The Sickly Youngest Member of the Villainous Family

“……It’s just a cut.”

 

I said, watching Jin’s reaction.

 

Jin looked quite upset that Evan had hurt me.

 

I suppose it had something to do with pride that a child of the Taylors had hurt a child of the Winchesters.

 

But for him to express his feelings so openly… Well, it was a first.

 

Though he had shown murderous intent during Evan’s attack last time, it wasn’t to the extent that he was now, seeing my wounds.

 

As I looked at Jin with a slightly worried expression on my face, the black flame around him slowly faded after a moment.

 

“I’m fine, brother.”

 

The corners of my lips quivered as I forced a smile.

 

The atmosphere was filled with the black flame Jin had scattered, coupled with murderous intent.

 

Jin looked at me with a dark and displeased look before turning his gaze away.

 

“I know why you’re so stubborn.”

 

“…….”

 

“There is no excuse in the face of death.”

 

His deep voice pierced my ears.

 

It reminded me of the warning that Recardo had given on the day of the dark feast, showing me the guard dog.

 

“Yes…… brother.”

 

I once told Jin that I knew I was going to be sick in the future, and I was preparing for it.

 

I’m sure he thinks I know it with the ability I inherited from my mother.

 

“I will research more about your treatment methods, so from now on, stay still.”

 

Jin’s sharp gaze was directed at me.

 

“Taylor’s successor doesn’t need your involvement.”

 

“…..Brother, I appreciate your words, but.”

 

At my words, Jin’s eyebrows twitched.

 

Lysonia, the link to Evan, was on my finger.

 

“I… have to continue.”

 

I told Jin while looking at him.

 

“I won’t stop.”

 

Whether it was an elixir or a bright future, I was convinced that I had to seize them myself.

 

Sasha Winchester from Secret of the Blue Falcon had never taken action herself.

 

So, it would always end up the same way.

 

While my relationship with Jin seemed more progressed than any iteration I had seen, I never intended to entrust my fate and future to him.

 

That’s why, despite Jin’s expression turning cold and rigid, I refused to yield in my stance.

 

“But I´ll be cautious in the future…”

 

The moment I lowered my head to speak, Jin’s voice cut off my words.

 

“You…….”

 

The voice was cold.

 

“……The people around you mean nothing to you, don’t they, Sasha.”

 

I stared at him, unsure of how to respond.

 

“……You will definitely regret this.”

 

I don’t say things in front of Jin that I can’t keep. The only thing I can say is, ‘I’ll be careful.’

 

But I feel like I’ve made a mistake.

 

Jin, who had been looking out the window with a deep gaze, left, leaving a heavy atmosphere behind.

 

I watched Jin until he was out of sight as the door closed.

 

“Does he… worry about me a lot?”

 

Lost in thought for a moment, I stood up from my seat.

 

* * *

 

His own space, within the Square.

 

Evan was sitting at his desk, reading an old book.

 

From the direct lineage to the branch families of the Four Great Families, it was a must-read book called ‘Origins of the Houses.’

 

It detailed how Mechius had sealed Phersetos and divided his power among the four dragons, recorded by Quenne, the royals of a ravaged kingdom before the Janut Empire.

 

It consists of nine records and one prophecy.

 

While difficult to interpret due to metaphors and symbols, most had been deciphered over the years. It became the history of the Four Great Houses, legitimizing the power each family held.

 

More than 100 years before the manifestation of Kaisa’s curse, the families knew that Phersetos would return in the future.

 

‘The goblet of silver is broken and mingled with eternal chaos.’

 

The prophecy of Mechius in the Book of Family Origins had a sentence describing a similar situation.

 

‘The clear light will go backward and forward in time.’

 

It was a phrase that only Evan Taylors knew the meaning of.

 

The book had already known that someone with the power of Clear light would regress endlessly.

 

‘Upon the Black Pond shall dawn the eternal hour of dawn.’

 

Evan once thought the black pond referred to the Winchester family.

 

In the Old Tales, pond is used to refer to “land,” and “black” literally means black flames.

 

To lose the hour of dawn would mean eternal destruction.

 

However, when he saw Phersetos resurrected in someone other than a member of the Winchesters, he canceled that interpretation.

 

The prophecy has remained a mystery ever since.

 

“…….”

 

Evan’s eyebrows knitted together as he remembered the face of the little girl who’d drawn out his pent-up clear light.

 

‘If the ‘black pond’ refers to that girl… and if the ‘time of dawn’ signifies hope rather than destruction…’

 

Sasha Winchester’s presence in the previous rounds had been minimal, so it had never occurred to him that the ‘black pond’ could be directly linked to the sickly child.

 

Until recently, he hadn’t thought about it, but now he was becoming convinced.

 

He’d thought he’d never be able to manifest clear light again.

 

Only this time, for no apparent reason, his energy was blocked.

 

He was almost glad to see the end of this hellish regression.

 

“…….”

 

Evan stared at the book silently. Meeting that girl and the subsequent unlocking of his powers wasn’t a coincidence.

 

The clear energy coursing through him now was too powerful for him to control.

 

A new power that had been pushed to the limit by Jin Winchester, but so powerful that he couldn’t even control his rampage.

 

And even that runaway…….

 

‘This time, I’m going to live longer than you. ‘

 

Evan thought of the reddish eyes of the girl on top of him.

 

The voice that had resounded clearly in his ear.

 

“…….”

 

The same Sasha Winchester, with wrists as fragile as a fern, and pale skin that seemed to hold illness, but she humbles those stronger than her with wisdom and steadily advances toward her goal.

 

Completely different from her previous self, a girl with a will of her own.

 

Evan’s eyebrows twitched.

 

There were times when he’d been caught off guard, like a lone daffodil in a field of poisonous weeds.

 

But he regarded even that as a fleeting moment.

 

Compared to the torturous moments of regression.

 

As the image of her sorrowful expression, before she was beheaded flashed before him, Evan felt his chest tighten.

 

“…….”

 

He closed the book and stood up.

 

His eyes glowed with deep blue clarity.

 

In the black-and-white world, a single vibrant color began to move.

 

Evan Taylor owned nothing but this small space.

 

However, if there was something he would eventually possess, he had no intention of letting go.

 

* * *

 

[Skill: Black Domination (LV.4/SS)]

 

I stared at the status window that appeared in front of me.

 

I concentrated with all my might.

 

I will die. There was no doubt that I would die.

 

In an instant, as the intense barrier was pierced, I staggered back and fell.

 

[Black Domination (LV.5/SS)]

 

My buttocks hurt.

 

Jin’s black flames were relentless, and what I felt was a distinct surge of energy.

 

“I see you are not a suitable replacement for Othello.”

 

I could hear Jin’s voice, as I staggered to my feet.

 

“……Brother.”

 

“You said you could handle it on your own. Are you already tired?”

 

This was the training ground, and it had been a month since ‘that thing’.

 

By that, I mean the time I put a stop to Evan Taylors’ rampage.

 

Starting tomorrow, Evan would be freed from his confinement, while I had been dragged around by Jin.

 

‘The former head entrusted your training to me. I asked for it, of course. ‘

 

Anyway, Jin’s attitude had grown colder compared to before.

 

As a successor, he had a busy schedule, but he often called me to bully me…. no, to train.

 

Grandpa Hector wouldn’t leave this training to him.

 

Hector judged that I did not have the powers of the black flame. I might know strategy and tactics, but that’s about it.

 

However, Jin’s training wasn’t based in the library.

 

He would bring me to the training grounds every three days and make me go through such things.

 

Thanks to the intense training, the level of ‘Black Domination’ had increased. However, naturally, I was no match for Jin’s black flames.

 

Despite being an SS-class skill, I probably needed it to be Level 10 to withstand Jin’s black flames for around 5 seconds.

 

“Stand up and prove your determination.”

 

I wondered if his anger at the small cut on my cheek had been an illusion.

 

He didn’t even blink as I fell to the floor.

 

“You’re not just spouting empty words that you won’t stop with a body like this.”

 

“Ugh.”

 

“You’re so weak, I’m surprised you lasted in Evan’s room.”

 

Just as I had risen, Jin’s intense black flames enveloped me again.

 

Jin is a monster. So is Recardo.

 

However, to some extent, one must be able to defend oneself to survive among monsters.

 

“But no matter how you think about it, wouldn’t it be better to entrust this to me, Sasha?”

 

In the face of the intense black flames, I manifested the skill ‘Black Domination’ once again.

 

“You’ll fit nicely in my display case.”

 

[Acquired the A-rank skill ‘Damage Reflection (Lv.1).]

 

Oh, a new skill has appeared.

 

At that moment, I felt the newly acquired skill being activated.

 

And just as Jin’s intense black flames were about to reach me, they were abruptly deflected away with a thud.

 

“……!”

 

Jin’s eyebrows twitched.

 

Then, with a strong force, he absorbed the black flames that were returning to him.

 

Staggering back from the recoil, my knees lost their strength.

 

But in the moment, I was about to fall onto my buttocks again, a firm chest caught me from behind.

 

Gasping for breath, as I turned around, I saw Jin’s eyes.

 

“Just now… are you okay?”

 

He had been right in front of me just a moment ago. How fast is he?

 

I pushed myself away from him and faced him.

 

“I’m okay. I can do more.”

 

And through my gaze, I conveyed my determination not to give up.

 

Although there was the sun behind Jin, making it hard to see his expression, I still felt a tinge of loneliness for some reason.

 

“Yeah, you’re always okay.”

 

It’s only him who finds it hard to let her go each time.