INOTV 01

Chapter 01

 The Shame of the Family

As the blood-red sunset slowly faded, the hidden black moon rose into the sky.
When the sun was covered by the moon and darkness finally arrived, the whole world closed its eyes and ears without even realizing it had become dark.

When evil falls upon the world.

One who will light the darkness shall appear and take root in the dry land. That shall become the sky, and the light.

Even if one tries to cover the sky with their palm, they will never be able to hide their own light.

The moment the engraved will of God is understood, that person shall guide everyone toward the light.

So accept your destiny. Only then will you be able to stop evil.

— From The Record of God

Year 1805 of the Ashila Empire.

The House of Count Tresha.

“Again!”

Smack! The sharp sound echoed through the night sky. Lady Diana of the Count Tresha family kept repeating only one word — “Again” — as she struck her young daughter across the face over and over.

“Again. Can’t you do it properly?”

At the piercing, harsh voice, Sara instinctively covered her ears and collapsed onto the floor.

She had been slapped so many times that her right cheek was already swollen bright red.

With trembling hands, Sara touched her cheek. Blood stained her palm. Lady Diana’s fingernail had scratched her skin.

“……”

Even so, the Countess showed no mercy toward her daughter. It did not matter whether she bled or not. Not even a single word of apology came from her.

Sara Tresha.

The second daughter of the Tresha family, a girl blessed with beautiful and delicate features. However, because her eye color was different from the rest of the family, she grew up enduring endless insults and abuse.

[“…Disgusting. How could a child with such filthy origins enter our family? This is clearly a curse!”]

When the Countess discovered that Sara possessed “odd eyes,” different from ordinary people, she called it a curse and screamed in disgust.

To her, raising such a child was “the shame of the family.”

Yet despite the cruel treatment, Sara sincerely tried her best to be loved.

After all, she believed she carried the blood of the Tresha family.

But all of that effort was crushed when she turned ten years old.

Sara learned that she was not truly born into the Tresha family.

The Count had once told her that her real mother died shortly after giving birth to her.

Because of that, Sara knew nothing about where she came from or what kind of people her parents were.

Time passed, and now she was eighteen years old.

Even now, nothing had changed from her childhood.

Being ignored and looked down upon had become an ordinary part of Sara’s daily life.

“……I-I’ll try again.”

It hurt. She was afraid.

But she could not cry loudly from the pain. There was no one here who would comfort her tears anyway.

“……”

Enduring the pain, Sara picked up the flower with shaking hands.

Her fingers were so thin that her bones nearly showed, and her wrists were frail.

Though she was almost an adult, she had never eaten properly, so she remained smaller and thinner than others her age. That too was because of the abuse.

“All the flowers I touched after you got near them have withered! What are you going to do about this now?”

The reason all of this started was because Sara had accidentally dropped one of the Countess’s beloved flower pots.

While walking through the hallway, her hand had merely brushed against the flower by chance, yet the flower immediately lost its life and died.

When the Countess learned that Sara was responsible, she exploded with rage and demanded she bring it back to life.

To Diana, the flower pot was more precious than her own daughter.

“Hurry up and revive it with your precious power! …Don’t tell me you can’t? Just how many chances do I need to give you? Hmm?”

The Countess sneered as she pressed hard against Sara’s forehead.

Unable to resist the woman’s strength, Sara weakly stumbled backward.

Still, Sara tightly shut her eyes and endured the humiliation. Her tear-filled eyelashes trembled, and she bit her lip until it bled.

“Use your cursed power and revive it. Mother will not wait forever.”

The Countess mocked her and let out a small laugh.

She looked like a witch.

In truth, Sara possessed a special power unlike the rest of her family. Whether it was magic or divine power, she did not know. But the Countess called that ability a curse.

“Ha…”

Sara let out a deep sigh.

After repeatedly trying to revive the flower, she slowly lowered her hand while nervously watching the Countess.

“……I-I don’t think I can do it, Mother.”

“What? You can’t?”

At the sharp voice, the Countess raised her hand again.

Sara tightly shut her eyes, realizing she was about to be hit once more.

Smack!

A sharp sound rang through the air, followed by the short screams of the servants watching nearby.

“Ahhh!”

Sara cried out and collapsed helplessly onto the floor.

Tears instantly filled her eyes, but she endured them, refusing to cry.

“Mother……”

She spoke weakly.

“Who are you calling your mother? Don’t ever tell me you can’t do something again. Never!”

The Countess shouted furiously.

Her eyes were so vicious that the maids nearby could only stand there silently.

Everyone simply pretended not to notice.

“……”

Sara felt ashamed of everything at this moment.

She wanted to hide from all the eyes staring at her.

“That’s enough, Mother.”

At that moment, a voice came from behind.

It was the eldest son, Derek.

The instant he appeared, Sara finally burst into tears she had been desperately holding back.

“Y-You?”

Derek grabbed the Countess’s wrist.

Derek Tresha was the eldest son of the family.

He was also the only one in the family who cared for Sara.

“Mother… please stop.”

Derek sighed as he looked between Sara and his mother.

Seeing Sara collapsed on the floor, he hurried over and helped her up.

“Are you alright?”

Derek gently brushed the dust off Sara’s dress.

When he saw her swollen cheek, he frowned as though he himself had been hurt.

“Mother.”

Pulling Sara behind him protectively, Derek spoke to the Countess.

“Sara is crying. If the servants see this, rumors will spread immediately. I’ll buy you another flower, so please calm down.”

As he spoke, Derek approached the Countess, placing a hand on her shoulder and trying to soothe her anger.

“How could you say that to me?”

But the Countess only became angrier and harshly shook off her son’s hand.

“Why are you always taking this girl’s side? Don’t you feel sorry for your own mother at all?!”

“Please, Mother!”

When things did not go her way, she exploded with anger and shouted loudly.

Sara looked at the two of them with fear-filled eyes.

Her small face was already soaked in tears.

“……Sara.”

Derek sighed pitifully as he called her name.

His eyes were filled with sympathy.

Sara truly looked miserable.

“Go now. You probably haven’t eaten on time again. There should be some bread in the dining hall. At least eat that.”

“……”

Sara stared quietly at Derek.

Then, after he motioned for her to leave, she bowed her head politely.

Even though the Countess glared at her fiercely, Sara slowly stepped away as Derek told her to.

Lady Diana despised and hated Sara.

In truth, the Tresha couple also had another daughter younger than Sara by one year.

Beria Tresha.

The Countess treasured Beria, the daughter she had personally given birth to, more than anything.

But society preferred Sara instead — the prettier and more talented girl.

Of course, Beria was beautiful too, but she was always overshadowed by Sara.

While Beria learned one thing, Sara learned four.

Not only that, Sara was intelligent and wise.

Because of that, Sara became another source of pride for the Tresha family, making it impossible for Diana to cast her away easily.

That was what frustrated her the most.

The thought that her real daughter lived in the shadow of an adopted child with unknown origins made her blood boil.

That was why she hated Sara even more.

To the noble society, she acted like a gentle aristocrat who loved all her children equally.

But inside the mansion, she constantly abused Sara.

To her, the abuse felt justified.

Sara trembled with resentment.

Yet she also could not abandon the Tresha family.

Outside the mansion, she acted exactly as the Countess wanted her to — a daughter “deeply loved by her mother.”

Because the image of the Tresha family mattered.

That was the only way for her to avoid being abandoned and continue surviving here.

“……”

After escaping from the two of them and reaching the garden, Sara finally let out a relieved sigh.

When she glanced back, she could see Derek speaking with the Countess.

[“Who are you calling your mother? Don’t ever tell me you can’t do something again. Never!”]

“Hah.”

Remembering those words, Sara twisted her lips into a bitter smile.

She roughly wiped away the tears gathered in her eyes before hardening her expression.

Then, taking advantage of the commotion earlier, she pulled out the flower she had secretly brought with her.

As she stared at it silently, her eyes suddenly changed from golden to her strange odd-colored eyes.

Slowly, Sara reached out and gently touched the withered flower.

“……”

It was the Countess’s favorite flower.

A flower Diana loved dearly because it was flashy and beautiful, just like herself.

Yet it had completely withered away.

Sara let out a faint laugh.

Soon, a soft blue light surrounded the dead flower in her hand, and the flower slowly began to bloom once again.

It returned completely to its original form.

This was Sara’s special power.

The power to revive things.

It was exactly what Diana desperately wanted.

But Sara refused to obey her.

She cried and claimed she could not do it.

Even if she was slapped countless times, she never intended to grant the Countess’s wish from the beginning.

‘Why should I? Why should I do what that woman says? As if I would. Never.’

Sara stared blankly at the revived flower before dropping it onto the ground with a soft thud and smiling.

“……It’s not time yet.”

The flower itself was innocent.

But this family was not.

It simply was not time yet.

Hiding her true abilities was also part of making sure everything went according to plan.

If she truly wanted, she could have married someone suitable and escaped this house, or saved money and run away.

But Sara chose not to.

Because there was something she absolutely had to do within this family.

She had to destroy this family with her own hands.

The flower of revenge had begun to bloom.