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Background
Medea grew up in the wealthy House of Solon as the eldest daughter of the duke and duchess. As a child, Medea was a sweet, intelligent, and obedient daughter. She exhibited great prowess in the art of swordsmanship and excelled in her studies. One particular tutor observed that Medea was able to master at the age of eight subjects that women typically could not learn until their coming-of-age ceremonies. Despite her efforts, Medea was never able to appease her mother, Duchess Solon, with her accomplishments. The duchess insisted that Medea had to achieve a reputation worthy of being recorded in history. Thus, under her parents' heavy scrutiny and immense pressure, Medea grew to become excessively obsessive with her studies, regularly compromising her mental and physical health. She believed that she could earn her parents' love by becoming the most intelligent person in the empire. She learned to value building her reputation in high society over creating genuine relationships with others. The only people she truly cherished were Helio, her childhood friend whom she taught swordmanship to, and Nana, a maid in the House of Solon who cared for her in place of Medea's neglectful, critical parents.

Eventually Medea's intelligence exceeded that of her father's; she therefore used it to privately consult him on political affairs. During the war against the Hennel Kingdom, Medea gave Thesion advice that greatly contributed to the Vasilios Empire's eventual victory. After learning that her father was taking credit for her ideas in public, Medea realized that she could never earn her parents' love and subsequently ceased any attempt to gratify them. Instead, she sought to achieve a status higher than that of a duke's daughter. The opportunity presented itself when Emperor Vasilios proposed that Medea would wed the crown prince and become the reigning crown princess of Vasilios. She and Thesion visited the imperial palace to formally meet with the emperor and Crown Prince Eros Orna Vasilios.

After the debutante ball where Psyche made her first appearance in high society, Medea pitied the young socialite for her sheltered upbringing and befriended her. Over the next two years, Medea and Psyche grew to become very close. Though Helio expressed concern and caution over the new friendship, Medea invested her trust in Psyche. One day, Emperor Vasilios cancelled Medea's engagement to Eros and announced a competition to select the crown princess. The two candidates, Psyche and Medea, were to compete in three rounds that tested their political knowledge, negotiation skills, and ruling capabilities as future reigning monarchs. Though Medea successfully won all three rounds, Psyche won the favor of the observing civilians and was chosen by the imperial family.

Betrayed and humiliated, Medea returned home and was horrified to find her father, livid with rage, beating Nana with a cane. Medea attempted to intervene and was accidentally struck unconscious by Thesion. She woke up a week later to discover that Nana was dead. Heartbroken and unable to cope, Medea began to have frequent nightmares where she dreamt of Nana silently smiling before her. She locked Nana's opal necklace out of sight in a desk drawer, ordering the servants to leave it untouched during cleaning hours. Unaware of what had transpired following the crown princess competition, Psyche attempted to reconcile with Medea. When Psyche insisted that she would have chosen to remain friends regardless of the outcome of the competition, Medea remained silent and did not respond. Soon after, the House of Solon was accused of an assassination attempt on the imperial family when traces of poison were found on jewels gifted by the duchess. Medea's mother was subsequently imprisoned for a period of time, while the once-reputable name of Solon crumbled in the eyes of society. Medea experienced open disdain from the empire's citizens, earning the nickname "the Devil of the Vasilios Empire." Infuriated by the turn of events, Medea planted a maid in the count's manor to spy on Psyche's actions.

Plot
Several months after Psyche was appointed the future crown princess, the empire threw a festive celebration as the royal couple departed on a vacation. Medea held back her fury, keeping silent amidst the reprehensible rumors that circulated amongst the townsfolk. After receiving a cheap ring trinket from Psyche, however, Medea took the sincere gesture as a taunt. She sent red lilies to Psyche and fed her sugar cubes laced with a drug that would trigger a poisonous reaction when mixed with the lilies' fragrance. As Medea departed from the count's manor, she and Helio slayed the pursuing knights of Callista house. Medea then infiltrated the Grand Temple on the day of the Yearly Prayer using a back entrance, assisted by a priest who was acquainted with Helio. In the prayer room, Medea declared to Psyche that it was childish to value love over ruling an entire empire. Medea then accidentally fell into the temple fountain, where she prayed to the guardian deity to give her everything that belonged to Psyche. She woke up the next day to discover that she and Psyche have switched bodies.

Thrilled that her wish was granted, Medea was further delighted to discover that Eros could not differentiate between her and his real fiancée. Medea began to successfully impersonate Psyche, exhibiting a sunny disposition and justifying any irregularities in her actions as temporary memory loss. When the maid she planted in the House of Callista confessed her wrongdoings, Medea decided to pardon her. She continued Psyche's courtship with the crown prince, intent on securing her place in the imperial family. During an outing where she acquired a means to communicate with Helio, Medea learned that Eros did not harbor a genuine, passionate love for his fiancée as he claimed he did. The next day, Medea delivered a message to Helios via a stray cat, explaining the body-switch phenomenon. She then released a decoy letter by raven, which fabricated an excuse for any ruckus that Psyche may cause during the upcoming imperial birthday banquet. After Eros intercepted the letter as she had expected, Medea gave a prepared explanation for her actions. Nevertheless, Eros chained and confined her to a room built beneath the count's manor until the night of the imperial banquet. Medea realized by its weathered state that the room must have served as Psyche's living quarters until her debut into high society. Eros eventually released her from the basement to escort her to the imperial banquet. He gifted her a sacred relic necklace to wear during the festivities.

At the banquet, Medea briefly reunited with Helio to convey her suspicions about the House of Callista, the imperial family, and the Temple. Helio in turn gave her a dagger for emergency use. A group of knights later led Medea away from the palace and deep into the imperial gardens under the pretense of meeting the crown prince. There, they attempted to assassinate her on Eros's orders. Medea swiftly defended herself using Helio's dagger, impeded by Psyche's frail body. Despite her honed swordsmanship skills, Medea sustained a serious injury that blinded one eye. She nevertheless collected enough clues during the fight to pinpoint Eros as the mastermind behind the assassination attempt. As she overpowered the last knight, she was wounded by a dagger laced with lethal poison. Helio and Psyche then arrived at her side, where Medea demanded to know how Psyche felt as the blessed child of the guardian deity. Medea declared that she was chosen to die in Psyche's stead, and bitterly lamented on her wish to simply live one day in Psyche's body.

After succumbing to the poison, Medea found herself in a limbo dimension where the guardian deity showed her visions of Psyche's difficulties growing up as the blessed child. Realizing that Psyche wished to die on the day of the Yearly Prayer, Medea chose to defy fate and exact justice on Eros, whom she deemed responsible for all the misfortunes that had befallen her. At the same time, Psyche's divinity was harnessed by the sacred relic necklace and miraculously healed Medea's injuries. Medea was subsequently brought back from the brink of death and restored to full health. After reconciling with Psyche, Medea revealed that she planned to kill Eros for ordering the assassination attempt. Medea then asked if Psyche's divinity could bring a person back from the dead. Psyche explained that her ability could not heal fatal injuries, let alone bring a person back to life. Changing the subject, Medea instructed Helio to alter the knights' wounds to destroy any evidence of what caused their deaths. She inflicted minor flesh wounds on her body and returned to the imperial banquet to publicly confront Eros.

Despite her efforts to insinuate that Eros attempted to kill her, Eros boldly declared that the perpetrator had impersonated him and called Medea to the gardens. The next day, Medea fabricated the physical description of the man who supposedly saved her in the imperial gardens, describing an imaginary tall, cloaked man with red hair. She then requested permission to learn swordsmanship as a basic level of self-defense. As Psyche's body continued to deteriorate from poor health, Medea began to wonder whether or not she was taking the right path. Torn between staying to fight and returning to her body, Medea repressed the urge to murder Eros, reminding herself that she needed to subject him to as much pain as she and Psyche had suffered.

Medea later learned from Eros that the Grand Temple had received a new oracle, the clearest message that they have received in three years. Deducing that the oracle may contain instructions on how to return to her original body, Medea blackmailed the maid that she had previously planted in the House of Callista into assisting her sneak out of the count's manor. On the first night, she tested the maid's loyalty by venturing briefly to Zephyranthes to collect intel regarding the oracle. Disguised as a citizen of Othilei, Medea infiltrated the crowds and heard not rumors pertaining to the oracle, but of Thesion's plans on marrying his daughter off to King Hennel. Medea, infuriated by her father's endless greed and the lack of information regarding the prophecy, evaded prying eyes and returned to the count's manor.

The next day, Medea briefly returned to her original body when Psyche's body began to suffocate. Back at the House of Solon, Medea reveled in grim pleasure as she watched Thesion's panicked expression seeing his daughter collapsed with broken limbs. Later that night, Medea donned a wig resembling her original purple hair, and gave the maid a wig to disguise herself as Psyche. Medea then ventured to the Grand Temple on an arranged carriage with a seat storage large enough to fit a grown person. During an unexpected inspection of all vehicles entering the Temple, Medea witnessed Eros severely wounding a child trafficker in front of a crowd of onlookers. She quickly overpowered an imperial knight and put him in the seat storage as a decoy. Disguised in the knight's uniform, Medea attempted to enter the Temple but was caught by another knight. She silenced him in response and successfully evaded Eros's troops, securing an alternative passage into the Temple. Once inside, Medea attempted to locate Helio's priest by spying on the congregation in the chapel from a window in the west building. Instead of finding the priest, she encountered Helio himself, who used his cloak to protect her identity from the Temple guards.

After experiencing a painful headache, Medea was taken into a private room to recuperate. Helio then handed her the outlined interpretation of the oracle, which roughly summarized the prophesied downfall of the Vasilios Empire. Though initially frustrated that there were no clues on how to return to her original body, Medea realized that the contents of the oracle could potentially jeopardize Eros's good standing within the empire. Medea and Helio decided to fabricate rumors of the 14th prince leading a rising coup within Hennel Kingdom to delay King Hennel's engagement plans. When Helio expressed doubts on Psyche's ability to handle the consequential dangers, Medea disclosed that Psyche had injured herself to delay the engagement. On her way back to the count's manor, Perion intervened and accused her of possessing a murderous soul. Medea realized before escaping that Perion was the Temple cardinal and coincidentally resembled the imaginary savior that she had described to Eros. The next day, Eros visited the count's manor and prompted Medea to use divinity to heal an injured bird. Medea complied but then claimed that the bird's wounds were too severe. Eros ordered Medea to be locked in the basement until her divinity returns, declaring that it was her duty as the future empress to oversee the empire with her power. As Countess Callista accidentally fell down the stairs, Medea returned to her original body.