Chapter 11

Before the last god fell, Deritz had once been one of the authorities of the Creator God.

As an unknowable vortex appeared at the center of the continent, more and more spiritual energy in the world was drawn into it. Gradually, spiritual energy was depleted, no grass could grow, the population drastically declined, and one god after another fell.

Before the last god disappeared, He hid the authority of Arrogance at the center of the world, leaving it behind as a spark of hope.

Thousands of years later, the vortex began to grow in reverse, and only then did spiritual energy slowly begin to return.

And Deritz was born from that ancient age—from the authority of divine Arrogance itself—a proud monarch.

Talli flipped through the pages, marveling at this piece of history.

But what caught her attention even more was the “vortex” mentioned in the book. There was a simple illustration on the page. No matter how she looked at it, it resembled a door that could shatter space and time.

Along with it were some detailed notes.

…Could this possibly be related to her traveling through time?

Knock knock knock.

Suddenly, the door was knocked on.

Talli quickly shut the book and stuffed it into the drawer before turning around. “Who is it!?”

“Young miss,”

A maid pushed the door open and entered. “Tonight is the banquet to welcome back our eldest lady. Everyone in the estate is required to attend,” she looked up at Talli and continued, “The head of the house said that you must go as well.”

“…Got it.”

“I’ll call the others in to help dress you up.”

It seemed the head of the family was growing dissatisfied with how she had always done as she pleased.

Understandable. After all, she was just a sacrifice. Letting her negotiate any terms was already giving her face. She had no right to expect anything more.

“Did he say when it starts and ends?”

“Around 7 in the evening, and it should last about two hours.”

As they worked on her appearance, Talli kept thinking about the pages from the book.

Did it become clear the moment she opened it, or had some kind of condition or mechanism been triggered during the days she’d been away?

Talli racked her brain, but no answer came.

…Looks like she’d need to find a way to visit the book tower again.

Last time, she had stumbled upon that book on the third floor. Floors four through seven were sealed off. If she wanted to get the information she needed, she’d have to find a way in again.

Just as she was deep in thought, she heard a voice.

“All done!!”

“It’s truly astonishing. A young lady from the countryside—just a bit of dressing up, and she can actually look this pretty…”

“Looking at her now, although she’s nowhere near as beautiful as our eldest lady, she’s surprisingly cute. Especially those deep violet eyes… they look just like Madam’s in the portrait…”

“……”

The atmosphere suddenly fell silent.

A higher-ranking maid abruptly raised her voice and scolded, “What are you saying, Lina? Watch your mouth!!”

Talli was momentarily taken aback as she looked into the mirror.

The girl in the reflection had a youthful, innocent charm. Her black hair was tied up, with a delicate braid on one side. Her cheeks had more color than usual, her lips were soft and glossy, and pomegranate-colored earrings dangled from her ears with crystal-like clarity.

Her dress today was simple, fresh, and adorable. It suited her very well. The sheer overlay was faintly embroidered with cascading wisteria-like patterns—elegant but not overpowering. It wouldn’t outshine Theresa at the banquet, but it also wouldn’t make her seem neglected.

“Please don’t listen to her nonsense,”

An older maid stepped forward to explain, “She’s new here and doesn’t know anything yet.”

“……”

Talli gave no reply.

She ignored their previous remarks, stood up from the mirror, and brushed past the maids without a word.

They exchanged glances in confusion, then quickly followed after her.

—

The banquet hall was exquisitely decorated, the setting extremely lavish.

And all of it was meant to set the stage for tonight’s star.

Theresa—unquestionably the leading lady of the evening.

Talli felt that Theresa’s radiance was almost blinding.

The novel’s female lead. The saintly young lady. Every movement, every expression carried a kind of charm that tugged at the heart.

Theresa, who had been speaking with a man, suddenly turned and looked in Talli’s direction.

Talli looked to her left, then to her right.

The banquet hall had two long rows of tables stretching across. There weren’t many people around Talli. Everyone seemed to be avoiding her, and few were willing to talk to her, so her side of the room felt particularly quiet.

Who was Theresa looking for?

Surely not…

“You’re Talli, right?”

The young lady walked up to her and gave her a gentle smile. Her light purple eyes glowed with an amber-like luster under the crystal chandelier. She tucked her hair behind her ear, hesitated for a moment, then said, “I only found out recently… that you’re my younger sister. You must have suffered a lot living in the countryside, haven’t you?”

There really did seem to be a trace of guilt in her eyes.

Even Talli couldn’t tear her gaze away from that face.

“I… there are many things I don’t know. But for a long time, I’ve always wished I had a younger sister. Instead, I only had a younger brother who constantly caused trouble,” Theresa smiled a little.

“Even though I don’t know you well yet, I hope from now on, we can try… to become a family?”

Her smile was graceful, her eyes curved in warmth as she looked at Talli. Her voice was soft like a breeze—almost no one could resist someone who spoke like that.

But—

“Do you… know about what happened with Kristen?”

After a long silence, Talli finally spoke. It was the first thing she had said to the heroine.

And instantly, the heroine’s expression changed.

Her gaze flickered.

Talli knew she probably should’ve been more tactful—not so blunt, not confronting her in front of others.

But she was just… tired.

“You do know, don’t you?”

Theresa bit her lower lip lightly.

“…Mm. After I returned, Father told me.”

“But back then, deep down, you didn’t really believe it, did you?” Talli raised her eyes to meet hers directly. “If I told you that all of it was true, that I really did almost die several times at his hands… what would you do?”

“……”

“Would you choose your so-called ‘family’… or your ever-loyal ‘Undying Knight’?”

Theresa couldn’t help but turn her face away.

She couldn’t make a choice.

In her heart, the scales naturally tilted toward the knight who had always protected her. But the girl standing in front of her… was also her family, even if they barely knew each other.

“……”

“He doesn’t have the right to attend tonight’s banquet, does he?”

Talli no longer waited for her answer. She swept her gaze across the crowd and said, “He’s so loyal to you—if he finds out I’m here cornering you like this, I wonder how he’ll try to kill me this time.”

“N-no… he wouldn’t…”

Theresa’s emotions surged when she heard that. She pressed her hand to her chest, as if to prove something, and said, “I reprimanded him! I even made him swear to me! He said he—he would never do something like that again!!”

“And it was only after he admitted it… that you believed I was telling the truth, wasn’t it?”

Theresa froze.

Talli gave a slight smile.

She looked at the orange juice in her glass, gently swirling, and said softly, “But… how do you expect me to trust him?”

“…What?”

“How am I supposed to trust someone who’s tried to kill me more than once—along with a so-called ‘family member’ I’ve only just met for the first time in over ten years?”

Talli spoke slowly and clearly, enunciating every word.

Her tone was as cold and sharp as an icicle, mercilessly cutting away the last shred of pretense or sentiment.

Theresa’s expression stiffened.

But only a moment later, her eyes reddened, and her shoulders began to tremble slightly.

…What was that expression supposed to mean? Grievance, sadness, disbelief, hurt, guilt?

It was too complicated. Talli couldn’t quite make sense of it all.

“Hey—!”

A loud voice suddenly rang out, drawing the attention of many. Urgent footsteps followed, and in a flash, a boy stepped forward and stood protectively in front of Theresa.

“You—”

His face was twisted with barely contained anger and darkness as he growled in a low voice, “What did you do to my sister!?”

“Carl!!”

Theresa grabbed his arm with a hint of tears in her voice. “It’s not her fault… I’m just too sensitive…”

“Sis, don’t talk!”

Carl placed his hand over hers and shielded her tightly, then turned to glare fiercely at Talli.

“Don’t tell me you actually thought that just because I treated you a little nicely, you could stand on equal footing with my sister in this house?”

Carl’s emotions were always this unstable whenever something involved Theresa.

“I never thought that.”

Talli replied coldly.

In fact, she had never once considered this place to be her home.

“You think I’d believe that? If not for that, why else would you keep giving my sister such an attitude!?”

He bared his teeth, glaring at Talli:

“Don’t think I showed you any kindness… That was just pity. You looked so pitiful, all miserable like a dog licking its own wounds—hiding alone in your room, cutting yourself with broken porcelain pieces…”

The more he spoke, the lower and colder his voice became, laced with mockery and anger.

“……”

The crowd began to stir. They could tell there was serious tension, and having heard Carl’s earlier words, they started to gather, eager to hear more gossip about the nobles.

“Carl, Carl—shut up, stop it, that’s enough…” Theresa’s face grew increasingly pale. She hadn’t known that Talli had done something like that before.

Just seeing Talli’s expression and the sharp tension in the air, she wished she could faint right there on the spot.

The crowd formed a noisy circle around Talli and Carl as the center.

Countless gazes fell on her.

Probing. Disdainful. Mocking…

Under those stares, Talli slightly raised her chin and looked at the boy. “…Ha.”

“Do you really think everything I did was just to gain pity?”

“Wasn’t it?”

Carl replied with contempt.

“We only pitied you—that’s why we gave you anything at all. Otherwise, what makes you think you have any right to be here?”

“……” Talli narrowed her eyes.

“And who do you think it was that ordered me to come back here?”

She met his aggressive gaze head-on without a trace of fear. “Even back in the countryside, no one ever bullied me—because at least there, people saw me as a stranger, just an ordinary person. But guess what happened after I came here?”

“…What?”

Carl frowned.

He didn’t understand why Talli still had the guts to speak to him like an equal. He thought she would’ve long since turned away in tears.

“I didn’t get to eat anything decent, since I usually don’t eat with you. I don’t need anyone to look after me, but you all insisted on assigning me servants—then let them gossip and point fingers behind my back—”

“‘Illegitimate daughter.'”

Talli said it slowly. “That’s what they called me, right?”

The crowd’s expressions instantly shifted.

Everyone knew—but no one had ever dared to say it out loud.

This time, however, it was bluntly laid out by the person herself, placed under the spotlight.

“You…”

Carl frowned deeply. “What exactly are you trying to say?”

“You’d rather cause a huge scene and ruin your sister’s welcome banquet, just so you can target me.”

If it had been the original Talli here, she might’ve felt so hurt she’d want to die.

“Even if I lived a hard life alone in the countryside, I never thought there was anything wrong with that. It’s not like I had to come here and be unwanted. I didn’t even have to carry the Fred name.”

Talli looked around the room. She spotted familiar faces—like the gray-haired priest in the crowd—whose expression was also filled with shock.

It was only a matter of time before the head of the Fred family found out. But now that things had escalated this far and he still refused to step forward, it could only mean one thing: he wanted her reputation in the capital to be ruined. He wanted her to become isolated and helpless.

He wanted her to be vulnerable, subdued, obedient—easier to control.

They wanted to use this as a show of power, to put her in her place.

“Yet even so, you all still refuse to leave me alone, don’t you? You brought me back, gave me the Fred name, let me live here—but you never truly treated me as a person.”

Talli withdrew her gaze.

“Wait—I didn’t know those people—”

Carl seemed to want to explain, but Talli didn’t give him the chance.

“You think suicide brings shame to the family. That’s how you people think.”

Carl’s eyes flinched in pain. Something seemed to click in his mind, and he instinctively defended himself:

“I didn’t…”

If the original Talli had really ever been desperate enough to want to die, then the blame could only fall on them.

“I’m a living, breathing person. But the way you all look at me—makes me feel like I’m just livestock being raised.”

She changed the word “sacrifice” to “livestock.”

That was already her final warning to the head of the Fred family.

“I…”

She saw the pain in Carl’s eyes deepen. The sudden anger he’d felt for Theresa’s sake was gradually fading.

But so what?

His hand instinctively lifted.

It was like he wanted to reach out to Talli. His lips moved slightly, pale, as if trying to speak.

Suddenly, a sob burst out nearby.

“Why… why did it end up like this…”

The young girl finally couldn’t hold on any longer. She collapsed to her knees, cupping her face in her hands as tears poured through her fingers in large drops.

“I never wanted this… I never thought it would turn out like this…”

“S-Sister!!”

Carl withdrew his hand and rushed to help Theresa up, his face full of pain and concern.

“Let go of me! You’re not my brother!” Theresa shook off Carl’s arm and shoved him hard. Carl was stunned and didn’t react in time—he was pushed to the floor, falling back onto his seat. Theresa also stumbled backward—but was caught just in time.

Talli watched as Theresa, completely drained, fell into the arms of the priest and cried weakly. Then she glanced at Carl, still sitting dazed on the ground.

When Carl looked up, he met the girl’s icy, deep-purple eyes.

He opened his mouth, just about to speak—

Splash!

Talli threw the orange juice in her hand straight at him, soaking his face and hair.

The sweet scent of orange hung thickly in the air, now cloying and sticky.

“You really are trash.”

She mouthed the words at him.

And at that very moment, a deep, authoritative voice rang out—

“The younger ones in the family don’t know any better and stirred up some conflict,” the Fred family head finally stepped forward to smooth things over. Under the pressure of his presence, the crowd quickly parted. “Please forgive the scene.”