Livia Horn had died and returned to life, enduring her first trial. She had even managed to provoke and stay close to a man who wouldn’t hesitate to kill her.

Though she hated to admit it, he had shown interest in her, going so far as to commit despicable acts….

Livia took a deep breath. Instead of refreshing air, she felt cold seawater fill her insides and then recede.

Was it due to the witch’s power or the blessing of the gods? It was still fascinating that she could breathe underwater and move freely without buoyancy.

But that wasn’t what mattered right now. She had tried to harm him with the golden dagger given by the witch and even with shark teeth, but it was all in vain. She needed to try something else.

What should she do first? As she pondered this, Livia looked around. The hidden city of Atlantis lay beneath the sea—the domain of the sea god. Finding help here was difficult.

In that case….

“Ha ha! Afraid of the wolf? There’s nothing to be scared of, Livi.”

“No matter how fierce the wolf that invades, as long as we know the wolf’s habits, we can prepare for it.”

“So, Livi, the most important thing is ‘knowing.’ Got it?”

Her father’s words were right. She needed to know first. So….

Resolute, Livia looked up at the sky. Then she leaped powerfully toward the top of the golden castle.

***

The sea was vast, and the path to land was treacherous. Moreover, Atlantis was submerged deep underwater to avoid human detection.

Sometimes, on good days, it would rise close to the surface, but today was not one of those days. Livia swam diligently to the surface but couldn’t decide which direction to take to reach her destination.

Squeak, squeak!

Just then, something nudged her feet. Startled, she looked down to see a cute dolphin circling around her.

The dolphin, with a white belly and harmonious gray and black stripes, had a beautiful and sophisticated yellow pattern near its tail.

‘Hello, dolphin. You’re really pretty.’

Although the sound couldn’t be heard, she mouthed the words. Amazingly, the dolphin seemed to understand her, stretching its mouth into a smile. It seemed like a friendly creature.

She was momentarily tempted to ask the dolphin for directions to her hometown, Harvest, but shook her head, dismissing it as a ridiculous idea.

Even though she had seen many mystical creatures around Triton, there was no way this dolphin, appearing in the middle of the sea, could be one too.

…Or could it?

The dolphin circled around Livia once more and then pushed its back against her.

Livia stared at the dolphin’s sleek back with a puzzled expression. Was it inviting her to ride? As if it were sensing her curious gaze, the dolphin tapped her thigh with the tip of its tail.

…Really?

Despite her doubts, Livia climbed onto the dolphin’s back, thinking it might be possible. As soon as she settled behind its sharp dorsal fin, the dolphin began to move forward at an incredible speed.

“……!”

The speed was so intense that she felt she might slip off unless she clung to the dolphin like a barnacle. She wanted to scream, but her voice wouldn’t come out.

Holding her breath and clinging to the dolphin’s back, seawater splashed against her face. The speed was such that the splashing water felt quite painful.

Where on earth was this dolphin taking her? She wanted to find out, but she didn’t dare open her eyes as they darted between the sea and sky.

After about an hour, the dolphin gradually slowed down and eventually stopped. As Livia slowly raised her head with a bewildered look, her eyes widened in surprise.

A cliff abruptly cut off as if scooped out with a spoon, an endless trench, and fishermen’s boats scattered along the coast.

The scenery was all too familiar.

Even the ship visible in the distance had been crafted by her brother, Iason.

As she squinted to narrow her vision, she spotted a shameless face laughing freely on the deck.

He had dark brown curly hair, freckles spread wide across his shoulders, and eyes that seemed gentle at first glance but were always watchful.

…Phedum.

Livia’s eyes, already narrowed in anger, burned red. She couldn’t comprehend how the person responsible for annihilating her entire family could laugh and converse so casually.

What was justice, and what was goodness?

The innocent had perished, turned to ash without even a proper burial, while the guilty had buried the past and were now laughing and enjoying themselves.

How could he be laughing on Iason’s ship, how!

Thinking of Phedum and Maya, who had exploited her family under the guise of an engagement, made her insides burn as if she had swallowed fire.

An engagement? Ha! Could that even be called an engagement? No, it was nothing but plunder.

Phedum and Maya were outsiders who had settled on the outskirts of the village five or six years ago. At that time, there was a teacher named Grocke who taught the children simple numbers and letters, and it was there that Livia met Phedum.

“You’re actually an orphan, right? So you came from outside too, didn’t you?”

The boy who grabbed Livia’s hand as if he were glad to meet her was Phedum.

“I’m not an orphan.”

“You were originally an orphan. So you’re an orphan. Your current family isn’t your real family, right?”

Ignoring Livia’s displeasure, Phedum followed her around. When Iason saw Livia’s disgust, he would occasionally beat Phedum, but after that, Phedum changed his approach.

“Livia and Phedum kissed in the alley!”

“They say it doesn’t matter because they’re going to get married?”

“Are they engaged?”

“Livia said it’s not true….”

“Is she dumping Phedum? What a promiscuous girl!”

Such words circulated from the mouths of children barely twelve years old. Initially, it was just a bad prank, but it evolved into ridiculous rumors. By then, the entire village was buzzing with false stories about Livia and Phedum’s relationship.

The rumors grew so severe that people even said Livia had lured Phedum into a cave and had relations with him multiple times.

Since Livia had been so gentle and quiet from a young age, the villagers didn’t believe it at first. But as the exaggerated rumors spread daily, eventually, no one believed Livia anymore.

“You bastard…!”

In the end, unable to hold back, her father and Iason rushed to Phedum’s house.

“If Livia had behaved properly from the start, such rumors wouldn’t have spread. Why are you acting like this? Our Phedum is the one suffering!”

The argument, which began politely, went awry when Phedum pushed Iason down the stairs. Seeing Iason’s ankle twist, Livia lost her temper and smashed a rock into Phedum’s face.

“Ugh, ugh! Mom!”

Phedum’s face was covered in blood, Maya screamed, and Livia, still not satisfied, ripped out clumps of Phedum’s hair as he screamed.

Who had been the most gentle and quiet child in this village until now? It was Livia Horn. She had never raised her voice, was kind to everyone, and often ran errands for the village elders.

She didn’t want to bring shame to her family and wanted to be a proud sister to Iason and Lete. She loved this family she had finally gained so much.

Livia had suppressed her personality and willingly became a good child out of gratitude.

But because of that, she became a target, and because of that, she seemed even easier to exploit.

That day, because of the incident, Phedum lost sight in one eye. Maya went half-mad, cursing Livia every day.

In the end, the village elders mediated, saying that since Phedum spread bad rumors about Livia and Livia blinded Phedum, the two should take responsibility for each other’s lives.