Inerea Mertiel.
My life, in a word, was a series of hardships. I never even dreamed of comfort—adversity followed me like a shadow.
It made a joke out of my so-called noble blood.
Especially him—I met him when I had hit rock bottom.
It was the night I chased my father into the mountains, after my mother, who had never once left her room since the day I was born, died of illness. My father tried to secretly bury her deep in the forest to hide her disgraceful death.
I still vividly remember the sensation of damp soil beneath my feet as I climbed the steep mountain trail in the dead of night, when no one was awake.
The smell of wet grass, the sting of branches scratching my skin.
I couldn’t forget a single moment of that night, no matter how hard I tried.
My father, claiming that dying young from illness was a disgrace to a noble, dug and dug into the earth.
All to erase that disgrace for good.
That was how my mother—whom I had only just begun to know as an adult—ended up in a shallow grave that couldn’t even be called a proper resting place.
I don’t remember much of the way back down the mountain.
Was it the smell of wet earth and grass? Or the overwhelming scent of blood that hung in the air like mist?
The reek of alcohol that always clung to my father had long since vanished.
When I turned my head, I saw him clinging precariously to the edge of a cliff, dangling by just a few fingers.
“……”
I knelt down to look at him—my father, hanging over an abyss whose depths I couldn’t even see.
I gently tucked my wind-blown hair behind my ear.
Then I stood up again, patiently waiting for his grip to give out.
And I began to walk back down that treacherous path.
I tripped several times along the way, but I didn’t feel any pain.
The world was bathed in red.
I had to return to the estate.
What would people think if both my mother and father disappeared overnight?
Would the duchy remain intact if the ducal couple vanished without a word?
But with my hands scraped and bleeding from the falls, none of those thoughts seemed to matter anymore.
Clutching my thin nightgown tightly around me, shivering in the cold night air, I had only one thought.
I needed to return to the estate.
Before the sun rose—before anyone woke up—I had to sneak back in.
But that hope shattered the moment I saw a small light in the forest.
My battered, strengthless body—bruised and sore from tumbling down the mountain—couldn’t carry me safely home.
There was a small campfire burning nearby, perhaps someone camping in the woods.
As I approached, I felt a presence. Men, likely knights, immediately drew their swords.
All I could do was clutch my gown and breathe raggedly.
They were clearly suspicious of me.
I was wearing nothing but a negligee, stained with blood from my injuries. One of my shoes was missing, my feet bare, my body reeking of dirt and grass. Who wouldn’t be suspicious?
“Who goes there? State your identity!”
I blinked.
About fifteen men stood before me.
As if that weren’t enough, the knights in armor, swords drawn, looked more threatening than I could bear.
If I turned my back, they would surely strike.
I clenched and unclenched the hem of my gown, saying nothing.
I tried to look at their faces, but they were too blurry in the darkness.
They had put out their campfire the moment I appeared, forcing me to rely solely on the moonlight to see them.
“If you don’t speak, I’ll strike you down.”
Just as I opened my mouth—
A man stepped forward, pushing through the knights.
Not a single one of them resisted; they parted without hesitation to let him pass.
I couldn’t see his face, hidden in the shadows.
But the scent he carried—I recognized it instantly. The sharp cigar smoke I always associated with my father, and the stench of death.
He spoke.
“You…”
Even tilting my head back as far as I could, I could only see up to his chin.
“You look familiar.”
His voice was low and husky, like he was half-asleep, murmuring with a hint of curiosity.
A chill ran down my spine as I bit my lip.
I forced strength into my legs, on the verge of collapsing, and straightened my posture.
Unable to say anything, I simply chewed the inside of my lip until finally, I forced out a word.
“I don’t know you.”
The man made a thoughtful humming sound, then glanced at the path I’d just come down.
His eyes, shining faintly blue in the moonlight, glimmered dangerously.
“Is that so?”
Like a child hiding candy under their tongue while lying, hoping the adult wouldn’t notice.
I stood there, silently praying he’d believe a lie that was far too obvious.
“Then should I just let you go?”
With that, the knights, as if waiting for the cue, stepped aside and cleared a path.
In the still silence, I cautiously began to walk.
I stumbled several times in the darkness, but all I could wish for was to make it back to the estate before dawn.
That was just days before I would see him again.
And it was also the first day of my regression.
The past… no, the events before I returned are long to tell.
SLAP!
A sharp sound rang out as my head was thrown to the side.
“You don’t have the luxury to say no. Inerea, be grateful you can at least be of use to me like this.”
His voice was low and calm—disturbingly emotionless. It twisted my insides.
Clutching my bloodied cheek, I turned to face the man who had just hit me.
My throat made a creaking sound as I forced it to work.
My voice probably trembled, my body shaking like a leaf.
It always did when I stood before him.
“Father, I’m an adult now. I can even bear the son you’ve always wanted. So please…”
If he had just allowed it, I would have knelt at his feet and begged until my hands wore down.
“It would help me and our family more if you took on the guilt than bore a son.”
Our family?
He never once acknowledged me as his child because I wasn’t the son he wanted—yet he speaks of family now?
“Father, please think carefully! If not me, then who will continue our bloodline? Who will bear the heir? Hm? Without me, those branch nobles will definitely fight for your place.”
It was maddening.
The wretched sense of despair made my mind reel.
How do I even describe the terror, like one misstep would send me falling off a cliff?
“Please… think just once more. I don’t have to take the blame—there has to be another way. Please, Father.”
He rubbed his chin with his hand and glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.
I felt chills—like I was facing a wild beast.
“No. Right now, there’s no better alternative than making you the culprit.”
I wanted to scream how absurd that was—but my body, long conditioned to fear him, had frozen in place.
“The Imperial Court has already named you as the suspect.”
His words were so ridiculous I almost laughed.
“Become a criminal—for my sake.”
I remember it clearly—the night I followed him into the mountains to bury Mother’s body, after no one realized she was dying, locked in her room.
If her corpse hadn’t been discovered, he would’ve carried on as if nothing had happened.
“Because of you, born wrong from the beginning, I can finally lay this burden down.”
It was a miserable end.
Mother’s death had come to light due to my father’s sloppy attempt to cover it up.
And I became the murderer.
I lived my entire life desperately trying to fulfill his ambitions.
“Inerea, follow your mother and go ahead.”
Matricide. The only daughter of the duke killing her own mother—a scandal beyond imagination.
The duke had named me the criminal.
And from that moment on, there was no turning back.
CLANG!
Knights burst into the room.
Among them, I saw royal guards mingled with our household’s men.
One of them, impeccably dressed, spoke nonsense with a calm voice.
“Inerea Mertiel, as of this moment, you are stripped of the Mertiel name. By the authority of the Imperial Court, you are hereby placed under arrest.
