CHAPTER ONE: THE GOOD NEWS?

DIARA'S POV

 The smell of blood, the sounds of swords clashing, and the agonizing screams of the fallen knights—these are the same scenes I have been seeing as a general of war.

Two great Empires that had been allies since ancient times, waged war and turned their backs on each other, all because of one woman.

A woman so important that people started building shrines for her and worshipping her.

Elianna Everette Yulianne Ivy

The daughter of a marquess with royal blood and the beloved niece of the Archduke.

The Saintess.

And...

The female lead of the book I wrote for a friend.

And I, Diara, reincarnated into a character who will die an unjust death at the hands of her husband.

The Saintess's cousin.

Though we are of different empires, we are of the same descent and had many chances of meeting. Therefore I have always avoided reunion parties with all the descent families.

But why must fate be so cruel?

Why are they in front of me in our base in the middle of war!?

With a smile, the lady in front of me waved at me while the man behind him stared at me with coldness.

I massaged my temple as my annoyance began to make my head ache at what the so-called saintess did.

"Why are you here, Dill?", I said with annoyance as I looked at her.

"Awh don't be like that Dia.", she said as she walked toward me and clung her arms to mine.

"Are you not supposed to be in hiding? Why are you here instead?", I said annoyingly.

"Well, I actually came here with great news!", she said excitingly.

"And that would be?", I asked.

"That would be the truce that both the empires agreed.", the man, now in front of me, stated seriously.

"With what terms?", I asked.

Excitedly, Elianna jumped in front of me and held my hands with her eyes shining as she looked at me, but she did not say anything.

"May I ask why your cousin seems so joyful?", I ask him.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighed.

"That is why we are here. To inform you of your emperor's message of inquiring you to go back to your empire with us. He says that you, together with your parents, shall be at the palace hall in three days. That is why we have told the knights on our side to back down. The war is over.", he stated.

"I assume that whatever the terms, you will need to be of attendance as the representative of your house? or is there anything else you will need to be there for?", I asked.

Receiving silence, I had thought it was the latter.

I sighed as I know that what I had feared has happened.

In the book I wrote, Deliamare Empire, the empire in which Diara of the book resided, will have a truce with the Ashman Empire, the which the heroine and Diara's husband resided in.

But with the terms of marriage between the heirs of The Duchy of Reinhardt of Deliamare and The Archduchy of Eiris of Ashman.

Meaning the marriage between me and this man.

However, their marriage was also the sole reason why another war broke out.

Xavier Asterios Achilleus Eiris, the heir of the Archduchy of Eiris and the cousin of the saintess, fell in love with a woman from his hometown.

The Villainess.

The Villainess framed Diara for many vicious things and one of them was poisoning her. The lovestruck heir believed her and put Diara on trial which led to her being killed by him. However, the saintess who was convinced her sister-in-law was framed, tried everything to expose her and give justice to her late sister-in-law.

When the villainess found out, she tried every means to shut her up and on occasion, tried to kill her.

Xavier eventually found out when his cousin begged him to investigate the truth.

Out of rage, he killed the villainess and shut himself up after that.

Remembering the look his late wife gave him before he killed her, and all the pleadings she had given him, he killed himself out of guilt.

Hearing the news of the death of her cousin, the female lead was devastated and also tried to commit suicide.

But she was rescued by her fiancée who just come back from war.

The war that was caused by the unjust death of Diara.

Remembering the things I wrote for that very special friend of mine, I could only sigh to myself again.

I looked at Elianna and gave her a death glare.

"You were the one behind this weren't you, Dill?", I asked firmly.

She looked away from me and laughed awkwardly.

I knew it. It was her doing.

The truce was supposed to happen in a few years but with her knowing everything, my life is now on the line.

"Whatever are you talking about, general Reinhardt?", the man asked.

I looked at him and sighed again as I remembered my fate with him.

"Nothing you should be worried about, lord Eiris.", I said to him.

I guess I can't run away from my fate.

What a tragic ending for me.