The Coveted Saintess

[Working title]

The Holy Kingdom was destroyed, and Semien, its saintess, was imprisoned in the imperial palace.

Once a songbird who had lost her homeland, she now lived a precarious life in the palace.

The timid Semien suddenly discovered that she had contracted a strange illness: scales had begun growing on her arms.

Afraid she would be discovered and killed as a monster, she became even more frightened of contact with others and hid away in the inner palace, unwilling to see anyone. But she could not escape the empire's decision to marry the saintess off.

As one candidate after another appeared to become her husband, Semien grew more and more terrified.

To keep her strange illness from being exposed, she could only pretend to be insane and foolish in order to drive away the men seeking to marry her.

But things did not go as she hoped.

Despairing, Semien decided to drown herself rather than die as a witch at the stake.

Beneath the moonlight, she leapt into the icy lake, only for a sticky sensation to wind unexpectedly around her waist.

A true monster spoke: "If you're going to die anyway, why not offer yourself to me?"

Semien asked, "Will that save me?"

"Of course. Everything will go as you wish."

When Semien awoke, drenched and lying on the grass, she found that her strange illness had indeed been cured. That night seemed like a dream.

At a banquet, Semien's resolve wavered when the Crown Prince proposed to her. Just as she was about to reach out, someone suddenly clasped her hand tightly.

The monster, cloaked in beautiful human skin, gazed at her intently. "My saintess, have you forgotten that you offered yourself to a monster at the bottom of a lake?"

Semien prayed beneath a statue of the god that the truth would not come out, but gradually felt something cold and sticky winding its way up from her calves, clinging to her.

The beautiful monster drew close. "It's too late to be afraid now."

Trembling, Semien said, "I really will love you. Please don't kill me."

The monster laughed. "What a cute little liar."

Theme: Never give up.