🔊 TTS Settings
chapter 03
“If you don’t take me, I’ll die! Daddyyy! Please take meeeee!”
Shuffling.
Ryan, who was walking away while scratching his ear, thought.
‘Useless kid.’
The girl seemed to know that following Ryan here was the best option for her.
If she stayed in their hands, she might be abandoned somewhere or even killed.
‘But…’
Ryan slowed his pace.
‘…there’s no such thing as a useless kid, is there?’
He hated to admit it, but he believed that the blood of the father who produced the “special ability” kids was truly real.
Ryan himself wasn’t powerless either.
For some reason, his ability had awakened late, and for now, he was pretending to be powerless just to prepare for revenge.
‘She probably isn’t powerless either.’
He didn’t know for sure, but her awakening must just be delayed.
For the same reason Ryan himself had experienced back in the day.
“…Please, take me… I was kicked out of my house, I have nowhere to go…”
For a moment, the twelve-year-old Ryan, exiled from his family, overlapped with the image of the girl.
“Ugh.”
Ryan stopped abruptly.
He had a lot to do. He wasn’t in a position to take care of a child, nor did he have any obligation to do so.
But he could at least pull her away from them.
‘Yeah… what else does this tiny thing have besides the crime of being born?’
So this was just a small gesture of pity that cost him nothing.
With that in mind, Ryan started walking back the way he came.
Step, step.
He would go with her only as far as the continent, give her a few coins, and let her find her own way.
Step, step.
If she cried and clung on annoyingly…
Then he could just abandon her somewhere.
He really would. Truly.
Right now, just surviving and preparing for revenge was hard enough.
So he wasn’t really raising her.
Really.
“…?”
Vania looked up at Ryan as he returned. The girl’s small body was being held tightly by a soldier.
“Ugh!”
Ryan twisted the soldier’s arm roughly, and the stunned Vania quickly slipped free.
Having easily subdued the soldier, Ryan drew the sword the man had at his waist in an instant and twirled it through the air.
“Wow, nice blade. Can I take this as a post-prison gift?”
At his threatening movements, the other three soldiers hastily drew their swords.
“Oh? Planning to fight me? You think you can beat me? I’ve been in prison for 12 years just growing this body. You sure you can?”
Ryan mocked, gesturing toward Vania.
“Let’s go.”
“Ah!”
Blinking, Vania ran and hid snugly behind Ryan.
“Hey, you guys.”
Ryan, sword slung across his shoulder and standing crooked, said:
“Now, hand over my daughter’s child support.”
The Vassenberg Duke Family.
A corrupt noble family that holds the reins of the great empire of Valensia.
By monopolizing the strong power of special abilities, they influence the empire’s military, administration, and even legislation.
Family members control countless businesses, shaping the country’s finances.
And behind the scenes, they run massive cartels, committing crimes too vile to speak of.
I, Vania Vassenberg, was called a princess of this corrupt family before my reincarnation.
Among my many siblings, I alone had an exceptionally powerful special ability.
Everyone adored me, and I thought the world lay at my feet.
Big house, fine clothes, beautiful jewelry, rare food, luxury, social gatherings…
I, as a child, knew nothing and was simply immersed in the life of a glamorous noble lady.
The family deliberately controlled me like a fool.
Shielding me from the dark truths.
Like a bird in a cage.
Like a princess in the castle.
Even if I grew up and learned more, I would already be accustomed to this life and feel no desire to escape.
So at 16, when I became an adult, I finally learned the truth.
My father and brothers were criminals above the law, and my family, the Vassenbergs, were a rotting cancer in the nation.
“Ugh, it’s hot.”
I quietly followed Ryan toward the dock, keeping myself hidden behind him, silent as a mouse.
Plan A:
- Pretend to be powerless and get kicked out → Success!
- Meet Ryan and follow him → Success!
- …….
The plan was going smoothly, but this was only the beginning.
Now that I was following Ryan, I couldn’t let my guard down.
Because Ryan was a ticking time bomb with insane abilities.
His special ability was…
“Hey.”
“Yes?!”
Startled by Ryan’s sudden glance back, I jumped.
“What? Did you see a monster or something?”
“Ah, no.”
“Hurry and get on.”
Ryan pointed at a ship at the dock.
A luxurious vessel proudly bearing the Vassenberg seal at its bow.
“Uh, the ship we’re supposed to take is…?”
Beside it, a shabby-looking ship.
“…That one.”
I pointed at the worn-out, small supply ship used to transport released prisoners.
“What?”
Ryan’s gaze shifted behind me. The aides and soldiers who had parted ways with me at the prison gate were there.
“This big ship is the one I came on. And I’ll put them back on it when we leave.”
“Ugh, that’s unfair. Can’t we take it together? I get motion sickness on trashy ships like that.”
“Not possible…”
Just then, the aide who came closer, Bill, tapped my shoulder.
“Huh?”
His insolence made me flare up. This aide had been speaking down to me in casual tones all the way here.
‘I can’t get used to this.’
Before my reincarnation, he had treated me with such deference it was as if he’d lick my toes.
“Why?”
“Vassenberg has eyes and ears everywhere in the empire. Be careful. If you gossip carelessly, you won’t survive.”
In other words, if I revealed that I was the Vassenberg daughter, they’d kill me.
I was powerless.
Or rather, I was pretending to be powerless and had deliberately been kicked out.
“I’ll remember.”
“Look at how mouthy she is.”
Ryan, who had been listening, interjected.
“When she wasn’t considered powerless, they treated her like a princess, didn’t they? People should try being consistent.”
“I only obey the Vassenbergs. Not the prince… no.”
Bill sneered.
“If you want to survive, stop wagging your mouth and live like the dead.”
“…What?”
Ryan’s expression cracked. My mouth dropped open.
‘Th-this crazy old man?!’
A state of emergency! Who does he think Ryan is to provoke him like this?
If I were to kill the aide here…
It would ruin the plan.
I hugged Ryan’s waist tightly in silence.
“D-don’t talk so badly about Dad!”
Silence.
“……”
“……”
Ryan blinked down at me, and Bill snorted in disbelief.
“Hahaha! Did you hear that? The daughter is being cute and defending him too!”
Thankfully, Ryan’s anger gauge had dropped, and he slung his arm over my shoulder.
“I’m letting it slide because of her. If you don’t want to die, get lost. Even if I’m powerless, I could easily deal with one old man.”
“……”
Bill scowled at Ryan and boarded the ship with the soldiers.
“See you again someday!”
Ryan waved with a smile.
Bill wouldn’t know that I had desperately kept his life just moments ago.
Ryan still had his arm around my shoulder, and the pressure made me feel like crying.
“Take care of your neck until we meet again…”
When I heard his quiet whisper, though it wasn’t directed at me, my heart pounded violently.
Ryan Vassenberg.
Before my reincarnation, I had seen him for only about ten minutes.
But even then, I was sure of the kind of ability he had.
“What’s wrong? Why are you trembling? Are you crying?”
“No? I’m just a little startled.”
“Why startled? Worried I might fight them? That’s why I stopped you?”
“Yes. I was worried you might get hurt…”
“Oh, don’t be silly.”
No, I was worried about those people, not him.
“Even if I fought, I’d win. Don’t be scared.”
Ryan hugged my trembling shoulder tighter.
“Don’t be scared, I said.”
He lowered his head, pressed his face close to mine, peeking around.
My heart… thumped wildly.
Extreme fear.
His ability was, I suspected…
“It’s fine, so relax your expression.”
The most deadly, strongest power ever recorded among special ability users, appearing only once in history.
A power that could snuff out the breath of all living things in one second—a deathly god-like ability.
“Smile! Sma~ile!”
“H-Ha. Haha. Y-Yes! I’ll smile!”
…<Instant death.>
