'My current age is sixteen. Thank goodness. If I had returned even a little later, it would have been after they already found out I awakened my ability.'
In her past life, she had awakened and revealed her ability shortly after Varkan left the estate.
Perhaps it was because of what she had just been through right before her regression, but she felt strangely calm. A clear plan of what she needed to do immediately began to take shape in her mind.
Diena slowly moved her hands. A cluster of white light began to spread from her fingertips. Her ability had manifested successfully.
Despite the enchanting sight, Diena's face remained entirely expressionless. She knew all too well just how many people this very power had dragged down into the abyss.
Fortunately, the people of the Rothwell family did not yet know she had awakened her ability.
'Romie said the people from the Five Great Families are coming to the estate. I’ll use that opportunity to escape. And then... I’m going to the Kardian family.'
"Sacrifice yourself for the family until the very end."
The night she heard those words from her uncle before her regression, Diena resolved to run away. She could no longer stay in that house.
'But Uncle will never let me go.'
He would try to squeeze out every last drop of her life.
And so, Diena sought out a secret passage hidden deep within the basement of the estate—a passage known only to the heirs of Rothwell. Fortunately, her uncle was unaware of its existence, as he hadn't formally inherited the title of Duke from her father. At the thought of her father, a pang of sorrow crossed Diena's face.
'If my father were still alive, would my life have been at least a little different?'
But it was a meaningless hypothetical. Diena fled the estate through that hidden path.
To avoid being caught by her uncle, she had to leave the duchy entirely. Naturally, she fled past the boundaries of the Purification Zone, where the protection of the Holy Temple did not reach.
For someone who had lived like a pampered princess after awakening her ability, life outside the Purification Zone was a relentless series of hardships. Not long after leaving the estate, what little money she had was stolen by a pickpocket. She kept moving forward, constantly battling hunger and the freezing cold. She also narrowedly escaped the clutches of the Rothwell family's trackers multiple times.
Then, she met him.
In the corner of a dingy tavern, a shadow fell over Diena, who was dressed in tattered rags.
"Are you Diena Rothwell?"
He was a strikingly handsome man with silver hair and eyes as blue as a pristine lake. There was a deep scar running across his face, but his features were so handsome that even the scar failed to detract from his beauty.
Varkan Kardian.
Recognizing him instantly, Diena fully expected him to kill her. After all, the Duke of Rothwell's successful rebellion had dragged him and his entire family down into ruin. Even if that weren't the case, she knew everything her uncle and family had done over the past few years—all the despicable underhanded plots carried out for the family's gain. She had merely watched it happen, driven solely by her pathetic desire to be loved by her uncle's family.
'It was just an excuse.'
Even though she had been used as a tool, it didn't change the fact that she was still a Rothwell.
However, he didn't kill Diena. Instead, he stared at her and clicked his tongue.
"You look like an absolute mess. Dirt-poor and completely scruffy."
"S-Scruffy...?"
Diena’s eyes widened at his casual, lighthearted tone, which contrasted sharply with his cold, intimidating appearance.
He flashed a playful smile.
"Yeah, scruffy. Hmm... Want to come with me? To our Kardian Mercenary Corps."
"What?"
"I heard that bastard Duke of Rothwell is desperately hunting you down."
Diena stared at Varkan, utterly dazed.
"I’m planning to give him the middle finger, so what do you say? It's a win-win. The longer you stay on the run, the more that bastard Duke will go insane with rage."
'What on earth is this man thinking?'
Unlike the bewildered Diena, Varkan wore a wicked grin, looking entirely pleased with his own idea.
"Wouldn't that be better than wandering around all on your own?"
"……."
When Diena didn't answer for a long time, he tilted his head slightly in confusion.
"Hmm, you don't trust me?"
He crossed his arms and continued.
"I mean, sure, I've lost everything and I'm dirt-cheap broke right now, but I still pull in a decent amount of cash doing mercenary work. I can handle feeding one extra mouth."
"……."
"I'm serious, you know?"
"Ah... Yes……."
"So, what I'm saying is, you'll be safe. At least it'll be better than staying in a place like this."
Diena blinked silently. Varkan pressed on, trying to persuade her.
"We've got a lot of weirdos in our crew, but they're all good guys. Oh, and I'll even help you build up your strength so you can protect yourself. How about it?"
After a moment of hesitation, Diena nodded. She thought she finally understood his hidden motive. He probably wanted to keep her close to torment her. Or perhaps use her, just as her uncle had.
At her nod, Varkan broke into a bright smile.
'Is he really that happy that he gets to exact his revenge on me?'
She let out a soft sigh and lowered her head. Varkan tilted his head for a moment before adding:
"We're gonna need a fake identity for you. It's a pretty weird combination for outsiders to look at, anyway. What do you think? Want to be my little sister? Diena Kardian. Doesn't sound too bad."
The way he said it made it sound so much like... a real family.
She had sworn to herself that she would never form a family again. Yet, as if under a spell, Diena found herself nodding. She owed too great a debt to the man standing before her.
'If I hadn't aided them with my ability, my uncle would never have been able to defeat this man.'
This was to be her own form of atonement.
'I’ll let him do whatever he wants with me until his anger is appeased. If he wants me to use my ability until I die, then I'll do just that.'
So, at first, she expected absolutely nothing. Even if he mistreated her, or treated her like a slave, or even if she threw away what little life she had left by overusing her power—she believed it was all her cross to bear. She felt that the crimes the Rothwell family committed against him deserved that level of punishment.
However, the Kardian family she encountered after following Varkan was entirely different from what she had imagined. The moment they saw Diena, the members of the Kardian Mercenary Corps threw a massive uproar.
"Lord Varkan, why on earth did you kidnap someone?!"
"It's not kidnapping! The scruffy kid followed me on her own. I explained the situation perfectly well, too!"
"Who calls a person 'scruffy'!"
"Hassen, stop nagging me."
Varkan led Diena to an elderly man. The man, who wore glasses, was looking at Diena with sparkling eyes.
"This is Lord Malakar. He used to be an elder of the Magic Tower, but now he's a wanted man."
The man called Malakar gently patted Diena's head.
"I heard the news from Varkan. Would you like to learn magic from me?"
Without even understanding what it fully meant, Diena nodded. From that day on, she began her studies as his disciple.
The members of Varkan's mercenary corps were also unexpectedly kind.
"Eat up, milady."
They handed Diena warm cocoa and dressed her in cozy, comfortable clothes.
Then one day, they brought up a name that sounded somewhat familiar.
"If Lady Bianca were still alive, she would be just about your age, milady."
"Shh! Why would you bring that up!"
Bianca was Varkan's deceased younger sister. If she were still alive, she would have been the exact same age as Diena.
Perhaps that was why Varkan treated Diena as if she were his actual younger sister.
And then, he told her something truly unexpected. He strictly forbade Diena from ever using her ability.
"You just focus on enjoying your life. We'll take care of the rest. Don't worry about those Rothwell bastards."
He was well aware of how incredible Diena's purification ability was. She had taken it for granted that he would exploit it, but instead, he shielded her from the world.
