Chapter 03
“Is that all? The reason you want to take me?”
“What other reason could there be? You’re useless except for one thing — being Adel Ledders’ weakness.”
“That’s true.”
Irina admitted willingly.
Except for the fact that Adel loved her, she was useless at this time.
“Of course, after being taken, things changed.”
The villains didn’t know that yet.
“You need to be captured peacefully if you want to save your brother. Don’t you want to save him?”
“No. Why should I be captured by you?”
“You don’t want to? So you’d rather see him die?”
The evil god worshippers sneered.
“Still clueless? Raised spoiled in the Ledders family, you’re unbelievably stupid.”
Loud, vulgar laughter filled the air.
“Once you rot in a stinky prison, you’ll realize your fate.”
“A fitting end for a stupid and vulgar half-breed.”
Irina slowly tilted her head.
Maybe because she had been imprisoned for decades.
She liked to imagine.
She had imagined this moment dozens of times.
What would she do if she returned to the past with power?
She thought.
“They haven’t taken me yet.”
Returning before Ezekiel was hurt was a great fortune.
But—
She looked around.
Blood scattered everywhere, people fallen in pain.
“If only I had come back sooner.”
Could she have saved them too?
Irina roughly shook off a hand of an evil god worshipper trying to grab her arm.
The worshipper stared wide-eyed.
Irina felt her insides twist.
With a blank expression, she asked the worshippers:
“If Ezekiel had surrendered me quietly, would you have let him go?”
They burst out laughing.
“You’re so naive, miss. Of course not.”
“The saint wanted that brat dead from the start.”
Irina nodded at their words.
“I see. Just asking.”
That was all.
At the moment their answer ended, mana rings appeared inside Irina’s body.
Seven rings in total.
At once, her energy changed drastically.
Among countless mages in the empire, fewer than ten were officially known to have achieved seven rings.
And now before their eyes stood an unofficial seven-ring mage.
Irina didn’t hide her power.
Thanks to that, the evil god worshippers clearly felt the might of her seven rings.
“God’s blessing…?”
“How is this possible? A little girl with seven rings?”
“Is she a mutant?”
The worshippers’ faces paled.
They realized.
The weak Irina Ledders no longer existed.
Silence fell.
Even the birdsong stopped.
Irina swung her hand.
Powerful mana surged out and tore them apart.
The clearing was ruined in an instant.
With a single gesture, dozens of lives were taken.
No guilt lingered.
Because the blood they shed was less than the tears she had shed in her past life.
Irina lay beside the fallen Ezekiel.
“Cough, cough!”
Harsh coughs burst out.
“Is it a relief? No one would suspect me.”
No one seeing her pitiful state would guess she killed the evil god worshippers.
“They might suspect I’m involved with them, though.”
The rest was up to her father.
Irina carefully held Ezekiel’s hand, feeling his warmth.
In her past life, the evil god worshippers didn’t leave Ezekiel alone. They ended his future as a knight.
“After kidnapping me, they cut off Ezekiel’s finger and left him there.”
She smiled faintly.
She recalled the time she heard news of Ezekiel in prison.
“Ezekiel has completely lost his mind.”
“Because of the cut finger?”
“No, because of his sister. He said he couldn’t protect her and was kidnapped. Foolish thinking.”
“The saint already ordered to spread rumors that she died…”
“I heard they were a bad sibling pair, but maybe not.”
Suddenly, she recalled something Ezekiel said in childhood.
“Kid, I’ll become strong and definitely inherit the Ledders family.”
It had sounded strange before.
Even as a child, Ezekiel seemed power-hungry.
Why did he want to become so strong to inherit the family?
“Our mother was a commoner. We were despised by the family.”
Before, Irina thought Ezekiel trained hard to shake off the stigma of being a half-breed.
But now she knew.
He wanted to inherit the Ledders family to protect her.
From relatives who oppressed her.
“He said he’d make sure the family idiots couldn’t mistreat you.”
Why hadn’t she understood before?
He picked up the sword to make her happy.
“Foolishly.”
Irina touched Ezekiel’s finger.
Unsure if it was a dream, reality, or truly the past.
“But Ezekiel isn’t hurt.”
That was enough.
Feeling his intact finger, Irina closed her eyes.
Adel was rarely excited.
No matter the danger, he stayed calm.
Now, no trace of his usual composure was visible.
He furrowed his brows, urging the knights around him.
“Find the trail quickly!”
He seemed half mad.
The calm man was nowhere to be found.
Haman, the eldest of the Ledders and Adel’s brother, approached with a cold expression.
“If the evil god worshippers are involved, it’s over. There are only two ways to survive them: submit or kill.”
“There’s still a chance, so we have to try.”
“What if they’re already worshipping the evil god? Are you going to kill them yourself?”
Haman frowned.
Annoyed, Adel heatedly responded.
“Watch your words, brother. I don’t even know what I’m doing now.”
“You…”
Adel never defied Haman, who was called a mad dog on the battlefield.
Adel rarely showed emotion—no anger, sadness, or joy.
Now, he openly showed dissatisfaction.
Haman clicked his tongue.
Adel always lost reason when his children were involved, especially Irina, the so-called failure.
“As long as that failure lives, you won’t be head of the family.”
Haman thought as he said:
“Do you think tiring the knights more is right? We just finished hunting monsters. You act selfishly because father isn’t here. Too arrogant!”
He added:
“Sacrifices for the greater good are unavoidable.”
Adel was even angrier because it was Haman who said it.
Because he knew Haman didn’t care about commoners’ lives.
“That damned status. So tiresome.”
