Chapter 04
The reason she encountered monsters usually dealt with by the Imperial family or the North was because they needed extra personnel due to unforeseen variables.
The monsters, which were originally handled in secret, had grown exponentially stronger, resulting in the deaths of those who were first dispatched.
Maya, who had no prior connection to the knights, was called upon solely because of the “prestige” of the Pendragon name.
The Pendragon family’s reputation hadn’t completely faded.
They needed to send someone to assess the situation, but it was a waste to risk losing valuable knights.
They needed time to come up with a new plan against a monster stronger than expected.
In short, Maya was a disposable backup.
A substitute who wouldn’t matter even if she died.
‘If you weren’t from the Pendragon family, we wouldn’t have even thought of calling you.’
The former commander of the knights had raised his chin proudly as he boasted. Maya could still vividly remember that shameless expression.
But even with hardly any information about the new type of monster, Maya returned alive.
She survived numerous brushes with death.
In those battles, Maya felt exhilaration.
When she swung her sword, that was when she truly felt alive.
And so, Maya accepted the additional missions given to her without complaint.
She fought many more monsters, and when she defeated that monster—she awakened as a Swordmaster.
‘That’s how important combat is to me.’
It was a future that couldn’t be changed.
If she were expelled from the Pendragon family, she would no longer have access to monster-hunting missions.
Most monsters appeared near the Shirak Mountains, adjacent to the Grand Duchy—nearly half a month’s travel away.
And when she thought of the Grand Duchy, naturally, the face of the Duke came to mind.
‘…Duke Tristan.’
Maya recalled his youthful face and chewed over his final words again.
“I wanted to meet you too.”
“…Because you’re the only one who can break my curse.”
‘What did he mean, that I’m the only one who can break his curse?’
Could Maya truly be the key to lifting Duke Tristan’s curse?
…Is that why he had sent the marriage proposal?
‘No way.’
There’s no way someone as powerful and noble as the Duke could be freed from a curse by someone like her—a former imperial hound.
Maya respected and acknowledged Tristan as a person.
But in this life, she hoped to avoid contact with him as much as possible.
Because he was a completely different kind of human from her.
‘…Let’s not overestimate Macguire.’
Macguire was an idiot.
The fact that he kept losing money yet still religiously visited the gambling house proved it.
In a few days, he’d forget everything that happened and come barging in again.
When he did, she’d just let him hit her once.
‘Perfect.’
That was the plan.
Until Elise summoned her and issued a threat.
“You will be expelled from the Pendragon family.”
She acted as though it were a death sentence.
‘Honestly, that’d be great for me.’
She could leave this rotten family without lifting a finger.
But for now, that wasn’t an option.
‘To awaken, I need to face monsters.’
The exact location of monster appearances was only shared with a select few on mission.
A barrier was placed around them, preventing ordinary people from even approaching.
But the real problem was something else.
‘I can’t find my way.’
Maya was terrible with directions.
‘…If I’d known I’d regress, I would’ve lived quietly.’
In her previous life, Maya had genuinely pitied Macguire, so she’d obediently followed Elise’s orders.
She even felt guilty due to the family’s constant gaslighting.
‘Not anymore, though.’
Anyway, she needed to stay attached to this mess of a household.
Maya’s mind raced.
‘They tried to use me to borrow money before.’
Might as well throw that out there!
She blinked her eyes pitifully, trying to appeal to her own value.
“That’s too hasty a decision. Think about it—I’m actually quite useful for a political marriage.”
The best way to appeal to Elise was through money.
“I can offer wealth and—”
But Elise cut her off.
“You insulted Macguire.”
The situation was urgent, so she had to clarify the truth.
“But that wasn’t my fault. Honestly, Macguire is just too weak—”
Maya accidentally began speaking the truth and quickly clamped her mouth shut.
‘Is living too honestly a crime now?’
She’d been a bit too diligent in following her motto of living truthfully.
Still, there was hope.
‘Maybe she didn’t hear that.’
She hadn’t even finished her sentence, and she hadn’t said it that loudly.
“What did you say?”
Unfortunately, Elise had heard everything.
“How could you say that to us! After everything we’ve done to raise you!”
Like mother, like son.
Her face flushed red, and her body shook in rage—just like Macguire had a few days earlier when he stormed into her room.
‘So what if we took on some debt in your name? Who gave you that power anyway? You should be grateful to us for the rest of your life.’
She could still vividly remember the audacity on their faces as they demanded money the last time they met.
Of course, she wanted to become a Swordmaster.
‘…But do I really have to endure this too?’
She’d used up all her patience in her last life.
‘I promised myself I’d say everything I wanted to this time. There has to be another way.’
Maya narrowed her brows and said coldly:
“Of course I could say that. You never even raised me in the first place.”
“Wha…?”
“You can’t say you raised someone when you never gave them anything to begin with.”
It was do-or-die!
“Unbelievable! This child has gone mad! Macguire! I really can’t live with her!”
Elise shrieked.
“Mother! This child is impossible to forgive!”
Macguire came running, yelling like a pig being slaughtered, and threw up his hands in defeat.
“You are a disgrace to the Pendragon name!”
Otto Pendragon was no different.
“I think you all are the disgrace to the Pendragon name.”
Maya corrected her father’s statement, despite them being related only by blood.
“Gasp…!”
Otto Pendragon clutched his neck in shock.
And so, the negotiation collapsed completely.
Maya was thrown out of the Pendragon household with nothing but the clothes on her back.
She had no savings.
As a beggar, she had nowhere to go.
She slumped down in an alleyway and thought about her future.
‘Let’s think positively.’
Just because she’d lost the Pendragon name didn’t mean her strength was gone.
‘So now, how do I awaken?’
Wielding a sword was as natural as breathing for her.
Becoming a Swordmaster felt as inevitable as having a birthday.
This time, she would live long enough to crawl through the mud.
For that, she needed money—and strength to protect herself.
And awakening wasn’t just about survival.
‘I have to awaken… if I want to live long.’
Maya knew of a prophecy about the Demon King’s return.
The signs were already appearing across the Empire.
Rivers turning red with blood, bizarre weather, and monsters of a completely different class had begun to emerge.
Maya’s very existence lent credibility to that prophecy.
The Pendragon family had excellent swordsmanship, but since the founder, no Swordmasters had been born.
Until Maya appeared.
“The power of the White Dragon will return alongside disaster.”
This was the will left behind by the Pendragon family’s founder, Ariette.
Even before the Emperor, the Empire’s situation had been worsening.
Monsters growing stronger had become a major problem in the North.
Of course, that bastard Emperor didn’t care.
In the end, to protect the people of the North who were dying one after another, the Duke raised a rebellion.
The spark from the North spread across the entire Empire.
Duke Tristan eventually invaded the Imperial Palace itself.
Maya remembered his face from before her death.
‘I thought we were the same age, but I was wrong.’
She thought he was just a few years older, but he turned out to be a young boy—at most, in his late teens.
A comment from his aide stuck in her mind.
“Duke, you finally had the chance to return to your rightful age…”
That aide’s words overlapped with what Tristan had told her—that she was the only one who could break his curse.
A curse.
It was unlikely, but she couldn’t help but wonder.
Because it was the most hopeful option she had.
‘Just like I have this “contractor” shackle, maybe the one born with black dragon blood has his own limitations.’
The House of Beyaiden was a Northern ducal house that had defended the Empire since its founding, alongside the Pendragon family and the Imperial family.
Their emblem was a jet-black dragon, in stark contrast to the Pendragon’s white dragon.
‘I didn’t want to cross paths with the Duke if possible…’
But there was no other way to awaken without getting involved with the Emperor.
She had to meet with Duke Tristan and strike a deal.
Find out the truth behind the proposal he sent her—and turn it into a mutually beneficial arrangement.
‘The Duke needs me.’
Maya decided to use this as leverage to negotiate with Duke Tristan.
The Duke she had seen in her past life had a righteous nature, warm enough to let even the Emperor’s hound go free.
‘He’s the perfect person to be a contractor.’
In her former life as a tyrant, she’d realized just how important a contractor was.
And since he lived in the North, there was no better candidate for her than Tristan.
She did feel a pang of guilt imagining someone like him being used by someone like her—but it couldn’t be helped.
‘I’m selfish and a bad person anyway.’
If she wanted to live this life right, making a deal with the Duke was essential.
‘I have to move quickly.’
Right now, she might still be his only option—but that wouldn’t last forever.
She had to take advantage of the situation.
‘…I’m sorry, Duke, but a deal built on mutual leverage is more secure anyway.’
If she truly was the one who could lift his curse, then they could become perfect partners in this deal.
