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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Prologue
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“Marquis! The merchant caravan has been attacked by a monster horde!”

At Rian's words, as he burst through the door, Resus Marquis dropped the newspaper he was holding.

A merchant caravan attacked! His face went stark white.

His daughter, Erin, was with the caravan.

“Erin? Is Erin all right?”

At Lloyd's question, Rian gasped for breath, his brow furrowed. Meanwhile, various scenarios flashed through Resus Marquis's mind, only to disappear.

His fragile and beautiful daughter, Erin Resus, who strongly resembled her deceased mother.

Not long ago, Erin had severely injured several maids with excessive beatings. Even upon hearing this, the Marquis intended to overlook it as usual.

However, he changed his mind due to his wife, Corelia's, earnest plea.

The Marquis's Wife pleaded that for the sake of their beloved Erin, her behavior needed to be corrected.

The Marquis worried that Erin might get upset, but he had no choice but to grant the Marquis's Wife's request.

Certainly, Erin's actions were going too far.

‘If this gets out, Erin’s position will become even more precarious.’

Ultimately, the Marquis, following Corelia's advice, arranged for Erin to travel to the Academy with the merchant caravan this time.

He thought it would be an appropriate punishment for Erin, who always returned to the Academy accompanied by numerous knights and maids, and also a good way to show people that she was repenting.

As the shocked Marquis swayed, Corelia, who was standing beside him, steadied him.

She spoke in a trembling voice.

“Lloyd, it’s all my fault. I only wished she’d mature a little before marriage…”

Strangely, however, a faint smile played on Corelia's lips as she spoke.

This happened when the Marquis and Rian's gazes weren't on her.

Completely oblivious, the Marquis recalled Erin, who struggled if maids didn't massage her shoulders and legs all day long.

It was the first time she had been sent with only one knight and one maid.

But why, of all times, did a monster horde appear now? The Marquis's complexion worsened.

Just then, Rian took a few steadying breaths before continuing. His face was contorted as if he found it difficult to comprehend.

“The Young Lady…”

“I, I shouldn’t have done that! Is she badly hurt, after all? Or perhaps…”

At the Marquis's words, assuming the worst, Rian hurriedly shook his head. Yet, he hesitated to speak.

Because what he had heard was utterly preposterous.

“They say the Young Lady killed all the monsters and saved the merchant caravan!”

“What?”

The Marquis and Corelia heard Rian's words but couldn't grasp their meaning.

Erin vanquished a monster horde…?

Of course, there couldn't possibly be strong monsters in this area. The Marquis knew this, which was why he sent Erin with the caravan in the first place.

Besides, he had sent his cherished knight, Sir Rekken, along, so he believed nothing major could happen.

‘They must have misunderstood what Sir Rekken accomplished.’

People often rationalize things when they experience something too shocking. The Marquis was no different.

How could his delicate daughter vanquish a monster horde? If even an advanced monster had been among them, a single advanced knight would have struggled to handle it.

“So Sir Rekken defeated them, after all? What a relief I sent him along. Anyway, Erin is safe, isn't she?”

“Yes, the Young Lady is safe, but… it wasn't Sir Rekken who vanquished the monsters…”

Rian tried to explain the truth to Resus Marquis, but then he closed his mouth.

He himself couldn't possibly believe the messenger's words.

‘What in the world happened?’

So, Rian ultimately decided to give up trying to make the Marquis understand, as he wouldn't listen.

* * *

Rekken stared blankly at Erin, who was before his eyes.

“Young Lady… you can eat comfortably inside the carriage.”

Why was a noble eating with merchants? It was something a common knight like himself might do.

If Erin had been following in Resus Marquis's footsteps and walking the path of a knight, this situation might have made sense.

But she was someone who had no intention of becoming a knight.

Erin's goal was to find a good husband and marry, and hadn't she practically achieved that goal already?

So she was certainly not someone who would camp by the roadside like him.

“How could I eat in the carriage by myself when you’re out here like this, Sir?”

Erin's hand, as she spoke, was wrapped in bandages.

Sara, the maid beside her, fidgeted nervously at the blood seeping through the bandage. Soon, Sara spoke, on the verge of tears.

“A wound on the Young Lady’s beautiful hand… I’m so upset…”

Isn't that beside the point? Rekken thought, as he scrutinized Erin from head to toe.

No matter how he looked, the person before him was indeed the Erin Resus he knew. If so, what happened yesterday?

When he had woken up, Rekken had thought he was dreaming.

But the wound on Erin's hand was clear evidence that yesterday's events were no dream.

‘Had she been secretly learning swordsmanship all this time?’

However, Rekken immediately shook his head. The very idea of her secretly learning swordsmanship all this time made no sense.

Although the Resus Marquisate was a family renowned for swordsmanship, Erin was a person far removed from the sword.

She was someone whose very name conjured negative words: luxury, indulgence, laziness.

If such a person had mastered the sword, he couldn't possibly have been unaware.

An advanced knight like him could gauge the skill of those less experienced than himself.

If Erin had been practicing swordsmanship since childhood, he would have noticed.

‘But there’s no way Young Lady Erin could be stronger than me.’

Rekken was the Resus Marquis's most favored knight and a promising talent who had graduated as the second-highest ranked student from Atenz Academy's Swordsmanship Department.

‘Then what in the world was that swordsmanship?’

When the merchant caravan was attacked by the monster horde yesterday, Rekken had been prepared to lose an arm.

Although the caravan's escort wasn't small, especially with Erin present, the number of monsters was also significant.

Moreover, it was a group that included intermediate monsters. If he had faced them alone, there would surely have been many casualties.

At first, it was manageable, but he grew increasingly overwhelmed.

‘They were clearly monsters that strong.’

They were not monsters that Erin, who usually struggled even to walk, or any other ordinary person could handle.

But she accomplished the impossible.

“Young Lady, where in the world did you learn swordsmanship?”

At Rekken's question, Erin remained silent, seemingly lost in thought for a moment.

Even Erin's calm reaction seemed strange to him. It was as if someone else had entered her body.

Otherwise, could a person change so drastically in an instant?

“I learned swordsmanship by watching Karon practice.”

“Just by watching?”

“…”

“No, how could that be…”

At Rekken's reaction, Erin's face stiffened slightly. She abruptly stood up and cleared her soup bowl.

‘When did she finish it all?’

Erin's bowl had clearly contained a large amount of soup.

Rekken naturally assumed the food would be discarded. She had always eaten only a bird's portion.

“I’ll get up now. I’m still a bit tired, perhaps because of yesterday’s events.”

Her face showed no signs of fatigue, but Rekken couldn't say a word.

He found himself, without realizing it, being swayed by Erin's imposing presence.

* * *

Erin’s carriage, adorned with lavish jewels, looked completely out of place among the merchant caravan.

Even as the Marquis spoke of punishing Erin, he had prepared a private carriage for her, considering his daughter would be uncomfortable in the merchant caravan's carriages.

However, looking back, that action didn't do much to improve Erin's reputation.

Erin gazed at the jewels adorning the carriage, her brow furrowed as if from a headache. All the while, she thoughtfully reflected on her life.

It was a life she had returned to after no less than two reincarnations.

She gripped her subtly trembling hand tightly with her other hand.

Contrary to Rekken's suspicions, she was indeed Erin Resus.

“Erin Resus.”

She savored the name for a moment.

A villainess of the century, a girl notorious for her depravity and extravagance.

But none of that was true. Erin slightly lifted the hem of her skirt.

Bruises, still unhealed, were visible on her leg. All were wounds inflicted by Corelia, the Marquis's Wife, as 'punishment'.

‘There must be other unhealed wounds elsewhere, too.’

From the moment her father remarried Corelia at the Emperor's arrangement, Erin had not known a single day of peace, either mentally or physically.

“Erin, you truly are a useless child. What would your father do if he found that out?”

It was abuse carried out secretly, unknown to anyone. The words casually thrown at her since childhood had worn down her spirit.

As if brainwashed, she couldn't say a word to her father for fear that he might be disappointed.

It was truly a miserable existence.

She had lived as the Marquis's Wife's puppet, unable to offer any resistance.

Then, eventually, Erin was murdered by the Marquis's Wife.

‘I didn’t expect to live again after dying, though.’

And then, she was reborn in another world.