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Chapter 6:
The original Erin Recess was supposed to have run out of the fencing evaluation in tears, unable to finish.
But now, she had executed her swordsmanship more perfectly than anyone else.
Erin stepped down from the evaluation stage. As she moved forward, those blocking her path slowly stepped aside.
“No way.”
“How on earth…?”
She could hear the other students whispering to each other.
Her body, still tense and sensitive from the mana she had drawn upon, picked up even the smallest voices with ease.
Philip, too, was staring at her with wide eyes.
It seemed no one could understand how she had displayed the Recess family’s swordsmanship.
Her palms ached, and her muscles throbbed from the strain. Her body screamed for rest, but she couldn’t stop.
She had a reason—one that demanded she show a different side of herself in this evaluation.
Ferdin was watching her.
Her throat tightened. That man who shone so brightly, even standing still, had met her and…
Whenever her thoughts wandered, they always ended the same way—
He met me… and Ferdin died.
It was a memory she could never forget, no matter how many lives she had lived—three so far.
Ignoring the stares pouring down on her, Erin walked toward Ferdin, who had been watching her from earlier.
Finally, she stood before him. She hesitated for a moment, then spoke.
“Sir Ferdin.”
His golden hair caught the sunlight and gleamed. As she met his deep blue eyes, Erin felt her breath hitch.
Up close, the reality that he was alive hit her even harder.
The memory of the day he died was still vivid.
She had been in her room, crying and praying for his safe return, when the news of his death reached her.
They had said there wasn’t even a body left. That he had been eaten by monsters—such a pitiful end.
It was a death unworthy of the Empire’s second prince. And it had been entirely her fault.
It took everything in her to speak to him now.
“Do you still not know why the prince died? It was all because he got engaged to you.”
Those were the words the Marchioness had whispered in her ear after his death.
Erin had never wanted the engagement. She knew her place.
The second prince, beloved by all, and the villainess despised by all—
They did not suit each other.
People liked the cold and decisive first prince, Dietrion, but they wanted the kind and magnanimous Ferdin to become emperor.
“It’s because of you… him, and his knights. Lady Asili and the duke were their last hope… If you hadn’t gotten engaged to him, the second prince would still be alive.”
That was why he had never become emperor—it was all her fault.
Even now, speaking to him like this, Erin felt as if she were killing him again.
“I… have something to say to you, just the two of us. Could you spare me a moment?”
She saw the eyes of Derek, who was standing beside Ferdin, narrow sharply.
She understood his wariness. He had likely heard the rumors the Marchioness had spread through high society.
The Marchioness would deliberately add tears to her lies to drag Erin’s reputation through the mud.
“They say Erin Recess fell for His Highness Ferdin at first sight and bullied the Marchioness.”
“And if this engagement doesn’t go through, she threatened to kill herself? Truly vicious.”
Recalling the rumors, Erin’s face flushed. She dreaded to think what he thought of her.
Even if he hates me, I can’t argue.
She thought it would be no surprise if Ferdin refused her request.
But instead of avoiding her, he stepped closer.
“I can give you all the time you need. But first…”
Instead of continuing, Ferdin pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around her bloodied hands.
Erin stared blankly at the neatly tied cloth.
He was always a compassionate man.
To think he could be so kind even to the villainess who was tightening the noose around his neck…
Looking at him, Erin once again remembered what she had to do.
* * *
In Atenz Academy’s dormitory—specifically, in the largest room, Ferdin’s office—several people had gathered.
Derek sighed as he looked at them.
The Atenz Academy had been established to train as many talented individuals as possible.
It was a world with too many monsters to afford teaching based on social status.
Thus, the first emperor of Rexia had decreed that status would be ignored within the academy.
There was one exception, however: the imperial princes were allowed to form their own provisional knight orders while still at the academy.
The belief was that to become emperor, one must be able to recruit outstanding talent from the start—a tradition passed down from the past.
Commoner students who proved themselves and entered a prince’s provisional order were often granted noble status upon graduation.
The ones before Derek now were such “outstanding” students—loyal retainers who would join Ferdin’s knight order immediately upon his graduation.
Of course, excellence didn’t mean they had good personalities.
Each was so strong-willed that Derek, being an utterly ordinary man, could barely keep them under control.
All he wanted was to get out of this thorn-filled seat.
Among them was a handsome man with black hair and blue eyes—Amon Hedor—who looked at Derek with deep suspicion.
“Erin Recess has changed?”
It was Lillia, seated in front of him, who answered.
She tucked her long, luscious golden hair behind her ear and smiled sweetly.
“Shouldn’t we take Erin Recess, not Caron, on the next monster subjugation? If she’s really as good as the rumors say, she could even be given the honor of taking one down alone.”
The moment Caron, sitting beside her, heard that, his face hardened dangerously.
Was she insane? Giving Erin the “opportunity” to take down a monster alone?
That wasn’t an opportunity—it was a death sentence.
“Absolutely not. My sister only transferred to the swordsmanship department recently. She’s nowhere near ready for a monster subjugation. You know only top scorers can participate.”
Caron, too, had heard the rumors that Erin had perfectly executed the Recess family’s swordsmanship.
Especially after Edward had come to him earlier—
“Why didn’t you tell me Lady Erin could wield a sword? At that level, she must have been training since childhood.”
Impossible. His sister, Erin Recess, had never learned swordsmanship.
He had already been unsettled since morning by the sight of her injured hands. Now, with all these strange rumors spreading, his mood worsened by the minute.
“My sister has never once held a sword. She is absolutely not going to any monster subjugation.”
“Oh? That’s strange. How could someone who never trained perfectly display the Recess family’s swordsmanship? Even for your sister, aren’t you protecting her a little too much?”
Lillia narrowed her eyes at him.
“Such enviable sibling affection… I used to have a brother like that too. Until someone made sure I’d never see him again.”
“That’s enough, Lillia.”
Caron clenched his teeth at the incomprehensible situation.
He didn’t know why such rumors were spreading, but the moment this meeting ended, he would ask Erin directly.
If those ridiculous stories led to her joining the monster subjugation, Lillia—more than the monsters—would surely try to harm her.
She could easily pretend to be attacked and use the chaos to kill Erin.
Just sitting beside Lillia made his stomach turn.
She, in turn, seemed amused by his tense reaction and shrugged her shoulders.
He swallowed dryly.
The first thing Caron had realized upon entering the academy was that Erin had many enemies.
He had known vaguely about her behavior back at the marquisate, but he’d never cared how others saw her.
He had even deliberately avoided hearing the gossip and slander, thinking she’d improve someday.
That was why he had no idea that Erin had killed Lillia’s innocent brother eight years ago.
He only learned about that incident shortly after entering the academy.
