BMoT | Prologue

༺ 𓆩  Prologue  𓆪 ༻ 

「Translator — Creator」

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

Beneath the resplendent chandeliers of the royal palace’s banquet hall, the star of tonight, Lissianne Verlon Lucerne, wore a radiant smile.

Her coming-of-age ceremony had concluded without incident.

Now, only the afterglow of celebration remained, a leisurely gathering carried into the night.

“Ah.”

I let slip a short exclamation as I raised my glass of wine with a pleased heart.

Though I had never been fond of drinking, tonight I could not help but raise a toast.

Because today, today, I had finally achieved the goal I had cherished ever since arriving in this world.

“I did it.”

Yes, I truly did it.

Seven years had passed since I, once an ordinary student buried in exam prep inside a cramped goshiwon in Korea, had awoken in this world.

And in that time, living as the tutor of Princess Lissianne, the protagonist of this game, I had managed to raise her into the central pillar of the kingdom.

Remarkably, that success came to fruition today, at the very moment the game’s story was meant to begin.

And what did that mean?

‘It means that by the time the game begins, I’ve already raised the princess to ending-level specs.’

With Lissianne already perfectly developed, it was only a matter of time before she saved the world. It was like starting a game with a max-level account from the very beginning, utterly broken, like a cheat code.

‘And to think how overwhelming it all felt at first.’

It had taken longer than expected for me to realize this world was, in fact, the game.

After all, I’d never played games in my former life.

The only reason I pieced it together was thanks to my younger sibling, flitting from one odd job to the next, before deciding they would become a game-review YouTuber. Had it not been for the way they’d excitedly dumped his practice commentary on me, I shudder to think what might have happened.

[The youngest princess is the protagonist.]

Yes, the protagonist of the story was none other than Lissianne Verlon Lucerne, the youngest daughter of the royal family.

A tale weaving through the tangled strife between demons and humans, she was destined to bring peace to the world.

Personally, I had found it all a little clichéd.

But there was one crucial detail—

[Here’s the twist. The elder sister, just a year older than her… she’s the true mastermind. The final boss.]

[A psychopath, consumed with madness, obsessed with controlling the entire world—the princess herself!]

Recalling my sibling’s words, I let my gaze wander to the corner of the hall.

Beneath the glittering lights, Lissianne shone, laughing brightly amidst a circle of nobles.

And opposite her, alone in the corner, drinking in silence, was Elisha Hartvel Lucerne.

The eldest princess of the kingdom, a year older than Lissianne.

Once, she had been fated to become the story’s true final villain.

But I had cut off every avenue that would lead her there.

Now she stood only as a solitary figure, an abandoned royal who had lost every supporter she once commanded.

Her eyes, lingering on her younger sister, brimmed with melancholy, tinged with a loneliness she could not conceal.

Yet…

‘I don’t feel sorry for her.’

From the very beginning, she had been a psychopath; the embodiment of possession and obsession.

She was a monster who would join hands with demons to make the world her own, and kill without hesitation.

‘That’s not a person. That’s a beast.’

She had only hidden her claws; her nature would never change.

‘But now it’s all over.’

As the mentor of the protagonist, I believed all that remained was to enjoy the rest of my life in peace, until—

"Lord Lee Han."

The voice belonged to the Lord Treasurer of the royal palace, a man with whom I shared a close rapport.

“His Majesty requests your presence.”

“His Majesty?”

The sudden summons caught me off guard, though I had no reason to worry; to preserve my position as the protagonist’s mentor, I had lived obsessively clean, scrupulous, incorruptible, untouched by scandal.

‘Mentors who turn out to be corrupt behind the scenes are practically a cliché.’

Stories where the protagonist cuts down their master and grows from the loss, commonplace, weren’t they?

But I had no intention of serving as fodder for Lissianne’s development, so I had kept myself spotless, without so much as a speck of dust upon my record.

On the way to the antechamber, I felt her eyes on me—Lissianne’s.

Yet when I looked, she was smiling radiantly, carrying on light conversation with those around her.

“You’ve come, Lee Han.”

“You called for me, Your Majesty.”

Within the chamber, King Lucerne greeted me with a gentle smile.

“Come, take a drink. You’ve my gratitude, for raising a daughter who caused me no end of worry into someone so admirable.”

“It was because the princess herself was exceptional. I merely gave her a gentle push along the way.”

“Haha, who here could doubt how devoted you’ve been?”

I had no reason to decline his praise. After all, I knew better than anyone just how much effort I had poured into her.

I had worked tirelessly to shape Lissianne into a near-perfect protagonist.

In swordsmanship, she had reached the level of a Swordmaster.

In magic, she could already wield high-level spells.

I had honed her to be as balanced as a hexagon, flawless from every angle.

“Ahem. To the matter at hand.”

With the pleasantries set aside, King Lucerne’s voice dropped, discreet and secretive.

‘Is an incident starting already?’

By my understanding, the princess’s coming-of-age ceremony marked the prologue of the game. If the king was calling me aside like this, to speak in whispers, it likely meant something had already begun to stir.

As I braced myself, his next words caught me entirely off guard.

“There is another child I would have you take under your care.”

“A… child?”

“Yes. I would like you to become another’s Solgard.”

A princess’s Solgard, also known as the Soul Guardian, was, put simply, a mentor.

For the King to entrust someone to me, the Solgard of the princess, was no ordinary matter.

‘Could it be… someone just as important as the princess herself?’

I wasn't just some private tutor, after all.

“Far to the south. Do you know the small city called Medis?”

“I do. Its reputation for lawlessness was notorious.”

“My daughter lives there.”

“…Pardon?”

The words that fell from the King’s lips were difficult to comprehend, and harder still to accept.

Even before my mind could make sense of them, the King rushed to unburden himself, laying bare his own disgrace.

“During a time of illness, I… spent a night with a maid. The child born of that night is named Leonora.”

“..............”

“She comes of age next year. At the very least, as her father, I wish to see her hold her coming-of-age ceremony here, in the royal palace.”

“..............”

“So I want you to go to her, to educate her, and prepare her for that day.”

“..............”

“Of course… it must be done in secret.”

The King’s words crashed down on me like hammer blows.

‘Another princess.’

[The youngest princess is the protagonist.]

‘A coming-of-age next year… That makes her one year younger than Lissianne.’

[Here’s the twist. The elder sister, a year older than the protagonist — that one was the true mastermind. The final boss.]

‘And the elder sister’s nature—’

[A psychopath. A princess filled with madness, obsessed with controlling everything in the world.]

Dizziness seized me, my vision swaying, as the truth clawed its way into me.

Five years of work, everything I had done until now…

Could I believe it? No. And yet my sibling's voice, sticky, persistent, echoed in my mind like a tinnitus that would not fade.

[If the world must end, then it must end by her will alone, that is what she believes.]

[A tyrant who leaves no room for dialogue, no space for compromise—]

[The final enemy.]

‘I…’

I had raised the wrong child.

END of CHAPTER

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