Chapter 01
Inerua Mertiel.
My life, in a word, was a series of hardships. I never even dared to dream of comfort—adversity clung to me like a second skin from beginning to end.
So much so that being born with noble blood felt like a joke.
Especially when I met him—that was when my life hit rock bottom.
It was the night I followed my father into the mountains, after my mother—who had never once left her room since my birth—passed away from illness. He planned to bury her in the woods to hide her disgraceful death.
I can still vividly feel the moist earth beneath my feet as I climbed the steep mountain path in the dead of night, when the world was fast asleep.
The scent of rain-soaked grass, the sting of branches scraping my skin.
Every detail remains etched in my memory, too clear to forget.
Because dying of illness at a young age was deemed a shameful end for nobility, my father dug and dug into the earth.
To erase that shame—completely.
That’s why my mother, whom I barely knew, was laid to rest in a place that could hardly be called a grave.
I don’t clearly remember the way back down the mountain.
Maybe it was the smell of damp soil and grass. Or maybe it was the blood—heavy and thick like a fog—that clouded my senses.
The strong stench of alcohol that always hung around my father had long since vanished.
When I turned my head, I saw him—dangling precariously off a cliff edge, his fingers barely gripping the ledge.
“……”
I knelt and looked down at him, hanging by a few fingers over an abyss with no visible bottom.
My hair swayed in the breeze, and I calmly tucked it behind my ear.
Then I simply waited—patiently—for his grip to fail, and once it did, I stood back up.
I turned and began to walk down the dangerous path.
I stumbled several times, but I didn’t feel any pain.
The world was dyed a deep red.
I should go back to the castle.
What would people think if both my father and mother suddenly disappeared?
Could the duke’s castle survive such a scandal?
But all those worries faded, probably because of the stinging pain from the scratches on my hands.
Wrapped in nothing but a thin nightgown, I hugged my shivering body tightly against the cold wind.
I just thought, I have to go back to the castle.
Before the sun rises, before anyone wakes up, I must sneak back in.
But that fragile hope was shattered when I encountered a small light on the way down.
I must’ve fallen and rolled countless times. In such a weakened state, making it back to the castle unscathed was impossible.
Someone had lit a campfire, perhaps for the night.
Sensing my presence, the men—clearly knights—drew their swords immediately.
There was nothing I could do.
I just clutched my torn nightgown and gasped for breath.
Even a glance would label me suspicious. Dressed only in a blood-stained negligee, barefoot with one shoe missing, disheveled and reeking of dirt and grass in the dead of night—how could I not look suspicious?
“Who goes there! Identify yourself!”
I blinked slowly.
There were about fifteen of them in front of me.
And worse yet, these knights in full armor with swords drawn were far more threatening than I expected.
If I turned my back, those swords would surely strike.
I said nothing, only clutched and unclutched my gown repeatedly.
I scanned each of them, but the faces were too blurry in the dark.
The knights had snuffed out their fire the moment I appeared, leaving me to rely solely on the moonlight to see.
“Speak, or I’ll cut you down.”
Just as I was about to open my mouth, a man stepped forward from among them.
As he moved, the knights parted without protest to let him through.
His face was hidden in the shadows.
But I instantly recognized the scent he carried—rich cigar smoke, just like my father’s… and the scent of death.
He spoke.
“You…”
Even when I craned my neck, I could barely see his jawline—he was that tall.
“I feel like I know you.”
His voice was low and scratchy, as if half-asleep, laced with curiosity.
I felt a chill down my spine and bit my lip hard.
I straightened my tottering frame, willing strength into my weakening legs.
Unable to say anything, I chewed the inside of my mouth before finally squeezing out a sentence.
“I don’t know you.”
The man hummed thoughtfully and glanced at the path I had just come from.
His moonlit blue eyes sparkled dangerously.
“Is that so?”
It was like watching a child lie with a piece of candy hidden under their tongue.
A transparent lie. But I stood there, hoping he’d pretend to believe it.
“Should I just let you go, then?”
At his words, the knights instantly stepped aside, clearing a path as if waiting for that cue.
I hesitantly began to walk, carefully watching them all the while.
Even though I kept stumbling in the dark, I silently prayed I could reach the castle before dawn.
That was just a little while before I met him again.
And it was also the first day I returned to the past.
The past… or rather, the time before my regression, is a long story.
SMACK!
A sharp sound echoed as my head snapped to the side.
“You don’t have the luxury of saying no, Inerua. You should be grateful that you can be of use to me—even like this.”
His calm, emotionless voice scratched at my insides.
Holding my bruised cheek, I turned to face the man who had just struck me.
My throat made a creaking sound, but I ignored it and forced myself to speak.
My voice was probably trembling, my body shaking like a leaf.
Of course it was. I always did, in front of him.
“Father, I’m an adult now. I can even bear the son you’ve always wanted. So please…”
If he had just permitted it, I would have fallen to my knees and begged until my hands bled.
“It’s more useful to me—and to our family—if you take the blame for this crime than if you bear a child.”
Our family? OUR family?!
He never even acknowledged me as his child just because I wasn’t the son he wanted—and now he dares bring up the family?
“Father, think about it! Who else will carry on our bloodline if not me? Who will bear a child to inherit the family? Huh? If I’m gone, the branch families will surely try to seize that position.”
It was maddening.
The miserable weight in my gut threatened to swallow me whole.
Like I was standing at the edge of a cliff, one wrong step away from falling.
“Please think again. There has to be another way. I don’t have to be the scapegoat, Father.”
He rubbed his chin, then glanced sideways at me with cold eyes.
It sent a chill through me—he looked more beast than man.
“No. Right now, the best option is to make you the criminal.”
I wanted to scream how absurd that was. But my body was paralyzed with fear—I had feared him for so long.
“The imperial family has already named you as the culprit.”
Each word from his mouth was so outrageous it was laughable.
“Be a criminal—for my sake.”
I vividly remember that night in the mountains, digging a grave after no one had known my mother was dying, locked away in her room.
If her body hadn’t been discovered, everything would’ve been swept under the rug.
“Because of you—who was born wrong—I can finally be rid of this burden.”
A pitiful, wretched ending.
My mother’s death became public due to my father’s careless handling amidst the chaos…
And I became the one accused of murdering her.
I lived my whole life desperately trying to satisfy his ambitions.
“Inerua, go ahead and join your mother.”
Parricide. The duke’s only daughter accused of killing her own mother—it was absurd.
The duke had already named me the criminal. At that moment, I had crossed the Rubicon.
CLANK!
Armed knights stormed into the room.
Among the duke’s men were imperial guards too. In the middle of them, a well-dressed man stepped forward and announced,
“Inerua Mertiel, as of this moment, your title and name of Mertiel are hereby stripped. By authority of the Imperial Inquisitor, you are now under arrest.”
