TSRTL 05

Chapter 5

Tiya felt her heart pounding hard.

But it wasn’t from fear of the horrible future Winter had told her about earlier.

“Me…?”

It was because of hope.

Yes. To save the Vladizev family, we need you.

Even a family’s so-called failure could still do something for the house, for her loved ones. That thought gave her strength.

Only you can do it.

That one sentence filled the empty hole in her heart. With her own strength, Tiya jumped to her feet.

“I’ll do it! No—please let me do it!”

Seeing her spirited reply, a satisfied smile finally appeared on Winter’s face.

Three hours later.

The grand plan to save the Vladizev family was finally complete.

1. Stop the plague.

2. Take down the villain pulling the strings.

3. Find allies to help us.

“Perfect!”

Tiya puffed out her cheeks and let out a sharp breath.

Winter, exhausted from lowering his language level so Tiya could understand, floated in midair, sprawled like a rag doll.

You… You really understand it this time, right?

“Of course! I’m smart enough to read all the letters now!”

You can’t even add numbers, but sure, you’re a genius.

“Ahem, I’m just… a little weak at math…”

Winter, lying as if in his own room, head tilted in his hand, suddenly asked,

First question. What’s the ingredient for the plague Death’s Token cure?

Quiz time had suddenly begun.

But Tiya confidently raised her hand.

“Beep! Palancho!”

…You’re missing the most important part. How many times have I told you—it needs to be Palancho infused with holy power.

“Oh, right. And that means we can only get it from the temple.”

Luckily, Winter knew about the herb that could cure the plague.

In the early days of the outbreak, somehow, the Imperial family sent a large supply of Palancho to the North.

But one crucial thing was missing.

The herb alone wasn’t enough. It needed to be blessed by a priest with holy power to completely cure the plague.

Holy power—God’s noble gift to heal people.

And priests were only allowed to use it for healing humans, never on ordinary plants.

So if Tiya went to a priest and said, “Please pour holy power into this!” they’d refuse, quoting sacred law.

Second question. Why can’t we tell the priests or anyone else that ‘holy Palancho’ is the cure?

“Beep! Because of the Ban. We can’t talk about future events!”

Correct. The fact that Vladizev will be destroyed, and that holy Palancho is the cure—these are things I learned from the future. Under the Great Spirit’s rules, I can’t reveal information I gained through regression…

But Winter suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

Even after giving the right answer, Tiya was tilting her head like she didn’t understand again.

Third question. Who is Vladizev’s true enemy?

Winter’s tone dropped lower, and Tiya’s face grew tense.

The true cause of the family’s destruction wasn’t just the plague or the barbarian invasion.

There was a massive invasion by the barbarians. But strangely, they were armed with the Empire’s latest weapons.

The Imperial family never lifted the blockade on the North.
The barbarians’ advanced weapons from the Empire.

Behind all of it, there was a mastermind.

With a solemn face, Tiya spoke the name.

“Marquis Montes.”

…Correct. The uncle of the prince who will become Emperor is our true enemy. Even if we cure the plague, as long as he remains, the Vladizev family won’t be safe.

Which meant—Montes had to be taken down. Either stripped of power… or assassinated, if necessary.

Hiding such a bloody plan from the child, Winter asked the next question.

Fourth question. Why do we need allies?

The difficulty suddenly shot up.

Tiya took a deep breath, bracing herself.

But Winter didn’t expect her to get this one. It was too complicated for a child—politics and power struggles—

“Because Marquis Montes is backed by the Imperial family.
Vladizev rules the North like a king, but because the region is so isolated, we have little influence outside it.
So we need someone in the capital who can oppose Montes and move the system in our favor!”

She spoke so fast near the end she was panting, out of breath.

Winter’s jaw dropped.

Tiya raised her chin proudly, wearing a smug smile.

After a pause, Winter asked again.

…And what is an ally?

“Marquis Montes is backed by the Imperial family. Vladizev rules the North like a—”

Are you seriously just memorizing everything without understanding?!

“G-Grandma always said, if you don’t know, memorize!”

Wow. That’s… one way to admit you don’t understand.

Winter sighed.
And this was the child he had to pull schemes and tricks with from now on.
The future looked… grim.

“But Winter, who is the ally? Who should we win over?”

Winter hesitated.

Someone with strong influence in the capital.
Someone who could oppose Montes.
Someone who had ties to the North and could act as a bridge to the Temple as well.

‘Yes… and he even knows the priests.’

The perfect candidate.

Yet Winter hesitated for a long while before finally answering.

…Shurka. We need to win him to our side.

“Alright! Let’s make Shurka our ally!”

Tiya repeated it like a parrot, trying to memorize—then froze.

Wait. Shurka? That name sounded… familiar.

She tilted her head, then her eyes widened.

“That’s my dad!”

Suddenly, her chest swelled with pride. She stood tall, like she was saying, Leave it to me!

“Don’t worry, Winter. My dad is already on our side!”

Why would you think that?

“Because he’s family!”

Winter snorted.

That man didn’t send even a scrap of herb to the North during the ten years of blockade. That cold-blooded man won’t help just because of ‘family’.

“C-cold what?”

Cold-blooded. A man with no warmth, no tears—who treats even his child as a chess piece.

Tiya stared blankly, but her gaze soon sharpened.

She wasn’t sure what it meant exactly, but one thing was clear.

“Did you just insult my dad?”

Oh my, did it sound like that? I was only stating facts.

“You totally insulted him! I understood that much!”

Just moments ago, the girl and the spirit had been working together like a team.
Now, an invisible chasm had opened between them.

Both refused to back down.

Then—knock, knock.

A maid came in, bowing.

“Miss, the Count is calling for you. Will you go see him?”

Perfect timing. You can see for yourself what kind of man your father is.

At last.
Her father had called for her—after five whole days.

Tiya swallowed hard, staring up at the huge door.

It had seemed enormous when she was four.
Even now, at eight, it was still intimidating.

She straightened her shoulders, forcing herself to stand tall.

She had almost forgotten—because of her talk with Winter—that she had caught Erin, the thief, who tried to steal the Spirit’s Egg.

Every servant she met had praised her, told her she was brave.

‘Maybe… maybe Dad wants to praise me too.’

Her heart thudded like she had sprinted the whole way.

The door opened.

The dry, sun-baked scent of sand drifted out.

Inside were many adults—but Tiya’s gaze went straight to one person.

Black, straight hair like hers.
Icy blue eyes.
An aura like a flower growing on the edge of a cliff—beautiful, yet dangerous.
And the arrogance of someone who looked down on the whole world.

“Dad.”

All the words she wanted to say—I missed you. I’m glad to see you.—were packed into that single word.

Step by step, she walked toward him, her heart full.

And then—

“What were you doing there?”

Her feet stopped, sinking like into soft sand.

“Huh?”

“Why were you in a forbidden room in the middle of the night, Astiya Vladizev?”

Finally, her father looked up from his papers and gazed at her.

Before, she had thought those eyes were just cold.
But now…

‘They look empty.’

Not cold.
Empty—like nothing at all was inside.