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chapter 7
“Stay still.”
As Bania squirmed in his arms, Ryan clenched his teeth with a smile and whispered.
“You… did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
“No? I just… didn’t notice.”
“You almost ended up back in prison for child abuse just one day after getting out!”
“Uh, sorry…”
Bania pouted and gently placed the bag she had been carrying back onto Ryan’s shoulder.
“Child support…”
“Huh.”
Ridiculous.
“I want to go with Dad…”
Ridiculous… really ridiculous… but she was so cute I couldn’t help laughing.
What even is this kid?
Fortunately, Ryan walked with me tucked tightly under his arm. He seemed worried I might start acting foolish on the street again.
As expected, it worked perfectly!
“But where are we going?”
“Just wait.”
He glanced around while looking at the note he had found earlier, then entered a nearby building. It was an inn.
“Welcome!”
“Give me the reserved room and the items I left. Name’s Rivan.”
I was impressed watching Ryan demand a room from the owner so casually.
‘As expected, he’s already prepared a way to live after getting out.’
And moreover…
‘That name shows up here?’
Rivan. I know that man.
According to the information I had gathered, he was Ryan’s fellow inmate, released a year before him.
“You’re Mr. Rivan’s companion, then. But is the reservation under his name only? There should be a code or something, right?”
The innkeeper searched behind the counter and found a matching pair of notes, then awkwardly smiled as he read them.
Ryan paused.
“…Can’t you just give it to me?”
“Sorry, sir. Mr. Rivan left a lot of money, so we have to follow the verification process.”
“Ha.”
Why act like that? Ryan glanced at me briefly, then began reading the note in a tiny, almost whispering voice.
“Hey, yally-yally yallaseng yallari yalla…”
“…?!”
“Umpapa lumpha yoyo, yorelei-hi… Open sesame…”
“That’s correct!”
The innkeeper read the note alongside him, confirmed the code, and handed over the room key and a heavy leather bundle.
“The money is here, and the rest of your items are in the room.”
Ryan snatched the money bundle and strode up the stairs.
“That bastard Rivan… when I see him, he’s dead.”
“Phuh…”
No… I couldn’t hold back my laugh, and Ryan spun around sharply.
“Funny?”
“No.”
He stomped into the room. Inside were a few sets of clothes and some luggage.
“Here.”
He handed me the money bundle he had just retrieved.
“Why is this? Should I buy something?”
“No.”
He sighed and said,
“Let’s split up here for now.”
“Eh… again? Wait, are you mad because I laughed at that yally-yally thing just now? I won’t laugh again, I’m sorry.”
“Ugh! It’s not that!”
“Then why…?”
Ryan glanced at my curled-up posture for a moment, then turned his head sharply and said,
“You’re free from your father’s hands now. You’ve already told everyone outside that you’re my daughter, so there’s no reason for him to find and eliminate you. Take the money and find your own way.”
“I’m just a twelve-year-old girl. How can I survive alone?”
“No. You’re smart enough to survive even if you have to scheme on the streets. You’ll manage. Take care.”
Ryan spoke coldly and collapsed onto the bed.
“No! I want to stay with Dad.”
“Ah, stop calling him that!”
“Can’t I not call him Dad?”
“No, you can’t. Go.”
“Please. I still need a guardian.”
“Ugh, kid… listen.”
Ryan sat up. He paused for a long time, choosing his words carefully. Sighed, frowned, scratched his head.
Finally, he said,
“I’m going to take revenge on my father.”
“…?!”
I was shocked.
‘Wait, he’s revealing his intentions this quickly?’
Ryan’s gaze had turned sharp.
“I endured twelve years in Abissus for that one purpose.”
He rolled up his sleeve.
Twelve scars. Crooked, jagged marks, clearly self-inflicted.
He had endured the pain of cutting himself for twelve years.
“I’m going to take revenge on my father.”
Revenge.
A reckless audacity.
Anyone who knew our father, Duke Basenberg, would probably scoff at such ambition.
Ryan knew this too, which is why he revealed his plan so easily.
But I knew…
With his abilities, it was entirely possible.
“How will you take your revenge?”
“Not sure. I’ll try anything.”
Ryan didn’t say more.
But I knew he intended to eliminate all the gifted members of our family.
Before my reset, I almost died at his hands.
And strangely… I didn’t regret it.
In fact, one reason I even considered allying with Ryan was because, ironically, he had eliminated all my siblings.
Why did he do it?
If revenge was his only goal, targeting just our father would have sufficed.
Plan A:
- Pretend to be powerless and get kicked out of the family → Success!
- Meet Ryan and follow him → Success!
- Discover Ryan’s true intentions
- …
Finally, step three: it was time to understand Ryan’s real plan to eliminate all family members.
“All the things you’ve enjoyed your whole life, built on filthy power… you really had no idea?”
At our first meeting before my reset, he seemed to utterly despise the family.
“If you kill even the innocent, you’ll have nightmares.”
He spared my innocent lover.
Perhaps Ryan… intended to uproot a corrupt, powerful family controlling a nation, with his own hands?
Bassenberg’s family, including our father, was almost entirely rotten.
‘So…’
Even if the father was gone, a second one would just take his place.
‘Knowing he alone had the power to stop this criminal family, he became the executioner himself.’
That was the truth I had only guessed at, with a tiny chance of being correct.
“Now give me my daughter’s support money.”
The mercurial help extended to me, who he could have ignored.
“Do you think I created this just for you to enter? Who else could survive in this weather besides you?”
A strong man who could treat others like ants, yet had enough humanity to pity the weak.
Was he a revenge-obsessed murderer…
Or a mass-murderer with a higher purpose?
“Why?”
I spoke with trembling lips.
“Why take revenge? Because Dad kicked you out of the family? Because he could have gotten you out of prison but didn’t?”
Ryan looked at me. His golden eyes flickered as if stirring old memories.
“…No.”
After a long pause, he spoke.
“I don’t even remember being angry at being abandoned by my father. That doesn’t matter anymore.”
“….”
“You’re still young, so you don’t know, but our family is like rotten teeth in this empire.”
His tone was indifferent, but his eyes burned fiercely.
“If you don’t remove them, they’ll rot completely someday.”
My heart raced.
‘As expected.’
Step three: discovering Ryan’s true intent → Success!
“No one else can do it but me.”
Eyes blazing.
“I’m going to destroy Bassenberg.”
“You’re Bania Bassenberg?”
First meeting.
The same gaze.
“Haha, you’re scared? A powerless kid destroying Bassenberg? You know it’s impossible, right?”
Ryan laughed playfully, then suddenly hardened his expression.
“But I’ll do it.”
He laughed again, placing his hand on my head.
“If you fail, of course, you’ll die. If you’re next to me then, you’ll die too. That’s why I’m telling you to go.”
“….”
“If you don’t want to die, you can’t be with me. For your own future, being involved with a criminal like me will do nothing good. You understand that much, right?”
Ryan ruffled my hair and laughed.
“Oh, and just so you know… even if you can use your powers later, don’t go back home.”
“….”
Seeing Ryan smile, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
This terrifying man… was worryingly concerned. About his newly met, essentially stranger half-sister.
