why their original coloring had been silver hair and blue eyes.

That was also something revealed later in the original novel.

Ether was still watching her warily, not knowing what to do. Iberin pulled him into her arms.

"Eep."

Ether jolted in shock and started squirming, but Iberin held him tight and refused to let go, and eventually his struggling stopped.

It seemed he'd fainted right there in her arms.

"M-my lady?"

Even the maid was watching her in stunned shock.

Unless something major changed, she'd have to keep living in this body—and Iberin began to dread just how hard it was going to be to change her image.

---

She carried the unconscious Ether down from the tower.

His wounds were bad enough, but being left out in the cold for so long had brought on a fever.

When she gave him the medicine the doctor prepared and personally laid Ether down on her own bed, the servants' faces were absolutely stunned.

Either way, Iberin nursed him through the night.

Just seeing a character from a novel in real life was incredible enough, and now she was seeing him as a child.

Of course, it would've been better if he'd had the pudgy, adorable cheeks of a well-cared-for child—but he didn't, and that broke her heart. Iberin promised herself she'd make him that kind of child from here on out.

"Mmh..."

Just then, Ether scrunched up his face and started tossing.

He flailed his arms like he was caught in a nightmare, his breath coming out in sharp, wheezing gasps.

Iberin grabbed his hand in alarm, and Ether instinctively gripped back with surprising strength.

"...I-I'm sowwy..."

The villain in Ether's nightmare must have been Iberin.

The way he was apologizing for no clear reason gave it away.

"It's okay, it's okay."

Iberin whispered to him over and over, trying to soothe him.

She held him close and patted him gently. Slowly Ether settled down, and she watched him drift back into a deep sleep.

---

She'd dozed off beside him while nursing him. When she slowly opened her eyes, she found Ether—who must have woken at some point—blinking slowly in her arms.

Maybe he liked the warmth, or maybe he'd been starving for a mother's embrace, because even though this was the same Iberin who used to abuse him, he was actually nuzzling closer.

Iberin lay there quietly looking down at him, and then their eyes met.

"Eep!"

The instant their eyes met, Ether scrambled away from her.

"I-I'm sowwy... I-I wasn't, I didn't mean to be here..."

Ether hurried to make excuses for why he'd been at Iberin's side.

He hadn't even considered that she might have been taking care of him.

"Ether. It's okay, come here."

'It's okay' might've been the phrase she'd said most often since taking over this body.

Ether watched her warily, thrown by Iberin's gentle tone.

"My lady..."

Iberin blinked, taken aback.

Had Ether just called her 'my lady' instead of 'Mom'?

Ether's eyes darted around restlessly, like he was scanning for danger.

"My lady? Are you talking to me?"

"D-did I do something wrong again...?"

Ether trembled, completely at a loss.

Iberin quickly waved her hands to tell him no, that wasn't it.

"M-Mom! I want you to call me Mom!"

"...You don't like that."

"I don't mind anymore."

But Ether didn't say another word, just clamped his mouth shut.

To be fair, calling her 'Mom' right away would have been even more surprising. After everything Iberin had done up to now, she understood.

"I-I want to go."

"Where?"

"My room..."

"Can't you stay with me? You're sick right now."

"It's okay if I'm sick. I—"

"Hm?"

"M-my lady, you said so... that it's fine if I'm hurting..."

Iberin's brow furrowed. She had no idea just how much vile crap that woman had said to a child this small.

And really, if it were just vile words, that would've been a blessing—she'd added violence on top of it, so the kid's mental state couldn't possibly be okay.

"Why is it fine for you to hurt?"

"Because I'm a demon's child."

"Hah..."

"I-I'm sowwy..."

Watching Ether dive right back into apologizing for nothing, Iberin understood.

No matter what she said or did, Ether would react with extreme anxiety and have no idea how to handle it.