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Chapter 1
Thud.
The moment I confirmed the blade had pierced deep exactly as intended, the first emotion I felt was, absurdly enough, relief.
So… I’ve finally finished my revenge.
“Haa…”
A weary sigh slipped from my lips.
They say revenge leaves you feeling hollow.
Perhaps the person who said that and I were simply different kinds of beings.
Like completing a long-postponed assignment, like a sinner finally paying for their crimes, my heart became light in an instant, as if it had grown wings.
“Ugh…”
What finally shattered my settling thoughts was the groan of a man dying as he collapsed onto the floor.
Because I had precisely driven the dagger beneath his ribs, severing his heart and arteries in one strike, his remaining lifespan was now little more than moments.
Even if he spent those precious final seconds repenting for his sins, it was doubtful whether the gates of heaven would even open for him.
But it seemed the man had chosen instead to waste his last breath.
The wrinkled face of the man who once ruled like a king twisted as he looked up at me.
“Hel… Helena. W-why…!”
Benedict Wickers.
Head of House Wickers—the massive shadow organization that controlled the northern region of the Kingdom of Crolin in the eastern continent.
As its lord and boss, he had once manipulated the kingdom of Crolin as he pleased.
But now, none of that authority remained in the middle-aged man drowning in his own blood.
To me, the assassin of Wickers and head of its intelligence division, he was nothing more than a lump of flesh about to roll straight into hell beneath my feet.
“Benedict Wickers.”
I called his name and slowly knelt on one knee.
Then I took out the necklace hidden beneath my clothes and slowly brushed my fingers over the blue gemstone.
Ssshhh—
A low sound like wind echoed as I felt the artifact’s magic begin to alter my appearance.
My blackish-red hair shifted to black.
My ordinary brown eyes turned the color of a blazing ruby.
And the pale face that once resembled Benedict Wickers’ dead daughter transformed—becoming like a younger version of my mother.
Benedict’s expression twisted in shock as he looked up at me helplessly.
“You… y-you’re… Mo—Morten…?”
Even after all these years, he recognized me instantly.
Perhaps it was because of the unmistakable traits of House Morten—jet-black hair and blood-red eyes inherited from my father.
“Now do you recognize me?”
“You were supposed to be… dead. H-how…?”
“I survived that day. And I crawled my way up to this moment to complete my revenge. Thanks to you, Benedict Wickers.”
I leaned in and whispered into his ear.
“Even though I abandoned my surname, I kept the name Helena on purpose. And yet you never noticed.”
Compared to the power he held, Benedict Wickers was laughably dull-witted.
A complacent incompetent who never dreamed the blade of revenge was already hanging over his neck.
“Kkh… ghk…”
Blood foam spilled from his mouth as his body reached its limit.
“Thirteen years ago… this is revenge for what you did to House Morten.”
My father trusted this man before me—Benedict Wickers.
And because of that foolish judgment, my father, my mother, and my younger brother Lucas were all brutally murdered.
Right in front of me, hidden in my father’s secret workshop beneath the floor.
“Run… you have to live!”
“Mom! Father!”
“Go! Take this and run! Go, Helena!”
Thirteen years since that day when I was ten years old.
The screams that tormented me every night for all those years were finally fading—along with the sound of Benedict Wickers dying.
“Khk… ugh…”
Hurry up and die.
I spoke to the man gasping in vain refusal to let go of life.
“Just go to hell already.”
“…ghk…”
With those words, the light in Benedict Wickers’ eyes finally went out completely.
I silently watched the corpse for a moment before standing up.
“Now it’s my turn to die.”
Of course, I didn’t actually intend to die.
I just needed to fake my death in order to escape Wickers safely.
I had no intention of being hunted for life as a traitor who killed the boss.
Wickers was infamous for that kind of ruthlessness.
I pulled a round object from my pocket.
Another artifact like my necklace—an experimental mana bomb that would explode after a delay once a small amount of mana was injected.
“A prototype… it better not be a dud.”
It was an unnamed workshop’s invention, not officially released. I had obtained it through the black market with difficulty.
I kicked Benedict Wickers’ body lightly and turned away.
“If I just set this properly on my way out…”
But I stopped before I could even take two steps.
A large man stood in the office doorway.
He had reddish hair and gray eyes similar to the identity I had worn while living as Helena Wickers.
“…Edward.”
Edward Wickers.
Son and heir of Benedict Wickers.
The man I had used in my revenge.
“Why are you here right now…?”
He shouldn’t have been here.
He was supposed to be away inspecting external businesses for several days.
I had arranged it that way.
So why…
“Helena.”
Edward’s cold, emotionless gray eyes scanned me.
“That blood…”
I clenched my teeth.
No one understood better than I did what I looked like now—soaked in my father’s blood.
“Come here.”
Instead of attacking immediately, Edward held out a hand.
As always, as if he was certain I would obey.
But those days were already over.
I didn’t move.
Instead, I shifted the mana bomb into my left hand behind my back.
“If you won’t come, I’ll go to you.”
Step. Step.
As if losing patience, he began walking toward me quickly.
I drew my sword.
Edward, never breaking eye contact, drew his own blade without hesitation.
Whoosh!
His heavy sword swung down.
I didn’t dodge.
Clang!
Metal screamed as our swords collided, sparks bursting between them.
“Helena.”
Through the grinding clash, Edward gave an order.
“Put your sword down.”
“If it were you, would you?”
I scoffed and shoved him back with force.
Even now, he still instinctively yielded to me—it was almost laughable.
His cold gray eyes locked onto the corner of my lips.
As expected.
In that instant, I rolled the mana bomb behind him.
For a split second, Edward’s eyes followed it.
That was the opening.
Whoosh!
I drove my dagger toward him.
“Got distracted, huh?”
“Helena, you—!”
He gritted his teeth and blocked my strike with his sword.
Using the brief imbalance, I checked outside the office.
No other Wickers members yet.
Then—
His hand shot toward my shoulder.
“Don’t touch me.”
I twisted away and aimed for another vital point, but failed.
His blade was already pressing mine down heavily.
“Behave yourself,” Edward growled.
So this was the only way left.
I moved into his space instead.
From my sleeve, a hidden dagger slid into my hand.
Stab!
The blade sank into his side.
Not fatal—but enough to cause severe pain and bleeding.
A normal person would have collapsed.
But the moment I tried to withdraw—
Grab.
Edward seized my wrist.
“Don’t go.”
His grip was like iron. My arm went numb.
“If you leave like this, Wickers will hunt you. You know what that means.”
“I know.”
My voice was just as rough as his breathing.
“But I can’t die here, can I?”
Either die as a traitor who killed the boss—or be hunted forever.
There was no real choice.
I twisted the dagger deeper into his abdomen once more.
“Ghk!”
As his body staggered, I shoved him away hard and ran for the door.
At that moment, a searing pain flashed across my shoulder.
“You stubborn bastard…”
Even while injured, Edward had swung his sword.
But I couldn’t stop running.
I sprinted toward the exit, glancing back.
Through strands of my black hair blown into the air, I saw Edward kneeling on one knee, gray eyes dark and burning as he stared at me.
“Try running.”
He spoke.
“I’ll find you, Helena. You’ll end up coming back to Wickers. And when you do…”
BOOM—!
The mana bomb exploded.
Using the shockwave, I rolled out of the office and escaped.
“What was that?!”
“From the office!”
Shouts erupted as Wickers’ personnel rushed in from all over the mansion.
Security would now be in chaos.
I slipped into the darkness, heading toward the escape route I had prepared for so long.
