CHAPTER 4
My ears perked up.
“You said it was something that could only be confirmed if Lady Maria died at Lord Leon’s hands…”
‘And I’m asking what that something is.’
I waited patiently for Tia to continue, holding back my frustration.
If I was lucky, I might finally uncover the truth behind what had happened—through her.
“I… I’m sorry.”
After a long pause, Tia lowered her forehead close to the ground again.
“Not only did I carry out the task poorly, but I also failed to understand your intentions, my lady.”
‘Ah.’
Disappointment welled up inside me, and I bit down on my lower lip.
Tia had merely followed orders. She didn’t know the reasoning behind them.
Which meant there was still no way to figure out what the original Kiana had been thinking when she caused this mess.
‘Isn’t this getting ridiculous?’
What exactly was I supposed to do?
Just surviving in this mad house was hard enough, and now bombs kept going off one after another—I felt like I was rotting from the inside out.
At that moment—
Ding!
An electronic chime rang sharply in my ears.
Notification! Hidden Quest Unlocked!
A system window popped up in front of me, one I’d never seen before.
[Kiana’s Lost Memory 1-1]
Type: Clue
Description: Kiana manipulated Maria into confronting Leon, hoping to confirm something through her death. Let’s track the next clue.
Time Limit: Until Leon’s death.
Unlock: Kiana’s Memory Clue 1-2
Reward: ??
“Ha… hahaha.”
I let out a stunned, hollow laugh.
I didn’t expect the quest system to kick in like this.
So this was why I couldn’t access Kiana’s memories—and now it was pushing me to take responsibility for something I didn’t even do?
‘This is getting more absurd by the minute.’
What is this, a crime thriller? Now I had to play detective and find clues to someone else’s forgotten memories?
It really felt like the system was going out of its way to torment me.
‘Okay, okay. Let’s stay positive. A quest is better than nothing.’
Annoying as it was, I chose to accept it calmly.
After all, it was a hidden quest.
As a longtime reader of genre novels, I knew just how valuable the rewards from hidden quests could be.
“Tia.”
“Yes, my lady…”
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“Bring me a pen and paper.”
Tia blinked in surprise at the sudden request, but quickly brought back the writing materials from the bedroom.
“I’d like to be alone for a moment.”
Without a word, Tia bowed and quietly left the room.
I steadied myself, took a deep breath, and picked up the ink pen.
“Let’s lay this all out.”
I began writing down all the major plot points I could recall from the original novel.
The Demon Palace incident, the four great houses’ summit, the founding festival, the emperor’s assassination, the appearance of the evil dragon…
I filled every gap between events on the page until the pen reached the end.
Then I wrote the ending of the novel:
The Evil God’s Resurrection.
The Final Battle.
And the Fall of the Continent.
“There has to be a way for me to survive in all this.”
Even though I’d possessed Kiana’s body, I was fundamentally a different person.
Just an ordinary girl juggling part-time jobs and prepping for employment.
For someone like me to survive a cutthroat competition against half-siblings who would literally kill for power?
That was nearly impossible.
I’d have to maximize my strengths and carve out a path using my own methods.
“I’ll need to make full use of the original story.”
Easier said than done.
Kiana’s memories were a complete blank.
Her siblings were out for my blood.
And the doomsday ending? It was creeping closer day by day.
Honestly, this was the textbook definition of “out of the frying pan, into the fire.”
“No more negative thinking.”
I tapped the table lightly with the pen, staring hard at the timeline.
I racked my brain for anything I might’ve missed in the original story.
After some time, a thought hit me.
“It really has to be him, huh?”
After careful consideration, I wrote down a name:
“Evan von Brünnack.”
He was the illegitimate son of Duke Mecklenro’s half-brother, born from a secret affair outside the family.
Technically, that made him my cousin.
His mother raised him in hiding, fearing the family would steal him away if his bloodline was discovered.
But despite her desperate efforts, the duke eventually found out about Evan.
He took the boy and formally inducted him into the Brünnack family—forcing him to compete as a potential heir.
“It wasn’t competition. It was abandonment disguised as one.”
Evan, who received no proper education, had no chance against the elite-trained children of the family.
He was never a real contender—just another sacrificial pawn to be used to empower the stronger successors.
And the ironic part?
Evan knew that.
Knowing full well he’d be discarded if he stayed, he plotted his escape with everything he had.
And he became the first in Brünnack family history to successfully get away.
“And then… he meets the male lead.”
Two years later, Evan returns to the Brünnack estate—of his own volition.
To kill Duke Mecklenro and Kiana, who had since become the heir.
That day, the Brünnack family is annihilated.
“But what if…”
Just a hypothetical.
“What if I get close to Evan?”
In the original story, Kiana repeatedly plotted to kill Evan and steal his Authority.
So much so that Evan, full of hatred, crushed her authority crystal underfoot after her death.
But what if I could avoid that chain of enmity?
What if I befriended him?
Wouldn’t that change everything?
“Better yet…”
I took a deep breath.
“What if I escaped this cursed family with Evan?”
Just the thought of it made my heart race.
I’d been thrown into this ring against my will.
If I could get close to Evan and escape this crazy place with him—
I could quit this murderous competition for succession.
And—
“I could meet the male lead.”
Evan later becomes one of the talented companions chosen by the male protagonist to stop the resurrection of the Evil God.
If I was traveling with Evan, the male lead might reconsider me—not as the story’s ultimate villain, but someone worth trusting.
“This is a triple win.”
My lips twitched into a faint smile.
It wouldn’t be easy, but it was worth the attempt.
Because I alone knew where Evan was right now.
I wasn’t going to wait for him to be dragged into the family.
I’d go to him.
This way, we could start our relationship from zero—before distrust and hatred took root.
If I could show him my true self, without pretense or prejudice…
That alone would be half the battle won.
“There’s hope after all.”
3.
“My lady, Lord Leon and Lord Clark are departing for the Snowfields this afternoon.”
While I was dressing for the day, Tia brought the news.
“The Snowfields? For what?”
“They’ve been ordered to subjugate a pack of frost beasts attacking a nearby estate.”
My eyes curved in delight at the unexpected good news.
The Snowfields were an isolated region at the northernmost edge of the territory.
Even with teleportation, it would take three nonstop days to get there.
‘Looks like I won’t have to see their faces for a while.’
Just the thought of not seeing those two psychos for some time made me feel like I was floating.
“No orders for me?”
“None, my lady.”
I smiled in deep satisfaction.
“Orders” were missions personally handed out by the duke—usually like deployments or regional assignments.
Due to the northern lands being constantly attacked by magical beasts, most of these missions involved beast subjugation.
But the interesting part?
Only heir candidates were issued these orders.
Apparently, it was a way to build experience and strengthen them through real combat.
‘As if that’s all this damn family has in mind…’
