The Bride of Corruption - Chapter 1

A butterfly had definitely flown into the library…

“What are you doing?”

Startled, Lilith whipped her head around, only to find Dante frowning at her from his armchair, buried between stacks of ancient tomes thicker than he was tall.

The pale complexion of his sickly face only made his grimace seem darker.

“I said, what are you doing?”

Though they were twins, there was an undeniable similarity between them despite their differing genders.

Lilith frowned at Dante’s weary, irritable demeanor. It seemed her actions had somehow rubbed him the wrong way.

Dante raised an eyebrow, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

“…A butterfly,” Lilith mumbled hesitantly.

“What?”

Dante rubbed his furrowed brow with a delicate finger, tilting his head in confusion.

The entrance exam for the Royal Academy was just around the corner, and his days were consumed by feverish study. The pressure had left him on edge.

“What butterfly?”

“A golden one. It flew in here,” Lilith explained, pointing toward the shelves.

“Didn’t see it,” Dante replied bluntly.

“Well, you were reading, so of course you didn’t notice!”

Pouting, Lilith glanced at the heavy tome spread open on Dante’s lap.

The massive books, brimming with incomprehensible ancient text, were her least favorite things in the world.

Just the sight of the ancient script made her stomach churn and her mood plummet.

“You should sit down and read too. Stop chasing after golden butterflies that don’t even exist.”

“I don’t want to. Mother said I don’t have to study,” Lilith retorted instantly, brushing off Dante’s suggestion.

“That’s just because you hate it,” Dante replied, exasperated. “Look—”

Focusing intently, Dante pressed his hands together, then slowly pulled them apart.

Between his palms, a faint white light flickered to life, glowing softly.

“Try it,” he said, his voice calmer now, gesturing toward her.

“I don’t want to,” Lilith replied, recoiling as though the sight disgusted her.

Dante sighed softly, his disappointment evident.

Her refusal was absolute, her face set in a look of disdain as if the light in his hands was something horrible and unbearable.

“Butterflies don’t exist here. It didn’t fly this way in the first place. And even if it did, it probably flew out the opposite window. I opened all the windows to keep the air circulating since it’s getting warmer. So, why don’t you just make one instead?”

Dante spoke in a coaxing, gentle tone.

“Lilith, you’re an Acheron too. If I can do it, so can you.”

Lilith, who had been glaring at him with a pout, let out a soft tsk.

Despite being twins, with Lilith born five minutes earlier, Dante had a habit of acting particularly mature, like an older sibling trying to take charge.

“Look, like this…”

The faint white aura Dante had conjured shifted, becoming threads of energy that wove themselves into a translucent, unsteady form.

But the blurry energy wavered, unable to hold its shape for long.

“Strange… I thought I had it this time. It’s harder than it looks.”

Watching with an unimpressed expression, Lilith rolled up her sleeves.

“Hmph. Fine. Watch and learn.”

Determined to show off her skills, Lilith clasped her hands together and focused.

As she slowly separated her palms, the delicate form of a butterfly—an almost exact replica of the one she had claimed to have seen earlier—began to take shape. It shimmered faintly in white light, beautifully intricate.

“Wow, you’re good,” Dante admitted.

“Wait,” Lilith said, smirking.

Determined to knock Dante down a peg after his recent arrogance about mastering ancient texts, she concentrated harder.

The butterfly between her palms flapped its wings gently, bobbing up and down with a lifelike grace, as if it were truly alive.

Dante’s eyes widened slightly, his gaze fixed on the glowing, translucent creature hovering between her hands.

“…You’re better than me. Why don’t you put effort into honing your abilities?”

“And what’s the point of this?”

Lilith snapped her fingers, and the glowing butterfly scattered into tiny specks of light. She crossed her arms and shot Dante a dismissive glare.

Dante sighed and ran his fingers along the open page of one of his massive tomes, stopping at a line of ancient text.

Tap, tap.

He tapped the page lightly with his finger before gesturing for her to read it.

But to Lilith, the densely packed lines of ancient text might as well have been meaningless squiggles. To her, it looked more like the work of a sadistic artist who delighted in creating incomprehensible patterns.

“I’ve been studying the history of the Nazental Kingdom since last month,” Dante began. “Did you know our family is mentioned even before the kingdom was established? We have the power to purify land corrupted by dark energy or cursed magic.”

Lilith snorted.

“Hah. That’s ancient history. The world’s changed. There’s no more dark energy or cursed land around these days. It’s useless now.”

“Lilith…”

Dante ran his finger along the crinkling page of the ancient tome, his tone turning serious.

“Long ago, when demons and devils from the Abyss roamed freely on this land, it was our family that cleansed the world. The founder of the Acheron line, the Holy Saintess herself, sealed the great evils of the earth and purified the lands corrupted by dark magic.”

“I honestly can’t believe that,” Lilith shot back, her voice tinged with skepticism. “That’s just an old legend—every noble house has some story like that. Besides, every noble family around here claims the same founder. Even the Avalon Barony next door worships the same Saintess.”

Dante’s lips pressed together in frustration, caught off guard by her rebuttal. He hesitated before responding, his expression troubled.

“But… unlike those other families, none of them have bloodline powers like ours. Avalon used to be part of our house, but one of their ancestors was an adopted heir who split off to form their own branch. Sure, they’re bigger and wealthier now, but they don’t have what we have.”

Dante wasn’t wrong.

The power of purification.

The white aura, unique to the Acheron family, was not just a symbol of their legacy—it was also proof of direct lineage.

But what use was that bloodline power when there was nothing to purify?

Lilith sighed and shrugged dismissively.

“We call it a bloodline power because it’s not the same as divine power, right?”

She raised her hand, focusing briefly, and a smooth, translucent orb of white light floated into the air.

“If only it were golden like divine power. With this white aura, we can’t heal people, grow crops, or create holy water. Sure, it looks nice, but it’s useless. There’s no darkness left in the world to even test it on.”

“It’s our family’s duty to protect the lands that the Saintess sacrificed herself to purify,” Dante countered firmly.

At that, Lilith shook her head resolutely and pointed her finger directly at him.

“Not mine. That’s your duty. I don’t have inheritance rights, remember?”

In the Nazental Kingdom, customary law dictated strict primogeniture and favored male heirs. Women’s inheritance rights were rarely acknowledged, and even then, only in exceptional cases.

Whenever Lilith had boasted about her extraordinary manifestation of the bloodline power, Dante had been quick to remind her of this inconvenient truth.

“Lilith, no matter how amazing you are, you don’t have inheritance rights. The one who’s going to lead our family is me, not you.”

“Liar! You’re not even as talented as me! That’s impossible—it’s a lie!”

As she grew older, Lilith learned that Dante’s words were not lies but an unfortunate reality.

It was that bitter truth that had made her refuse to study the ancient tomes detailing the history and power of the Acheron family.

“I hate this stupid purification power!”

Despite being the most gifted of the current Acheron lineage, Lilith, as a woman, had no right to succeed the barony.

The irony of it wasn’t lost on her: the founder of the Acheron family had been a Saintess, a woman. Yet here she was, unable to claim her rightful place in the family she most resembled.

“Lilith,” Dante said softly, letting out a shallow sigh as he watched her stand there, shoulders slumped in dejection.

“When you have a son someday, I’ll name him as my heir. That way, the strong bloodline powers of our family can continue.”

Lilith’s brow furrowed as she turned to him, unimpressed.

“You’re going to get married too. Do you really think your future wife will accept an adopted heir? Remember Avalon? One of our ancestors adopted an heir, and they split off to become an entirely different family.”

“That’s different. Your child would still carry Acheron blood,” Dante countered.

“And what about the children your wife will have? What would they inherit?”

Dante paused, caught off guard by her retort. His expression faltered as he thought about it, then he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

“…I’ll just have to convince her. For the good of the family, you know.”

Lilith rolled her eyes.

“Sure, like that’s going to work.”

“No, really, listen to me,” Dante insisted, his tone growing earnest. “There’s a legitimate case to be made.”

The fact that he was already planning how to persuade a hypothetical future wife and children made Lilith shake her head in disbelief.

“Forget it.”

“I’m serious. You should know this too.”

Dante’s expression turned uncharacteristically somber, and his seriousness piqued Lilith’s curiosity.

“What is it?”

When her bright brown eyes lit up with interest, Dante smiled gently. Then, standing up from his chair, he motioned for her to follow.

“Come with me.”

They walked to the farthest, most secluded corner of the library, where Dante stopped in front of a dusty metal box perched on an old shelf.

Pulling a small pocketknife from his trousers, he pricked the tip of his finger with practiced ease.

Plop.

A crimson droplet of blood fell onto the center of the box.

Immediately, the intricate patterns engraved on its surface began to glow with a vivid white light. The patterns seemed to come alive, rising into the air and shifting into a radiant, floating configuration.

“Whoa. What’s this?” Lilith asked, marveling at the sight.

Dante deftly manipulated the glowing symbols, his fingers moving with confidence.

The shifting patterns merged together seamlessly, forming a new design that glowed brighter than ever.

With a faint click, the box unlocked and its lid creaked open on its own.

“Take a look inside,” Dante said, stepping aside to give her space.

Lilith hesitated, glancing between Dante and the mysterious box, before slowly leaning in to peer inside.

“…”

Lilith leaned over, peering into the box’s interior. Within the aged black metal, glowing white script stood out, sharp and pristine against the darkness.

“What does it say?”

The text, written in the purifying light, was naturally in ancient script. Its elegant, archaic calligraphy included elaborate flourishes, reminiscent of the most ornate passages found in dusty tomes.

The metal box, weathered as it was, bore the marks of having endured countless years.

“It says, ‘What you earnestly desire will come to pass.’”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lilith retorted, unimpressed.

Dante pointed to a second line etched beneath the glowing phrase.

“Read what’s written below. It’s the name of whoever left this message.”

Lilith hesitated. Though she’d once made an attempt to study ancient script, she’d never gone beyond basic recognition of letters and syllables. Still, she could manage a halting effort.

Slowly, she sounded out the letters.

“Li… Lii… ss… Lilith?”

Dante nodded, a satisfied expression spreading across his face.

“This is a sacred relic box left by our family’s founder, the Saintess. And she had the same name as you, Lilith.”

Dante’s earnest gaze was almost too much to bear, and Lilith let out a weak laugh.

“What are you talking about? How is that supposed to be a reason for anything? It’s just a coincidence—we only have the same name!”

“That’s exactly my point,” Dante said firmly. “Take pride in that, Lilith. You’re the most gifted Acheron of our generation, and you even carry the same name as our founder. You’ve inherited not only her bloodline but her legacy as well.”