“I don’t know who this guy is, but I need to kill him right now.”

Lennox’s voice, while hugging me, was very strange.

He suppressed his anger with all his might while grinding his teeth.

“There’s a sign of drowsiness in Daphne’s throat. I was thinking of killing them. I can’t leave these guys alive.”

The glaring eyes full of anger did not turn to me, but I could feel the arms holding me trembling as if to convey his anger.

“I agree. I don’t care who’s behind it. Anyway, everyone who is aiming after us are all the same. Kill him right now since we never know what he’s going to do.”

Claiming that none of Lennox’s words were wrong, Ricarda spoke, glaring at the boy who was tied to smoke.

The glare in his eyes, which was slightly visible, was full of anger.

‘Like this… you’re going to kill him at once?’

There’s no way the story can flow like this.

If the main character dies, If he dies so easily here, will the story… be ruined?

Should I stop him?

In the midst of a mess in my head, my mother pulled down the boy, who was tied up in fog…

‘Yes, Mom wouldn’t kill you. If the story flowed like the original, he’s the one who was supposed to be the successor so perhaps she will change her mind…’

The beginning of the story can’t be ruined like this.

There is no way this story that forcibly pulled me in would be ruined in vain.

“Compared to the fear that Daphne had, you shouldn’t kill him too easily.”

But as if to break my expectations, strange words popped out of my mother’s mouth.

An unfamiliar look, unfamiliar tone, and the unfamiliarity she was showing me was the appearance as the Guild Master of Benedito Merchants Group that I had forgotten for a while.

As I was relieved that the story I knew would end as it is, I looked back unconsciously.

“Ugh.”

A bloody, terrible body was seen.

It reminded me of the moment when my biological mother died.

The moment when the cold arm fell weakly, the moment when she disappeared from the world so easily was still vivid.

‘I’m scared. I’m scared of someone dying.’

I’m scared because I feel like that it’s going to be me next.

I’m scared, thinking that I will disappear in a flash.

I don’t want to see the dead body….

I leaned my face against Lennox’s arms, holding onto his clothes tightly.

“You can’t…”

“Daphne?”

“You can’t kill people. Life… is something precious. And he still looks like a child…”

It’s not a life that was born to disappear in such a short time.

I also don’t want to disappear one day like that.

I just tried holding back the tears that seemed to flow on Lennox’s clothes.

At one point,  I thought maybe this revenge could end with someone’s death.

Whether it’s my death or someone else’s death.

However, when I witnessed someone else’s death right in front of my eyes, I regretted how foolish my thought was.

To have the heart to kill someone, you must have the determination.

I don’t know what it was, but at least I wasn’t prepared to have that determination yet.

“You weren’t born to disappear so easily. Don’t kill him. I’m scared.”

I tried to hold back my tears and tried to be unreasonable.

Like a fool.

Even though it was a good opportunity to end the story, I fled back because I feared death.

Even if they point their finger at me for being stupid and frustrating, I can’t help it.

“Yes, I said something scary in front of you.”

I thought it would be okay for them to  blame me by saying not to talk nonsense.

But my mom hugged me, who was crying, saying that she was thinking for herself.

Then she patted me on the back familiarly and said,

“Shh. If you cry like this, your eyes will swell up and hurt tomorrow.”

“I’m not crying. I’m not such a crybaby.”

When I was sobbing out of sorrow for no reason, I heard a giggle sound coming from the side.

“Right! These brothers must have scared you. I’m sorry, Daphne.”

“Were you scared? I knew Daphne had a big heart, but I didn’t know it was this big! I should learn from her.”

Everyone didn’t think I was stupid, but they took care of me, saying it was fine.

Because of that warmth, I sniffled and looked behind my mother and made eye contact with the Male protagonist, a child who still seems to be a boy.

His strange eyes gave me chills, and in it, I felt an unknown power of artificial feeling.

“Mom, his eyes are weird. It feels like there’s something written on them.”

At my word, Ricarda approached the boy.

While looking at the child’s eyes for a while, Ricarda looked at his head and began unfolding a magic spell over the child’s eyes.

Several magic spells were raised simultaneously, and every time the magic reached and unfolded, the boy struggled with pain.

As time went by for about a minute, the magic spell disappeared, and at the same time, the boy’s eyes became clear.

However, the boy soon fainted as if he had lost consciousness.

“Daphne was right. There was hypnosis and hallucinatory magic, and it was so awfully intertwined.”

“I thought he was too young for an assassin!”

Mom frowned at Ricarda’s words.

“Where did those jerks sell morality to?”

I stared at her with a dumbfounded look at the slang that rolled out of mother’s mouth. She didn’t stop spewing out all kinds of slang as if she didn’t feel my gaze.

“All those punks who play with children have to have beep-beep-beep. You absolutely can’t kill them easily… No, what am I saying right now?”

T/l corner: Don’t ask me what she meant, since I don’t know too xD

The slang that was spouting out coolly stopped.

Forgetting that I was sniffling, I slowly raised my head to look up at my mother.

My mom intentionally covered my eyes, not making eye contact.

“Pretend you didn’t hear it. It’s not a good word.”

“Yes.”

“That’s right.”

Mom patted me on the head, saying I was well-behaved, and then told Lennox, who approached me.

“You remember the little prison made in the woods, right?”

“The one made to catch wild animals? There is, but … Ah!”

“Put him in. Even if he was hypnotized, an assassin is an assassin. There’s no harm in being careful.”

Lennox nodded, saying he would take care of it safely.

“Then I’ll put a restraint spell. Since this happened, shall we find out who’s behind this?”

“I’ll do it. I was making a confession inducer and that’s great too.”

“Yes, I will leave this up to you.”

Not only did they not kill someone, the appropriate coping also passed by easily.

While being held in my mother’s arms, I carefully thought about their work.

‘It looks like people who work together are important.’

When I saw those three, I felt something was in sync.

Seeing them handling things well with a common opinion and without a single conflict, I felt proud.

‘This is my family.’

A family that I made myself and a family that cherishes me!

The pat on my back still feels warm. The gaze towards me is also full of worries.

‘I don’t want to disappoint them. As much as I want to protect myself, I want to protect them.’

The story I knew had a very loose plot.

As there were no side stories, the Benedito merchants group’s story was not even mentioned briefly.

Since this was the place where the Male protagonist was, you might think that he got along well, but it’s still unknown…

He might have left the merchants’ group easily in the original to be happy with the heroine.

‘I’m going to change my story happily. Let’s not forget this promise.’

So that the precious people around me can be happy together.

I thought as I looked at the back of the male protagonist disappearing while being tied.

‘To do that, part two has to be twisted. Since I’m not confident in the killing… let’s be nice to the male protagonist.’

I’ll stop the daughter of the Duke and Eunice to be happy as the female protagonist.

I won’t let them live in happiness.

‘For my happiness. To protect me and my dear ones.’

Even though I’m still afraid of everything, afraid to be in this world, I’ll make it through. I must overcome everything I am scared of.

On this fearful night, a new will rose in my eyes.

* * *

In complete darkness, I was being chased by something.

I moved my injured foot freely, and it didn’t hurt even if I pinched my cheek, so I knew this was a dream.

When I ran for a long time without knowing what I chased by, someone tried to catch me at that moment,

I opened my eyes in a flash at the feeling of holding and shaking me.

“Gasp, Hyuk-“

My whole body was soaked in sweat as if I were running in reality.

“What was that?”

What the hell was that nightmare? I’m not even sure what it is.

I raised my hand to wipe out my wet forehead, and at that moment, someone wiped my forehead with a soft cloth.

Of course, I thought it would be Lennox or Ricarda, but the shadow feeling was different.

Isn’t the shadow bigger than usual?

When I turned my head with a face stained with embarrassment, a man I saw for the first time stood in front of me.

“Oh, I must have surprised you.”

“Who…?”

“You’ve never seen me since I woke up, have you? I’m Winston Chasher, secretary of the Guild Master. Please call me Winston.”

“Ah. Yes.”

“Please speak comfortably to me. You’re the one I need to serve.”

As I nodded at Winston’s kind words, he bowed his head to say thank you.

“The guild master has to take care of yesterday’s matter so she’s got a lot of work. It’s the same for Young masters too. So I’ll take care of you for today.”

“Ah! I see.”

Well, that happened yesterday.

I nodded that I understood, and Winston who smiled at my words dragged a small tray in front of me.

“Young master Ricarda prepared the meal and went out. You should have your meal now.”

“… I’m not hungry.”

“Didn’t you make an appointment with the Guild master? Saying you will have your meals regularly.”

“… please give it to me.”

I tried to ignore it, but when did you hear it from mother?

I lifted the spoon in front of me with a wry expression.

“Thank you for the meal.”

“You must chew it and eat well.”

It tastes good, but in the early morning, I didn’t have an appetite, so I purposely began to eat slowly.

“I’ll also prepare warm water for you.”

Winston smiled and took care of what was needed right away.

Naturally, he put out a glass of water in front of me, and his hand looked awkward.

‘It seems to be stiffened.’ 

Perhaps because he felt my gaze on him, Winston stealthily covered his hands as if he were familiar with my gaze.

“You’ve never seen this before, have you? I don’t know if it’s a little scary to show this to Miss. It’s called the prosthetic arm.”