Lilia’s brother had worked as Erin’s personal attendant. Erin killed him simply because she was in a bad mood, and that day Lilia lost her only family.

Karon could understand why Lilia pursued magic with such determination.

He too would have dedicated his entire life to revenge if someone had done that to his family.

Karon pressed his forehead with one hand as his headache intensified.

Though a commoner, Lilia was an exceptional mage under the Magic Tower’s observation.

Her talent was so remarkable that kingdoms were lining up to recruit her immediately after graduation.

He’d heard that one kingdom’s Magic Tower had even offered to make her the Tower Master’s disciple.

‘It must never happen—my sister absolutely cannot join the monster subjugation.’

He made this vow while looking at Lilia. But if Karon had overlooked anything, it was that his luck today was exceptionally bad.

With a click, Ferdin opened the office door and entered. Derek rushed happily to greet him.

He naturally took Ferdin’s coat and hung it on the rack, while giving him a puzzled look.

Ferdin appeared to be in a very bad mood. There could only be one reason for that.

Erin Liserth. He must have had an unpleasant conversation with her.

Derek frowned, seeming to anticipate what had happened. Erin must have misbehaved. What could she have said to upset Ferdin?

“What did Erin Liserth say to you?”

At Derek’s question, Ferdin’s lips tightened. But this was something everyone needed to hear anyway.

After a moment of silence, he finally spoke in a low voice.

“It seems Lady Erin Liserth will be joining us on this monster subjugation.”

* * *

To Karon, Erin was like a flower.

Someone he needed to protect. Someone he should shield from the wind and comfort when troubled.

Karon still remembered what his mother had told him before she died.

“Please protect Erin.”

So protecting his only sister became his natural duty.

As a child, Karon sometimes wondered: Could there ever come a day when I dislike my sister?

Whenever such thoughts arose, he firmly shook his head. There was no way he could ever dislike her.

He loved when Erin smiled at him.

He loved when she read him stories with her clumsy skills before bedtime, and when she called his name—”Karon.”

‘But why did she change so much?’

At some point, Erin changed. The Erin Liserth who had been kind to the servants disappeared.

Rumors spread that she tormented and beat the Duke’s servants at every opportunity. Because of this, several people quit their jobs every day.

At first, Karon tried everything to help her. No matter what others said, Erin was his only sister.

But the Duchess gently reasoned with him. She stroked his cheek and smiled kindly.

“Karon, if you truly care for Erin, you should keep your distance so she can overcome this on her own.”

“But more and more people are starting to hate her… If even I act that way…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of Erin. You shouldn’t concern yourself with this. I’ll fix everything.”

Karon couldn’t be sure if that was the right approach.

He simply believed that since the Duchess was a kind stepmother to him, she must be a good parent to Erin too.

‘But why…’

Karon couldn’t understand why she kept going astray.

Arriving at the door of Erin’s dormitory room, he knocked.

“Karon?”

Erin opened the door and murmured his name.

Her hair was slightly disheveled, suggesting she had been resting. A faint look of surprise showed in her eyes.

Did I come somewhere I shouldn’t? Karon frowned at this thought.

For some inexplicable reason, his mood worsened. He unconsciously examined Erin’s hand. The wounds on her palm looked worse than they had in the morning.

‘What did she do to make them worse?’

Wasn’t it normal to avoid using an injured area?

Since this morning, Erin had been acting too strange to ignore. She seemed like a different person from the one he knew.

“May I come in? I need to talk to you.”

At Karon’s words, Erin’s expression momentarily hardened. She seemed reluctant to speak with him.

After a brief hesitation, she nodded.

Karon found even this hesitation unfamiliar. Erin had always been eager to talk with him.

But following his stepmother’s advice, he had kept his distance, believing it was for Erin’s own good.

However, he had never considered how his indifferent attitude might have affected Erin.

Karon felt a churning in his stomach.

The inside of Erin’s room was more sparse than he expected. This too seemed unnatural.

Her extravagance was well-known. He had heard that she could spend three months’ worth of a knight’s salary in a single day.

Where had all those jewels gone, leaving her in such a humble room?

‘Yet she decorated her carriage so lavishly.’

There was too much about Erin that he didn’t know. Their first conversation in nearly a year had been him scolding her this morning…

Seeing Erin properly after so long, she seemed more fragile than before.

‘Is she eating properly?’

Her arms were so thin they looked unsafe to hold, and her face appeared pale. Seeing her like this reminded him of the false rumors that had disturbed him today.

“They say Erin Liserth perfectly reproduced House Liserth’s swordsmanship.”

Even Karon hadn’t accomplished that yet.

Of course, the standard for “perfect” varied.

People clearly didn’t understand what constituted perfect execution of House Liserth’s swordsmanship.

No, it was meaningless for non-Liserth people to discuss House Liserth’s swordsmanship in the first place.

But what mattered was that others considered it “perfect.”

The fact that Erin had picked up a sword and used swordsmanship. How could that be possible?

Erin… Erin didn’t know swordsmanship.

In childhood, she had only watched from the side while he practiced swordsmanship in the castle; she had never properly learned it.

“I heard you took the swordsmanship evaluation.”

“…”

“They say you used House Liserth’s swordsmanship. Is that even possible? You…”

“It’s been a long time, Karon.”

Karon was momentarily speechless. Could his sister make such an expression? Her face looked genuinely like someone encountering a cherished memory.

What did she mean by “long time”? Hadn’t they spoken just this morning?

Of course, that wasn’t what she meant.

Erin’s green eyes reminded him of vast meadows. Those eyes seemed to hold more years than even their father’s, giving Karon a strange feeling.

“A long time…?”

“Yes. It feels like we haven’t had a proper conversation in ages.”

Saying this, Erin placed a cup of warm milk before him. Karon lost his words again at the sight of the milk.

She was treating him like a five-year-old child. Yet, strangely, it didn’t feel unpleasant.

She reminded him of his sister from before—when Erin was simply warm and kind, before being called a villainess.

But that didn’t mean he could overlook her actions.

“I heard from Lord Ferdin that you’re participating in the monster subjugation. Do you understand what that means? To join a monster subjugation, you need to be among the top five in the beginner class. That’s how dangerous it is. This isn’t something you can do just because you want to.”

He was right. Only the top five students from each class could participate in monster subjugations.

This meant having exceptional talent even among the already selected students of the Swordsmanship Department.

Karon knew how difficult that was.

He had worked tirelessly to rank among the top five in his intermediate class.

Although Erin belonged to the beginner class, unlike him and Ferdin’s preliminary knight corps members, ranking in the top five there would still be impossible for her.

“I know.”

Erin took a sip of the coffee she had brought for herself as she said this.

Her calm demeanor left Karon speechless again. But remembering why he had come, he continued.

“Then what are you thinking? Are you crazy enough to want to die? Princess Asili will also be joining the monster subjugation. Don’t you know how this will look to others?”

“…”

“No, the biggest problem is that Lilia will be there. There are people desperate to kill you!”

Erin opened her eyes wide in surprise at his increasingly raised voice.

Karon felt relieved, thinking she had finally realized the reality of her situation.

But Erin’s next words completely shattered his common sense.