LDLDE 04

Chapter 04

The Little Daughter-in-Law Takes Care of Everything!

To get straight to the point, I had successfully entered the Windriche Duke’s estate.

I understand you didn’t come all this way with a light heart. But I still can’t trust your abilities. I can’t entrust Diana to your hands.
But…!
Ricardo uncle clicked his tongue as he looked at my cheeks, which had become noticeably thinner over the month I had spent worrying about my father.

Still, as an adult, I do have a duty to protect a child. And since you don’t seem to have a guardian, there’s no need for you to rush off immediately. You must be tired, so stay here for a few days. I’ll think about what to do with you in the meantime.
Then…!
But that doesn’t mean I’m accepting you as my daughter-in-law. Unless you can truly heal Diana, which I doubt will happen.
Then he called the head butler and gave an order.

Give this little brat a room. From the look of her, she probably hasn’t had a proper meal in a while, so feed her something first. And before that, she should change out of those filthy clothes.
And so, I was led out of the uncle’s office by a maid.

After that, I followed his instructions, washed in warm water, and changed into clean clothes.

The dress they had quickly prepared for me was far higher quality than anything I had ever worn.

After that, I was practically forced to eat a meal.

The maids, including Richell who had been assigned to me, were desperate to make me eat even one more spoonful.

Only after eating until my stomach was slightly bulging did I manage to escape them and finally gather my thoughts alone.

The room I was given was on the second floor. It was large and luxurious enough that even a noble lady wouldn’t find it out of place.

Even though, to Ricardo uncle, I was just a poor commoner child who had come to negotiate with nobles, he still gave me a proper guest room instead of a servant’s room.

“Uncle really… he’s still so bad at being honest.”

I let out a small laugh, then took a deep breath.

‘Don’t get excited, Iris Swan. This is only the first step. There’s still a long way to go to find Father.’

I tried to calm my excitement and began unpacking my bag.

Honestly, there wasn’t much to unpack. I had only brought what was absolutely necessary in a small travel bag on my shoulder.

A letter my father had left me before he disappeared, and small gifts he had given me.

And…

‘No matter how I look at it, I still have no idea what this is.’

I frowned as I took out a pale, egg-like object about the size of two of my fists combined.

Having seen various livestock in my village, I could usually identify eggs—but this was not a chicken egg or a duck egg. It was much larger, and its shell was far harder.

I had asked Emma auntie about it, but even she said she had never seen a bird’s egg like this before.

Carefully, as if afraid it would break, I placed it on the bed, then took out a ring that had been rolling around in my bag.

The ring was set with a large, transparent diamond and was sized for an adult woman’s finger.

Both the unknown egg and the ring that didn’t fit me were obviously not mine.

They had been beside me on the day I returned to the past, when I woke up in Emma auntie’s bed. I had only discovered them later when I woke up again that night.

Things I had never seen before in my previous life.

‘Could this be related to turning back time?’

I kept them carefully stored because of that thought.

“No change at all. I wonder if something will hatch from this someday?”

I studied the egg again. It looked exactly the same as before.

‘It doesn’t seem spoiled, so maybe it’s a fertilized egg.’

I put the egg and the ring back into my bag, then hid the bag under the bed so no one could see it.

Only then did I start organizing what I needed to do in the future.

A month ago, I had used an ancient form of magic that I never wanted to rely on.

A forbidden spell that turns back time at the cost of one’s own life. A magic with an extremely high chance of failure.

The reason I didn’t use it even after Ricardo uncle died wasn’t because I was afraid of death.

I wasn’t afraid of dying. If Ricardo uncle hadn’t kept encouraging me, I might have already given up on myself.

I was simply worried about Killian Windriche, who would be left alone if I failed.

Now I’m just like you. Both of us are alone in this world now. There is no family left who cares about us.
In the rain-soaked funeral, Killian spoke calmly without crying. But the rain running down his eyes looked just like tears to me.

Holding his cold hand, I made a promise.

You’re not alone, and I’m not alone either. I may not be your family, but if you want, I can stay by your side. Honestly, haven’t I already been sticking to you all this time? We’re… well, it’s hard to call us friends, but we still got along in our own way. So let’s just keep going like we have been.
Killian, hearing such simple comfort, finally broke down in tears he had been holding back.

As the only person who witnessed those tears, I felt responsible for him.

He was rumored to be cold-hearted, but in truth he had a much more fragile heart. How could I leave him alone?

But unfortunately, I could not keep that promise.

Six months later, when I visited his mansion to meet him again, I ended up fighting unknown attackers and suffered a fatal wound.

For someone like Iris Swan to be taken down like this—it was absurd.

But the unknown power they used restrained my limbs.

Still, that wasn’t enough to stop me. If I simply broke their control and escaped, I could survive.

But the fact that this happened inside Killian’s estate mattered too much.

Your real target… is the Duke Windriche, Killian Windriche, isn’t it?
One of them let out a sneer.

Yes. Killian Windriche is our final target. If we eliminate the young Windriche, our master’s great plan will finally be complete.
A chilling voice answered so casually, as if they already assumed I was going to die.

Then… don’t tell me Ricardo uncle too?
Ah.
The attacker in the black hood smiled wide enough to split his face.

Just remembering the feeling of piercing his heart still excites me.
So he really had been murdered, not killed by a monster!

But there was no time to be enraged.

Their target was Killian Windriche.

If I ran away now, Killian would die.

You will never lay a finger on him!
I fought desperately against the unknown number of attackers. They kept trying to restrain me with that strange power, and in the process, my mana core was destroyed.

When one of them aimed for my heart—

Wait, stop! That woman…! We must not kill her!
I don’t know why they hesitated, but that moment turned the tide.

When I regained consciousness, I was standing alone in a pool of blood—both theirs and mine.

‘Good… Killian is safe.’

But was it really good?

I instinctively understood. If I wasn’t treated immediately, I would die.

Then what about Killian?

If he found out I died here, wouldn’t he be devastated?

If I also disappeared, he would truly be alone in this world…

The same group that killed Ricardo uncle would surely come for Killian again. Without me, who would protect him?

At the very last moment of my life, I finally gathered the courage to use the forbidden magic I had kept postponing.

I decided to turn back time using the lives of myself and the attackers who were about to die.

Unfortunately, the time-reversal magic did not allow precise control of the timeline.

As with all ancient magic, instead of an exact date, you had to set conditions. The more precisely you defined them, the narrower the range of time you could return to.

My condition was this:

A time when Ricardo uncle was still alive, and my father was still by my side during my childhood.

A time where I could also heal Killian’s heart, which had never truly recovered from his wounds.

Naturally, I thought I would return to the time before my father left our small, warm home.

I thought I would open my eyes to find my father with his golden hair and warm smile greeting me like sunlight.

But the first person I saw when I opened my eyes was Emma auntie.