TRWTVPS 01

Chapter 01

“Milord! The merchant caravan has been attacked by a horde of monsters!”

At Lian’s urgent shout as he burst through the door, Marquis Rissus dropped the newspaper he had been holding.

“The caravan was attacked?!” His face turned pale.

His daughter, Erin, had been traveling with that caravan.

“Erin? Is Erin safe?!”

At Lloyd’s question, Lian frowned, struggling to catch his breath. In that brief moment, countless possibilities flashed through the marquis’s mind.

Erin Rissus—his fragile and beautiful daughter, who resembled her late mother.

Not long ago, Erin had severely injured several maids through excessive punishment. Even after hearing of it, the marquis had tried to ignore it as usual.

The reason he changed his mind was because of his wife, Corellia.

She had earnestly pleaded with him, saying that for Erin’s sake, her behavior had to be corrected.

Though the marquis worried that Erin’s feelings might be hurt, he couldn’t refuse his wife’s request.

Indeed, Erin’s behavior had gone too far.

‘If this gets out, Erin’s standing will only worsen.’

In the end, following Corellia’s advice, he sent Erin back to the academy with a merchant caravan.

It would serve as an appropriate punishment for Erin, who usually traveled with numerous knights and maids, and it would also show others that she was reflecting on her actions.

As the shocked marquis staggered, Corellia supported him.

With a trembling voice, she said,

“Lloyd… this is all my fault. I only wanted her to grow up a little before marriage…”

Yet strangely, the corners of her lips curled up slightly.

It was an expression neither the marquis nor Lian noticed.

Unaware of this, the marquis recalled Erin, who would struggle if her attendants didn’t massage her shoulders and legs all day.

This was the first time she had been sent out with only one knight and one maid.

Why did a monster horde have to appear now? His face grew even paler.

At that moment, after catching his breath, Lian spoke again, his face twisted with confusion.

“My lady… she…”

“I—I shouldn’t have done that! Is she badly injured? Or… no, don’t tell me—!”

As the marquis assumed the worst, Lian quickly shook his head. Yet he still hesitated to speak.

What he had heard was simply too unbelievable.

“My lady… killed all the monsters and saved the caravan!”

“…What?”

Neither the marquis nor Corellia could comprehend what they had just heard.

Erin defeated a horde of monsters…?

Of course, there shouldn’t have been any powerful monsters in that region. The marquis knew this, which was why he had sent her with the caravan.

Moreover, he had assigned his most trusted knight, Sir Leken, to accompany her.

‘Surely they must be mistaken—Leken must have done it.’

When faced with something too shocking, people often rationalize. The marquis was no exception.

How could his frail daughter defeat a horde of monsters? If even a single high-ranking monster had been present, one knight wouldn’t be enough.

“So it was Sir Leken, then? Thank goodness I sent him along. Erin is safe, at least?”

“Yes, my lady is safe, but… the one who defeated the monsters wasn’t Sir Leken…”

Lian trailed off, unable to finish.

Even he couldn’t believe the report.

‘Just what happened?’

In the end, Lian gave up trying to convince the marquis.

* * *

Leken stared blankly at Erin, who sat before him.

“My lady… you may eat comfortably inside the carriage.”

Why was a noble eating with merchants?

If it were someone like him—a common knight—it would be understandable.

If Erin were walking the path of a knight and preparing to inherit the marquis title, perhaps this scene would make sense.

But she had never intended to become a knight.

Erin’s goal had always been to marry well—and she had nearly achieved it.

So there was no reason for her to be camping and eating roadside like this.

“I can’t eat alone in the carriage while you’re out here like this.”

Her hand, wrapped in bandages, trembled slightly.

Seeing the blood seeping through, the maid Sarah beside her grew anxious.

“My lady’s delicate hands… how heartbreaking…”

That wasn’t what mattered right now.

Leken examined Erin closely.

No matter how he looked at her, she was the same Erin Rissus he knew.

Then what on earth had happened yesterday?

When he first woke up, he thought it had been a dream.

But the wound on her hand proved otherwise.

‘Has she been secretly training with the sword?’

He quickly shook his head.

That made no sense.

Though the Rissus family was known for swordsmanship, Erin had always been far removed from it.

Luxury, indulgence, laziness—those were the words that described her.

If she had trained, he would have known.

A knight of his caliber could gauge another’s skill.

‘There’s no way she’s stronger than me…’

Leken was the marquis’s most favored knight and a top graduate of the Atens Academy’s swordsmanship department.

‘Then what was that swordsmanship…?’

When the monsters attacked, Leken had prepared himself to lose an arm.

Though the caravan had guards, the monsters were too numerous.

There were even mid-level monsters among them.

At first, he held his ground, but gradually he was overwhelmed.

‘They were definitely that strong.’

No ordinary person—certainly not Erin—could have handled them.

Yet she did.

“My lady… where did you learn swordsmanship?”

Erin fell silent for a moment.

Even that calm reaction seemed strange.

It was as if someone else had taken over her body.

Or could a person really change so suddenly?

“I learned by watching Caron practice.”

“…Just by watching?”

“…”

“That’s impossible…”

At his disbelief, Erin’s expression hardened slightly. She stood up and cleared her soup bowl.

‘When did she finish eating?’

There had been plenty left.

She usually ate barely anything.

“I’ll rest now. I’m still tired from yesterday.”

She didn’t look tired at all, but Leken couldn’t say anything.

Without realizing it, he had already begun to be overwhelmed by her presence.

* * *

Erin’s carriage, adorned with extravagant jewels, stood out awkwardly among the merchant wagons.

Though the marquis had meant to punish her, he still prepared a special carriage for her comfort.

But in hindsight, it didn’t help her reputation.

Looking at the jewels, Erin frowned.

Then she reflected on her life.

She had lived it twice—this was her third.

Her trembling hands tightened.

Despite Leken’s suspicions, she truly was Erin Rissus.

“Erin Rissus…”

She murmured her own name.

A notorious villainess. A girl known for cruelty and extravagance.

But none of it was true.

She lifted her skirt slightly.

Bruises still lingered on her legs.

They were the result of “punishments” inflicted by Corellia.

‘There must be more wounds elsewhere.’

From the moment her father remarried Corellia, arranged by the emperor, Erin had never known peace.

“Erin, you are truly a useless child. What do you think your father would say if he knew?”

The abuse had always been hidden.

Those careless words, repeated since childhood, had worn down her mind.

Like brainwashing, she feared disappointing her father so much that she never spoke up.

She lived as if she were already dead.

A puppet controlled by her stepmother.

Until, in the end—

She was killed by Corellia.

‘I never thought I’d live again after dying.’

And then…

She was reborn in another world.