At the banquet, the irony was thick enough to cut with a knife. I, a lady-in-waiting, stood beside Lime, while the Empress and the concubine sat on equally elevated seats—a blatant disregard for tradition. The unfolding drama promised a feast for the gossip-mongers; the newspapers would be ablaze.
"Greetings, sun and moon of the empire." I froze. Before me stood my children, Dana and Josh. Even though they’d forgotten me, they hadn’t forgotten the etiquette I’d instilled.
"Dana, Josh," I whispered, tears stinging my eyes. I yearned to embrace them, but I couldn't. I felt too tainted, too unworthy; I feared even approaching them.
"They've grown so much," the Emperor observed, his gaze lingering on me.
The Emperor knew my plight. He, a friend of my father, understood the injustice I’d suffered. But he couldn't publicly clear my name. The Saintess and Mathias held too much sway; the Emperor couldn't risk defying them.
Even exoneration wouldn't suffice; society was determined to erase me. No one offered help, not my family, not my parents. I was utterly alone, relying solely on myself. It felt like abandonment, but it was more complex than that.
"Mommy, teach us how to greet properly, Your Majesty," Dana chirped, her innocent words a sharp pang to my heart.
Mommy. I was Mommy, but she believed it was Jasmine.
"Your Majesty, I brought wine from the East. Sakura Jew Wine, a rare wine that enhances mana. I offer it on the Empress's birthday," Jasmine announced, gracefully pouring the wine into golden goblets and presenting them to the royalty.
William, ever the opportunist, seized the moment, approaching me with a goblet. "Cia, you need this more than anyone. Please, accept it."
I stepped back, bowing deeply. "Your Highness, I am merely a servant."
He shook his head, persisting. "We were childhood friends. You're more than a servant to me."
I saw the whispers start, accusing me of flirting with the crown prince. I placed the goblet on Lime's table.
"I apologize, Your Highness, but I can't accept a gift from the crown prince," I stated firmly. Samantha stepped forward.
"Lady Gracia, you're not a stranger to us. Please, accept His Highness's gift," Samantha urged, effectively shutting down the whispers. Her intentions were noble, I knew, but she couldn't be oblivious to William's blatant flirting. Why was she ignoring it?
"Gracia is my lady-in-waiting; she answers to me. She can decide," Lime interjected, seizing the goblet and drinking the wine.
Relief flooded me; the focus shifted back to the wine, not my fabricated romance with William.
Moments later, Lime gasped, clutching her stomach. "It hurts! What did you put in my drink, you vile woman?!" she shrieked at Jasmine, her face contorted in agony. Blood stained her skirt.
My blood-infused curse was taking effect. She would experience the agony of internal bleeding, the pain of death.
"My child!" Lime cried out in terror.
Panic erupted. Jasmine, deathly pale, was visibly flustered. I rushed to Lime's side.
"I didn't do anything! It must be Gracia! She planned this!" Jasmine shrieked, her voice laced with fear. Samantha, however, slapped her hard across the face.
"I knew it! You can see the evidence, yet you deny it! Is this how you maintain your position?" Samantha raged, her anger simmering. I hadn't expected her intervention.
"Before you became a Saintess, you were known for your wicked deeds! And here you are blaming others to save your image!" Samantha added, her voice filled with bitter disappointment.
"I'm innocent! Gracia must have done this to get revenge!" Jasmine wailed, her voice trembling.
"Why, Jasmine? Did you do something to provoke revenge?" William's voice cut through the chaos, sharp and demanding.
"N-No! That's not it!" Jasmine denied, her voice shrill.
"Then what is it?" William pressed.
"She's jealous of me!" Jasmine's voice cracked.
My mother stepped forward, her voice dripping with icy disdain. "My daughter, from a higher noble family, treated as a princess, a prodigy in magic, and the wife of a hero, never involved herself in politics. So how, pray tell, could she possibly envy a former madwoman of the empire?" Her words were a scathing indictment of Jasmine's preposterous accusation.
I hadn’t anticipated their support. I’d assumed I was alone, but it seemed the opportunity to speak hadn't presented itself before. Tears streamed down my cheeks, but I quickly wiped them away.
"Please! Enough with the accusations! Saving the Imperial Concubine and her child is paramount," I pleaded, my voice filled with urgency. All eyes turned to me.
"I told you, you're just pretending! You planned this to ruin my reputation!" Jasmine shrieked, a triumphant, albeit hysterical, smile spreading across her face.
I frowned, genuinely confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Don't play innocent! You specialize in healing magic, don't you? Mathias took me to your mansion, and you saved me, even though I was near death!" she blurted out, her words laced with venomous self-satisfaction.
Gotcha.
A buzz rippled through the crowd. Everyone looked at Jasmine, their expressions shifting to suspicion. Even reborn, attempting to imitate me and alter her personality, her ignorance remained her undoing.
Confusion clouded her features as Mathias struggled to restrain her.
"That was my mistake, too. I broke the laws of magic, but I did it for my husband. It nearly cost me my life and left me in a coma for half a year," I acknowledged, omitting a few crucial details.
I knelt before the Emperor, my voice filled with desperate genuine concern. "Please, end this feud and focus on saving the Imperial Concubine and her child. Her life, and her child's, are at stake." The Emperor acted swiftly, but even the royal mages' healing magic proved useless.
"Only Lady Gracia or the Tower Master can save her," the Chief Royal Mage announced, his voice heavy with the weight of the situation.
All eyes swiveled to me. I rose, a tremor running through me. I attempted to weave a healing spell, but the magic recoiled, a searing pain lancing through me as it confirmed my mana’s depletion. I had no power left to save Jasmine; the magic was gone. The collective belief in Jasmine's innocence solidified.
A crimson stream erupted from my mouth as I strained against the magic’s rejection. Mathias, his face etched with worry, grabbed my arm, his touch surprisingly gentle. "Stop! Enough!"
"Why? Pity? Or are you afraid my condition will expose your betrayal?" I sneered, a cruel smile twisting my lips. My words were barbed, laced with bitterness and a calculated display of pain.
"You're insane!" he shouted, but his force lacked conviction; the push he delivered was weak, uncontrolled.
Excellent. Let the drama unfold. Let them fuel my revenge.
Ignoring the throbbing pain, I straightened, pushing down the tears threatening to spill. Even though I loathed them, I forced my face into a mask of tragic resignation, letting the tears flow.
"Mathias, I finally see it—you never loved me. I was a fool to sacrifice myself for a woman I foolishly believed was just your friend. Since we met, I’ve been constantly misunderstood,” my voice broke, the words dripping with self-pity and carefully crafted resentment. Every syllable felt like a betrayal of myself.
"Fine. I risked everything for you, again. I'll let them misunderstand me, I'll take the blame for Jasmine's actions. For the last time, I'll give you all I have left," I stated, my voice low and deliberate. A beat of silence hung in the air before I added, "My life."
The unconditional love I'd once given fueled by blind devotion was gone. Now, this was about destruction, cold and calculated. Fear held no sway over me.
I drew on the last vestiges of my power, gathering the energy around me, channeling the raw emotion into my magic, a bitter offering.
My cruel revenge began.
A violent wind ripped through the palace, the air shimmering with an otherworldly, azure light. It was a radiance so intense, it threatened to blind everyone.
Blood Sacrifice, a forbidden magic of the highest order, wasn’t purely black magic; it was tinged with darkness.
The greatest healing magic, a pure white magic impossible to cast by ordinary means, was supposedly invented by the Mother of Magic herself, born from profound resentment. This was that magic—a cruel, unrelenting spell.
"Art of Magic: Fragment of Soul Sacrifice. Peaceful Blessing," I chanted. The light intensified, consuming the entire city. People gasped as the light flowed over them, erasing disease and banishing curses. Those suffering from incurable diseases felt their bodies recharged with vibrant health.
When the light subsided, awe hung heavy in the air. Smiling faces examined their miraculously healed bodies.
My gaze fell on Lime, though. Of all those I’d saved, she alone met my gaze with unadulterated hatred.
I moved toward her, but a searing pain exploded in my chest, a cataclysmic constriction. I collapsed to the marble floor, the exquisite banquet hall falling silent.
The joyous atmosphere vanished, replaced by a stunned silence punctuated by my cries of pain.
"I—I can handle it," I gasped, struggling to rise, but failing. Blood erupted from my mouth and spilled from my skin, crimson trails marking the once-elegant floor. The horrifying sight sent shivers through the attendees, causing many to recoil.
I was no stranger to the effects of Blood Sacrifice, but this agony dwarfed any prior experience.
I writhed on the floor, the pain overwhelming, my screams echoing through the opulent hall. William, to my utter surprise, rushed to my side, his eyes mirroring his anxiety.
"W-What did you do?" I managed to ask, my voice barely a whisper.
"C-Cia, hold on! I'm here. I won't let you die. Where are the healers?!" he shouted, his voice choked with alarm. I pushed him away, my strength failing, yet my determination unwavering.
"I don't need anyone's help, especially not a man. I can handle this alone," I rasped, my voice fierce despite my weakening condition.
Nathan approached, his hands clasped, a gleam of anticipation in his eyes. He clearly anticipated my demise from the forbidden magic.
"Forbidden magic? Lady Gracia, even though you saved the Imperial Concubine, the law remains. You’ve broken it," he stated, his voice dripping with disdain and victorious smugness.
Mathias stepped forward, a strange blend of concern and duty etched on his face. "Gracia, despite our past, I must choose the empire. As Knight Commander, it's my duty to arrest you!"
William, however, blocked Mathias's path and spoke with chilling authority. "Try it! Anyone who dares to arrest Lady Gracia will be an enemy of the empire!"
A smirk curled Nathan's lips. "Playing the heroine quite convincingly, aren't you?" He watched the agonizing scenes unfolding with a sick curiosity.
More blood welled in my mouth, but I forced a smile, a gruesome grimace that only served to astound him further.
"No! This isn't right!" Jasmine wailed, descending into a frenzied state. All eyes turned toward her, her wild-eyed expression betraying her unraveling mental state.
"Gracia, what exactly did you do?" Nathan’s voice was barely audible above the growing unrest.
"The true purpose of this performance," I replied, my voice thin but clear. Jasmine's glare intensified.
"Gracia, you're to blame! This is all your doing! You sabotaged my plan! I… I am the Saintess! I have finally won!" Her words were a blend of accusation and delusion.
"Gracia, is this your revenge? Control Jasmine!" Mathias barked, desperation in his voice.
Revenge? It wasn't my intention. They weren't my true adversaries. My opponent was fate itself. The life assigned me in this predetermined plot, I would no longer accept.
My enemy: the system.
The system flashed crimson. Mission: Secure your position as a Saintess (Mission Failed). Punishment: Heavenly Punishment. 
Relief washed over me. A grim, dark smile touched my lips. "I did it. For the first time, I've truly sabotaged the system."
I fixed my eyes on the window. Another clap of thunder shook the castle walls. A bolt of white lightning, blinding in its intensity, sliced through the sky—and the window—striking its target with terrifying precision: Jasmine.
Exhausted, overwhelmed by the spreading agony, I yielded to the pain's inevitable conquest and slipped into unconsciousness.