CH 3

Elodie, who would normally have rushed in to fight with Carlot, left without any hesitation.

She was even humming.

The Perdia brothers remained and stared at the hallway where Elodie had disappeared.

It was Carlot who opened his mouth first. “Brother.”

“Mhh?”

Carlot narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Isn’t that a little weird?” 

Carlot was annoyed for no reason and his expression crumpled when Jansi smiled and said nothing. “It’s not funny.”

Carlot held his pugnacious attitude only for Elodie. Jansi called his name in a rough voice.

“Carl.”

“You don’t really recognize her as your younger sister.”

“……….”

“I know that much. You know?” Carlot spat out. 

On the surface he knew that Jansi pretended to be kind, but in fact, it was just the facade of a perfect person. 

Jansi clearly remembered the day in particular where Elodie, a newborn baby, first appeared in the family. One day, the Duke of Perdia brought a woman named Arcelia and put her in the annex. 

Then he said indifferently, “Elodie Perdia.”

“……..”

“It’s your sister.”

Rumors were running rampant, speculating that she was a slave, but the Duke of Perdia did not give any explanation.

Of course, Jansi thought his mother would get angry, but the house was unexpectedly quiet.

A few days later, the woman suddenly disappeared, but the baby remained in the mansion.

You can’t feel affection for an unfamiliar baby who cries bitterly.

She was a permanent stranger for Jansi. To put it bluntly, he didn’t even think much about his younger brother, but he had a sense of obligation because they were born in the same family.

“It’s so weird. Did she eat something wrong?” Still suspicious, Carlot grumbled with a grimace.

‘He’s very interested in Elodie Perdia,’ Jansi thought. 

The blood relatives of Perdia were not interested in each other, because they were very individualistic.

Carlot wasn’t like a Perdia.

Jansi leaned softly back, recalling Elodie’s unusual appearance. It wasn’t like Elodie to hold back her temper.

“Yeah…it was weird.” Jansi finally agreed. He certainly could admit it.

She had changed.

Elodie Perdia.

*** 

Once upon a time there were seven major sins that destroyed the earth. Pride, lust, envy, anger, gluttony, laziness, greed.

They destroyed the continent, carrying out the orders of Irkalla – the goddess of the underworld – who was not satisfied with what she had and coveted heaven and earth.

As the world fell into deeper and deeper ruin, Ishtar, Irkala’s sister and the goddess of heaven and earth, eventually stepped forward.

She distributed her powers to seven humans, each human charged with sealing away one of the major sins.

After fighting, the humans won and were revered as heroes. The heroes who sealed the sins set up seven families, which became the founding myth of Wallentian.

Over the years, only five families remained. And so, the four families and the founding contributor, the central family Wallentian, were established.

And one of them was the Perdia family, the family I belonged to.

The reason why I suddenly remembered this old myth is that it has a huge impact on my livelihood.

‘That power.’

Whether the myth was really true, the imperial family and the four families could use the power of God for generations.

There was a time when I was sad about why the power of Perdia that normally appeared around the age of five didn’t appear to me. I thought it was because I was an illegitimate child, but in fact there was another reason.

‘There’s no way I’m capable of destruction, not with this blood.’

So, I can’t use any powers? Not even a drop of Perdia’s blood was mixed in with mine?

‘No…’

But I had other powers.

The direct power of another family.

Because my father was Richard Severes, the Duke of Severes. However, the Duke of Severes was sadly in a coma and currently absent.

‘It’s okay.’

It was rumored that the Duke of Severes was not married and had no heirs, so the estate manager was taking care of the affairs of the duke.

“Why is my father in a coma..?” I whined.

If not, I wouldn’t have had to work so hard to survive. My poor life.

The blood of Severes flows through my body. The attribute of the power of the Severes family was “purification”.

When I regained the memories of my previous life, I remembered that the original book stated in detail what my power was. Elodie unconsciously used her powers in the scene where she was counterattacked while plotting a vicious move to deal with the original heroine Estelle. Then it was discovered that she was not an illegitimate child. 

She was expelled from the family and met a tragic end.

The important thing was that this ability could be put to good use, as long as it was not discovered that it was the power of the Severes family.

In the original story it could be said that this power was the cause of death, but I couldn’t help it to be happy that I also had powers.

‘All this time, I had powers, too.’

I believed that I would be recognized by my family as a member of Perdia if my powers were manifested. From the day I turned five, I prayed and prayed with my hands together every night.

Of course, as a member of the family it was useless now, but I was really glad that my earnest desire remained.

After I was in agony a few days ago due to regaining my memories from a past life, I used my power as a test to confirm that my ability was real.

“Hmm. How can I make money with this ability?”

Deep in thought, I looked out the window involuntarily with my chin propped up on my palm.

Then there was something that caught my eye. A backyard full of grass and brilliant flowers.

It was the Duchess’s field of poisonous plants.

Themis Perdia. The Duchess was the greatest herbalist on the continent. Fifty percent of the poison distributed in shadows was developed by her.

Her main source of income was ironically an antidote. Because of course you need an antidote to use poison.

The Duchess, who distributes poison on the black market, is seen as an eyesore in the imperial city, but they had not been able to lay a hand on her because of the crushing authority of Perdia.

‘Come to think of it, there was a recent incident in the imperial palace that touched a nerve for the Duchess.’

At that moment a newspaper headline flashed through my mind.

[Perdia’s pest control pills. In fact, extreme poison for silence?]

It was an article that said that as soon as the Duchess’s insecticide, which was effective in eradicating pests, was released on the market, the imperial family issued an order to recall it.

As it was fatal to pests, humans were no exception, and they argued that there had been more cases of using the poison without an antidote to harm someone.

In short, when crop-eating pests were rampant and the continent was threatened by a poor harvest, the good will of the Duchess – who developed pesticides for her own cause – was brutally trampled.

The release of her new product was completely and utterly ruined. As a result, the Duchess was in a low mood.

The imperial palace threatened to develop antidotes themselves in order to distribute pesticides back to the market. However, there was no way that the antidote could be developed so quickly.

My mind began to race.

Deadly poison, antidote, and…my power.

‘Oh?’

Wait a minute.

“Ohoh, is this going to work?”

I thought of a great money-making job!

***

I went straight into action.

The first thing I did was call Martha, my exclusive maid. Martha was the only person in the mansion who was on my side. She was also the daughter of the Nanny who took care of me as a newborn baby that was neglected and cared for by no one.

Martha was my age, and though she was a maid, she was also somewhat like a friend, so I was especially weak to her even though I was vicious to others.

“What’s the matter, Miss?”

“Martha, can I ask you a favor?”

Martha threw her arms up in a ‘no chance’ posture and said, “You can’t go out. You must keep a low profile.”

She looked worried because Elodie from the past had a splendid record of going out at will after receiving a probation sentence. It was an obvious reaction that showed how low Martha’s trust in me was.

“Fortunately, that’s not what I want to ask for.”

“Fortunately, you’re not going out? Then what is it?”

I beckoned quietly and Martha put her ear with an uneasy face to me. I quickly explained my request in whispers.

Martha’s face turned pale as my whispering continued. “No, Miss, why would you do that?”

Of course, I knew you’d say no, but I didn’t expect you to get mad at me like this.

“There’s a proper place to use everything.”

“No, it’s too dangerous! What else are you planning to do?”

“Martha.”

“No, I can´t.” Martha flatly refused, but I didn’t give up.

“…Martha. “

“I can’t…. “

I clapped my hands together and gave her my best and brightest pleading eyes. “I beg of you. “

Martha was as weak to me as I am to her, so she eventually raised the white flag at my repeated requests.

“You really shouldn’t do anything dangerous,” she said in a defeated voice.

“Okay!”

I reprimanded myself as I watched Martha finally fall for my rant.

‘Sorry, Martha. I don’t think I can keep that promise.’

A promise not to do anything dangerous was not feasible for me – what I’m trying to do is risky.

Two days later,  after all the preparations were completed, I took the long-awaited first step with my supplies.

Father told me to keep a low profile, but walking around the mansion would be fine.

I had no energy, and my body was limp after working nonstop for two days. I was so dizzy that I felt like I was going to collapse at any moment.

‘I want to rest, but it’s better to meet as soon as possible. We don’t have much time.’

While I was heading to the destination alone, all the maids I encountered suddenly became extremely dutiful and busy and scattered like mice. It was a part of the mansion that showed me how far my notoriety extended.

It was the Duchess’s poisonous field in the back garden that made my steps joyful.

The Duchess sat in front of a table with a parasol, instructing the workers who were managing the poisonous weeds.

The Duchess turned her head to the sound of my approaching footsteps.

“Hello, Duchess.”

The Duchess replied to my greeting with an elegant smile. “Long time no see, Elodie.”

“Yes, I’m glad you look healthy.”

“What?”

The sharp look in her eyes made me secretly avoid her gaze. My heart pounded hard for fear that the quick-witted Duchess might notice my change.

Besides that, there was a reason why I had no choice but to be nervous. I had always been very uncomfortable around her.

The Duchess has never harmed me, an illegitimate child who has been sold to this mansion since I was a baby, but it was clear that I was like a thorn in her eyes.

Who would be pleased with an illegitimate child who rolled in out of nowhere? I  naturally felt uncomfortable and disliked.

‘Don’t worry Duchess. I’m going to go away!’

Once again, I smiled as harmlessly as I could, vowing to strengthen my independence.

The Duchess continued the conversation politely, flapping her fan. “I heard that you’re keeping a low profile, but you must have come out because you’re bored.”

“Yes,” I nodded. “I have been in the room for so long that I have a headache.”

“Yes.”

Silence ensued. The conversation was cut off.

“………”

“………..”

There was no suitable conversation in the first place.

The Duchess’s eyes were directed at the invading weeds in the field that had been killed as the work progressed.

She already seemed to have forgotten my existence, despite me standing close by. Or she was ignoring me on purpose.

‘It’s the same no matter what happens between us two.’

Still, I couldn’t give up like this. I would be careful not to offend the Duchess as much as possible.

“The royal family is just too much. The Duchess developed a good pesticide for the farmers, and they ordered it to be recalled.”

“Well, that is the case.”

‘Is she teasing me now?’

The Duchess looked at me with a smirk. Perhaps because I brought up a sensitive topic, she looked displeased, but I succeeded in attracting her attention.

I didn’t miss the chance.

“So I mean.”

“So, what?”

“I think I can help the Duchess.”

The fishing line was baited and cast.

‘Now, bite it!’

I waited for the big fish to be caught, pressing down my anxiety down in my throbbing chest.

The Duchess’s mouth opened.