Chapter 7

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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: The Reason That Villainess Picked Up a Sword
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Lilia's older brother had worked as Erin's personal attendant. Erin had killed him simply because she was in a bad mood, and that day, Lilia lost her only family.

Karon could understand how Lilia must have felt learning magic.

If his own family had suffered such a fate, he too would have dedicated his entire life to revenge.

Karon’s head began to throb, and he pressed a hand to his forehead.

Lilia was a commoner, but she was an outstanding Mage closely watched by the Magic Tower.

Her talent was so exceptional that kingdoms were lining up to recruit her immediately upon her graduation from the academy.

He had even heard that one kingdom's Magic Tower had offered to take her on as the Tower Master's disciple.

‘It shouldn't happen, but my sister must absolutely not go on the monster extermination.’

He looked at Lilia, making a firm resolution.

However, if there was one thing Karon overlooked, it was that his luck today was excessively bad.

With a soft click, Ferdin opened the door to the office and stepped inside. At his appearance, Derek happily rushed over.

He naturally took Ferdin's coat and hung it on the rack. As he did so, he looked at Ferdin with a puzzled expression.

Ferdin seemed to be in a very bad mood.

If so, there could only be one reason.

Erin Resus. They must have exchanged unpleasant words during their conversation.

Derek frowned, as if his suspicions were confirmed.

Erin must have thrown a tantrum. What could she have possibly said to upset Ferdin so much?

"What did Erin Resus say?"

At Derek's words, Ferdin's lips tightened. But it was something he had to tell everyone anyway.

After a brief silence, he finally spoke in a low voice.

"It seems Young Lady Erin Resus will also be joining the upcoming monster extermination."

* * *

To Karon, Erin was like a flower.

Someone he had to protect. Someone he had to shield from the wind, someone he had to comfort when they struggled.

Karon still remembered what his mother had said to him before she died.

"Protect Erin."

And so, protecting his only sister became a natural duty for him.

Young Karon often wondered if a day would ever come when he would dislike his sister.

Each time, he shook his head decisively. There was no way he could ever dislike her.

He liked seeing Erin smile at him.

He liked it when she clumsily read him stories before bed, and he liked the way she called his name, "Karon—" when she looked at him.

‘But why did she change so much?’

At some point, Erin changed. The Erin Resus who had been kind to the servants was gone.

Rumors circulated that she tormented and flogged the Marquis's household staff at every opportunity. As a result, several servants would leave the estate of their own accord each day.

At first, Karon tried to help her in any way he could. No matter what anyone said, Erin was his only sister.

But the Marquis's wife gently admonished Karon. She stroked Karon's cheek and smiled kindly.

"Karon, if you truly care for Erin, you must give her space so she can overcome this on her own."

"But more and more people are starting to dislike my sister... if I act that way too..."

"Don't worry. I will cherish Erin. It's better if you don't concern yourself with it. I will correct all her faults."

Karon wasn't sure if that was the right approach.

He just believed that as kind as his stepmother was to him, she would also be a good parent to Erin.

‘But why...’

Karon couldn't understand why she was going astray more and more.

Arriving at the door of Erin's dormitory room, he knocked softly.

"Karon?"

Erin opened the door and stepped out, murmuring his name.

She must have been resting in her room, as her hair was slightly disheveled. And in her eyes, a faint hint of surprise was visible.

Had he come to a place he shouldn't? Karon thought, frowning.

For some unknown reason, his mood worsened. Karon unconsciously examined Erin's hand.

The wound on her palm was worse than it had been that morning.

‘What on earth did she do to make it worse?’

If you have a wound, isn't it normal to try not to use that area?

Since this morning, Erin had been unusually strange, to the point of being impossible to ignore. It was as if she wasn't the sister he knew.

"Can I come in? I have something to tell you."

At Karon's words, Erin's eyes slightly hardened. She seemed reluctant to talk to him.

After a moment of hesitation, she nodded.

Even her hesitation was unfamiliar to Karon. Because Erin had always wanted to talk to him.

However, Karon had thought that keeping his distance from Erin, as his stepmother advised, was for her own good.

But he had never once considered how Erin felt about finally facing her indifferent brother.

He felt a churning in his stomach.

Erin's room was simpler than he expected. That too was unnatural.

Her extravagance was well-known. He'd heard it was common for her to squander three months' worth of a knight's salary in a single day.

Where had all the jewels she had accumulated gone, and why was she living in such a humble room?

‘Yet her carriage was so lavishly decorated.’

There was too much he didn't know about Erin.

Their first real conversation in almost a year had been him getting angry at her this very morning...

Erin, whom he properly faced after a long time, seemed even more fragile than before.

‘Is she even eating properly?’

Her arms were so thin they looked precarious to touch, and her face also appeared pale.

Seeing her like that, the baseless rumors that had disturbed his peace of mind earlier that day resurfaced.

"They say Erin Resus perfectly recreated the Resus family's swordsmanship."

It was something Karon hadn't even achieved yet.

Of course, "perfectly" could be interpreted in various ways.

People clearly didn't understand how the Resus family's swordsmanship should be executed to be considered perfect.

Indeed, it was meaningless for anyone not of the Resus family to even discuss their swordsmanship.

But what mattered was that it was "perfect" in others' eyes.

The fact that Erin had picked up a sword and used swordsmanship.

Was that even possible?

Erin... Erin knew nothing of swordsmanship.

As a child, she had only watched him practice swordsmanship within the mansion walls; she had never properly learned it herself.

"I heard you had a swordsmanship evaluation."

"..."

"And you used the Resus family's swordsmanship. Is that even possible? You..."

"It's been a long time, Karon."

Karon was momentarily speechless. Could his sister even make such an expression?

Her face, as she spoke, looked as if she were truly encountering a cherished memory.

A long time? Hadn't they just talked this very morning?

Of course, her words probably didn't mean that.

Erin's green eyes were like gazing upon a vast meadow.

Karon felt a strange sensation, as if those eyes held more years than even his father's.

"A long time...?"

"Yes. It feels like ages since we had a proper conversation."

Erin said that and placed a warm glass of milk in front of him.

Karon looked at the milk and was once again speechless.

She was treating him like a five-year-old child. But he didn't feel bad about it.

Because it reminded him of his old sister, who had been warm and kind before she was called a villainess.

But even so, he couldn't overlook her actions.

"I heard from Sir Ferdin that you're participating in the monster extermination. Do you not understand what that means? To go on a monster extermination, you have to be in the top five of the Beginner Class. It's that dangerous. It's not a place you can just go to because you want to, to begin with."

His words were true. Only the top five from each class could participate in the monster extermination.

It meant possessing a talent that was rare even among the selected talents of the swordsmanship students.

Karon knew how difficult that was.

He too had put in grueling effort to make it into the top five of the Intermediate Class he was currently in.

Of course, Erin was in the Beginner Class, unlike him and Ferdin's provisional knight squad members, but it would be impossible to even make it into the top five of that class.

"I know."

Erin said that and took a sip of the coffee she had brought for herself.

Her composed demeanor once again left Karon speechless. But then he remembered the purpose of his visit and continued.

"Then what on earth are you thinking? Are you insane? Do you have a death wish? Princess Ashili will be joining the monster extermination too. Don't you realize how that will look to others?"

"..."

"No, the biggest problem is that Lilia is going. People who want to kill you are everywhere!"

At his increasingly rising voice, Erin's eyes widened in surprise.

Karon felt relieved, thinking she had finally grasped the reality of the situation.

But Erin's subsequent words completely shattered his common sense.