CH 3

“You have the key to the basement. That’s probably the only reason you came all the way here.”

As expected, it was clear that the duke accepted my request.

“Stop talking and guide me.”

Therefore, all he had to do was faithfully fulfill the duke’s orders.

“Ha, they said you were drinking strange medicine. I guess it’s real.”

Irik took a step back as if he had nothing to refute. As he grabbed his necklace, a surge of magic erupted under his feet.

“Don’t regret it. I won’t help you even if you mess around later.” At the same time, only his voice was heard in the darkness that appeared before my eyes.

Ah, that necklace is the key to opening the passage in the original story. I hurriedly followed Irik and organized my thoughts.

The basement where ‘Norma’ was located had a special meaning even within Felicite Duchy. The fact that the duke allowed Irik to go there also meant that he trusted him. In other words, if I were to receive that key from the duke and be able to freely enter and exit the basement…

Right. First, we have to capture the duke, no, father. What did that old man like? It seemed pretty tricky.

“By the way, there is only one order given to me by His Grace.”

Irik suddenly stopped and turned around. “It was to guide you to the basement where Norma is.”

The color of his eyes was strange in the gloomy darkness.

“So that’s all I have to do.”

“What?”

“It’s up to you to find him down there.”

Flash! In an instant, an intense light pierced my eyes.

“Redian or something, he’s going to be your toy, so shouldn’t you find it yourself?” Irik smirked as he stepped his foot toward the stairway that appeared in the air.

Redian. I’ve made up my mind, but…

The novel’s author called him a ‘devil with an angel’s face.’ Of course, it was just a suited word for his nickname. Unlike his attractive face, he had a cruel and cold personality. The sight of him controlling the nobles in all sorts of ways was the apex predator itself.

Right. It’s going to be okay. He’s not going to turn crazy yet. I made a desperate decision.

The reason Redian went crazy in earnest was when he met Siani and was abused… It was natural that if I changed, Redian’s future would change as well. From now on, let’s raise the male lead as a nice big dog.

“Irik.” I stopped at the entrance of the stairs and called Irik.

“Why? Are you scared when you actually come?” He seemed to think I was scared. “That’s right. You’ve never seen down here, so you don’t know. There are things like you here.”

I heard a bad laugh.

“You’ve done something you can’t take responsibility for again this time? That’s not how Older Sister should behave.”

Irik reached out his hand to me. “Hold it and close your eyes. I’ll take you back to your room.”

Take me back? It might not have been obvious because of the darkness, but my expression crumpled. It was my first time encountering such an ambiguous sweet, and salty character.

“Are you done with what you have to say?”

Besides, he talked a lot.

I lightly ignored the hand that Irik extended to me. “Then come behind me and watch over.”

“What?”

“You wouldn’t behave like this in front of father, right? So rude.” Then I overtook him down the stairs.

“I would have trusted you and entrusted this place to you. But what if Norma becomes arrogant just like you?”

Until now, he had to guide me, so I allowed him to stand in front of me, but not from now on.

“I repeat, are you a member of the Felicite family?”

I patted him on the shoulder like I was dusting him off.

“Ugh!”

“We’re not related by blood, but as your older sister, I advise you with love and concern.”

“Aren’t you going to let it go? What kind of strength for a woman to have, let my shoulders off!”

Again this time, I couldn’t help but put strength in my hands due to my previous life habit.

“Crazy. What did you eat wrong that you were weakly groaning about every day…”

My grip must have been very hurt, so he turned his shoulder and huffed.

As expected, the strength I developed during being Rebeka is so helpful. I couldn’t remember which number it was. Still, anyway, there was a time when I was born as Rebeka, the daughter of a monster hunter family. It was a strength I gained from training in the corners of the house, where we had to win by sparring in order to eat.

“Hey, Sister, you… Did you really take any medicine?”

“Then let’s go down.”

I went down the stairs ignoring Irik, who was talking nonsense. The darkness poured down like it would engulf my whole body, but I wasn’t afraid.

That’s right there!

Redian. There would be a cutie who would present me with a happy ending.

* * *

But that expectation was only for a moment.

What?  I didn’t expect Redian to pop up right away, but…

“You’re here, Lord Irik.”

What else is this? People gathered in the middle of the magnificent basement.

“We’ve brought all the researchers and trainers together as ordered,” said the man standing at the front and stepping forward.

Their faces looking at me looked confused. But it was me who was more confused than them.

This so nice? My expectations of seeing damp iron bars, spider webs, and sharp chains were completely wrong.

I can see why they called it a basement, not a dungeon. In a word, it was magnificent to the extent that I could feel the power of money more than any other Duke Felicite family lab.

“Only His Grace and Lord Irik can come here, but who is this person…”

“It’s too late to explain. His Grace personally gave a gift to the princess.”

“Gift?”

“There is a toy my sister wants among the monsters in here,” Irik replied playfully.

“Oh my god, then that woman is Princess Felicite…”

Upon learning my identity, their eyes widened at once.

“Isn’t she too different from the rumor?”

“I know, right? They said she was a red-eyed witch, but no one mentioned that she’s such a beauty.”

“Even more, a gift? His Grace and princess are not on good terms, right?”

They just covered their mouth as I heard everything.

Where is Redian? But no matter what they said, I didn’t care what they thought. My head was filled only with the tenacity of finding Redian.

‘Where’s the Redian.’

“Come on, Siani.”

Irik, who was standing behind me, lowered his head and said, “Since it’s a toy you picked yourself, shouldn’t you recognize it at a glance?”

“What?”

“Go in and look for yourself.”

It wasn’t a welcoming ceremony, so I wondered why he gathered so many people…

Aha. He didn’t want me to get anyone’s help. It was so childish that even lower servants wouldn’t do it, but at the same time, it was cute. I was about to reply, ‘Okay, I’ll find Redian and repay you for your cute nonsense!’

“Tsk, low level.” Again this time, words flowed out because of my previous life habits.

Well, what’s the point of playing with a kid like this? Besides, it wasn’t worth dealing with.

“So childish.”

“What, what? Are you crazy?”

I went down the remaining stairs and approached the central area. Everyone’s eyes followed the sound of my heels.

“Lord Irik, inside this—”

“She won’t find where it is anyway. You can just let her in.”

In the meantime, I recalled the memories of the original and looked inside.

<The boy was always shrouded in a crimson oath, hidden in the deepest and darkest depths of the basement…>

Crimson oath. It must have been a hint to the location of Redian.

As expected, it was a basement that cost a lot of money. Looking closely, the interior was so huge that it was hard to capture at a glance. There were huge laboratories, stairs, and corridors that led to various places.

“Pfft, be careful, Sister.” Irik, who was leaning against the wall with his arms folded before I knew it, smirked.

“You may wander around stupidly and hit a wall.”

Hit a wall? Ugh. Just look at it.

A smile of satisfaction rose. The wall he leaned against was draped with a long red curtain representing Duke Felicite’s family.

I thought he was just standing there to bother me. I didn’t expect he would tell me the location like this. It’s kind of him.

“What? Go get your toy. Why are you coming to me?”

Walking towards Irik, I stopped right in front of him. “Move.”

“What?”

“Get out of the way.”

“Ugh, hey!”

After pushing Irik at once, I slammed the wall covered by the long curtains with strength in my foot. Bam, bam, bam!

“You, how!”

The red curtain slowly lifted, and the hidden wall was revealed…

“Thanks to you, I found it, Irik.”

“Damn it.”

Thump, the gap in the wall split like it was collapsing.

“What should we do, Lord Irik?”

“H-how can she find it at once?”

A new space was cast over. I ran into it without hesitation.

Oh my god. But I had to stop after a few steps. Even though the wall closed and darkness poured in, I didn’t feel it was dark.  

“It’s you.”

In front of my eyes…

“I found you, Redian.”

The boy with the face of an angel was asleep.