Chapter 1
Prologue
“No… please, hold on. Please.”
With trembling hands, Diena unleashed her ability.
A gentle radiance wrapped around Barkhan’s wounds, bathing them in warm light.
Nothing happened.
Her purification power could erase darkness, but it could not stop a fading life from slipping away.
She knew that.
She knew it better than anyone.
And yet she couldn’t bring herself to stop.
“That’s enough… Diena.”
Barkhan’s voice was faint, but unwavering.
“Don’t be an idiot. At least you have to survive.”
“I wish you’d left me behind instead! Why… why did you—”
A weak smile appeared on his pale face.
“How could I abandon you? You’re my little sister.”
But she wasn’t.
She wasn’t his blood-related sister.
She belonged to House Rothwell—the very family responsible for the downfall of House Cardian.
“Why don’t you hate me?” she cried. “If it weren’t for me, you’d still be the strongest man alive. You wouldn’t have lost everything…”
It was a question she’d wanted to ask for years.
A question she’d buried deep inside because she lacked the courage to face the answer.
Only now, in the most cowardly moment imaginable, did it finally escape her lips.
Barkhan slowly shook his head.
“There was never a single moment… when I hated you.”
“But…”
With shaking fingers, Diena gently stroked his face.
“You have to live… At least you… be happy…”
His eyes slowly closed.
And in that instant…
The world fell silent.
Diena buried her face against the back of his hand and sobbed.
She, too, had already reached her limit.
The reckless overuse of her power had consumed her own life.
She could feel death approaching.
Tears streamed endlessly down her cheeks.
“I… won’t forgive them.”
If she were ever given another chance…
She would never forgive those who murdered her family.
She would make every one of those who had reduced Barkhan to this pay with their lives.
Inside the cave, as the snowstorm outside finally subsided…
The warmth slowly faded from the two bodies lying side by side.
1
Diena had never known who her mother was.
But she had a father who cherished her dearly.
Everything changed the year she turned fourteen.
Her father left to participate in a campaign against monsters…
…and never returned.
The man who had always stood as her unwavering shield simply disappeared.
With his disappearance, House Rothwell fell into the hands of her uncle almost overnight.
And Diena became an unwanted guest in her own home.
At first, she still held onto a little hope.
He’s Father’s younger brother.
Even if he can’t replace Father… surely he’ll protect me.
At first, her uncle seemed to meet those expectations.
“Diena. From now on, think of me as your father.”
But his wife and children never considered her family.
Normally, noble children awakened their supernatural abilities at fourteen.
Diena’s birthday had already passed.
Yet she remained powerless.
In this world, noble blood alone meant nothing.
If one failed to awaken an ability, they were no better than commoners.
Meanwhile, even a peasant possessing exceptional abilities could rise to become one of the highest-ranking nobles.
Most noble children awakened their powers without issue.
But those unfortunate enough not to…
…were treated worse than servants.
Many were even abandoned by their own families.
Her uncle had seized control of House Rothwell so easily after the previous duke’s disappearance precisely because he himself possessed overwhelming abilities.
Whenever her uncle was away…
Her cousin Romie would smirk and cross her arms.
“Listen. I’m the lady of this house now.”
“If you want to keep living here, you’d better start earning your place.”
She pointed toward a rag lying on the floor.
“You see that? Use it and clean my room until it sparkles.”
Standing beside her, her older brother Kain burst into laughter.
“Hahaha! This is priceless.”
“The mighty Lady Rothwell… reduced to Romie’s personal maid.”
Diena silently lowered her gaze.
She had never been given a choice.
She couldn’t burden her busy uncle with complaints.
So she hid everything.
The once-beloved princess of House Rothwell slowly came to live a life even worse than the household maids.
Yet perhaps fate hadn’t abandoned her completely.
At sixteen…
She finally awakened her ability.
Purification.
A rare power capable of cleansing the darkness that accumulated inside ability users whenever they used their supernatural gifts.
An indispensable blessing.
From that day onward…
Everything changed.
The aunt who had always greeted her with icy indifference approached with a radiant smile.
“Our Diena! You finally awakened your ability!”
Even the cousins who had treated her like a servant embraced her with apologetic expressions.
“Diena… I’m sorry.”
“I bullied you because I was immature.”
“I won’t ever treat you that way again.”
Diena hadn’t trusted them immediately.
But then her uncle—the only person who had ever seemed to pity her—looked at her warmly.
“I always believed in you.”
“I knew you’d become the pride of our family someday.”
At those words…
The loneliness she’d carried for years melted away like snow beneath the spring sun.
She believed…
At last…
Happiness had found her.
She wouldn’t realize that it had all been a lie…
…until many years later.
At the age of twenty…
Her uncle succeeded in his rebellion.
He ascended the Imperial Throne.
House Rothwell celebrated day after day.
The entire estate overflowed with laughter.
Only Diena’s room remained cloaked in darkness.
There’s nothing left for me anymore.
Nothing… except this body that’s about to die.
She looked quietly at the physician standing before her.
“Say that again.”
The old doctor lowered his head.
“What I’m about to tell you… I’m staking my life on it.”
“…”
“If you continue using your ability… you will die.”
Diena slowly blinked.
“You forced your body to overuse its power during the years when it should have been growing.”
“The damage is irreversible.”
Looking at her with pity, he continued,
“Every physician who examined you was silenced by the Duke.”
“He said that if you ever learned the truth… he’d kill every one of us.”
“Why tell me this?”
“Because I’m from Cardian territory.”
He smiled bitterly.
“I’ll be purged sooner or later anyway.”
“Forgive me… for pretending not to know all this time.”
Diena laughed weakly.
Unable to accept it, she wandered straight toward her uncle’s office.
It’s impossible.
He wouldn’t do something like this.
He had protected her when everyone else looked down on her.
He couldn’t have—
“Tch.”
“So… you finally found out.”
His true face appeared without hesitation.
“Yes.”
“Your purification ability allowed our family to reach the very top.”
“You’ve worked hard all these years, Diena.”
Her entire body trembled.
“So… my life never mattered?”
“To defeat those vermin from House Cardian, sacrifices were inevitable.”
“You should feel honored.”
“You gave your life for your family.”
He smiled brightly.
As though her life had been worth less than dust.
“You… said I was family.”
“Yes.”
“We are family.”
“Which is precisely why you should work even harder.”
“If you wish to remain one of us.”
Then his voice turned cold.
“You aren’t my real daughter.”
“But I’ve raised you as though you were.”
“Now it’s time to repay that debt.”
“Uncle…”
“There are still plenty of Cardian remnants left alive.”
“Until every last one of them is wiped out…”
“You are not allowed to rest.”
His eyes were filled with certainty.
He never once imagined she would refuse him.
Normally…
She wouldn’t have.
She would have continued sacrificing herself.
Because they were family.
She had devoted her entire life to them without expecting anything in return.
Mocking that devotion…
The Duke smiled mercilessly.
“Offer your life for your family until the very end.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Diena slowly opened her eyes.
It had been a long time since she’d dreamed of the past.
Life within House Rothwell…
And the final moments she had shared with Barkhan.
Was that… my life flashing before my eyes?
The memories inside the cave were crystal clear.
Barkhan had died.
She had died shortly after.
Then…
Why was she breathing?
I’m alive?
Where… is this?
Splash!
Ice-cold water suddenly poured over her head.
Startled, Diena turned around.
“…Romie?”
“Romie? Since when did I give you permission to call me that?”
Diena froze.
“What…?”
It was unmistakably her cousin.
Yet Romie looked much younger.
Am I still dreaming?
After Diena awakened her ability, Romie had never openly treated her this way.
She still mocked her behind her back…
But in public she always pretended they were close.
Because their uncle would scold her otherwise.
“Call me Lady Romie.”
“You still think you’re the young lady of this house?”
Lady Romie.
That was exactly how Diena had addressed her before awakening her powers.
Romie frowned impatiently.
“Anyway… stay inside your room for the next few days.”
“You don’t even need to clean.”
“People from the Five Great Houses are visiting in two days.”
“It’ll only sour their mood if they see someone like you.”
Leaving those words behind, Romie exited with her maid.
Diena stared blankly after them.
This is strange.
If this is a dream… it’s far too vivid.
Slowly, she walked toward a battered bronze basin filled with cold water.
A blurry reflection stared back.
A girl…
No older than fifteen or sixteen.
Her eyes widened.
She instinctively pinched her own arm.
“Ow…!”
It hurt.
Which meant…
This wasn’t a dream.
I’ve… become younger?
She couldn’t understand how such a thing was possible.
But there was no denying it.
She had returned to the past.
Then Romie’s words echoed in her mind.
People from the Five Great Houses are visiting in two days.
Realization struck like lightning.
This…
This was when Brother Barkhan first came to House Rothwell.
Barkhan Cardian.
The heir of House Cardian.
The man who had saved her after she escaped from House Rothwell in her previous life.
The thought of seeing him again—
Of meeting the young Barkhan once more—
Made her heart pound uncontrollably.
