I Became the Villain Saintess's Slave

What mattered most was that this event from twelve years ago lined up exactly with when half the Kirana crystal had first gone missing.

Is this really just a coincidence?

Lucian let himself drift deeper into the thought.

Some part of him still refused to entertain the idea that Helia could have had anything to do with it. In his own experience, she’d always treated him with nothing but kindness, for as long as he could remember.

Back when they still saw each other often, she’d always spoken to him gently, warmly, standing by him even in moments when everyone else around him, his own family included, treated him like something beneath their notice. Helia had been one of the few who never once joined in.

She’d kept supporting him even when doing so cost her something with the nobility watching her own reputation closely.

Her own standing within the empire wasn’t so different from his, if he was honest.

She was the current Emperor’s third child, but among the three siblings, she sat at the bottom of that hierarchy, her mother’s bloodline tracing back to a kingdom the Bravenheart Empire had conquered generations ago.

Because of that, plenty of people at court quietly believed she didn’t truly belong within Bravenheart’s inner circle at all.

Lucian understood, too, that their engagement, back when it still stood, had cost Helia far more than it had ever cost him.

Which was exactly why he’d made it his own goal to help raise her standing within the empire however he could.

The plan had been simple enough: get into Orvis Academy.

Anyone who managed to earn a place there didn’t just bring pride to their own family. It became a mark of prestige for their entire kingdom or empire.

There were two paths into the Academy. The first was the standard entrance exam, open to anyone holding at least a greentier Awakening.

The second, rarer path ran through crafting: forge a Relic judged genuinely useful, and it could earn a direct recommendation into Orvis on its own merit.

Lucian’s original plan had been built around exactly that second path, a Relic he’d called the Pocket Orb, a device capable of transmitting sound between paired units across a set distance.

Once he and Rumelia had finished developing it together, he’d changed his mind entirely. He decided to hand the finished Relic over to Helia instead, so she could use it to earn her own place at Orvis alongside him.

It had felt like the least he could do, some small repayment for everything she’d given him just by choosing to be kind.

But I’m not with her anymore. And there’s no reason she’d wish me any real harm, is there? Why would she have gone out of her way to be that good to me otherwise?

Circumstances had shifted since then, admittedly. Still, Lucian had eventually secured his own entrance ticket into Orvis on the strength of his white Awakening alone, something that would likely work heavily in his favor once he actually got there.

Graduating from Orvis practically guaranteed a dramatic leap in both career and social standing. It was exactly why applicants came from well beyond the continent of Arta itself, willing to travel enormous distances just to sit for its brutally selective entrance exam.

The Academy’s appeal wasn’t just its instructors, world-class as they were.

It was the history behind it. Orvis had been founded by Malyutta, a woman born a commoner who’d risen to stand shoulder to shoulder with Lucian’s own ancestors, the Augusta and Sarnel (Ulzareth) bloodlines, as one of the four legendary heroes of the continent of Arta.

Eighty years ago, those four had stopped the Crimson clan’s attempted slaughter and invasion of Arta in its tracks.

The Crimson clan hadn’t fought alone, though. They’d commanded hordes of Dark Beasts summoned out of the Calamity Forest to aid the massacre.

While the other three heroes had focused their strength entirely on the Crimson clan and their ancestor, the Nightkeeper, Malyutta had stood alone against thousands of those monsters by herself, holding the line to keep the destruction from spreading any further across the rest of the continent.

Even after surviving that fight, Malyutta had insisted, humbly, that her survival owed just as much to the people who’d fought beside her, and to the Relics she’d forged with her own hands, as it did to her own strength.

It was that same skill, her mastery as a Forgemaster, that had inspired her to found Orvis Academy afterward, proof that even someone born a commoner could rise to become a hero in their own right.

Countless prodigies still dreamed of studying there, chasing both the growth of their own strength and the chance to learn how to craft Relics suited to their own unique potential.

That legend was exactly what had kept Lucian’s resolve to break into Orvis burning this strongly, even now.

Beyond wanting to grow his own strength, the Academy felt like the ideal place to start gathering real information about his family too, through the sheer number of applicants who traveled there from beyond the continent entirely.

"Lord Lucian?"

Isabella’s voice cut through, pulling him out of whatever long thread of thought he’d been chasing.

"Lord Lucian?"

It took a tug at his cloak before he registered how long he’d actually been lost in thought, replaying memories of Helia.

"Ah, forgive me, Archpriest Isabella. I was somewhere else for a moment." Lucian pressed a hand to his temple, offering a faint smile.

"Do you happen to know anything about this?"

Isabella seemed to be fishing again, testing what Lucian actually knew. He wasn’t ready to hand any of it over, though, especially not with something involving Helia still entirely unconfirmed.

"Sorry. I think I’m still just a little shaken from finding that evil spirit."

"Why trouble yourselves speculating, when you could simply ask Princess Helia about it directly tonight?"

Is Helia actually attending tonight?

Lucian’s mind raced. He’d only just realized that carriage he’d spotted earlier might genuinely have belonged to her.

It raised an odd question, too, one that only deepened his curiosity about whatever this event actually was.

As far as he knew, Princess Helia rarely, if ever, attended gatherings this significant, especially not one drawing this many major political figures from the empire, the kind of stage her siblings would typically dominate to strengthen their own standing as heirs.

"OW!"

Adrian yelped suddenly, clearly in pain. Lucian glanced over just in time to catch Nora grinding her heel sharply into his foot.

Something in Nora’s expression made it clear she hadn’t appreciated Adrian’s implied suspicion of the Princess at all.

Whatever her lack of real political weight compared to her siblings, Helia was still a member of the imperial family.

And right now, they had nothing resembling solid proof that she’d had anything to do with any of this.

House Sarnel’s entire standing rested on unwavering loyalty to the imperial family. Casting suspicion on one of its own members, without real evidence, risked being read as a betrayal of that loyalty outright.

"I’ll leave this matter in Archpriest Isabella’s hands, to investigate further."

Nora’s request made sense enough, leaning on the Order of Lumielle’s own jurisdiction over Relics and objects tied to dark mana or evil spirits, authority that fell squarely within their purview.

And the discovery that an Adenium flower could apparently serve as a vessel for evil spirits at all was the kind of fact that could shake an entire empire, if it got out carelessly.

Nora pulled off her glasses for a moment, pressing her fingers against her temple, clearly working through the political headache this whole situation threatened to become.

Mishandle this even slightly, and it could destabilize relations between two houses entirely.

"Don’t worry, Lady Nora. Once we’ve studied this object further, we’ll make sure House Sarnel receives a full report."

"With that in mind, please allow me to submit my findings as soon as possible."

Nora took the cue, signaling the Phantom soldiers to clear a path for Isabella.

Isabella turned and pulled Lucian along with her toward the stairs.

Lucian went along with it. This was, after all, likely his best chance to slip free of any lingering suspicion tying him to the domain’s appearance.

He slowed his pace just enough to get one last word in to Nora before they descended.

"Sister Nora, I found both missing maids upstairs, in one of the rooms. Please stop forcing them to drink your experimental concoctions. They’re at their limit."

Nora heard him loud and clear. Something about the comment lit up behind her eyes, an idea forming that Lucian might actually make a fine new test subject himself.

She slid her glasses back on, the lenses catching the light with an unsettling glint, and smiled.

"Very well. Since you’re clearly so eager to sacrifice yourself for science, I’ll be waiting for you after tonight’s event, to try out my latest formula."

Lucian swallowed hard. Wait, since when did I agree to become your next test subject?

A cold thread of genuine fear settled into him. He was going to need an actual escape plan if he wanted to avoid becoming Nora’s next experiment.

Her concoctions rarely, if ever, turned out the way she intended. Among all his siblings, most of whom poured themselves into swordwork, Nora stood out as the only one with little real interest in blade training at all, despite carrying genuine natural talent for it.

After a while, Lucian made his way down to the first floor alongside Isabella.

They were greeted immediately by the bustling movement of maids crisscrossing the space, ferrying food and drink into the party in full swing.

Members of House Sarnel’s own private guard patrolled visibly throughout the area as well.

This place is locked down tight tonight.

"Lord Lucian."

Isabella called out to him again as he took in the crowded room.

"Yes?"

"I’d like to confirm one more time. You’re certain you saw Zoria’s death with your own eyes? And there was no one else present in that domain, aside from that spirit woman?"

Isabella seemed intent on double-checking every detail before finalizing her report.

Someone else... does the Omen count? No, that’s not what she means, that thing isn’t even human.

Lucian answered honestly, as far as his own understanding went: Zoria had vanished completely, and aside from the spirit, no one else had been present.

"Understood. Given how significant this is, I’ll file my report on it right away, and regarding..."

Isabella’s gaze flicked toward the sword still gripped in Lucian’s hand. He caught it instantly, tightening his hold, a flash of worry that the Order might be after his sword after all.

"Ah, don’t worry, Lord Lucian. That sword belongs to you. The Order of Lumielle promises we won’t take it from you. If anything, I’d only ask that you keep it close, always."

Something about how confidently Isabella said it should have reassured him. Instead, it left him more unsettled, especially given how central that same sword had been to everything she was reporting.

What is the Order actually after here?

Footsteps approached from behind before he could chase the thought any further.

"Young master, please hurry to the main hall. The event’s about to start."

Rumelia’s voice reached him. The person he’d been looking for this entire time turned out to be right here, helping the household staff prepare for the party.

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