According to the Emperor, Count Bellacian's condition had become more and more serious, reaching the point of screaming and inflicting wounds on himself, saying he had been cursed by the Goddess.

I didn't feel sorry for him because he had earned it. In any case, Count Bellacian was unable to come back.

The Countess knew that, so she handed the Count's stuff to Diana.

But Diana had no interest in the estate or work of the Count's family. Most of the Bellacian family's wealth was left by Ancia's biological mother anyway. But I was the Crown Princess now, so I couldn't be in charge of the estate, and I didn't need it either.

Even so, I had to take care of Count Bellacian while Diana was attending the Academy, so I headed to him.

A thousand years ago, the Goddess of Light gave Philip the power of light because she loved him.

But Philip betrayed the Goddess after the founding of the Asteric Empire, and she became furious. The Goddess of Light took away the power of light not only from Philip but also from the entire land.

In the end, the mages of light failed to use magic and the church lost its strength. Of course it was all a secret.

The church strictly blocked outsiders from entering the Valley of Chaos, saying evil lurked there. They said it was to protect the world from the Door of Darkness, but in fact, it was an excuse so that they could monopolize the mana stones that still had the power of light. There was no way that an individual or family could use this method to gain mana stones.

The church monopolized the mana stones, and maintained their authority by using the power of light in it.

The families that used to practice the magic of light quickly fell to ruin. The House of Bellacian was no exception. They were descendants of Liontel Bellacian, the great light mage who founded the Asteric Empire with Philip, but their power was feeble.

The heir of light was necessary to keep the door closed, but the power of the heirs gradually weakened, making it impossible to recognize if someone was really the heir of light.

A treasure called "The Tears of Light" which could determine if someone was an Heir of Light had been handed down, but it disappeared at some point in time.

Even though they lost most of their power, the Bellacian family still retained some of their power of light.

And Diana's powers were enough to lift the curse of the Goddess.

Even though she hadn't awakened her powers yet. In the library of the Bellacian family, there were various books about the magic of light and the Curse of the Goddess.

The Count had many servants in the mansion, and all of them followed Gilbert Bellacian and criticized Ancia.

Diana said she had fired all the servants who had harassed Ancia before she entered the academy, so there were only a few left.

"I told you to stay in your room. Why did you come out?!"

Each step reminded me of what Ancia had experienced in the mansion. I wasn't the real Ancia, and I had not been through it myself.

However, I could still feel her melancholy just from the memories.

I had only just arrived, but I already wanted to go back to Amoria Palace, to where Blake was. I hurried to the library of Count Bellacian.

However, for a long-standing family, the quality and quantity of books were quite poor.

Although there were many books about the power of light, they were all common books.

I went to Count Bellacian's office too, but that place was even more disastrous. It seemed that the perception of the House of Bellacian, which was decorated in luxury for show-off, was completely absent.

Although I read a few books, I couldn't find anything about the curse.

'So all that's left is the warehouse?'

The butler guided me there. I opened the door with the key I received from Diana. It opened with a heavy push.

I went inside with anticipation, but I was soon disappointed. It was full of gold, jewelry, and art, but there were no heirlooms of the family. I had heard that they even sold the "Tears of Light" to afford their expenses, so there was no other heirloom left.

When I checked the certificates, it seemed that most of the jewelry and artworks were purchased recently. All of it was bought with the money that Ancia's biological mother brought.

Of course, the jewelry and paintings would all make headlines if they were put up for auction, but they were not the items I was looking for. So, I rode the carriage back. I didn't expect much, but when I returned empty-handed, I felt somewhat empty.

I didn't find any clues about the curse, but I thought there would be some information about the magic of light or the heir of light.

"You should have died with your mother then! Just the sight of your face makes me want to throw up!"

Even after I left the mansion, Gilbert Bellacian's voice rang in my ears, and the bad memories flooded my mind.

I felt dizzy and nauseous. The rattling of the carriage was also making me sick.

"Your Highness, you don't look well. Is something wrong?"

Melissa asked anxiously as she sat opposite to me.

"I don't feel well."

"Shall we stop the carriage?"

I nodded my head in silence. The carriage stopped in the middle of a wide field.

"Should I call the doctor?"

"It's alright. It's just mild motion sickness. I feel better now that I got some wind."

The shivers disappeared a little as I breathed in the cool wind. I wasn't the real Ancia, but I didn't know why it hurt so much when her memories flowed in.

I couldn't wait to see my cute rabbit. I felt like I would be healed instantly when I saw Blake.

When I was about to get back on the carriage, I saw a man from afar.

Richard stood in front of a small camellia tree in the middle of the field. Standing alone with his eyes closed, there was a deep sense of loneliness that surrounded him.

Maybe today was that day? I recalled a scene from the original novel.

Richard was the male protagonist of 'The Beast and Lady'. He was also a scheming man who even used the female protagonist for his greed. Although he was garbage, Richard was quite popular. It was because of his tragic past and circumstances.

***

Richard's mother was a Roum slave.

The Roums were the masters of the West until a thousand years ago. They reigned the Zelcan Empire and were said to have oppressed the people by indulging in terrible luxury and pleasure.

The Goddess of Light was angry at the wickedness of the Roum, and gave Philip strength to drive them away.

Eventually, the Zelcan Empire collapsed, and the Asteric Empire was established. The kingdom was destroyed by their evil deeds, but the Roums did not reflect.

They dreamed of the revival of the Zelcan Empire and set fire to the Tenlarn Palace*, where Emperor Philip lived, and they burned books to monopolize their language and knowledge.

TL Note: I'm just spelling how the korean one is written. There will be more context in future chapters so the name might change.

In the Zelcan Empire, they restricted their knowledge exclusively to the upper class, calling it the language of God that had been given to the Roums.

It was hard to learn, and after all the existing books and materials disappeared, the "Language of God" could not continue to the future, but it ended up losing its reputation.

The Zelcan Empire's revival movement was defeated, and the Roums were reduced to slavery.

Even after a long time passed, people did not forgive the Roums who had persecuted them and even made the language of God disappear.

Even now, they continued to be the object of people's contempt, and after a thousand years had passed, they were still considered to be the lowest among slaves. When Duke Cassil's wife became pregnant, he slept with a beautiful Roum slave and gave birth to Richard.

Arnold Cassil was furious. He just wanted to have fun, but he had no intentions of having an illegitimate son.

He did not acknowledge Richard as his child, so he raised him like a slave. But still, Richard was his own blood. Frank, the eldest son of Duke Cassil, was arrogant and stupid.

On the other hand, Richard looked just like his mother, and although he was young, his intelligence was extraordinary.

In the end, the Duke of Cassil decided to recognize Richard as his illegitimate son because he needed a child to assist Frank.

Richard was happy.

If he did well, he'd be granted immunity even if he stood up for his mother. He was filled with hope, but the joy did not last long.

In the cold winter, Richard's mother became very sick. It was a terrible flu.

"I'll ask the Duke to call for help."

"It's no big deal. Mom's fine. Don't say anything."

Mother dissuaded Richard. However, he felt sorry and upset on behalf of his mother, who endured her illness and worked hard. Richard went to the Duke of Cassil and begged.

"Your excellency, my mother is sick. Please call for a doctor. I'll study harder. I'll help Frank too. So please do me a favor."

He begged earnestly and only hoped her mother could take a break. However, the Duke's eyes flashed fiercely when he heard Richard's words.

"That girl's sick? It's not Tancinol, is it?"

"What? Tancinol?"

The young Richard was puzzled. He didn't know what 'Tancinol' was. But the Duke didn't answer him.

The Duchess and the people who used to regard Richard's mother as an eyesore made him believe that she had Tancinol. The Duke ordered Richard's mother to be killed without even confirming it properly.