Sharon was thrown into prison with nothing but the clothes on her back, and the very next day, her exile from the Foren Kingdom was officially decided.
The crime of attempting to murder Leona, soon to become Crown Princess, was grave; moreover, as a Duke’s Daughter lacking magic, there was no room for leniency for Sharon.
And today, Sharon was to be banished from the only homeland she had ever known, the Foren Kingdom.
“Get in, you wicked woman!”
She was shoved roughly into a carriage barred with iron grilles, collapsing onto the floor.
Her body struck the iron-plated floor with a thud, the pain making it impossible to rise at once.
The carriage used to transport criminals had iron bars for doors, allowing the cold air from outside to seep straight in.
Even the iron floor was icy cold, making Sharon shiver violently.
During that time, the guard locked the door and departed.
‘Is there even any meaning in me being alive…?’
A letter filled with nothing but curses arrived from her family, ending with the words, “We cut all ties with you.”
To remain family with a criminal like Sharon was nothing but a stain to any noble house.
The process was handled swiftly, and Sharon lost the name of the Sdulc Family.
Having lost her kin and everything else, Sharon couldn’t help but recall the only ally she had ever had.
‘Leona…’
“You’re amazing, Sharon, always staying behind to study all by yourself.”
It was during her third year, a time she had resigned herself to a lonely existence with no hope of making friends.
While studying in the library, it was Leona who spoke to her.
The Academy spanned six years, and even those who couldn’t use magic could study the knowledge and etiquette expected of nobles.
But no matter how well Sharon performed in non-magical subjects, she was never recognized.
For the first time, someone had praised her.
No one had ever spoken to her kindly before, so Sharon wept without thinking.
Startled by Sharon’s sudden tears, Leona had handed her a handkerchief and expressed a desire to be her friend.
Leona never flaunted her status as a Duke’s Daughter; she was gentle, beautiful, and someone to be admired, almost like a saint.
Sharon had only ever felt gratitude toward her—never the slightest wish to harm her.
‘But, no matter how much Leona insisted it was a mistake, she couldn’t stop Prince Richard…’
In the end, the word of royalty was absolute.
Sharon’s voice carried no weight, and not even Leona, her betrothed, could stop him.
Accusations of harassment, theft, and forcing magic—crimes she knew nothing about—were brought against her, all based on the testimony of Leona’s friends, who had always disapproved of Sharon drawing near to Leona.
They simply couldn’t stand to see Sharon by Leona’s side.
Yet, the poisoned cake was something Sharon truly couldn’t understand.
‘Why did they find my hair in a cake I never sent…?’
They seemed to think her hair was mixed in when she supposedly poisoned it, but Sharon didn’t even know what kind of cake it was, nor what poison had been used.
No matter how she pleaded her innocence, nobody would listen.
It was decided she had attacked out of jealousy, as a powerless Outcast of the Sdulc Family.
‘Because I’m the Outcast of the Sdulc Family… Because I’m useless… Is this my punishment?’
She had tried her best, living honestly.
Even without magic, she had struggled to find her own way to be useful.
But in the end, both family and kingdom abandoned her.
The carriage began to roll slowly, wheels rattling.
Exiles were never seen off; they left from the prison’s back gate in silence.
As the carriage paused to open the rear gate, a woman’s voice rang out, “Wait a moment, please.”
‘Leona!? She actually came all the way here…’
Perhaps Leona had come to stop her exile.
At the Academy, Leona always appeared at Sharon’s side in her moments of crisis.
Leona was Sharon’s savior.
“Leona! You came to help me!”
The moment she saw Leona, Sharon rushed to the bars, clutching them tightly.
“I actually came because there’s something I wanted to tell you, Sharon.” Leona spoke, wearing a look of concern.
Sharon believed in her—believed that Leona would clear her name.
But Leona’s lips began to twitch and curl, twisting into a smile.
“Hehe… Thank you for making the graduation party so entertaining. Thanks to you, I got to put on a perfect little condemnation show! Everyone’s on my side! Ahahaha!”
Suddenly, Leona burst out laughing as if she couldn’t contain herself.
Seeing this side of Leona for the first time, Sharon was left bewildered.
“What… What are you saying? Leona, aren’t we… friends?”
“Don’t call my name so casually! The thought of being friends with you disgusts me!”
As Sharon reached through the bars, she was assaulted by a blade of wind.
Countless shards of glass, sent flying by wind magic, stabbed fiercely into both her arms.
On top of that, she was thrown back by the force, slamming into the cold, hard floor.
“Ah…!”
The pain was so intense she couldn’t even scream.
Blood gushed from the wounds where glass was embedded, dyeing her body red.
Sharon couldn’t comprehend why Leona would do such a thing.
She didn’t want to understand.
She wanted to believe in the friend who had once saved her heart.
But reality was merciless.
“Hehe, serves you right. Thanks to you becoming the villainess, His Highness finally decided to marry me. My reputation has never been better. It’s settled—I’ll be the future Queen!”
Leona beamed with delight at having her wish fulfilled.
“So, don’t you ever show your face to me again. Well, it’s not like someone without magic could ever survive the Forest of Evil anyway. Ahahaha!”
“Wait… please…”
Leona walked away, still laughing, never looking back at Sharon, now battered and bleeding.
‘Leona… Why? Why would you…?’
Sharon still couldn’t believe Leona had attacked her.
All she knew was that she had lost her one and only precious friend.
The shock and the pain were so overwhelming she could think of nothing else.
The carriage started moving again.
The back gate had opened.
There was no coachman.
The exile carriage ran by magic, unmanned.
It had to pass near the Forest of Evil, where monsters roamed.
Such forests existed throughout the continent, but it was said the Foren Kingdom was protected by the Beast of the Gods, and there had never been a monster incident within its borders.
But that meant nothing to an exile.
The Crusell Kingdom, where she would be sent, had its own Forest of Evil—just across the border in the Margrave Halburgen Domain.
While the carriage was magically set to its destination, it offered no protection against monsters.
Many exiles had perished near the Forest of Evil, killed by monsters.
Perhaps that was what Leona hoped for as well.
Even if she managed to reach the Crusell Kingdom alive, the fate awaiting an exile was death from endless forced labor.
In any case, only death awaited her.
“Ugh…”
Each jolt of the carriage sent fresh pain through her wounds.
She couldn’t even pull out the shards of glass—she could only endure.
The cold wind battered her body, weakening her further.
A magically driven carriage needed no rest.
With no one to treat her wounds, Sharon was carried off to her place of exile.