To Tame the Four Tyrants, I Became a Seductress!! ashes and mirrors

[Darkness. Screams echo faintly. The crackle of fire grows louder.]

cyrus valefor(ml)

(cold, commanding):She’s cursed. The girl is a curse.

riven valefor(ml)

(loud, cruel): Burn the witch.

seraphine valefor( ml's mother)

Burn my daughter? No. Burn the mistake I raised. She was never mine.

kael valefor(ml)

“Don’t look away, boys. Watch her suffer.”

magnus valefor( ml and fl father)

She cursed the Valefor bloodline. Let her ash feed the soil.

valencia noir( fl)

No… no please… PLEASE—

[Chains rattle. Flames hiss. Her red velvet dress clings to her bloodied skin as she’s tied to the pyre.]

valencia noir( fl)

I did nothing wrong! I was loyal—! I was—

magnus valefor( ml and fl father)

(her father, calm): Silence. Obedience was never enough.

[A torch is thrown. Her screams rip through the heavens.]

valencia noir( fl)

I won’t forget you. I WON’T FORGIVE YOU—

[The sound of flames rushing upward. Wood snapping. Skin blistering. Silence.]

[The fire consumes everything.]

∆∆∆∆∆

[ Gasp. A loud, brutal inhale. Valencia jolts up in bed, soaked in sweat.]

valencia noir( fl)

(breathless): Haa—ah… ha…Wh-Where… am I? My skin… it—it’s not burning?

[She claws at her arms, searching for scorched flesh. There’s nothing. Her room is small, still, untouched by fire.]

valencia noir( fl)

(voice shaking): This... This is my room. But it hasn't looked like this in seven years.

valencia noir( fl)

"…But I died."

[The mirror glints in the moonlight. A younger reflection stares back.]

valencia noir( fl)

(whispers): “The night of the banquet. I’ve gone back… eight years.

valencia noir( fl)

“I’m alive…” “…and so are they.”

[She turns. Walks to the mirror. And stops.]

[FLASHBACKS]

seraphine valefor( ml's mother)

(mocking): Speak when spoken to. Smile when told. Or don’t eat.

cyrus valefor(ml)

Look at me when I talk to you, freak.

riven valefor(ml)

Oops. Maybe next time don’t exist.

kael valefor(ml)

She's just Seraphine’s little dog.

elias valefor(ml)

(murmuring): Sorry.

∆∆∆

[ Back to present. Valencia, staring into the mirror. Fourteen again. Her face soft. Unscarred. But her eyes—no longer quiet.]

valencia noir( fl)

(quiet, trembling with rage): > You all thought you broke me. But you just buried me deeper.

[Her voice hardens. A slow, sharp smile pulls at her lips.]

valencia noir( fl)

(to her reflection): So let’s play, Seraphine. Let’s see how you burn.

valencia noir( fl)

This time… I am the fire.