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Chapter 03
Once again, everyone’s eyes turned toward the sound.
A young girl stood there, gasping for breath as if she’d run all the way. Her platinum blonde hair was tangled and covered in dust and grime, and her dress was so filthy she looked like she’d rolled through a garbage dump.
But her delicate pink eyes burned with such intense energy that it silenced the entire hall.
It was a gaze that reminded them of none other than her grandfather, Baytenze Hamrlohren.
Catching her breath, the girl—Kalmia—spoke.
“I’m sorry I’m late. Has the demonstration started yet?”
The hall, which had fallen silent from shock, erupted into murmurs again.
Baytenze’s son, Durin, pulled his elegant lips into a thin smile and spoke smoothly.
“Father, the scheduled time has already passed. There’s no reason to allow her to participate now. She’s just a useless child—why not quietly dismiss her?”
“You’re right, Brother. Father, just send her away. And really, why did Sylvan make such a fuss over this…”
Their younger sister, Audrey, also nodded in agreement.
But the moment Baytenze heard them, he barked in fury.
“Who gave you the right to speak out of turn? Are you trying to command me?”
“Wh-What? Of course not!”
“I didn’t mean it that way…”
Clicking his tongue, Baytenze ignored them and strode toward Kalmia.
His imposing presence would’ve made anyone shrink back, but Kalmia took a step toward him with slow, trembling steps—almost pathetically childlike.
Finally, they met halfway.
Baytenze spoke coldly.
“Listen closely, child. Your pathetic father is over there—dying—because of you.”
Kalmia’s eyes turned briefly toward Sylvan, who still lay collapsed in the corner, unmoving.
Her gaze darkened for just a moment with sorrow, but she quickly steeled her expression and met her grandfather’s eyes head-on.
“You would participate in the demonstration while your father lies on death’s door? Speak your intention.”
You could hear a pin drop in the Great Hall.
Everyone held their breath, watching the exchange between the two.
Breaking that heavy silence, Kalmia opened her mouth.
“Yes. I’m participating in the demonstration.”
Baytenze let out a scoff of disbelief.
“You think I’ll admire your obsession with dark magic if you’re willing to ignore your father’s death for it?”
Her pink eyes sparked with fierce resolve.
“Daddy won’t die. He’s a strong person.”
“I believe in him.”
“Kahaha!”
Baytenze burst into wild laughter.
His laugh was so thunderous that it made everyone in the hall flinch—everyone except Kalmia, who continued to look straight at him.
“You truly are your father’s daughter.”
“Very well. You are allowed to participate in the demonstration.”
Gasps and murmurs rippled throughout the hall.
“But let it be known—this is the last exception. There will be no more.”
“Yes, sir.”
“We begin the demonstration once the preparations are complete.”
With that, Baytenze turned around without hesitation and walked out. The door closed with a loud boom behind him.
I wanted to run to Dad right then and there, throw my arms around him, and cry.
Even though I had my memories from a past life, my body—and my brain—were still that of a young child. It took a tremendous effort to restrain those instinctive urges.
I forced my trembling legs to stand firm and clenched my teeth.
I couldn’t show weakness—not in front of these people.
“It’s okay. Dad’s not dead yet.”
Even if the original story said Sylvan Hamrlohren was fated to die…
That time hasn’t come yet.
“I’m going to live with Dad for a long, long time.”
I bit down hard and clenched my fists tightly.
Then, with the help of some maids, I quickly changed clothes and brushed off the worst of the grime. There was no time to wash—I probably still reeked like a crypt, but oh well. My nose had already gone numb.
It was everyone else who would suffer, not me.
But what really worried me was Dad.
They said he’d been carried off for treatment earlier, so he should be okay…
The original novel never mentioned this kind of scene, so I had no idea what would happen.
From the context, it was clear that Dad must’ve confronted Grandfather to buy me time to join the demonstration.
He was an extremely introverted man who didn’t know how to deal with children well… but today, I could feel just how much he cared about me.
“Thanks, Dad. I’ll do my best.”
Pushing aside my worry for him, I focused on what I needed to do next.
Proving my ability in this demonstration and earning my place in the family— that would be the best way to repay Dad for believing in me.
When I stepped into the waiting room, a group of boys and girls around my age—or slightly older—turned to look at me.
“Everyone, please wait a moment. Once preparations are finished, we’ll invite the young masters and ladies onto the stage,”
The steward made the announcement and left, leaving just the children in the room.
Verpure wasted no time striding over to me with a smirk.
“Well, well. Had fun with the corpses down there? You stink like hell.”
“Yeah. Thanks to someone, I had a blast. Must be the dark magic—kinda fun, actually.”
His face twisted with annoyance.
Probably because my reaction was completely different from usual.
Up until now, I had quietly endured all the bullying.
I didn’t want to cause any trouble that might burden Dad.
But I wasn’t going to stay silent anymore.
Verpure flinched slightly, then scoffed.
He seemed to think I was bluffing.
“You can’t even use dark magic. You think sucking up like this will make the Patriarch like you?”
“Who says I can’t use it?”
“What?”
“Can’t you guess how I got out of the catacomb?”
“S-Someone must’ve let you out!”
“Nope.”
“Maybe hitting the ground when you pushed me unlocked my powers. I guess I should thank you.”
His face flushed red, then blue.
He hadn’t expected that.
That’s right. No matter how sly you act, you’re still just a kid—barely two years older than me.
I tried to walk past him indifferently.
But Verpure grabbed my wrist roughly to stop me.
“Don’t lie! You’re making this up, aren’t you?”
“Let go.”
“You think you can suddenly use magic overnight? Do you know how long it takes to adjust after awakening your core?”
The Dark Core—the core of dark energy every dark mage possesses.
Awakening it is the first step toward using dark magic.
And yes, just like Verpure said, it usually takes a long time to stabilize after awakening it.
Normally, that’s true…
But I’m a saint, and saints don’t have dark cores.
So I cheated.
I used Blood Magic.
The concept is simple: you offer blood in exchange for dark energy or use it to amplify a spell’s power.
Of course, it’s terribly inefficient.
If you tried to convert that energy, it would amount to less than one percent of proper dark magic output.
Still, it was enough to barely function in desperate situations—like a patient being temporarily sustained by divine power during surgery.So it made sense that none of them would even consider the idea of blood magic.
But there’s one more thing you can offer instead of blood: divine power.
That’s right—holy power.
Strangely enough, holy energy could substitute for blood in blood magic.
The conversion efficiency was just as terrible, but—
I had so much holy power it was practically overflowing.
What did a little inefficiency matter when I had an endless supply?
Not that I was going to explain any of this to them.
I slapped Verpure’s hand away in silence.
He sneered.
“Hah. Bluffing, huh?”
“Your poor dad. Defending some defective kid like you. Would’ve been better if you just shut up and left the family quietly.”
I was planning to let his nonsense slide, but…
He just said something I couldn’t ignore.
