Chapter 1 - Chapter 1

Translator: Nox

Chapter 1Chapter 1

<Chapter 1>

“So. How is the situation with the Crost family?”

The room was so quiet that even breathing felt like an intrusion. A man, swallowing hard with a tense expression, reported to his superior.

“The spy we sent six years ago is still undercover, but due to their terrifying security, it’s difficult to even catch a glimpse of the Duke’s face.”

“Then we must make them drop their guard.”

“But how on earth…”

“By sending someone who looks like a spy to no one.”

A confident, low voice cut him off.

“They won’t suspect that one.”

A thick, wrinkled finger pointed toward a corner.

A man with a face as unpleasant as a toad’s leaned on his hand and gestured toward someone.

“Come here, Aisha.”

At his command, a pair of legs wearing small dress shoes stepped out from the shadows.

“Your Excellency, Duke of Pose.”

The person who emerged from the darkness was none other than a five-year-old girl.

When the child tilted her head up to look at the much taller Duke of Pose, the vassal hurriedly hid his expression.

“…What can a child like that possibly do?”

“Why? Are you worried?”

“…She’s only five years old…? Usually, spy missions are assigned to those at least twelve or older, aren’t they?”

“Haha! Exactly!”

The Duke of Pose let out a smirk and greedily stroked his chin.

“That is why I am sending a five-year-old. Even they won’t imagine that such a little brat could be a spy.”

‘But the chance of mission failure—and the chance of that child dying—is high.’

The vassal swallowed the thoughts that almost spilled out along with his saliva.

Currently, the greatest interest of the Doctia Kingdom was absorbing the Frozen Kingdom.

However, they didn’t dare even dream of invading the Frozen Kingdom.

It was because of the monsters.

The monsters beyond the northern border, known as the ‘End of the World.’

The reason humanity had not yet fallen was thanks to the Crost family of the Frozen Kingdom, who stood guard like a pillar.

They had erected a wall using the Ice Ability passed down through the Crost bloodline for generations.

‘But our Pose Duchy has finally created it.’

A power even more formidable than the Ice Ability.

Now, there was no longer a need to walk on eggshells around the Frozen Kingdom.

‘The start will be the gradual dismantling of the Crost family.’

Greed flickered in the Duke of Pose’s eyes as he reviewed his plan.

While the Crost family protected the kingdom from monsters, the Duke of Pose had poured his efforts into training numerous spies for this very moment.

And this was the result.

“Aisha. Listen carefully.”

Aisha was an A-grade among the five-year-olds who had received spy training.

It was because she was the most obedient.

What if she was caught after infiltrating the Crost family?

There was no worry about the mastermind being discovered. The child would take her own life without a second thought.

“Aisha. This is your first mission. Become the lost daughter of the Duke of Crost.”

His greedy gaze felt as if it would burn the child.

“The fact that the Duke who protects the kingdom couldn’t even protect his own children… that is the Duke of Crost’s weakness. You must dig into that weakness and become the daughter he would give his life for. And…”

Crash—!

The whiskey glass in his hand shattered.

“I will tell you when the time comes, but you must bring the Duke of Crost to that place. Do you understand?”

Sharp glass shards fell as if they would pierce the child’s shoes, but Aisha did not flinch.

“Yes, I understand.”

“Good girl.”

The Duke gave one last command to confirm.

“Now, show me an expression that anyone would find lovely.”

At those words, the young child, who had been expressionless the entire time, began to smile.

An innocent, bright smile.

Her pale, flour-white cheeks looked even chubbier because of it.

Her sea-blue eyes sparkled between her naturally creased lids.

Even her hair, tied up in pigtails, was designed to sway adorably with the slightest movement.

“I understand, Your Excellency!”

“Good. Smile exactly like that in front of the Duke of Crost. Like an innocent little child!”

“Yes!”

As Aisha, who had transformed from a colorless face into a normal five-year-old in an instant, beamed brightly, a chilling sound of satisfied laughter echoed through the Duke of Pose’s office.

“I knew there was a reason to raise them as spies from a young age!”

“Thank you.”

Thus, the five-year-old girl sent by the Duke of Pose became a spy who would soon shake the Crost family to its core.

Pain is just a part of youth.

Living as a textbook example of a Korean office worker—working overtime as if it were a meal—I eventually died from exhaustion.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in the body of a young child.

Plump hands like maple leaves.

Blue eyes that looked like sapphires, a sight rare in Korea.

As a reader of romance-fantasy novels, I realized this was transmigration.

Furthermore, I was a child so cute I just wanted to squish her. At this rate, wasn’t the genre of the original novel a child-rearing story?

A rich and handsome father. Rich and handsome older brothers. And even a handsome male lead who starts off pitiful but turns out to be wealthy.

“…This is the reward for working without sleep…!”

My eyes widened as I prepared to welcome the handsome men, but that feeling was short-lived.

I soon realized my fate.

A person born to work will work for a lifetime.

‘A spy must maintain a poker face even if someone throws trash at you.’

‘Yes.’

‘I will throw trash starting now, so maintain your poker face.’

‘Excuse me?’

I would have preferred to wake up in an orphanage.

A saintess, a knight, a maid, an orphan.

Of all those roles, why did I have to transmigrate as a spy!

‘You failed to control your expression. In a real situation, you would have been caught as a spy already. What should you do in this situation?’

‘I… I must take my own life before I am caught.’

‘Correct.’

And a grueling spy life at that, training every single day like a never-ending night shift, even having to prepare for suicide…!

It has been three years since I was reincarnated as Aisha.

I had to undergo high-intensity training with a body that should have been rolling around like a baby panda.

And then came the day of my first actual deployment.

‘Aisha. This is your first mission. Become the lost daughter of the Duke of Crost.’

‘…Crost?’

I realized it the moment the name of the Crost family left the Duke of Pose’s mouth.

That my miserable fate was about to repeat itself.

‘I had my suspicions because of the name Aisha, but I can’t believe those suspicions were true.’

I had transmigrated into a growth-focused fantasy novel without a single drop of romance.

Its title: [Sword of Judgment].

A world where the Doctia Kingdom, possessing special abilities, clashed with the Frozen Kingdom.

The story followed the illegitimate son of the Duke of Pose as he endured persecution and trials to grow and eventually unify the two kingdoms.

But the male lead wasn’t important right now.

Because I was an extra who died before the male lead even made his appearance.

To be precise, I was a spy who met her end after being kicked out for pretending to be the fake daughter of the main villain, the Duke of Crost.

In my last life, I died of overwork.

In this life, I was destined to die after playing the fake daughter of Duke Calyps Crost.

‘How can the difficulty level of my life get even higher!’

Duke Calyps Crost.

He was the villain who opposed the male lead.

To briefly describe Calyps… how should I put it? You know those villains who aren’t the protagonist but are exceptionally popular.

The head of the Crost family, responsible for the security of the Frozen Kingdom.

The pillar of the Frozen Kingdom. The giant wall. The impenetrable shield.

His legendary resilience, which earned him every possible superlative, began to crack when he lost his three children and his wife.

During the five-year war, the children had mysteriously gone missing.

The Duchess was the same. They had all vanished without a trace.

In the end, Calyps saved the kingdom but failed to save his own family.

He searched frantically for his missing children but failed, and in the process, he began wearing a black mask to hide his crumbling expression.

With a twisted heart, he began to protect only the Crost family instead of the kingdom. Because of this, he became the most formidable enemy of the male lead, whose goal was unification.

And I had to enter the home of such a man and pretend to be his fake daughter.

Which brings us to the present.

“You’re saying you are Duke Crost’s lost daughter?”

I arrived in front of the Crost Duchy Castle after a forced carriage ride.

The Duke of Pose had tossed me some shabby clothes and a few potions for emergencies before leaving.

And among those emergency potions…

Was the spy’s essential item: Suicide Poison.