บท 75: Prologue
A young girl was walking through a white corridor alone. This event, though mundane, was enough to catch the attention of those who'd gathered in the castle's reception room. It was as though time had stopped.
Her beauty was ethereal, as if God had crafted her every feature with great attention. Her hair looked like fine gold threads flowing freely over her shoulders, her skin was smooth and unblemished, her large, bright-green eyes sparkled, and her pure white dress swayed with every step.
Her name? Ellize, the living legend—the greatest saint to have ever graced the land of Fiori.
Looking at her was like resting one's gaze on an old master's painting. She exuded perfection from every angle. Simply existing in the same space as her brought with it a sense of accomplishment and pride.
Still, a dark emotion—guilt—soured the pleasure of those who were currently looking at Ellize. Gathered in the reception room were the kings, queens, ministers, and leaders that ruled over the countries of the world—in other words, those who'd betrayed the saint. They'd convinced themselves that they'd done it for her, for the world. Even if they had to suffer the stigma of dishonor, Ellize couldn't be allowed to die. And so, these people had betrayed her trust and locked her up.
Today, they'd returned to the saint's castle to accept their punishment. No one had done more for the world than Ellize had; no one had saved more lives or done more good. And yet, they'd betrayed her. Surely, the price for such treason was high.
However, the very person who'd suffered from that betrayal did not look angry. She simply smiled at the crowd.
"Please raise your heads," she said softly. "You haven't done anything wrong. I shall not blame you."
"But Saint! How can we atone like this? Please bestow a fitting punishment upon us..." the king of the Lutein Kingdom cried.
His country had recently been attacked by an army of monsters, and it would have been destroyed had it not been for Ellize's intervention. Nevertheless, he'd repaid that heavy debt with nothing but treachery.
He'd come here ready to be derided, to face Ellize's scorn. Surely she'd say that she'd never forgive him. Had the saint ordered him to die to atone for his sins, he'd have gladly slit his own throat—a sentiment shared by the rest of the royals in attendance, he believed.
Ellize did not demand blood, though. Instead, she smiled once more. "If you seek to atone... Well, accepting my forgiveness will be your penitence, then. If you throw a rock at me, I'll forgive you. If you stab me in the back, I'll forgive you. I'll forgive you, again and again, regardless of what happens to me, for I love this world and everyone in it," she stated.
At her words, the leaders of the world broke down crying where they knelt.
I will never betray her trust again, they swore inside their hearts. Whatever she needs, I'll do everything in my power to give it to her.
Image here:
Ellize's mercy touched the hearts of everyone present in the room. They wept, thinking of how much they adored and respected their saint—the most outstanding, compassionate, and beautiful young woman to be born into this world.
Little did they know that the saint they revered so much...was nothing but the most cunning fraud in history!
◇
Yo! Ellize here.
Once again, the looks of envy directed at me feel amazing! Oh boy, do I love this feeling!
I'm the gender-bender saint who transmigrated into the world of Fiori from the twenty-first century! What's up with the gender-bender part, you ask? Well, as you may or may not know, it's a common trope in light novels and the like. It actually refers to protagonists changing sex as a plot device, and has very little to do with trans identity. Plus—actually, let's skip the lengthy explanation! You probably get it already, right? My point is: I'm a man, but I ended up in a girl's body after transmigrating.
I still didn't really know what had happened to me, but after I'd died, I'd ended up in the game I was playing right before my death—Kuon no Sanka, a dating sim from hell that constantly offed its heroines. To be perfectly accurate, I hadn't really died—I'd stayed in a state of suspended animation for such a short time that only part of my soul had ended up transmigrating...or something. I know this doesn't make much sense, but it doesn't really matter. Just remember the important part: I transmigrated.Anyway, instead of becoming the protagonist or one of his friends, I'd found myself in the body of Ellize—the fake saint and antagonist. What did I do to deserve that, huh?
In case you were wondering what kind of character Ellize was meant to be... Well, she was pretty much one of these noble villainess types that've been all the rage recently—only ten times worse! Villainesses usually had some sort of redeeming quality, and to be fair, most of the time the true villains were their trashy-yet-handsome fiancés who tried to dump them after they'd taken one look at the heroine.
Ellize, on the other hand, was a piece of shit through and through. She had absolutely no redeeming qualities. She was trash. A living trash pile. The worst trash pile of the year. The biggest trash pile in existence. And I'd ended up transmigrating into that very piece of shit. Life's tough sometimes.
If you looked at things from a different angle, though, it was the perfect opportunity to fix this hellish dating sim. Most of its terrible storylines were Ellize's doing. All I had to do to lead my favorite characters toward a happy ending was to avoid being as trashy as her. Simple, right?
I'd fixed my appearance—hell, I was probably the most beautiful person in this world—and I'd made sure the saint had a stellar reputation by going around killing monsters and saving people. I might've overdone it just a teensy bit, but let's not dwell on that.All that was left was to give Eterna—the real saint—her rightful place, give up my life to take down the witch, and the perfect ending I'd always dreamed of would be within my grasp. I'd be dead, sure, but I didn't really mind. I wasn't scared of dying. I'd already died once, and it honestly wasn't the big deal people made it out to be. I had never been all that attached to life, but after going through the whole ordeal once, my survival instinct had essentially disappeared altogether.
Getting to this point hadn't been a walk in the park, though. Not so long ago, I'd been betrayed and confined inside my castle by my own guards. Well, to be fair, they'd been spurred on by the royals. I was far less popular than I'd assumed. They'd all betrayed me! All of them!
As the dude from K*men Rid*r Bl*de once said: "HaVE YOu reAlLY bETrayED uS?!"
That said, I couldn't really blame my guards. Their duty was to protect the saint. I was nothing but a fake, so as far I was concerned, they owed me absolutely nothing. If anything, I was the one who was continuously betraying them by pretending to be someone I wasn't. I couldn't really complain.
Anyway, fast forward to now: while I'd decided not to blame anyone, the royals somehow weren't satisfied. They'd decided to gather at my castle once more so they could kneel before me and beg for my forgiveness—which I'd already given them—properly.
Is this a rerun? I have a feeling I went through all this with Aiz already.
Anyway, I didn't think any of them were actually in the wrong, so I'd forgiven them again. And then they'd cried, just like Aiz—c'mon, we know how this goes. We've seen the previous run, move on.
Don't laugh, me... Don't laugh... I was currently trying my hardest not to burst into a fit of evil cackling befitting the god of the new world.
The royals asking for punishment was fine and dandy, but I doubted I even had the authority to punish them in the first place. It was easier to give them some bullshit about how I loved everyone and couldn't bear to punish them. I sure have a way with words, if I say so myself.
Someone who truly loved this world and everything in it wouldn't massacre monsters on the daily until they'd become a critically endangered species, but oh well! No one ever seemed to notice the obvious contradictions in my speeches anyway.
Besides a few hiccups, I was still doing pretty well. I just needed to get rid of the witch, Alexia—who was currently hiding in the basement of the Training Institute for Magic Knights of Alfrea like a rat—and I'd finally reach my long-awaited happy ending.
So...let's hurry back to the academy! The fake saint's witch-crushing RTA speedrun is about to begin! Wait, no, it's not a speedrun at all. I've taken my sweet time, haven't I?
(1.5k word count)
A/n: guys I'm so sorry for the Inconvenience i put the wrong timer on the prologue chapter
So pls forgive me on this one.
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