The Strongest Family Has Arrived!

Chapter 9

—–CROW—– 

“Curious, aren’t you? About what my ability is.”

“…”

“Once you see it, you’ll immediately retract your statement about not using me.”

“*Chuckle, chuckle, chuckle…*”

Ryan covered his eyes with his hand and laughed for a long time. His eyes, when he looked back at me, had sharpened.

“You’re a funny one. Are you just saying anything to get me to stay?”

“Shall I show you?”

“You lied about being incompetent, and you intentionally got yourself kicked out of that good home? How could a twelve-year-old pull that off?”

“Why couldn’t I? Someone was falsely accused at twelve, went to prison quietly, and burned with a desire for revenge for twelve years.”

Ryan’s jaw dropped.

“Are you… talking about me?”

“Yes. I know you were falsely accused, Appa. How could an incompetent person do something like that?”

“I told you, even incompetent people can kill!”

“Why didn’t you explain yourself?  Weren’t you wronged? The real culprits are Duke Edgar Vasenberg, his eldest son David, and his second son Elliot. Those three.”

Ryan’s jaw dropped even further as I recited the list of those to be killed.

“Now do you understand why I escaped from the family and why I want to stay with you no matter what? I’m still young and need a guardian, but I don’t want to live with a family of criminals.”

“Wait, hold on. Wow. You…”

“I’ll help you with your revenge. Until the real criminals face the judgment of the law and you’re cleared of your false accusation.”

I slightly lifted my skirt and pulled out a small dagger strapped to my thigh. Ryan yelped.

“Hey, you scary little girl! Can you please give me some time to process this before we move on to the next stage?”

“Lend me your hand.”

“Ha.”

Though dumbfounded, Ryan obediently held out his hand. He seemed to want to see what I was going to do.

“Is it okay if I cut you a little?”

“With that scrawny little hand of yours? Give it here.”

Ryan took the dagger and cut his own palm.  A long line of red blood welled up.

I immediately grabbed Ryan’s hand.

At that moment…

A white light briefly enveloped the wound and then disappeared.

The blood on his palm remained.

But…

“…”

Ryan silently wiped away the blood. His palm, which should have been cut, was perfectly fine.  The pain must have disappeared as well.

‘I went through so much trouble to acquire this ability as soon as I regressed…’

Light’s Restoration.

A healing ability classified as top-tier.

I figured it would be the power Ryan needed most. That’s why I desperately acquired it before meeting him.

Because if Ryan rejected me, I had to prove my usefulness somehow.

“You want to take me with you now, don’t you?”

I placed my hands on my hips and lifted my chin.

“This…”

Seeing Ryan’s stunned expression, I felt a little smug.

It wouldn’t do for him to be surprised by just this.

What I had just revealed was only a part of my hand.

I wouldn’t have been treated like a princess in the family before the regression with just a healing ability.

My real ability was…

***

My memories of my first life before the regression begin with the voices of the maids waking me up at Windsor Castle.

“Sleepyhead Miss, wake up. It’s already morning.”

“Lady Vania, today…”

I didn’t know who my mother was, and my name was given to me by the maids. I grew up with my half-siblings, all illegitimate children in the same situation.

“The Duke is a truly remarkable man.”

I knew that the father I had never met was a remarkable person.

I also knew that if I manifested an ability, I could leave Windsor Castle and live a life of luxury by Father’s side.

“You know, Vania? I heard there’s an incompetent among Father’s children.”

It was around the age of nine when I heard the rumors about Ryan from my half-sister, Christa, who was the same age as me.

“He’s Father’s fifth son, and I heard he’s in prison now.  He burned down an entire estate and killed everyone there a long time ago.”

“But he’s incompetent? How could he do that without an ability?”

“I don’t know. But I overheard the maids talking secretly.  They said Father probably abandoned him because he’s incompetent. He didn’t even get him out of prison.”

Back then, I was too young to understand the adults’ complicated circumstances.

I only understood that even if you were Father’s child, you could be abandoned if you were incompetent.

“Vania! Oppa is leaving!”

“Goodbye, Vania!”

As the siblings I grew up with left one by one, I became anxious.

‘When can I leave?’

My heart grew even more anxious after hearing that there was an incompetent among Father’s children.

An ability, a special power called “Bless,” meaning blessing. And ability users who wielded these blessings.

I knew the theory better than anyone.

But…

“How do you use a Bless?  You just… feel it one day. You suddenly know you can use it.”

“I can’t explain it. You just… whoosh, poof!  And it works.”

“That’s right. You just whoosh, and it’s done.”

What were they talking about? I asked my older sisters and brothers countless times, but I couldn’t grasp it.

Then, one day…

“Vania, look at this!”

Even Christa manifested an ability.

The flower petal in her hand floated in the air, even though there wasn’t a breath of wind.

“Isn’t it amazing? My Bless is . I can even make wind for you when you’re hot.”

Just like that, Christa left the castle, and three more years passed.

I was twelve years old.

The age the family had set as the limit for ability manifestation.

I, who hadn’t manifested an ability by then… finally met Father for the first time.

“Another one?”

A mountain of a man. Golden hair and bright yellow, beastly eyes.

My father, the Duke of Vasenberg, whom I met for the first time, was like a scorching sun that seemed to burn everything.

“Another incompetent, you say?”

But his expression was utterly cold.

Even though I was young, I instinctively knew that if I didn’t show him something, I would be abandoned.

“You just whoosh, poof!  And it works.”

“That’s right. You just whoosh, and it’s done.”

What did that even mean?

“I heard there’s an incompetent among Father’s children.”

“Father probably abandoned him because he’s incompetent.”

No. I couldn’t be abandoned.

Christa did it, so why couldn’t I?

Why?

Trembling, I recalled the moment Christa used her ability.

Her figure, creating a gentle breeze.

“Huh?”

At that moment, my skirt fluttered.

I realized.

“F-Father! Did you see that?”

That I had the same power as Christa.

“I just made the wind blow like Christa! I could do it too!”

But for some reason, Father had a strange expression.  The administrators who came with him also looked puzzled.

“That’s right. It’s the same as Lady Christa’s Bless.”

“Yes, it’s definitely .  It’s the first time we’ve had two people with the same ability in the same generation.”

The administrators, after confirming my ability again, were all astonished.

Why…?

***

To cut a long story short, my ability wasn’t .

I went through several more tests after that, and I learned exactly what kind of power I possessed.

The ability to “copy” abilities.

The prerequisite was to witness or perceive another ability user using their ability at least once.

“Let’s call your ability .”

Mirror’s Eye.

Even though I didn’t have my own unique ability, if I met the prerequisite and collected them, I could potentially possess all the abilities of others.

A type of ability that had never appeared in the family’s history…

I had already awakened my ability around the age of eight, but I hadn’t realized it because its power was so different from the existing ones.

was designated a “Special Grade” ability without any need for discussion.

Along with , it was one of only two Special Grade abilities among all the abilities that had ever existed.

“I’m so proud of you, my daughter.”

Father was overjoyed, and he cherished me, even giving me the position of Vice-Head at the mere age of twelve.

‘Well, none of that matters now.’

Of course, the memories I just recalled were from my first life.

After regressing, in this second life, I made a different choice under the same circumstances.

I intentionally got myself abandoned from the family by pretending to be incompetent, and I set the stage to come all the way here.

‘Just to meet you.’

I looked at Ryan.

He was examining his healed palm with a confused expression, then said,

“Don’t tell me…”

—–CROW—–