She had truly returned.

 

After seeing Bianca off, Lindsey entered the Marquis Kesion’s residence. She sweated profusely trying to dissuade Bianca from going to the Rosette Duchy with her.

 

Only after hearing Lindsey’s words about matters that needed to be resolved at the Kesion Marquis did Bianca leave for the Rosette family.

 

Lindsey smiled bitterly as she looked at the magnificent Marquis Kesion’s residence.

 

‘When I was in Korea, I couldn’t even imagine coming back here.’

 

She had considered never returning to the Marquis Kesion’s residence.

 

She had thought everything was over since she was already dead. But unbelievably, she had returned here.

 

‘Although the gatekeepers tried to stop me.’

 

The gatekeepers opened the door with faces of disbelief when Lindsey claimed she had manifested sacred power.

 

‘Anyway, if my claim of manifesting sacred power is a lie, I’ll be punished.’

 

Lindsey thought as she moved forward.

 

She intended to return to her room immediately. She didn’t want to waste her mental energy meeting with family or spirits unnecessarily.

 

“Lindsey Kesion!”

 

That’s when it happened.

 

Lindsey sighed heavily at the voice calling out to her loudly.

 

‘Well, things couldn’t go as smoothly as I thought.’

 

She turned around.

 

And there she saw a familiar face.

 

Raysis Kesion. He was looking at Lindsey with a puzzled expression.

 

Lindsey twisted her lips into a smile.

 

Even after a long time, his face was dazzling to the point of being sickening. Raysis’s silver hair sparkled in the sunlight.

 

“How on earth did you get in?”

 

“….”

 

“Father must have said not to come back if you couldn’t show your ability.”

 

Lindsey just stared silently at him.

 

Her father was an incredibly stubborn man. As such, Lindsey had many different brothers. And each and every one of those brothers despised Lindsey.

 

‘This guy must be one of them.’

 

Raysis, too, ignored the incompetent. He even took it to extremes.

 

‘I’m the one who lost his mother’s heirloom.’

 

But that incident wasn’t Lindsey’s fault. All the servants of the Marquis hated Lindsey. Because of their false testimonies, Lindsey was being accused of something she didn’t do.

 

‘I can guess who the real culprit is, but…’

 

This was also something that would need to be resolved later. Lindsey’s eyes sank low.

 

She remembered what Raysis had said to her when she got engaged to Azette.

 

“Congratulations, you finally found some use. I hope you don’t come back here again.”

 

Raysis’s face turned cold as he looked at Lindsey. He advised her while looking at her.

 

“Leave again. It’s better for you to stay at the Radian Duchy.”

 

“….”

 

“No one here welcomes you, you know that, right? Why did you come back?”

 

Did she know?

 

Just as Raysis said, no one welcomed Lindsey. Her father wanted to kill her, and her brothers despised her.

 

And it wasn’t just them.

 

Even the servants of the Marquis Kesion treated Lindsey as if she didn’t exist.

 

The Marquis Kesion’s residence was like hell to Lindsey. And… Lindsey had walked into that hell with her own two feet.

 

“You should know what our family is like, right? Your value lies in clinging to the Radian family and securing alliances between families.”

 

“….”

 

“Sylvia contacted father. The atmosphere in the family is not good. If you keep going like this, you…”

 

Could really end up dead.

 

He was about to say that.

 

Lindsey approached him.

 

“I don’t understand why you’re saying such things as if it’s your business.”

 

“….”

 

“My value is determined by me.”

 

“….”

 

“If I become more valuable than Sylvia Radian, the issue will be resolved. That should fit into your logic.”

 

The smile faded from Raysis’s face at Lindsey’s words.

 

“Sylvia Radian’s abilities are exceptional. Her usual behavior doesn’t diminish her value.” 

 

“….”

 

“You shouldn’t have come back. You should have stayed there no matter what. That’s how you survive.”

 

Lindsey raised a finger to his shoulder. Raysis was momentarily at a loss for words. The Lindsey he knew was always someone who walked with her head bowed and her shoulders slumped.

 

The action she just took was an impolite gesture he had never thought Lindsey would make.

 

“That should be enough.”

 

“….”

 

“I’m better than her. That settles it, doesn’t it, brother? Oh, did I tell you not to call me that again?”

 

Raysis’s face stiffened at her words. Those words were as heavy as a burden to him.

 

Childhood.

 

There had been times when Raysis had liked Lindsey as family. There had been times when he had treated her kindly as a younger sister.

 

But as they received the education of the family, he and Lindsey inevitably grew apart.

 

“Lindsey Kesion has dirty blood.”

 

“If you want to survive in the family, don’t get close to Lindsey Kesion.”

 

His brothers whispered such things to him as well. Nevertheless, Raysis had tried not to turn away from Lindsey.

 

Because he believed she was the right person. But as time passed, Lindsey disappointed him.

 

She lied frequently and caused many problems for the family.

 

And….

 

It happened.

 

“Lord Raysis, Madame’s heirloom has disappeared.”

 

“It’s clear that it was done by the dirty blood. She was the last one to come out of Madame’s room!”

 

Raysis’s mother’s heirloom had disappeared.

 

It was a necklace that amplified sacred power. All the witnesses’ opinions were unanimous. Lindsey was the last one to come out of Madame’s room.

 

“That lowlife coveted sacred power in the end!”

 

“Surely you know, Raysis. How much she desired that sacred power.”

 

All witnesses and evidence pointed to Lindsey taking the heirloom. From that moment on, Raysis began to ignore Lindsey.

 

Eventually, he started treating Lindsey like members of other families. Raysis looked at Lindsey with a beautiful smile.

 

‘Is Lindsey Kesion better than Sylvia? Does it mean she has awakened as a priestess?’

 

But if that were true, Lindsey had no reason to be chased away from the Redian Duchy.

 

Sylvia couldn’t be that overwhelmed. Raysis’s face hardened.

 

If Lindsey had entered the Kesion Marquisate with lies, she wouldn’t escape punishment.

 

⋆★⋆

 

Lindsey laughed bitterly as she looked at Raysis, who didn’t believe her words.

 

‘He must think it’s a lie.’

 

The servants of the Kesion Marquisate didn’t like her. They often fabricated wrongdoings by Lindsey to criticize her to the Marquis.

 

‘Thanks to them, I lost the trust of my family. I even got the nickname “dirty blood” for lying.’

 

Her family thought of Lindsey as someone who lied frequently. Raysis sighed softly.

 

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

 

Even the forced smile on Raysis’s face was gone now. He was rarely taken aback. But Lindsey’s eyes looking at him were sincere.

 

As if she hadn’t told a single lie.

 

“I’m going to see the Marquis after visiting my room.”

 

“Going to see Father?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“You must really want to die. Not only coming back, but also going to see Father?”

 

Lindsey looked at Raysis with cold eyes.

 

“You know very well what you think of me. You probably still think I did it when your mother’s heirloom disappeared.”

 

“All witnesses and evidence say you’re the culprit.”

 

At his firm words, Lindsey gave a chilly smile.

 

“I don’t want to explain to you. You never listened to me anyway. This time won’t be any different.”

 

Lindsey didn’t want to explain to Raysis. In her childhood at the Kesion Marquisate, the only person Lindsey could rely on was Raysis.

 

But even then, he couldn’t believe Lindsey’s words at the most critical moment.

 

Lindsey wasn’t resentful of this fact. She just admitted the fact she had ignored until now.

 

‘I can’t be family with them.’

 

The kindness Raysis showed her in childhood was just shallow sympathy. It was a sympathy that could easily be discarded with others’ lies.

 

But Lindsey wanted to hold onto even that. She clung to the illusion of family.

 

‘What did I really want?’

 

In a topic of dirty blood, those who were even incompetent didn’t receive proper treatment within the family.

 

It was only natural that she received the treatment she did from others. In a world where power ruled everything.

 

Lindsey was just a thorough weakling in that place.

 

Raysis avoided Lindsey’s gaze. He spoke harshly to her as if he didn’t want to think about what happened then.

 

“I don’t know what you want to say, but….”

 

“….”

 

“Go apologize to Sylvia Redian and come back. That’s the only way you can survive.”

 

Lindsey grabbed his hand in response.