So I told you.

I told you this would happen—I knew it would, and that’s why I said it over and over again.

That there was someone far more suitable for you than me.

But you swore your feelings would never change, that they’d last a lifetime, and you even gave me this ring.

That’s why I believed you.

That’s why I ended up loving you this much.

So don’t tell me now that you’ve met your “true soulmate,” like it’s some convenient excuse.

I couldn’t stop blaming him in my heart.

But no matter how much I blamed him, it wouldn’t change anything—and I knew that.

So I couldn’t bring myself to say those words aloud.

"―――I’m sorry, Martha. But the feelings I had when I proposed to you weren’t a lie. I truly believed, back then, that you were the one I was destined to be with.

But just like you said, there was someone else I felt an even stronger connection with. The moment I saw her, I realized what true fate really meant."

The man speaking such cruel words was the hero of this world.

Every word from him was like a knife, cutting deep into Martha’s heart.

Her chest tightened to the point she couldn’t breathe.

――And yet, she couldn’t voice the pain she felt.

Martha had gotten engaged to him after his passionate pursuit right from the moment they met.

But the one he was truly meant to love wasn’t her.

The one he was destined to fall for at first sight—was someone else.

Martha had always known that.

Even knowing that, she still held onto hope—‘Maybe fate has changed’—but in the end, it seemed she was never meant to be the one he loved most.

The words he spoke were nothing but betrayal to Martha.

But she had no choice but to accept them.

It was simply her own foolishness for falling in love so deeply with him.

Looking at him now, hanging his head in front of her and saying “I’m really sorry,” all Martha could do was laugh through her tears with a pitiful expression.

There was no point in crying.

Tears wouldn’t change fate.

Martha possessed memories of a previous life.

This world was the same as the one from a full-color shojo manga she had read countless times while bedridden in her past life as a sickly girl named Masako.

The manga was called The Flower Beneath the Moonlight.

She had read it so many times she remembered every scene.

By the time she was old enough to form clear thoughts, she already understood that this was the world of The Flower Beneath the Moonlight.

The tallest clock tower in the royal capital, a famous landmark, was identical to the one in the manga.

The crescent-moon-shaped sweets, a national tradition in the story, also existed here.

She’d always longed to try them, ever since she first saw them on the pages.

There was no mistaking it.

Even the hero’s family—the noble House of Blais, known for generations of knights—existed here.

And the fourth son, Cassian, gifted with swordsmanship and impossibly handsome, had been the talk of high society since childhood.

That’s why Martha had looked forward to the day the story would begin ever since she was a child.

She devoured every subject she could find, believing she knew everything there was to know about this world—The Flower Beneath the Moonlight.

The story begins with a major fire in a theater.

It happened when the heroine Fiore, the daughter of a country baron, visited the royal capital’s theater with her family.

Someone shouted, “Fire!” and the lights immediately went out.

In the blink of an eye, the theater filled with black smoke and darkness.

Fiore, separated from her family amid the panicking crowd in the unfamiliar theater, fought her trembling legs and made her way toward the exit, feeling along the wall in the pitch black.

That’s when Cassian noticed her.

He had just happened to be walking by when someone running out of the building cried, “There are still people inside!”

Driven by his strong sense of justice, he rushed into the flames without hesitation.

That was how Fiore and Cassian first met.

After he carried her to safety, Cassian immediately returned inside to help others, so Fiore never got the chance to ask his name or even thank him.

‘I should’ve at least asked his name,’ she would regret.

And time passed as she remained unable to forget him.

Cassian was a well-known knight in the capital, but news of him never reached Fiore’s remote countryside.

All she had was the memory of a nameless man who had taken her hand in that dark, smoke-filled theater—and her growing feelings.

Cassian, too, could not forget her.

When she pleaded, “There are still an elderly couple inside. I heard their voices. Please, save them instead of me,” her kindness moved him deeply.

Most people, when cornered, think only of saving themselves.

But she—so young, so selfless—showed courage and compassion in the midst of danger.

Cassian couldn’t help falling for her.

No matter how long it took, he vowed to find her.

They had been drawn to each other from the moment they met.

But no matter how hard Cassian searched in the capital, he would never find the girl from the countryside.

Their continued near-misses—the “just barely missed each other” moments—went on and on, until their eventual reunion, far into the story.

Before that, readers would be tortured by the “they almost met!” moments—“If only she had turned around,” “If only the breeze hadn’t made her stop”—and then finally, once they met again, they were drawn together by fate.

Cassian’s passionate confessions to Fiore were filled with such sensuality that Masako, now Martha, would read those scenes over and over again with her heart pounding.

Her favorite scene of all was when Cassian proposed with a ring containing a rare gem called the Moonflower.

It was the most emotionally stirring scene in the entire story.

With the crescent moon shining behind them, the Moonflower ring glowed in the moonlight.

Bathed in the ring’s pale, delicate glow, Cassian and Fiore looked like something out of a dream.

That image was still burned vividly in Martha’s mind.

That scene—their proposal—came to mind again, clearly and painfully.

Martha quietly closed her eyes.

Even though it had once moved her so deeply, now it only tightened her chest unbearably.

It was hard to even breathe.

She should’ve known.

―――And yet…

She had told herself so many times, ‘I’m not the heroine. Don’t get the wrong idea.’

But when Cassian proposed to her under the crescent moon, his figure matched that unforgettable scene exactly.

The Moonflower ring he offered her glowed in the moonlight, illuminating Cassian’s beautiful face.

That’s when she thought—‘Maybe fate really has changed.’

And that’s why she ended up loving him so much.

She should have known better.

There was no character named Martha in The Flower Beneath the Moonlight.

In this world, Martha and Cassian were never meant to meet.

If Cassian claimed to have met his true soulmate, then Martha had no choice but to step aside.

(What else am I supposed to do? …That’s why I kept telling you there was someone better for you.)

Martha looked down at the ring on her left ring finger.

The Moonflower ring Cassian gave Fiore in the story only glowed under moonlight.

It didn’t shine under bright daylight.

And now, resting on her finger without its glow, the ring was just like Martha herself—no longer loved by Cassian.

Chapter 1: 1. 01

If you're enjoying the story, consider supporting us with a coffee!

You Might Also Like

I became a spirit in a different world. It seems to be the strongest but I want to live a fluffy and carefree life

Real World Dungeon

My Ex Dumped Me, So I Got a new girlfriend

The Unspoken Desire of the Third Son of Knight

I Reincarnated as the Youngest Prince and All I Want Is a Happy Family!

Eighty control group: After the change of parents, I was spoiled by the group