AWLC 01

Chapter – 01

In front of the elegant temple, a crowd bustled with people.

A long temporary table was stacked high with bread and milk.
The people gathered nearby were all looking in the same direction—more precisely, at the same person.

Light brown curly hair. Round eyes a slightly darker shade.
The petite woman gave off an overall gentle impression.

“Please come one at a time.”

Dressed neatly in a formal gown, she swiftly wrapped the bread laid out before her and handed it to the people.

She stacked, packaged, and distributed everything with absolute precision, strictly first-come, first-served—without the slightest error.

She was clearly a veteran.

“Th-thank you, my lady!”

“Yes, may blessings be upon you.”

“Th-thank—”

“Be happy. Next, please.”

Perhaps because of her efficiency—or the faint, inexplicable pressure she gave off—the line in front of her moved quickly.

In the midst of her skilled, repetitive labor, the woman’s eyes dulled as if she were about to enter a state of complete detachment…

But she didn’t.

‘Today’s the day the original story begins!’

Her lips pressed tightly together, a little walnut-shaped crease forming on her chin.

The true identity of this woman—suspiciously optimized for simple manual labor—was that she was a transmigrator.

This was the world inside the dark romance fantasy novel The Saintess’s Imprisoned Life.

When she first opened her eyes and saw the antique ceiling above her, she had been overjoyed.

‘Escape from the factory, debts wiped clean for free, social status upgrade. And I’m the protagonist on top of that.’

However, as one could tell from the title, this story was—of all things—an imprisonment romance.

The problem? She didn’t remember the details, not even the ending.

‘Ah, I should’ve paid more attention. I skimmed it diagonally during break time.’

The only thing she clearly remembered was that at her first meeting with the male lead, Cedric, he kidnapped and imprisoned her.

‘But aside from the kidnapping, he’s actually devoted. A hopeless romantic… it just so happens the result is imprisonment.’

So how did it end again? She seemed to remember trying to escape over and over, only to get caught and suffer even more.

No matter how much she agonized or racked her brain, nothing more came back to her memory—and since the original storyline was about to begin, she had little choice.

Then her overworked brain, which had practically declared a strike, came up with an astonishingly convenient idea.

‘If I don’t try to escape and instead aim for voluntary imprisonment, I can fully enjoy being imprisoned by an emperor, right?!’

There wasn’t much she wanted out of life, and she couldn’t even remember ever properly resting.

‘Two-shift factory schedule, irregular days off, hospital visits on rare free days, and handing over my paycheck to debt collectors like it was routine. A life that was nothing but harsh.’

Asha briefly sank into reminiscence, then squeezed her eyes shut before snapping them open.

For some reason, they were shining almost excessively.

‘Let’s enjoy it—imperial imprisonment.’

And so, now, she was attending a charity event at the Temple of Sol to meet Cedric, just as in the original story.

As she steadied her resolve, Asha unknowingly clenched her fists.

“Asha.”

“Yes, thank you.”

At least she remembered the male lead’s appearance.

“Asha…!”

“Enjoy your meal.”

Blond hair and a handsome face—he would definitely stand out.

“Asha—!”

“Ah! Mother.”

A sharp voice yanked Asha out of her thoughts.

“How unseemly. What on earth are you doing? Your skin will burn in the sun—come stand over here.”

“Ah, I still have more to hand out—”

“That’s enough. Don’t show such undignified behavior. Come here!”

Conscious of the people watching, her mother, Pridis, whispered sharply while tugging firmly at her arm.

‘Mother really is overly fussy.’

Tilting her head slightly, Asha obediently stepped back.

Unlike her previous life, she now had a family, which was nice—but she still wasn’t sure how to treat them.

Better to assume it was concern than risk acting awkward.

Though she had come to meet Cedric, seeing the hungry people had made her work far more enthusiastically than intended.

‘Sigh… this must be my slave mentality. I’m treating volunteer work like factory labor.’

After retreating into the shade, Asha secretly handed bread and milk to children lingering at the back.

Before long, her mother approached again with a gentle smile.

“Asha, you look tired. Do you remember the lavender garden we saw earlier? I think it would do you good to rest there for a while.”

At those words, Asha reflexively swallowed.

‘Here it comes. The blind date.’

In the original story, her mother had secretly arranged a match for her at the charity event, and that was where everything truly began.

As expected, the other party was Marquis Cedric Dalbert—the male lead.

Removing her gloves, Asha answered calmly.

“Yes, I will.”

Leaving her smiling mother behind, she steadied her breathing and headed toward the lavender garden.

As she moved away from the plaza, the noise and presence of people faded, replaced by the faint scent of lavender drifting from afar.

Approaching the entrance at a slow pace, she spotted a tall man.

‘Is that him?’

Shining blond hair, broad shoulders, refined features—he matched Cedric Dalbert’s description perfectly.

Carefully, she stepped closer.

‘He’s insane.’

Up close, he was so devastatingly handsome she almost lost her voice.

Especially those golden eyes and the two beauty marks beneath his right eye—they were irresistibly captivating.

Anyone would recognize him as male-lead material.

‘A man who looks like this falls in love with me at first sight?’

Her heart began to race pleasantly.

To the point that she impulsively thought she might actually live well with a man like this.

“Lady Asha of the Herman family?”

‘As expected—I guessed right. He knows my name.’

The moment she realized that not only was he handsome, but his voice was sweet as well—

Asha made her decision.

She would bury her bones in this man’s imprisonment.

Steadying her pounding heart, she cleared her throat and carefully spoke.

“You may take me with you today.”

The man’s eyebrow twitched.

A few hours earlier, deep within the Temple of Sol.

An elegant, tall man stepped out from within.

The golden-haired man reflected on the divine oracle he had just received through the World Tree in the central courtyard.

[The Saintess, Asha Herman—her ability is to turn back time. That power has already manifested.]

The Saintess’s power was passed down through the maternal line, manifesting as a different ability each generation.

The previous Saintess, Pridis Herman, had possessed the ability to see a single future.

However, she could not share it with others—a restriction that made it practically useless. It was also the most common ability among past Saintesses.

But the current Saintess, Asha, could turn back time.

‘And it has already manifested?’

Whether it had merely manifested or had already been used—no one but the Saintess herself could know.

If time had already been turned back, that meant she knew the future.

Notably, there seemed to be no restriction attached to her power.

‘No set number of uses. No prohibition against speaking of it.’

In other words, if she wished, she could turn back time as much as she pleased.

The man fell briefly into thought.

‘If she has already used it, she may be highly cautious. Should I observe her longer? Or is it better to secure her immediately?’

His deliberation did not last long.

His aide—and trusted younger brother—Jerold had promptly brought him information on Asha Herman.

“This is the general information. I will prepare a more detailed report by tomorrow morning.”

As he skimmed through the documents, the man paused at the final section.

“She’s currently attending the Temple of Sol’s charity event.”

“Yes. I’ve assigned Carion to keep watch.”

“Where is the Saintess now?”

“It seems she is still on the premises.”

He immediately set off.

And so, in the present, he had indeed met the Saintess in the lavender garden.

“…?”

What did I just hear?

She had clearly told him to take her…

For a moment, he thought he had misheard—until she continued.

“I promise I won’t run away. You may lock me up until you trust me.”