Episode 1

“Forget about him. I’ll fill that empty space for you.”

True to his reputation as a ruthless tyrant who always reigned from the heights, the man revealed an intense and vicious presence. However, all of that became useless in front of Russelin. The bloodthirsty tyrant, Leonard Estere, who had lowered himself to one knee, looked up at Russelin with eyes full of submission. Yet, she was not unaware of the powerful emotions hidden behind his calm gaze.

“I will bear everything that burdens you.”

“…”

“You only need to use me.”

That’s why Russelin couldn’t help but wonder what exactly it was that had completely brought this arrogant and cruel tyrant to his knees. When Russelin still couldn’t muster the courage, Leonard urgently grasped her small hand. Shocked, Russelin instinctively tried to pull her hand away, but Leonard tightened his grip as if he knew nothing.

“Forget about the idea of refusing.”

“…!”

“From the moment you saved me, no, from the moment you summoned me.”

Leonard gazed down at the small hand that had dared to strike him and gently kissed it.

“You were already on a dangerous journey with me.”

“….What does that mean?”

Before Russelin could fully question, Leonard’s heavy voice cut in.

“…And so am I.”

* * *

The air was thick with the stench of blood. The overwhelming pain and the blood soaking her hands reminded Russelin that she was still alive. She feebly lifted her head, collapsed and broken on the ground. What in the world had happened?

“Come to Helios Forest, Russelin. To the place where you first clung to me.”

“Aydin, if you have something to say, say it here. That place is…”

“And why not? It’s the place that took in a half-baked priestess like you. Shouldn’t you be grateful?”

Russelin had just barely made it to Helios Forest, summoned cruelly by her husband, Aydin. She knew that whenever he mentioned the half-baked priestess, it wasn’t a good sign. However, what awaited her was not Aydin.

“Well, well. I thought you were just pretending to be naive, but it turns out you’re truly stupid. Why do you think I’d want to see that detestable face of yours here?”

Above Russelin, who was trapped in a pool of blood, a high-pitched, mocking voice echoed—Celia’s voice. When Russelin strained to frown in pain, Celia’s face brightened in contrast.

“…Celia.”

Celia, none other than Aydin Bert’s mistress. Russelin couldn’t understand why Celia was standing in the spot where her husband had called her.

“I felt a little sorry for you, crawling around the mansion in fear, but look at you, dying beneath me even at the very end.”

The shameless voice of the woman who seduced her husband taunted Russelin, filling her with disgust. The reason Russelin couldn’t slap this woman, even though she was standing right in front of her, was because… Celia was the true priestess who could save her husband. Unlike Russelin, who was just a half-baked one. In front of Celia, Russelin’s only weakness stood out all the more.

“How does it feel to die at the hands of your husband’s mistress?”

Celia knelt in front of Russelin, deliberately and with satisfaction, watching as her breath slowly faded. Russelin couldn’t even muster the strength to lift her head; all she could see was Celia’s white shoes in her narrowing vision. The sight of Celia, the so-called pure priestess, drenched in the red of blood seemed strangely fitting. The tender touch of Celia stroking Russelin’s head felt unbearably vile.

“How pitiful. You were too small a vessel to contain his ambitions.”

“Ugh… ugh…”

“Now, I will fulfill his wishes. In return, he’ll give me what I desire.”

What did that mean? Hadn’t Celia loved Aydin? If that were true, then…

Her mind became cluttered with confusion, but in her fading consciousness, she couldn’t make sense of it. Celia, letting out a cynical laugh, rose from her place without hesitation. With elegant hands, she dusted off her dress and turned her back on Russelin with deliberate indifference.

“I hope, in death, you get to bask in that cursed love of yours, Russelin Lavrenti.”

With those final words, Celia’s voice disappeared completely.

“…Hik… Hic.”

Only after silence descended did Russelin finally let out the sobs she had been holding back.

‘…Am I really going to die like this? At the hands of the mistress my husband brought into our lives?’

I don’t want to die. Not like this.

If I had known it would come to this, I would have confronted Aydin when he brought Celia into our home.

I should have demanded to know if his words of love were all lies.
And… I should have cursed the god who turned me into a priestess against my will, who ruined my life.

All those years of being mistreated as a half-baked priestess, bowing my head and enduring it all… the injustice of it finally overwhelmed me.

‘Maybe Celia was right after all.’

I was foolish and naive.
I knew everything but did nothing.
In the end, the one who broke Russelin was herself.

“Sob… hic…”

Tears she had held back for so long finally began to fall, but even those were consumed by the cruel red of the blood surrounding her. Russelin’s once warm eyes now burned with fierce determination. She wasn’t going to back down so easily. She would repay all the pain she had suffered.

I will.

“…Crush them all.”

With the last bit of strength she could muster, she forced those words out, and then her body gave way. For a moment, her vision went dark, only for a bright light to bloom soon after.

“……”

In her final moments, she thought she heard a strange voice, but Russelin ultimately fell into a sleep from which she would never awaken.

* * *

The Tristan Empire has long passed down the legend that it is blessed by Ragnar, the god of war. Among the people, those who receive the greatest amount of Ragnar’s magic are said to be the empire’s protectors. However, there is truth to the saying, “Too much is as bad as too little.” The power of a god is far too strong for mere humans to endure, and a misstep could lead to the rampaging of that power, resulting in death.

While magic overload is rare for ordinary wizards, the protectors who wield Ragnar’s immense power experience periodic instability. To control this overwhelming power, Ragnar granted the empire a priestess capable of subduing it. Only the priestess, blessed by the god, could stabilize their volatile magic.

Currently, two individuals in the Tristan Empire have been recognized as protectors blessed by Ragnar, and one of them is Duke Aydin Bert of the Tristan Empire. Aydin’s power grew stronger day by day after he married Russelin Lavrenti, the priestess who was to stabilize his magic. Russelin seemed to be loved as both the priestess who could quell his rampages and as his only wife.

* * *

‘Ha, if you suffer this much every time you receive my magic, what am I supposed to do? Hmm, Russelin?’
‘I’m sorry. I don’t know why this is happening. It hurts so much every time I take in your magic…’
‘At this point, I’m starting to wonder if you’re not receiving another man’s magic instead. Have you been sneaking off with someone else behind my back?’

But every time Russelin received Aydin’s overwhelming magic, she suffered deeply. Eventually, she became unable to properly receive it, and Aydin endured the pain of suppressing his immense power, always on the verge of an uncontrollable outburst. As Aydin’s magic grew more unstable, his neglect of Russelin worsened.

Despite suffering and dying slowly by his side, Russelin found comfort in the thought that at least Aydin had not abandoned her. That is, until the day Celia, the true priestess, appeared and purified Aydin’s magic right before her eyes.

‘Why do you look like that, Russelin? Thanks to Celia, the husband you love is alive and well, isn’t he?’

‘…Aydin, please.’

‘From now on, stay by my side like you’re dead. Even a half-baked priestess like you is better than letting someone else have you.’

If only she had let go of him, maybe it wouldn’t have been so painful. If only she had known she could. Even in Aydin’s twisted obsession, Russelin couldn’t bring herself to leave him. She had been alone since her childhood when she lost her parents, and in her fragile state, she had no choice but to rely on the power of the priestess that had awakened within her during those dangerous times.

‘If you purify my magic, I’ll keep you by my side.’

From then on, Russelin lived trapped in Aydin’s grasp, from the painful and difficult moments when he first took hold of her life. Even though it caused her endless pain, Aydin was her world and everything she knew. She didn’t know how to break free from him, and so she accepted whatever he gave her.

‘Come to Helios Forest, Russelin. To the place where you first clung to me.’

But when Russelin finally realized that what she thought was love was merely his cruel and horrible possessiveness, her wretched life had already come to an end. Or so she thought.

* * *

“…What is this?”

Russelin blinked in shock, slowly bringing her hand to her chest.

“This can’t be.”

She was breathing. She could feel the gentle rhythm of life in her chest. The wound where a sharp blade had pierced her heart was gone.

‘Is this a dream?’

She was certain she had been stabbed by Celia’s sword and died. The pain still lingered vividly in her mind when she closed her eyes. She hadn’t yet calmed her racing heart when she quickly surveyed her surroundings. She was indeed in Helios Forest, where she had met her death. But something was different this time.

“…What’s going on?”

Her field of vision was filled with a red glow. The tranquil silence of Helios Forest was consumed by a dark, fiery aura. Russelin quickly recognized that it wasn’t ordinary flames but magic—one she knew all too well from her memories.

‘It’s the day Aydin first went berserk.’

It was the day Aydin first saved Russelin from being consumed by his own rampaging power. Aydin Bert had first received Ragnar’s power in Helios Forest, where it was strongest. Unable to control the immense magic he had absorbed, he went berserk, and Russelin had purified it for the first time. It was also the day she first opened her heart to him, believing their encounter to be fate. But in truth, that day marked the beginning of her exploitation by Aydin.

“So, that means… Aydin will be here soon….”

The past, which had been so painful, was returning to the present moment. Russelin recalled that Aydin had been secretly involved with Celia even before they were married. Now, he would continue to hide Celia while professing false love to Russelin and marrying her. All to monopolize the power of both priestesses.

“…Do you think I’ll let that happen?”

Whether this was a dream or she had somehow truly returned to the past, Russelin didn’t know. But one thing was clear: this was her second chance.

‘After the rampage in Helios Forest, I accepted Aydin’s proposal. So…’

She hadn’t yet been fully ensnared by Aydin Bert’s lies. She couldn’t be deceived by his false love again.

“This time, I won’t fall so easily.”

Determination burned in Russelin’s clear eyes. She needed to escape from here immediately—from this pit of magic that threatened to swallow her whole. And from Aydin Bert’s suffocating grip. Fixing her gaze on the direction where the magical presence felt weaker, Russelin prepared to run. But despite her firm resolve, she stood frozen for a moment, unable to move.

Red magic began to rise and spread throughout Helios Forest, and Russelin’s eyes landed on the man lying unconscious before her.

TL/N: “Half-baked” is an idiom that refers to something that is incomplete, poorly thought out, or not fully developed. It often suggests that an idea, plan, or effort is lacking in thoroughness or maturity, resulting in a subpar or insufficient outcome. Essentially, it implies that something hasn’t been properly prepared or executed.