In the dead of night, Heinhern came to Wirn’s room.
“I was wondering when you’d come.”
A strange woman visiting his room in the middle of the night.
Anyone who saw them might misunderstand, but Wirn wasn’t flustered.
Instead, he calmly welcomed the nervous Heinhern.
“I thought... it would have to be this late if I wanted to avoid people’s eyes.”
Heinhern slowly spoke in response to Wirn.
Perhaps she was conscious of the fact that she had come here, because her eyes kept darting around their surroundings.
“Their eyes? Is there really any need for that? I doubt anyone particularly cares what someone from a collateral branch does anyway.”
“Not because of me. Because of you. If people find out you’ve been meeting with me, it could cause you trouble.”
Wirn tilted his head at Heinhern’s words.
‘Trouble, huh.’
He wondered whether something caused by a matter like this could really bother him.
‘If someone keeps getting in my way... I can just kill them.’
Death to those who stood in his way.
That was how Wirn had been raised as a hound.
However, he didn’t tell her that.
If he voiced such thoughts, she might develop an unnecessary fear that he could kill her as well.
After all, Wirn really had killed her before.
“Well, if that’s why, then thanks.”
So Wirn waved his hand.
It was consideration he didn’t particularly need, but since she had deliberately gone out of her way for him, he thanked her anyway.
‘She seems fully aware that I’m the one holding the upper hand.’
Still, he didn’t feel burdened by it.
Wirn had more than enough leverage over her.
‘That brand must be bothering her.’
A brand had been engraved into Heinhern’s body, just like the one Wirn had possessed in his previous life.
It wasn’t something that merely engraved itself into the skin.
It acted like a chain around the soul.
‘She must want to get rid of it as soon as possible.’
Just as Wirn had in his previous life, she was undoubtedly desperate to find some way to survive.
He knew firsthand just how unnerving it was to have someone else holding your life in their hands.
That was why Wirn could understand Heinhern’s feelings.
“Before I remove the brand, let me ask you two things.”
“What?”
“What are you planning to do once it’s gone?”
Heinhern bit her lip at Wirn’s question.
Could she really tell him something like that?
The doubt immediately surfaced in her mind.
Even if he was going to remove the brand, she still couldn’t completely trust Wirn.
“Tell me.”
But when Wirn urged her on, she eventually opened her mouth.
She knew perfectly well that, in their current situation, she was completely at a disadvantage.
“I’m going to stay hidden in my family and keep building my strength.”
“Build your strength....”
“Running away right now is impossible. For the time being, living in the family while hiding my strength is the most reasonable choice.”
Wirn nodded at Heinhern’s answer.
It was a rather satisfying response.
If she had answered that she intended to take revenge, he wouldn’t have removed the brand.
There would have been no reason to spend his time and strength granting her freedom in that case.
With her current strength, revenge was impossible anyway.
“I like that answer. Then I’ll ask the other question. What can you do for me?”
But that alone wasn’t enough to move Wirn.
“....”
Unless this wasn’t a transaction, he had no intention of serving Heinhern for nothing.
“The branch of the family I belong to is far removed from the direct line here. But back there, we’re properly displaying the prestige of a renowned magic family.”
Heinhern bit her lip at Wirn’s question.
After thinking carefully, she finally came up with something she could offer.
“So when I eventually go to where you are, you’ll help me?”
“Yes. I don’t know about risking my life... but I’ll do everything I can.”
“So you don’t have anything you can offer right now.”
Heinhern bit her lip at Wirn’s observation.
There was no room to argue with it.
“If I’d beaten you in our duel... I would’ve offered to teach you magic.”
“So there’s nothing else you can offer?”
“That’s right.”
Everything that had happened was an unexpected variable for her.
Originally, she had planned to distinguish herself during the Hunting Ceremony and use that as a shield to continue surviving.
“You were too strong, so everything went wrong. Of course, that isn’t your fault.”
But her fate had changed when Wirn, the youngest member of the main family, defeated her.
‘Is this what they call the butterfly effect?’
Wirn knew that as well, leaving him with a strange feeling.
If he hadn’t been reincarnated, Heinhern would have been the one attracting attention here.
‘And she would’ve somehow survived until she met me.’
But in the end, she would still have died.
Because Wirn had killed her in his previous life.
‘There’s no guarantee that won’t happen in this life either. The Emperor will send a hound one way or another. Even if it isn’t me....’
The Emperor was relentless.
Once he chose prey to hunt, he was the kind of man who would devour it no matter what it took.
Wirn knew that well.
He had watched his fellow hounds die beside him after returning from failed hunts.
“It depends on what I choose.”
If Wirn didn’t remove Heinhern’s brand here, she would eventually die at the Emperor’s hands.
The brand was suppressing Heinhern’s power.
But what if Wirn removed it?
‘I can really screw over the Empire.’
Things could become quite interesting.
“Fine. I’ll remove the brand. But I have one condition.”
“A condition?”
“Yeah. If someone comes to assassinate you in the future, don’t kill them until I’ve seen their face.”
“....”
Heinhern frowned at Wirn’s words.
She had no idea what he was talking about.
“If you don’t like it, forget it.”
“No. I’ll do it.”
But what mattered was that she could have the brand removed now.
So Heinhern decided to accept Wirn’s incomprehensible demand.
“Good.”
Wirn smiled in satisfaction at her answer.
“Ummerev....”
At the same time, he drew out the Darkness inside his body and used it to seal off the entire room.
It blocked any sound from escaping and completely prevented anyone outside from seeing in.
“Why are you sealing the surroundings...?”
Heinhern swallowed when she realized what he had done.
Her vision had been swallowed by Darkness in an instant, stirring fear in her heart.
“Don’t worry. You won’t die.”
Wirn slowly approached Heinhern.
HUM....
At the same time, he rotated the Circle inside his body.
SQUELCH!
He thrust his mana into the spot where Heinhern’s heart lay.
CRACKLE... CRACKLE!
At that moment, mana erupted wildly from Heinhern’s body.
“Aaaaargh!”
A scream burst from her mouth.
“Endure it.”
Heinhern twisted her body like a rope from the overwhelming pain.
But Wirn didn’t stop.
Instead, he forced even more of his mana into her body, faster than before.
‘Found it.’
Before long, he discovered the brand inside her body.
GRIP!
Using his mana, he forced the brand outside.
More precisely, he tore the engraved brand out of her body.
HUM!
The moment the brand was ripped free, a complicated Magic Circle appeared in midair.
Wirn frowned when he saw it.
‘...I’ve seen something like this before.’
The pattern of the brand inside Heinhern’s body was remarkably similar to the restriction that had been engraved into him in his previous life.
Just as he was about to examine the Magic Circle more closely—
HUM!
Light flowed from the Mark on the back of Wirn’s hand.
“Yeah. I knew you’d react like that.”
Through the light, he could sense its powerful desire to devour the brand immediately.
“Eat it.”
CHOMP!
The moment permission was granted, it opened its mouth as though it had been waiting.
CRUNCH!
Then it swallowed the brand that had been binding Heinhern in a single bite.
HUM!
The energy flowing from the brand was instantly absorbed into the Mark.
‘Just as I expected.’
However, none of that energy reached Wirn.
In other words, the Mark had monopolized all of it.
“Hmm.”
But Wirn wasn’t displeased.
The stronger it became, the more power he could draw from it.
‘Of course, I probably won’t be able to control that power completely.’
Naturally, he always kept in mind that the Mark wasn’t an absolute ally.
It had already done more than enough to prove that.
‘No matter how much you run wild, you’ll never surpass me.’
Even so, Wirn wasn’t worried.
In his previous life, Wirn himself had been something to the Emperor much like what the Mark was to him now.
That was why he knew exactly how to handle it.
“Ah... aaah.”
THUD!
At that moment, Heinhern collapsed to the floor after having the brand removed.
Rustle.
Wirn checked on her and placed his fingers against her neck.
‘She’s alive.’
Fortunately, her pulse was still beating.
“Up we go.”
Wirn hoisted the collapsed Heinhern onto his shoulder.
He then carefully laid her down on the bed in the room where she had been staying.
“...I’m exhausted.”
Then he returned to his own room and went to sleep as though nothing had happened.
***
The next day, word came that the carriages from the collateral branches were arriving.
After hearing the news from Kemen, Wirn headed toward the entrance with him.
‘The twins.’
Not long afterward, the twin heirs’ carriage came into view.
Strangely enough, their carriage looked exactly the same as well.
Even the horses pulling them were identical.
“Kemen. Is that magic?”
“...Probably not. From what I’ve heard, those horses are actual twins as well.”
Wirn had asked Kemen out of pure curiosity.
He wondered whether there was magic capable of creating twins.
“That’s a relief. If magic like that existed, they might’ve cloned me.”
Wirn shrugged at Kemen’s answer.
Kemen’s face turned indescribable as he looked at him, but that was a minor matter.
‘I suppose I can at least say goodbye.’
He hadn’t really exchanged much conversation with the twins.
They had even looked down on Wirn for his lowly bloodline.
But Wirn didn’t care and waved at them anyway.
No matter how much they strutted around, the fact that they were beneath him wouldn’t change.
“....”
“....”
Just before climbing into the carriage, the twin brothers noticed Wirn waving goodbye to them and stopped.
Nod.
Then, as though they had planned it beforehand, they both lowered their heads at the same time.
Step!
After that, they climbed into the carriage and went on their way.
“?”
Kemen’s eyes widened at the sight.
“Did you just exchange greetings with the twin brothers?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Those twin brothers almost never acknowledge someone else’s greeting....”
“Really?”
At Kemen’s answer, Wirn recalled everything he had seen of the twins so far.
Thinking about it, it was somewhat unexpected.
When they had first met during the Hunting Ceremony, the way they looked at Wirn had been anything but friendly.
Yet there had been at least a small degree of courtesy in their actions at the very end.
“Interesting.”
Their attitude had changed for the better between their arrival and departure.
Wirn felt satisfied by that fact.
Clatter!
Once the twin brothers’ carriage disappeared into the distance, Heinhern’s family carriage entered the main residence.
As though symbolizing her cold demeanor, even the carriage horses gave off a calm air.
“We have come to escort Lady Heinhern.”
The carriage, drawn by white horses the same color as her hair, came to a stop.
An elderly man with a white beard who had been riding inside called for Heinhern.
“....”
Heinhern frowned when she saw him.
She disliked the very fact that she had to return to her family.
But her steps no longer felt quite so heavy.
The shackles that had bound her until now were gone.
‘Wirn....’
She knew very well whose doing that was.
“All right.”
But she didn’t thank him.
Instead, she gave Wirn a cold look before walking toward the carriage.
Step!
Then, without sparing Wirn another glance, she climbed aboard.
‘Heinhern, huh.’
Wirn stared at Heinhern’s carriage as it moved away.
‘She’ll grow into a useful card someday.’
He looked forward to what she might accomplish in the future.
Even when he had fought her in his previous life, she had been one of the mages who made him think, ‘She’s troublesome.’
‘People like that are damn annoying as enemies, but incredibly reassuring when they’re on your side.’
Removing Heinhern’s brand.
Wirn was certain that choice would produce favorable results.
“Kemen. Let’s go back.”
With that, he headed back inside the building.
He planned to quietly focus on growing stronger for the time being.
But....
“Young Master. Lady Ean says she has brought a gift for you.”
“...What?”
Less than an hour later, Wirn’s plan was discarded because of Ean, the eldest daughter of the Daylin Family.