IVF 03

Chapter 03

Lumina didn’t lower her head—instead, she lifted her chin even higher.

Madam Vales, who had been slapped square across the cheek, trembled as if she had suffered the greatest humiliation.

“You—are you acting like this because you think you’ll inherit the family now that your parents are dead? If that’s the case, how very short-sighted of you!”

“Though I can’t say I find it likely that Aunt would be able to lead the family either.”

She no longer bore the surname Langshus. She was now an outsider to the family.

Unless she divorced at this point, there was no way she could directly rule it.

“If we’re being precise, wouldn’t my chances of becoming head of the house be higher than yours, Aunt?”

“……”

“Ah, of course, that’s just the opinion of someone as short-sighted as me. If it sounds wrong, feel free to ignore it.”

The moment Lumina added that, it was practically visible how Madam Vales’s blood pressure shot up in real time.

She wanted to argue back—but there wasn’t a single incorrect word to latch onto. She couldn’t even scoff.

Her face flushed bright red as she shouted, “Let’s see how well you manage without our help. Even if you come crawling to me on your knees later, begging after you finally come to your senses, I won’t lift a finger to help you!”

“I’ll live even better than you imagine, Aunt. So please, watch until the very end!”

At Lumina’s almost cheerful reply, Madam Vales was left speechless. She spun around with a huff.

The onlookers, who had been watching the quarrel, covered their mouths and began whispering rapidly among themselves, as if swept up in shock.

“No wonder Count Langshus used to shudder whenever his daughter was mentioned.”

“Did you see the way she talked back just now? For a child, she’s vicious.”

They thought they were whispering quietly, but every word reached Lumina’s ears.

The malicious stares. The negative words passed between them.

Ignoring it all, Lumina strode forward.

Her destination was her half-brother, Endymion.

The boy who had been in the carriage accident had injured his leg and was wearing a splint.

“Endymion.”

She had slapped her aunt earlier—was she going after Endymion now?!

The crowd swallowed nervously at the thought.

Her voice, however, was unexpectedly gentle when calling her half-brother.

But hadn’t she just used that same calm tone to talk back to Madam Vales without batting an eye?

If she could slap her aunt, slapping her half-brother would be even easier.

Everyone found their suspicions entirely plausible.

Then Lumina, who had been clenching her fist, extended her hand.

She opened her fist as she did so.

“Let’s get along from now on.”

Endymion looked at her with an unreadable expression.

It was only natural for him to be wary. His aloof half-sister was suddenly acting friendly.

‘It’s not exactly the best situation for exchanging belated greetings.’

Normally, Lumina had been a quiet child.

No—she had been forced into being quiet under her stepmother’s pressure.

She had never once spoken to Endymion first before. And now, after both their parents had died, she was saying they should get along?

To Endymion, it could very well sound like a declaration of war.

‘They may not have been good parents to me, but to him, they must have been the kindest in the world.’

Endymion was mature beyond his years.

But he was still only ten, and he had been present at the accident. He must have been deeply shaken.

Knowing all of that, Lumina smiled as if she knew nothing.

They both understood each other’s circumstances all too well. If she offered empty condolences, it would only arouse more suspicion.

Endymion stared at her face.

After a moment, his gaze shifted to the hand she held out.

“Yes, Sister.”

Answering shortly, Endymion took her hand.

His face still clearly read, “Suspicious.”

‘He really is just a child.’

His thoughts were written plainly all over his face.

Lumina swallowed the words that she didn’t need to be guarded against so intensely.

It was too soon for that request.

‘We’ll come to understand each other gradually. If it’s anyone else, I don’t know—but to Endymion, I’ll fulfill my duty as family.’

Lumina recalled the final moments of her previous life.

It was when Joseph had bound her hands and feet with his schemes and transported her to some unknown place.

Clatter—

Her body jolted as the carriage rattled along.

Lumina turned her head weakly, but she could see nothing.

She already knew the stories of incompetent Legions sold at high prices.

They were said to live lives so miserable that death would be preferable.

‘Even if they’re Legions, they’re born human. Anyone who buys one with money can’t possibly be sane.’

As dark as her vision was, the bleak future awaiting her felt increasingly real.

Then—

“It’s an ambush! Everyone, stop—Aagh!”

A scream rang out, followed by shouts she couldn’t make sense of.

Thud!

The carriage came to an abrupt halt.

Lumina’s eyes darted.

‘Something’s wrong.’

A chilling sensation ran down her spine.

But there was nothing she could do. She was helpless inside the carriage.

Creak—

The carriage door opened. Someone removed her blindfold.

Light poured in, cutting through the darkness.

And she saw a familiar face.

‘…Endymion?’

A face that looked exactly like their father’s.

Her half-brother, whom she could never mistake for anyone else, no matter how much time passed.

Was he in league with their uncle?

That was her first thought. After all, she had been told all their relatives agreed to her disposal.

It wouldn’t be strange if Endymion were among them.

But that possibility quickly vanished. Endymion scanned her relatively unharmed state and visibly sighed in relief.

“Hurry and run. Go somewhere no one can find you.”

Lumina couldn’t immediately understand his words.

She merely blinked.

“I’ve fulfilled my duty as family.”

Family? Duty?

But Endymion didn’t get the chance to explain.

He collapsed where he stood.

Only then could Lumina properly see him.

Endymion was covered in blood, riddled with wounds large and small.

“E-Endymion…”

She touched his cheek.

It was still warm. The warmth dampening her palm made him feel alive—

despite the fact that his breathing had already stopped.

Lumina slowly turned her head.

The men who had been transporting her were all lying dead.

It seemed Endymion had taken care of them alone.

The only living person left was Lumina.

The scene felt surreal.

“…Why?” she murmured blankly.

Why?

“Why would you do this?”

She couldn’t understand.

She had been betrayed by the uncle she chose.

And saved by the half-brother she had pushed away.

“We weren’t even really family! We just shared the same father!”

Her cry echoed hollowly.

In that moment, Lumina saw through her own ugly truth.

‘I hated Endymion.’

She had never shown it openly, but deep down she had resented the half-brother who had suddenly appeared one day.

And she had unconsciously lumped him together with her stepmother, assuming they were on the same side.

That was why she had taken the hand of her maternal uncle instead—believing he would stand by her.

“If it were me, I wouldn’t have done this.”

“……”

“I wouldn’t have helped you, even if you were in danger. But you…”

Like a dam breaking, Lumina poured out her heart—but Endymion gave no answer.

“No. I asked you. So you have to tell me why you helped me.”

“……”

“You’re going to leave knowing the truth alone? That’s too unfair.”

She knew she was being unreasonable.

She knew no answer would come.

Yet she pressed him anyway.

In the cold silence, tears slid down her cheeks.

Then—

Butterfly wings sprouted from her back, and tiny butterflies swarmed around Endymion.

The shimmering butterflies soon vanished.

Squinting against the dazzling light, Lumina saw—

Endymion, still drenched in blood, but with all his wounds gone.

Instead, Lumina was now covered in injuries. The wounds had appeared in the exact same places, as if transferred from him.

An incompetent Legion.

That was how Joseph had described her.

And Lumina herself had believed she was a Legion with no ability.

But she hadn’t been powerless.

She was simply different from other Legions who specialized in combat—

and her ability had manifested far too late.

“Ugh…”

It wasn’t just the wounds that had transferred.

A stabbing agony tore through her.

Pain close to death.

‘He told me to run.’

But she couldn’t.

Because of the poison her maternal uncle had forced her to ingest over a long period of time, even taking a single step forward was unbearable.

The overwhelming pain clouded her vision.

Lumina collapsed.

Then she heard an unfamiliar man’s voice above her.

“…So the healing Legion that only existed in legend was real after all.”

Who?

Through her fading sight, she glimpsed the face of a middle-aged man she had never seen before.

“You must have been exposed to poison for far too long. Under normal circumstances, your self-healing would have saved your life.”

His pupils were slit vertically.

If she hadn’t seen Endymion, she might have believed this fierce-looking man was the one who killed everyone here.

In a regretful tone, he continued,

“With an ability like this, you might have been able to save my son. But it’s all too late.”

He gently closed Lumina’s eyes with his large hand, as if granting her peace.

But when he removed his hand, her eyes were no longer shut.

They stared back at him clearly—filled with the will to live.

“Do you want to live?”

If she could, she would have nodded.

Just imagining Joseph and her relatives celebrating triumphantly made it impossible for her to quietly close her eyes and die.

“In that case…”

It seemed she gathered her last strength and nodded.

That was Lumina’s final memory before the end of her life.

‘Back then, I didn’t know who that man was.’

She hadn’t been in her right mind.

But now, recalling it calmly with clarity, she knew exactly who he was.

‘Duke Hart.’

A powerful Legion and a high-ranking noble.

He was the key to protecting her family from being manipulated by relatives who only cared about lining their own pockets.