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Chapter 7
Irene had a red lump the size of her thumb on her right cheek, and that’s the only reason why Margaret liked her.
She liked that she could stand out more if she kept an ugly maid around her.
Not knowing Margaret’s true intentions, Irene carried out her tasks as the head maid diligently and enthusiastically.
She especially enjoyed bullying Radis.
‘Radis, you know what? The Madam likes me more than you.’
Those words tore the young Radis’ heart.
Irene bothered the child as though she was a bitter older sister.
Irene did things however she wanted, never delivered her meals on time, and bullied her using petty methods. She even resorted to pouring water over Radis’ bed, then spreading rumors about how Radis had wet her bed in her sleep.
It was only when Radis was sent to the monster subjugation that Irene’s bullying ended.
‘The first thing I asked for after going on the subjugation was for Irene to be fired.’
Margaret kicked out Irene right away—as if it wasn’t her orders that encouraged Irene to harass Radis.
Shortly after that, Irene was found dead in a swamp near the estate.
People said that after being kicked out of the mansion, she probably threw herself into the swamp because she had nowhere else to go.
In retrospect, however, Radis realized that Irene was someone who knew the deadly secrets of the Tilrod family.
The fact that David, who was known to have gone out on quests to subjugate monsters, was actually Radis.
To protect her son, Margaret took the life of another person without hesitation.
‘And that’s also how I died.’
A shadow loomed over Radis’ eyes.
Not knowing what she was thinking, Irene cheekily tapped on the bowl with a spoon.
“You’re very fortunate. You brought the Madam to tears, yet you’re still being fed.”
The more Irene talked, the colder Radis’ eyes became.
‘Both Irene and I… are alive. I have to accept that now.’
This situation wasn’t something like a dream or illusion that one had before dying—it was real.
Radis stared at Irene with a frosty glare, then spoke.
“What about my father?”
“The Lord?”
Irene replied in a sarcastic tone.
“Thanks to you, he couldn’t catch his breath dealing with accusations of illegal admission! How admirable, huh? What a good daughter you are!”
Radis sighed exasperatedly.
In her previous life, Radis just quietly endured all of Irene’s harassment.
She was so afraid that any wrong move would permanently rid her chances to be loved by Margaret.
But now, she didn’t have to put up with Irene at all.
Radis lifted the bowl of soup and turned it upside down. Over Irene’s head.
Irene couldn’t believe the heated liquid dripping from above.
“Ahh! Ahhh!”
“I’ve been too quiet so far, haven’t I?”
Radis tapped the bowl against Irene’s head and looked into her eyes.
“But I’ve decided not to sit still anymore. So, what’s going to happen to you now that Mother and Father are in such trouble?”
Radis could read the storm of emotions passing through Irene’s eyes.
Her initial surprise and indignation disappeared quickly.
The maid’s eyes quivered as she seemed to recall all of the things she’d done in the past. Then, she dropped her gaze the moment she lost her will.
Radis almost burst into laughter.
So she was this kind of person.
Radis left the bowl on Irene’s head and patted it as though it was a cute hat.
“If you’re curious about what’s going to happen, then you can keep acting so boldly. But if you want to keep being the head maid, you’d better watch what you say more carefully. And…”
Radis picked up the spoon and tapped the edge of the soup bowl.
“Get me something that could be called food.”
Irene left the room with her eyes wide open and the bowl still on her head.
Then, a while later, she arrived again and quickly ran away after dropping off a tray of steaming mushroom soup and soft bread.
Radis tore the bread with her fingertips.
‘Really.’
She dipped the torn bread in the pearl-colored soup.
‘This is truly—’
When she put the bread in her mouth, she could taste the soup and feel the soft texture of the bread.
‘It’s all real.’
Radis died at the age of twenty-six from demonic energy intoxication.
And she returned ten years in the past.
It’s not anything like her life flashing before her eyes just as she was dying—she had really come back to live a second life at the age of sixteen.
‘Second life?’
A peal of laughter burst out from her lips.
Radis Tilrod’s life was terrible.
It was just like hell.
A second life would be no different.
No matter how many times she would return, she was still Margaret and Jade’s eldest daughter, Radis Tilrod.
She shook her head.
‘I can’t live like that again.’
She no longer wanted to live a life sacrificing herself in vain all for supporting her parents and younger siblings.
Gradually swallowing the torn bread dipped in the mushroom soup, Radis looked back on her past life.
Even after David entered the academy, Radis’ life did not change much.
She still practiced the swordsmanship techniques, all alone, that she learned from her teacher in the open field. She spent the rest of her time locked up in her room as though she was a recluse.
Until David graduated from the academy.
Later, Radis would go on the subjugation quests hunting for demonic monsters instead of David so that he could be appointed as a formal knight.
She had to endure for six years, until she reached that miserable end.
Radis groaned unconsciously as the memory of her death flashed before her eyes.
‘Why? Why did I come back? What, for revenge?’
Radis had a dry smile on her lips.
She didn’t want revenge.
A few days ago when she grabbed Margaret’s wrist, Radis realized.
‘Why wasn’t I… Why wasn’t I upset that Mother harassed me so? Why had I not been bothered that I had to hunt demonic monsters in David’s place? Didn’t I fall ill because of demonic energy seeping into my system? And they didn’t even try to get me proper treatment?’
Radis put down the bowl of soup and looked out at the night sky.
‘I was more upset… that I wasn’t loved.’
She wanted to be loved.
So she convinced herself that she wasn’t suffering from her illness, even as she was being constantly harassed.
She fought back against those fearsome creatures and endured being intoxicated by demonic energy.
Because she liked seeing her family happy.
Because she thought she would finally be loved.
“Haha…”
Radis laughed helplessly.
She didn’t know why, but it seemed like she was born for nothing.
Because both David and Yurhi existed, there was no place left for her.
Radis lay weakly on the edge of her bed and muttered.
“Let’s just give up.”
She poured all her efforts into trying to be loved in her previous life.
It wasn’t until her tragic death that she realized.
To her parents, to her younger siblings—she meant nothing.
“I need to get out of here.”
She needed to get out of the Tilrods’ reach.
But how?
Where would she go?
With what money?
Radis stood up and paced by the window.
The world she knew was small.
She only knew Willingham, the Tilrod family’s palm-sized estate, and the forest full of demonic monsters.
‘The forest…’
When she thought of that place, she felt nostalgic, as though she was reminded of a hometown.
It was strange.
The forest was a dangerous place full of monsters.
But it was the only place where she could be free in her previous life.
“There were settlers living nearby.”
It wasn’t deemed a safe area because the surrounding terrain was rugged and hungry monsters often appeared.
However, there were still people who lived in such a place.
“Come to think of it, I heard there was a settler village that made a fortune from cherry farms…”
One summer, cherry trees were unable to bear fruit due to a spreading disease on fertile land.
However, she heard rumors that only the farms of the settlers, who had been isolated, had not been damaged. Because they were the only ones who could supply cherries, the prices soared.
Radis’ eyes glimmered.
‘If I invest in it…?’
But her hope was short-lived.
She didn’t even have enough money to buy a basket of cherries, let alone to invest in a farm.
And money wasn’t the only problem.
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She was only a sixteen-year-old girl right now.
She wasn’t even allowed to go out alone.
“Haa…”
Losing her appetite, Radis pushed the bowl away.
‘Why did this even happen? I can’t believe I have to live this life twice.’