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Chapter 1
Today was finally the day to leave the capital.
I felt sorry for not telling my family beforehand, but I planned to explain everything once I arrived. Besides, it wouldn’t do my family any good if they found out too soon.
I had even meticulously prepared a hideout where I could lie low and live in peace.
To prevent my family from stopping me, I went so far as to add a sleeping potion to their dinner—a truly thorough plan.
The original plot had already changed, so from now on, I would just handle things on my own. I could keep an eye on the situation from the hideout and check in on my family later if any real trouble arose.
Slipping out of the Eterion mansion like a thief, Revelin smiled with satisfaction.
All she had to do now was board the carriage she had prepared in advance and get out of the capital…
“Revelin.”
“Gasp!”
Revelin, who had been grinning to herself, sucked in her breath at the chilling, low voice coming from behind her and froze in place.
Why is that voice here? This wasn’t part of the plan!
Revelin’s neck creaked like a wooden doll as she turned around. The carriage of the Grand Duke Velhark, parked right in front of the Eterion mansion, came into view.
“H-H-How… are you h-here?”
There stood Chedwin, the owner of the carriage, leaning casually with his arms crossed.
“Where are you going so late at night?”
To run away from you.
Swallowing hard to force down the words she couldn’t possibly say, Revelin rolled her eyes back and forth.
“Surely, you aren’t running away, are you?”
As Chedwin’s darkly sunken eyes fixed upon her, Revelin stammered in a trembling voice,
“W-What are you talking about? Running away? M-Me? Why would I?”
“You’d better not be abandoning me, Revelin.”
Taking a leisurely step forward, he stopped right in front of Revelin and bent down. A shadow fell across her face.
“What do you suppose I’d do if I were left behind and felt so sad?”
“Are you threatening me?”
Chedwin gave a dry chuckle.
“A threat? I’m just saying I’d cling to you out of sadness if you left me.”
It was clear that this man’s definition of “clinging” was vastly different from the usual one. How on earth was that supposed to be clinging?
And I don’t even belong to this man in the first place, so what is this about abandoning him?
Revelin glared at Chedwin. He didn’t even budge. Instead, he was smiling as if he were thoroughly amused.
“Think carefully. What if, out of sadness, I made a surprise visit to the Knights’ Order where Arent is stationed and forced them to do outdoor camping training for a few days? Ah, of course, Arent would be exempt. He’s your brother, after all.”
Exempt from outdoor camping training! All the senior knights would have to undergo training while only her brother was excused—how agonizingly awkward that would be for him!
There was a demon standing right in front of her.
“Or perhaps, to soothe my sad heart because you left, I could have dinner with His Majesty the Emperor and invite Count Eterion to join us.”
A dinner with the Emperor. It was a seat every family head desired, but—!
“Dinner with His Majesty the Emperor? Father has trouble digesting his food if his meals are disrupted! That means he wouldn’t be able to sleep on time, either!”
“I know very well, Revelin. As if I wouldn’t know about matters concerning your family.”
Revelin widened her eyes. Chedwin smiled happily at the sight.
“Are you threatening me using my own family right now?”
“No. You asked earlier if I was threatening you, so I was just showing you what a real threat looks like. It’s petty and despicable. Though I like it because it keeps you thinking about me.”
Arent had an upright nature, so while his mind might be uneasy, his physical body would at least be comfortable. And her father, though the setting would be stressful, would outwardly gain the trust of the Emperor and the Grand Duke, so that was a relief, but still—!
She couldn’t stop thinking about him!
“You said you weren’t running away, so I suppose the hideout you secretly purchased, the jewels and dresses you liquidated into cash, and the clean sweep of your personal affairs all mean nothing, right?”
How on earth did he know all of that?
She had to look unfazed here. Revelin forced her stiff neck to nod. Letting out a low rumble of laughter in his throat, Chedwin intentionally tilted his head.
“That’s a relief. As it happens, I’ve decided to build a vacation home right across from the one you bought.”
“……Pardon?”
“I gave instructions to design my villa so that your villa is clearly visible from it, so we’ll be seeing each other much more often than before.”
She was ruined.
If this kept up, there was no reason left to run away.
“If you aren’t running away, it doesn’t matter, right?”
She had planned this in absolute secrecy without a soul knowing, so how on earth did he find out? She was caught the moment she took a single step outside the mansion.
Could this even be called running away?
“And it’s dangerous to go out alone at dawn, so bring an escort. Or you can just call me whenever, it doesn’t matter. Revelin, if you call me, I’ll come running gladly.”
Chedwin motioned toward his own carriage with his chin, as if to say they could accompany each other anytime.
Revelin, having failed her escape, shook her head frantically and stepped backward.
“I… I couldn’t sleep… so I just came out for a brief moment, and I was heading right back in.”
“Is that so? Well, if you say so.”
Chedwin slowly swept his gaze over Revelin, who was dressed in outdoor clothes and even carrying a travel bag, but he kindly played along with her lie.
“If you happen to need the jewels and dresses you sold off for cheap, let me know. I bought and kept every single thing you cleared out.”
“What? I clearly sold them to a merchant! Why on earth does Your Grace the Grand Duke have them?!”
“Naturally. It feels repulsive imagining other people touching your things.”
That meant he had known everything from the very beginning.
Realizing that her meticulously crafted plan had been completely seen through, Revelin clenched her fists in frustration.
Next time, I’m going to plan an escape even more thoroughly!
Revelin had no intention of staying in the capital to cure that man—the mastermind.
“A moment ago, His Grace the Grand Duke Velhark reportedly passed the outer walls of the capital.”
“It hasn’t been long since he rang the bells of victory, but his moving speed is fast.”
“I hear it’s not the entire regiment belonging to Velhark, but that His Grace is returning first, leading only the 1st Division.”
“Hmm. His Majesty must have called for him urgently. He probably needs some good news in the empire about now.”
Just as she was growing tired of the tedious conversation, a cheer loud enough to ring in her ears erupted.
The Grand Duke of Velhark seemed to have just passed through the capital’s gates.
Having defeated all the magic beasts in the contaminated zone without a single casualty, he was truly worthy of being called the hero of the empire.
The original story is going to start soon now.
Revelin first recalled her past life during her academy graduation exam.
While taking the test, some students had deliberately provoked a magic beast to bully Revelin and then ran away, leaving her behind. She had almost been chewed to pieces and killed.
To make matters worse, it was a new kind of magic beast that had never been reported to academia, and it was so immensely powerful that even other magic beasts tucked their tails and fled. Dozens of professors had to step in and barely kill it before Revelin could be rescued.
After that, I never went anywhere near contaminated zones or places where magic beasts appeared.
When the blood shed by the magic beasts seeped into Revelin’s wounds, causing her to writhe in a horrible sensation—
She realized that this place was inside a 19+ reverse-harem dark romance novel she had read in her past life, titled A Treatment Done with the Body.
It was a story where the female protagonist, a 2nd-class purifier, cured three male leads using her body.
Among them, Revelin was the youngest daughter of Count Eterion’s family, the younger sister of one of the male leads, and a minor extra who barely appeared in the original work.
Though she was calm about it now after several years had passed, she couldn’t begin to describe how much of a shock it was when she first found out.
“Revelin, move to the back.”
At that moment, standing right beside her, Arent Eterion—the eldest son of the Count Eterion family and Revelin’s older brother—spoke in a rigid and blunt whisper while staring straight ahead.
“Nobody will even notice if one person is missing.”
This very brother was one of the three male leads infatuated with the original female protagonist.
Especially when I first found out about my brother’s love life, the shock was huge! I didn’t want to know anything about my brother’s romantic entanglements!
Back then, her aversion had been so strong that she had avoided her brother for a while.
“Brother, if you’re worried my legs are going to hurt, just say you’re worried.”
At her soft response, the stiff Arent flinched.
“All you had to do was tell me to sit on the chair in the back and rest because I looked tired.”
Their mother had passed away early, and their father was busy.
The one who had always stayed by lonely Revelin’s side was her older brother, Arent.
He was her precious brother and family.
That was why, when she found out Arent would die, contaminated by heavy demonic energy, she fell into deep despair.
However, Revelin soon made up her mind.
I won’t let my brother die like in the original story.
After her brother died, her father had also wasted away in grief before passing on.
Following that, hyenas busy tearing apart the Eterion family—which ran the empire’s sole central bank—descended upon them.
The family’s fortunes, which once boasted such immense wealth that all the merchant guilds and banks in the empire were said to be in the palm of their hand, declined precipitously.
In the end, left all alone, Revelin was stripped of everything the family owned by swindlers and died of starvation.
She had no intention of letting things end that way.
My brother—no, my family—I will protect them myself.
In this world, there were “contaminated zones.”
Inside a “contaminated zone,” which occurred spontaneously, heavy demonic energy flowed alongside magic beasts.
If civilians got caught up in them, they died or were injured. If a contaminated zone was left unpurified for a certain period of time, a rift would open, causing magic beasts and demonic energy to spill out.
Therefore, when a “contaminated zone” broke out, knights or mercenaries would first kill the magic beasts inside, and then purifiers would step in to cleanse the demonic energy of the area.
The male leads frequently found themselves exposed to demonic energy, and Arent, too, ended up heavily contaminated and dying later in the story, requiring a 1-class purifier.
Revelin had been forced to watch her brother die while being able to do nothing at all.
The original story doesn’t matter; I’m going to protect my precious family.
That alone was Revelin’s sole goal.
And today was the triumphal procession signaling that the original story was about to begin.
“Oh? They must be arriving.”
As soon as some nobleman’s murmur ended, the ground vibrated heavily.
The sound of disciplined footsteps rang out, and the cheers grew closer and closer.
They’re here.
The gazes of all the nobles and royals turned toward a single place.
The banner of the Grand Duke Velhark fluttered splendidly in the wind.
Over the black armor of the knights, a sense of triumphant pride and dignity permeated the air.
Behind them, riding a horse, appeared the protagonist of the procession: Chedwin Velhark.
It was an appearance that genuinely drew admiration. One couldn’t take their eyes off him.
If I run into him face-to-face, I’ll be too scared to even speak.
Staring straight ahead with a rigid face completely devoid of a smile, he didn’t change his expression at all despite the enthusiastic cheers.
Given that he had achieved victory, one would expect him to be happy, but his deeply churning blue eyes even held hints of annoyance and boredom.
“He must be angry because they had to rush according to schedule and couldn’t bring the entire Knights’ Order to the procession.”
“I hear His Majesty the Emperor threatened that if he didn’t arrive on schedule, he’d appoint a substitute for the procession.”
“To think His Majesty would dare threaten that Grand Duke Velhark—truly something else.”
“Well, they share blood, even if it’s just on one side, I suppose.”
Chedwin dismounted his horse and climbed the stone steps. The Emperor smiled, holding the imperial treasured sword in his hand.
“My nephew, I congratulate you on your flawless victory.”
“Then you should have delayed the date of the procession, Your Uncle.”
“Joyful news needs to echo through the empire to boost morale.”
Clicking his tongue, Chedwin climbed all the way up the steps and knelt on one knee in front of the Emperor.
“I swear my unwavering loyalty and undefeated victory to Your Majesty.”
“May the loyalty and honor of the Grand Duke Velhark shine forever. You are the pillar of the empire, my family, and always my staunch ally.”
The Emperor lightly rested the imperial treasured sword on both of Chedwin’s shoulders, expressing his trust.
“I shall call the Grand Duke Velhark the hero of the Croisen Empire!”
Along with the Emperor’s shout, cheers and applause roared loudly.
Chedwin Velhark.
Revelin stared fixedly at his retreating back, as if carving him into her mind.
The mastermind who kidnapped and imprisoned the female protagonist in the original story.
Hailed as the hero of the empire, he was a madman who, once his mind collapsed from contamination by demonic energy, would slaughter every living thing in sight.
And…
The guy who contaminates my brother with demonic energy.
He was also the fellow who contributed to Arent’s death.
