“Yes, Calips. That servant who defended you.”

“…”

Charlotte stared at Erin with bloodshot eyes.

“Do you know why he died? That worthless man dared to threaten Lady Corelia. She graciously offered to spare his life if he would switch his loyalty to her…”

“…”

“That worm refused to listen, so I quietly disposed of him. He died worrying about you until his last breath. Such a foolish man.”

Tears fell from Erin’s eyes as her face contorted with grief.

“I see… Calips worried about me until the end…”

Erin had thought he would resent her. After all, if not for her, Calips would never have died.

But the kind-hearted Calips had worried about her until his final moment.

Learning this truth, Erin felt both tremendous shock and profound sadness.

‘Now’s my chance.’

Charlotte had brought up Calips to inflict psychological damage on Erin.

So now, with Erin sinking into despair as expected, was the perfect moment to attack.

As she reached toward Erin, Charlotte nearly burst out laughing at how genuinely sorrowful Erin looked.

She completely underestimated Erin. The image of Erin from childhood was too deeply etched in her mind.

Had she not let her guard down, she might have avoided the strike that came next.

‘What just happened?’

Her brain took time to register what had occurred so rapidly.

Charlotte felt the words “Ah” unable to escape her lips as her head slowly fell.

She finally realized what had happened to her.

The last thing Charlotte remembered was Erin’s face looking at her.

Her face was utterly expressionless.

* * *

Corelia was enjoying a moment of leisure.

A maid stood behind her, massaging her shoulders.

“Does that feel good, my lady?”

“Yes, it’s wonderful. Your technique has improved.”

The maid smiled proudly at Corelia’s praise.

Everything was going smoothly. The puppet of Marquis Liserth created by Charlotte was faithfully performing his duties.

Thanks to this, no one had noticed the Marquis’s disappearance.

She leaned her head back on the sofa, thinking of the underground prison where the real Marquis was kept.

‘By now, Erin must be dead.’

There was no possibility of Charlotte failing.

Her magical abilities far surpassed those of Raymon, who had only recently become a high-ranking knight.

Moreover, she had swallowed a mana stone to dramatically amplify her power.

With that power, she had even partially transformed her body. Except for Duke Asili, none of the Empire’s Sword Masters could easily subdue her. Even if they managed to, they would sustain serious injuries.

That’s why Corelia was confident of success this time.

Until now, there had been a few minor incidents, but their overall plan remained intact.

“Eek! Lady Corelia!”

That’s what she had thought.

Corelia, who had been receiving the massage, looked up. A maid burst through the door with a shocked expression.

“How dare you be so rude when—”

“The Marquis, the Marquis has turned to sand!”

“What?”

Corelia immediately stood up at those words.

“When did this happen?”

“Just now, it just happened!”

“Witnesses?”

“Pardon?”

“I asked if there were any witnesses.”

“I… I was alone when it happened…”

Corelia grabbed a sword hanging on the wall and swiftly cut down the maids in the room.

Her movements were so fast they couldn’t even scream. Corelia’s lips twisted into a smile.

The puppet had disappeared. What this indicated was clear.

‘Charlotte has been defeated.’

The sorceress who created the puppet was dead. Charlotte was by no means weak. How could she have been defeated?

‘Who could it be? That Sword Master again?’

Coincidences couldn’t happen three times. This was no coincidence but an inevitability.

Corelia was already considering the worst-case scenario.

‘I must consider that Ferdin has a Sword Master on his side. I don’t know who it might be…’

She realized they might need to accelerate their plans.

Corelia couldn’t tolerate the current situation.

Raymon, Charlotte.

They were like her limbs. And they had vanished one after another.

A few days later, a messenger arrived at the Marquis’s mansion. After hearing the messenger’s words, Corelia made up her mind.

“Lady Erin has successfully completed the western promotion battle!”

A smile appeared on Corelia’s face as she looked at the messenger. At first glance, it seemed like a proud smile, but the reality was completely different.

She couldn’t know for certain who had defeated Raymon and Charlotte. But it wasn’t difficult to guess that Erin was connected to it.

Corelia made her decision.

It was time to end this tiresome charade that had gone on for so long.

* * *

After swinging her sword at Charlotte, Erin collapsed. She didn’t have the strength to move even a finger.

Her vision blurred. She wanted nothing more than to fall asleep right there. But when she closed her eyes, Ferdin’s face appeared.

His blue eyes, which held only her, lingered in her mind.

‘I promised to return…’

Erin staggered to her feet. Blood dripped from her wounds.

‘Hellix and Isis would make him sad if they died.’

Erin picked up the vial Charlotte had been holding. Her fingertips lacked strength, nearly causing her to drop the vial several times.

She had finally found and punished the person who killed Calips. But despite her successful revenge, tears flowed from her eyes.

She kept thinking about what Charlotte had said earlier.

‘Calips worried about me until the end.’

This newly discovered truth tormented her even more. Her chest hurt, feeling torn apart, and breathing became difficult.

Nevertheless, Erin couldn’t stop. With trembling hands, she quickly stopped the bleeding from Hellix and Isis’s wounds.

Then, carrying the unconscious men, she began to leave the now-quiet orphanage alone.

Fortunately, Hellix regained consciousness along the way and carried Isis.

Though their bodies felt ready to collapse at any moment, they supported each other and ultimately reached the western temple safely.

As soon as they arrived at the temple, priests rushed out with shocked expressions.

“Wh-what happened?!”

“Heavens, quick, healing magic!”

“What could have possibly…”

“Lady Erin, stay with us!”

“Lord Isis, Sir Hellix!”

Upon reaching the western temple, Erin and Hellix collapsed to the floor.

Erin’s wounds were severe, as were those of Hellix and Isis.

But the past had changed. The western region would likely be spared from the monster horde.

Even as she lay on the cold floor, Erin thought:

‘Ferdin won’t die in the west either…’

If they had discovered that place years later, the experiments would have continued, doubling the number of subjects or strengthening the monsters. The consequences would have been unimaginable.

‘It’s okay, it won’t happen now.’

Only then could Erin fall asleep with peace of mind.

It was the deepest sleep she’d had in a long time.

* * *

‘Where am I?’

Erin rubbed her eyes.

She had certainly passed out upon reaching the temple. Her body, not yet fully trained, couldn’t endure any more.

But the place where she opened her eyes was somewhere she had never seen before.

It was a place with endless trees stretching out. Though the Empire had many forests, she had never seen one with such enormous trees lined up like this.

But it wasn’t just trees. Rose-like flowers bloomed on the tree trunks. The sight was beautiful yet incongruous, appearing bizarre.

Erin looked around. She had no idea where this place was.

Why had she come here? Had she pushed herself too far and died?

Though she had experienced death several times, she had never come to a place like this. Was this perhaps the final chance given by God?

Maybe that’s why she had come to this strange place, unlike other times.

‘Is this hell?’

If she had died, what about Hellix and Isis? Were they alright? Erin suddenly felt afraid.

The thought that she might have died brought unbearable pain.

‘Idiot, fool. I promised to return.’

He had told her not to go west, that he didn’t want to see her hurt. He would firmly believe in her return. And so would Karon.

“Please, give me one more chance. Please…”

Erin clutched the soil with both hands. The force was so strong that the skin on her palms tore, and blood flowed.