Chapter I : Rebirth

The break of dawn was at the culminating point, upon the early morning, the soft orange-red light has gently illuminated the town.

Despite the primeval hour, a loud uproar was clearly distinguishing in the calm of the city.

Well, through fact, it was like nobody was still asleep regardless of the primeval time of the morning; inhabitants around the central place were laughing, dancing, acclaim, full of joy and amusement.

In the center of the celebrations occur a girl who was not having fun, far from it, she seems to be afraid. She was thin, her pale skin was overlaid with wounds and bruises, clearly seeing her small and rickety features, under the layer of dust that sheeted her, as well as coagulated blood. She was in a bad situation.

Her clothes were in the same condition as their owner, shabby, dirty and even torn in some places.

The young lady's hair was a total mess, short, they have been hastily cut, was very unevenly muddy, strewn with twigs, greasy and messy, it was possible to thought she had never washed in all her life, or rather, that she did not know hygiene or how to take care of herself.

Behind this shallow spectacle, one could guess the incredible beauty of the young woman, yet her lips were chapped, bite marks was seeable, yet she was thin, well-drawn, following perfectly with the delicate gracefulness of her face, bewitching curves, and certain behavior.

The grime and the wounds could not hide the exquisite appearance that was hiding in her, her face was shut, there were great fatigue and a despondency underlined by the big dark circles she had under her almond eyes.

Her eyes were arguably the most fascinating about her, a crystal clear blue, similar to two shimmering sapphires, their bewitching shimmer could only fascinate those who met her gaze.

They weren't expressing any emotions, allowing just briefly read desperation and incomprehension as if the young woman in her early thirties had been put here and tortured for free.

Yet she was the most faithless of sinners, a false saint whose only redemption would be death, an almost saving end in the face of the agony that was gnawing at her, her existence has become an ordeal since that sentence.

She looked up as the sound of footsteps approached her, taking the time to detail the person who dared to come to her bedside in front of a crowd of hateful people, made up mostly of her detractors.

In front of the injured woman stood another young woman, of a similar age to her, the newcomer had long hair between intense blond and pale reddish, shining gently in the dawn light like a burning flame, her eyes were a pale gray-blue but rather intense, with her light golden skin, she recalled the first moments of the day, a dawning sun that delighted those who looked at her.

The pretty young lady leaned forward, whispering in a soft voice in the criminal's ear.

"You lose, Lyah, you got duped and your kindness led to your downfall, look at yourself, you are going to die for your naivety! Didn't your parents teach you to beware of people? Probably not, since they are also dead!"

The young woman's body was shaken with spasms, from a distance it looked like she was sobbing but she was actually laughing out loud.

She wiped a tear of joy that beaded at the corner of her eye and gently stroked the sinner's head, bringing up a soft smile, satisfied with her plans.

"I… I don't understand Ria… aren't we sister?" Why did you act like that…?"

Her voice was low and broken, each word costing her pain both physically and mentally, after hours of torture and mistreatment her tongue was nothing but a bloody mass of flesh and there was the need to concentrate to figure out what was said.

" Why? It's very simple my dear sister, listen to me carefully. I hate you, I hate you from the bottom of my heart since the start. You have always had the world at your feet, you have never known the real sadness, the hunger or the scornful looks of the people around you, you have never been rejected, when you needed help, you have found people to turn to, it's unfair! I have always been the Duke's daughter too! No one abandoned you at birth, you've never known poverty, so why? We share the same blood… Why me... What I've done to deserve this rude treatment...?"

Her body was tense and the anger and resentment emanating from her tone were quite hearable, rage radiating every part of her being, making her as hot as the sun.

Estheria Aurore Roselia was the illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Roselia, born of adultery, her father had abandoned her at birth, leaving her mother, a sick woman coming from a dismissed Baroness of the nobility alone with her daughter.

Life was very hard for this poor mother who had to prostitute herself to satisfy her needs and those of her daughter. She died shortly after the birth of her second child, her body never having recovered from the concussion, the two toddlers were then adopted by Duke Vincent Frédéric de Roselia who finally took responsibility for the childbirth of the little girl, her real name was Créscia Womelaph, she was renowned at her arrival in the duchy.

Although the Duchess was not happy by the news, she was still an emphatic and kind woman, so she welcomed the two children with kindness, lovingly raising them as if they were her own.

Claude Eugene Roselia, therefore, grew up with the Duke and Duchess as a parent, considering their offspring as his siblings, although he later learned the truth about his origins, he remained grateful and devoted to his adopted family, despite the attempts by his older sister to attract hatred and contempt, the young boy got along much better with Astellyah anyway to listen to her.

"We… We took you in and treated you like a member of our family… You caused the death of all these people who loved you, you made me pass for the illegitimate child, I was deposed and...I suffered through your fault… Yet… I… I… trusted you how could you betray us like this? You had your brothers and sisters murdered one by one… You killed your father… and your foster mother and now you intend to sacrifice your only surviving sibling… We all took you for a saint… while you were the naughty one of the story… How ironic that the Saint was the wicked sinner… "

The vile liar gritted her teeth, glaring at her relative as she clenched her fists, although she quickly swallowed her anger, once again wearing a beaming smile, full of cruelty and spite. Soon all of this would no longer matter after all.

"Maybe I'm the dirty sinner, but in the meantime, you're the one taken for the wicked, the one who savagely murdered her family. The false priestess born from the adultery of her mother without any power and any support. I might be the bad guy but I'm also the one who will have a long and beautiful life of lust as you die miserably and your name will be occurs used as a curse. You don't have anyone on your side anymore, even your fiancé has cowardly abandoned you, and guess what? I carry his child. Perhaps you do too, except mine will live while yours will perish with you. Your cutesy kindness has always made me nauseous, you wouldn't be here if you weren't so stupid. "

"You are a bad person… so corrupted that you must be a demon… your actions will take you into the flames of hell. You are truly deranged… Either damned… "

"We'll see each other there then." She smiles sweetly.

The woman walked away, giving way to a gentleman, he was tall, well beaten, and dressed in luxurious clothes, in front of Astellyah stood none other than the Second Prince himself, in his eyes reflected all his hatred and disgust for the woman who was once his fiancée.

"Astellyah Déliane Roselia, the child of prophecy who only ended up being a false priestess, a vile sinner who deceived everyone. Today ends your reign of lies and destruction. With your death, we will break the curse you have placed, falling us into darkness and drought. Do you have a last will?"

The former heiress of the Duchy of Roselia remained silent, focusing her gaze on the sun that had finally returned after her long months in the dark.

From the depths of her soul, she screamed her innocence, however, her last strength had been taken from her, she no longer had the force to speak, to defend herself.

Through the tears that clouded her vision, she smiled sadly at the day-star, whispering that at least he knew the truth and knew that she wasn't the monster they imagined.

With one last dreamy thought, she sighed, if only she could go back, she would save them all and open the eyes of this apocryphal people.

As the rope was tied around her neck, a soft tickling light danced before her eyes, dark blue, purple, yellow, and orange, beautiful colors that reminded her of the time between night and dusk, one of her favorite times of the day, when the first stars appeared while the hues of the day waned.

As if echoing her thoughts, small luminous dots similar to stars were added to the vision, as the pulley lowered, encircling her throat with a thick noose, a smile appeared on her lips, her eyes closed, she let the darkness take place.

The icy sensation of the biting cold of death, the stiff and hazy mind, the immovable limbs, she slipped smoothly into the cold world of unconsciousness.

Astellyah sharply opened her eyes, coughing heavily several times, her throat itched, as if she was suffocating, the young woman was perplexed, hadn't she just been executed by the Second Prince?

She jumped up from her bed, a nightmare?

She was in her bedroom, an ordinary child's bedroom, with pearly pink wallpaper, a huge toy box, overpriced furniture, a bookcase with a small armchair near the window, and a huge bed in the center of the room.

A child's room? She repeated to herself confusedly, this room looked like her room when she must have been in the age surrounding six or seven, the bedroom had changed a lot and that many times since, she was thirty-one and this place should unquestionably not have that appearance.

Septic, she stepped up to a huge wooden cabinet, on the doors were fixed two large mirrors, despite the dim light of the moon, she could see her reflection.

She was a little girl with pale skin, she had crystalline light blue eyes they were light, walked between the sky and the ocean abysses, there were scents of purple.

Long blonde hair with pearly pink reddish-brown highlights framed her face and came down to her lower back, the little girl looked no more than eight years old but an aura of elegance and kindness exuded her.

Tears rolled down her youthful face, she quickly realized that she had stepped back in time in an unknown way, surely related to the light she had seen before her death.

The little lady couldn't think rationally, she crouched down, putting her head between her knees to sob silently, what if this was all part of her punishment? What if her loved ones were still… dead?

The overwhelming emotions washed over her, her tears intensifying, the last years had been so hard… the last few months even worse, had she had another chance?

Whither?… was it a fantasy in her mind to escape the suffocation of the hanging? The pains of persecution and contempt, was all this just a fanciful illusion pictured up by a hopeful soul, too dreamy to face the cruel reality of imminent end?

A thud was heard in the stillness of the night, even so, she didn't react, barely hearing it as background noise, inaudible to her troubled ears.

She didn't move, when suddenly a hand rested on her shoulder, pulling a tremor from her, too used to violence, this gentle gesture that had startled her seemed a bad omen.