When My Enemies Began to Regret

“…”

After a while.

She pretended to be sleeping quietly, then got up and went outside when it was already late. The destination Fanora escaped from the eyes of others was none other than the forest right next to the Celsius mansion. No matter how hellish it might be, the Celsius mansion was her home after all, so there was no way she couldn’t get out of here if she wanted to. There would be no problem as long as she went back before 5am when the servants woke up.

“I can’t believe that I’m still running away at this age.”

Fanora tucked her robes on to prevent herself from being injured and took a few steps to the dark forest. Looking back, she already saw the wall of the Celsius mansion in the distance.

Although this forest was owned by the Celsius family, no particularly high-quality wood was produced here, so it was almost abandoned. Since it was a private land where the servants couldn’t manage it, wild animals were frequently found there, so it was a suitable place to test the power of holy relics.

Fanora stood in the forest then picked out a tree that looked strong. While stroking the tree she had chosen, she lost in her thoughts.

What was the reason for her sneaking out late at night and training to use Io? It was because she was a noble. It was not easy for her to leave the mansion alone when the sun was up. 

However her whole situation was ridiculous and contradictory to it. She wasn’t the decoration of the family. Although they protected her from theft, the reality was that her parents were not even interested in whether their daughter was eating properly.

Looking back, her life was really miserable. Fanora felt the urge to run across the forest and disappear at any moment. However, she quickly realized that it was unrealistic. Because this forest had an end.

She decided to stop her imagination and focus on her present job. At the same time, she had to bear in her mind again that her actions could be reported to Hanar through the eyes and ears of servants at any time. It took a day or two for her to dig into the hole of the security schedule, so it would be her first and last time to sneak out to the forest.

Still, IFanora decided to think about it positively. There was no time for being wasted again, so she immediately clenched her fist with all might at the tree in front of her. But after 30 minutes.

“Urgh… urgh… haa… haa…”

A tree had been shattered in tatters. Just like that, Fanora, with her messy appearance, was lying around in the middle of the forest. Hiding her black hair in her robe, she crouched and groaned, not knowing that her curly hair was flowing out.

“Aaarrgggh…!”

All of this was the result of hastily using the holy relic.

“Aaarggh… uuurrrgghh…!”

Fanora grabbed her own hand and couldn’t do anything until the pain subsided.

She couldn’t control her body, and her mind began to spin at a fast pace.

Fanora was very disappointed with the function of the holy relic during this practice. According to the tale, anyone who possessed the holy relic Io could break down walls with their bare hands and cut the ground. Still, now she was struggling to smash only one tree.

What made it even more absurd was that she felt the pain because of the price she paid for using the power that was against the rules of the world. The skin of her hands was crushed because her body simply couldn’t handle its strength. If it continues like this, she wouldn’t be able to unleash the power, just like in the tale. Her body would break even if she borrowed that power a little.

Something was odd. Io’s ability was severely inferior to those mentioned in historical literature and storybooks. Fanora repeated the same action several times because she thought something was wrong with the usage, but drawing its power always resulted in pain.

“Why on earth…”

She had been curious about it for a long time. If an ordinary human swung their first recklessly, it would only leave scratches on their hands. 

So, how did the owner of Io, who get superhuman strength, withstand the pain on their body? Didn’t it make sense that the strength of Io owner’s skin and bones were being strengthened too?  

With a scholarly personality who liked to read books, Fanora had many questions about Io.  Only today her questions were answered.

It gave her a headache.

Fanora stood still for a moment, imagining breaking Naverius’s neck. The ending of her imaginary story was how she ended up her life being killed by Naverius’s knight.

“…”

Her  expression soon turned dark.

Fanora saw some of the trees she had smashed with her bare hands. Fortunately, she had a sense of how to use it. With an untrained body, it could be a considerable weapon to get more power than a knight. 

Yes, that was enough. It was worth using Io in the future, just as she was able to kill Seir because of Io.

Fanora pushed herself.

After reaching this conclusion, she destroyed the traces of her using the holy relic like wild animals destroy it and return safely to her room. Then she destroyed all the evidence immediately. The robe she wore outside was cleaned and slid between the same robes, and to cover her wound in her hand she had gained overnight, she would wake up in the dawn and fall over the gravel road there.

Cecil didn’t even think that her wound was strange. Fanora dropped a precious thing, slamming her hand on the floor to receive it. Cecil, who noticed it, quickly applied ointment to her wound.

“I often drop something because I’m clumsy. I’m sorry, Cecil.”

“It’s all right, Lady.”

Who would have predicted that the next owner of Io, owned by the slave mercenaries of the destroyed kingdom, was the 15-year-old Lady Celsius, and all she wanted was revenge.

* * *

In the next day, the long-awaited news finally arrived as the light spring sunlight took a step back aback. The summer sun, which symbolizes passion, drew near. The letter being brought today was that Butler Ronwe was still not feeling well. But despite the arrival of such joyous content, a shadow was cast on Fanora’s face. It wasn’t like a poet’s metaphor, but it was really dark under her eyelids.

“…”

The satisfaction of getting rid of Haures and the pride of dealing with Seir made her want to sleep soundly for a while. But eventually, her insomnia struck again.

That man made her suffer from insomnia. Although the disease that made it difficult for her to fall asleep seemed light at first glance, it irritated her enough to tear his head off.

‘Dangerous Love’ also played a part in provoking her annoyance. This midnight novel might be helpful, but she hadn’t gained conclusive information from it. Whether the author who wrote the novel planned this story as a daily life of a noble lady, the recent chapter only showed how gracefully the duke’s daughter lived.

When she lay down at dawn after reading such a novel, her dreams were particularly ferocious. One day, Hanar was trying to poison her. On some day, Navieris made up that she had committed adultery with  a commoner. The other day, Seir raised her hand. 

Fortunately, when she woke up, she felt relieved that Seir was no longer here.

“Cecil, bring me a cup of tea.”

Would she be able to sleep if she drink a cup of hot tea?

Today, she was going to travel a long distance by carriage, so she could sleep on the way there. Fanora gave a simple order to her maid, who was by her side. However… 

“Has Lady not been able to sleep lately?”

“Yes?”

“Lady under eyes looks dark.”

Usually, people are surprised when they heard a sudden movement. On a similar basis, Fanora was startled when a voice came from her servant, who had been distracted for a while.

It wasn’t particularly strange, so Fanora answered, “If I cover it with make-up, it will be covered. It’s nothing for you to bother about.”

“Then I will prepare a tea with chamomile in it.” Cecil didn’t add any more comments and brewed the herbal tea skillfully.

A mild aroma comes from the freshly brewed tea. In the meantime, the faint sweetness blended in between them, so the hot tea quickly passed through her esophagus.

But, strangely enough, after drinking the tea, instead of falling asleep, her consciousness gradually woke up. At the same time, she had a lot of thoughts.

Fanora didn’t often go out of my room. It was because whenever she appeared in front of her family, she had to listen to their gossip and feel their gaze. Fanora was frightened by it and lived in this small room by herself. At the most, the library was the end of her movement. Therefore, she, who lived in a small world, took Seir’s harsh actions more seriously.

But how long would she be happy with my new maid?

She was not a genius, so she had been busy planning for her revenge. Unless she had talent from heaven, she needed to be diligent to achieve something.

“I’m sure my father hasn’t come back from his business partner’s evening party, and what time did my mother say she’s leaving?”

“It was said that madam will get ready at noon and leave before 2 o’clock.”

“It would be better for me to get dressed in advance too.”

It was the season when the social season began, and the royal capital was in full swing. It was also the time when the gathered nobles were desperate to find their own partners. So, many large and small parties were held here and there, such as tea parties and banquets. But the most important party was here.

Tonight, the royal family held a grand banquet to celebrate the king’s birthday. The best thing about this banquet was that there were more guests than the other parties.  

Fanora recalled that person’s face in her head, and after a while, she changed into the dress that had already been prepared. 

It was a simple cream-colored dress that didn’t seem old-fashioned at all. After all, this was much better than the bizarre dress that Seir had chosen. But no matter how good it was, if sheI attended a party wearing the same dress, she would be mocked. 

Wasn’t there a low culture in the society that played with rumors? In order to approach Vasago, it was necessary to leave only a good reputation about her. So Fanora decided to get new dresses soon.

“Lady, Madam is calling for you.”

It was not long before she got into the carriage heading to the party. It was the day of decisive battle, and every day was like that in the social season.