He said he saw someone push her and chased after them but couldn’t catch them.

Erin trembled with fear knowing someone wanted to kill her, and her distrust of people grew even stronger.

“Don’t worry, Erin. I’ll protect you.”

But now she knew the truth.

Raymon was the one who pushed her into the lake, and because of him, she had lived in constant fear of being murdered.

In the past, Raymon had played with her like a toy before finally killing her. He had laughed at her emotions and found it amusing.

Erin wrote Raymon’s name on the paper where she had been drawing circles. While he had done terrible things to her, that happened in her past life.

Was it right to punish him for something that hadn’t happened yet? Just because she knew he would commit such acts?

But her hesitation lasted only a moment. Erin was certain Raymon would do exactly the same things he did before.

And today, the subjugation party would depart for their mission.

* * *

The journey from the academy to the southern mountains, the werewolf territory, was quite long.

It would take about a month for a round trip. The subjugation party needed almost two weeks just to reach their destination.

The first day or two were physically manageable, but after five days, the party’s stamina noticeably declined.

Everyone’s pace slowed, and they visibly struggled.

Karon stayed close to Erin, just like during the previous monster subjugation.

Though the looks they received had improved compared to before, Lilia was still part of this subjugation party.

Still, Karon seemed less tense than when he first went on the monster subjugation.

Through several sparring matches, he had realized how strong a knight Erin truly was.

According to Erin, it was because she was an extraordinary genius… something Karon couldn’t comprehend.

But history books occasionally mentioned exceptional geniuses who defied norms.

‘Is my sister one of them?’

With this thought, Karon suddenly felt like the person beside him was a stranger. He glanced at Erin, scanned their surroundings, and frowned at the sudden sense of discomfort.

After pondering for a while, Karon couldn’t contain his curiosity and asked her:

“Did you fight with Raymon? Why isn’t he approaching you?”

“…”

“Why? Raymon is a good person.”

As Karon pointed out, Raymon and Erin kept their distance from each other.

For two months, Erin had deliberately ignored him, and after being rejected several times, Raymon merely watched her with narrowed eyes without approaching any closer.

Yet he still circled around, suggesting he hadn’t given up whatever scheme he had in mind.

Thinking this, Erin shook her head.

She didn’t respond to Karon’s comment about Raymon being a good person and moved closer to Ferdin instead.

Karon hurriedly followed her.

Erin had several issues to resolve during this mission.

While Raymon was irritating, he wasn’t the immediate priority. The most important person in this mission was Ferdin.

In the past, he had survived the mission but suffered a severe facial injury. However, Erin didn’t know exactly what had happened during the werewolf subjugation mission.

Everyone who returned from that mission had been reluctant to talk about it. Seeing Erin move toward Ferdin, Karon gave her a peculiar look.

After getting engaged to Ferdin, Erin had strangely started keeping her distance from him.

But as soon as this subjugation began, she stuck to Ferdin constantly, seemingly forgetting her previous behavior.

Other students noticed and whispered among themselves.

“So they really are engaged?”

“But what about the Princess? Is it really over between them?”

“They do look good together.”

“Even so… Ferdin and the Princess were forced to break up because of Erin Liserth. That’s not right.”

One student who seemed to harbor resentment toward Erin added the last comment in a low voice.

But there was no way Erin hadn’t heard it.

Once one reached the level of Master, all senses became so heightened that it was harder not to hear even the quietest words.

Hearing their comments, Erin became even more resolute.

It was time to act on the decision she had made since meeting Ferdin again.

As evening fell, the subjugation party began preparing their camp. Erin skillfully helped set up the tents.

Karon grumbled again, saying, “How are you so familiar with this?”

He had surely done more camping than she had, yet Erin seemed more skilled than him.

“When you’re good with a sword, you’re good at everything else too.”

Karon’s face twisted at her response.

After finishing the camp preparations and having dinner, it was time for everyone to rest.

Once most people had fallen asleep, Erin went to find Ferdin.

“Lord Ferdin.”

He appeared to have been relaxing, sitting outside his tent with his golden hair slightly disheveled.

At Erin’s call, Ferdin looked at her with surprise. Derek, who was beside him, had the same reaction.

Derek, who had been stuffing jerky into his mouth next to Ferdin, froze mid-action.

The jerky fell to the ground, but Derek just rolled his eyes to look at Erin.

“I need to talk to you.”

I’ve heard this before… He muttered inwardly, then shifted his gaze toward Ferdin.

Ferdin also felt something strange.

This was the first time Erin had spoken to him since the monster subjugation. He felt inexplicably happy yet somehow ominous.

“Not here. I’d like to speak somewhere quiet.”

Ferdin recalled what happened the last time she asked to speak with him alone.

Back then, Erin had made the unexpected statement that she would join the monster subjugation.

He had a feeling she would say something similar this time.

Derek muttered with a shocked expression at Erin’s words.

“The two of you… somewhere quiet?”

But neither Erin nor Ferdin paid attention to Derek.

Ferdin somehow felt reluctant to follow Erin, but he couldn’t bring himself to refuse her request to speak privately.

He nodded and began following her.

* * *

She had practiced these words dozens, hundreds of times. It was something she had always prepared for in her mind.

Their engagement had been forced by the Duchess.

Despite having to break up with the person he loved because of the engagement, Ferdin had never once resented her.

The same was true of the Princess she met in this life.

The Princess would often visit Erin and talk to her endlessly.

Not once during that time had the Princess shown any sign of resentment toward her.

Erin couldn’t let them suffer any longer.

Being kind people, they might not resent her. But that didn’t mean their hearts were at peace.

The Princess’s claim that there was nothing between her and Ferdin was surely a kind lie told for Erin’s sake.

“After this mission ends… I’ll break off our engagement. In return, I’d like you to stay with me throughout this mission.”

“Break off the engagement…?”

“Yes. You don’t need to continue with an engagement you dislike.”

Ferdin’s face hardened.

In the past, Erin had dragged him into the mud because she feared the Duchess. But now that she no longer feared Corelia, she shouldn’t hold onto him.

What Erin feared now was that people close to her might get hurt.

‘Until I end everything… I can’t involve this person.’

So she lied.

“I didn’t want it either.”

“If you didn’t want it… why did you want to get engaged to me in the first place?”

“You know what kind of person I am. It was just a momentary whim.”

Ferdin couldn’t understand any of Erin’s words. While her expression showed pain, her tone remained remarkably calm.

The Erin he had observed always wore a similar expression. With a face that seemed to want to say something… yet said nothing.

He could easily tell she was lying now. In truth, since seeing Erin’s past, Ferdin couldn’t get her out of his mind.

He sometimes felt a strange sensation, like they had known each other for a long time.

‘Why do I feel this way?’

If she disliked the engagement, it would be natural to end it.

But… he didn’t want to.

It was a strange thought. He wasn’t usually such an emotional person.

But he couldn’t help caring about the person before him who seemed to carry the weight of the world alone.

Erin stared at Ferdin for a moment before turning away.

“I’ve said what I needed to say, so I’ll go now.”

“Lady Erin!”

Ferdin tried to grab her, but Erin was faster. She left the place at a speed his eyes couldn’t follow.

He probably felt something strange about her disappearing instantly before his eyes.

But Erin couldn’t bear to hear more from Ferdin. She didn’t want to hear him agree to break off their engagement.

‘And a little rat has followed me.’

Erin twisted her lips at the filthy presence she sensed from afar.

She hadn’t wanted to leave Ferdin’s side for even a moment during this mission, but she had no choice.

She decided to trust in her own strength.

‘If the distance isn’t too great, I can detect any danger to Ferdin before it happens.’

It would be fine if she resolved this quickly.

With that thought, Erin hurried her steps.