chapter 1
“That person.”
The child’s tiny finger pointed at someone.
As everyone followed the direction of the little finger with their eyes, they found a young woman who had only just shed the last traces of girlhood.
“...Me?”
Hystia pointed at herself in bewilderment.
No matter how many times she asked again or denied it, the child’s choice remained the same.
“H-Haha… To think the young master would choose Lady Frost.”
“Well then, congratulations on becoming the young master’s guardian.”
“Congratulations, Lady Frost.”
Light applause sounded from the surrounding crowd. But mixed into their congratulations were confusion, envy, jealousy, and resentment.
Becoming the guardian of the heir to the Winston Ducal House was undoubtedly a position anyone would covet. But to Hystia, it looked like a gateway to hell.
“Hehe!”
Completely unaware of anything, the child laughed innocently.
Leonhardt Winston.
At this very moment, Hystia had been chosen by Leonhardt—the boy who had lost his parents in an accident and was left alone to lead the Winston Ducal House—as his guardian.
Which meant—
‘I’m screwed.’
She had just become the guardian of the person who killed her in the past.
Hystia Frost, age thirty, single.
She had once belonged to the Frost Barony, a distant branch family of the once-great Winston Ducal House. But now, she worked as a maid for another noble household.
Ordinarily, even a poor baronial family wouldn’t sink to working as servants, but the Frost family had long since lost everything to another branch family.
Twelve years ago, when the Duke and Duchess of Winston died, a silent storm swept through the Winston branch families.
All of them desperately tried to seize control of Winston. Whenever one family became an obstacle, the others would destroy them or confiscate their assets so thoroughly that they could never rise again.
The Frost family had been one of the victims.
Even though they had no intention of participating in the struggle between branch families, they were dragged into it anyway.
As a result, Hystia lost her parents and was left alone to raise her three younger siblings. To feed them, she had no choice but to earn money.
And now, twelve years later—
Though life had been difficult, she had successfully raised even the youngest sibling into adulthood while working as a maid.
“Well, I ended up missing my chance to get married.”
Now that she had even sent off her youngest brother into marriage, the emptiness beside her felt lonely, but there was also a deep sense of pride in her heart.
“Mother, Father… please tell me I did well.”
She whispered to the only remaining portrait of her parents.
She wanted praise from her deceased parents. She wanted someone to acknowledge all the hardship she had endured.
Warm sunlight poured over her head.
It felt almost like her parents’ touch.
“Today, I’m going to treat myself for once.”
Thinking of it as giving herself a reward, she decided to indulge in a luxury today.
Imagining the cake she had never even dared consider buying because it was always too expensive, she walked with light steps.
“My goodness, another family got killed…”
“They say adults and children alike were all slaughtered again.”
“Tsk tsk, it seems that evil spirit is trying to wipe out the Winston bloodline entirely.”
At that moment, whispers from passersby reached Hystia’s ears.
“...This makes the third time, doesn’t it?”
For the past few months, a string of grotesque murders had continued.
No one knew whether to dismiss them as simple murder cases or call them the bloody power struggle of nobles.
Because—
‘All the victims are from Winston branch families.’
And not just one or two people. Entire families had been slaughtered, regardless of age or gender.
Remembering the events from twelve years ago, goosebumps spread across Hystia’s body.
“...Well, it has nothing to do with me.”
She was sick and tired of Winston.
Their family fortune had all been stolen by other branch families, and the Frost family had surely been expelled by now. There was no reason they would become targets of some mysterious killer.
She just wanted to live peacefully from now on.
With that thought, Hystia relaxed her tense body and headed home.
The moment she arrived, she unpacked her things, washed up, and sat reverently before the table.
“Hehehe, just look at this beautiful thing.”
On the table sat the cake she had splurged on with great determination.
“Waaah, it looks delicious…!”
Swallowing the saliva gathering in her mouth, she finally picked up her fork.
The cake cut smoothly, revealing a perfect cross-section, and a thrill ran through her.
She didn’t know when she would ever enjoy such luxury again, so she intended to remember every detail.
“Thank you for the meal.”
And so, Hystia finally scooped up the cake she had longed for and placed it in her mouth.
“Mmm! Delicious—!”
“N-Noona! This is bad!”
At the exact moment the sweet flavor spread across her mouth, someone burst the door open without even knocking.
Before the emotion of bliss could fully hit her, Hystia blinked with a fork still between her lips.
“Elvin?”
“Pack your things right now! We have to run!”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“There’s no time to explain! Hurry!”
The intruder was her eldest younger brother, Elvin Frost, five years younger than her.
Unable to comprehend the situation at all, Hystia hurriedly shoved the rest of the cake into her mouth.
She had wanted to savor it slowly, but now she was just stuffing it down, making the taste blur together.
“This isn’t the time to worry about cake! Is this all the luggage you need?”
“Y-Yes, but… Ahh, Elvin!”
“Sorry, Noona. We’re really in a hurry.”
Her brother roughly grabbed her arm, forcing her to flee the house with him.
Dragged outside without understanding anything, Hystia climbed into the wagon Elvin had prepared. Inside were her other siblings and all their families huddled together.
The terror on their faces sent a chill down her spine, and she quickly sat down.
Elvin sat at the driver’s seat alongside Annie’s husband, her second sibling’s spouse.
Still dazed, Hystia asked,
“What… what is going on?”
Eric, the youngest brother whom she had married off just a few months ago, held tightly onto his wife’s hand as he spoke with a trembling voice.
“...You know about the recent murders of the Winston branch families, right?”
“Y-Yeah… I saw it in the newspaper. But why?”
“The one killing them… is Leonhardt.”
“...What? Who?”
“Leonhardt Winston.”
Hystia’s mouth fell open.
That name belonged to the sole heir of the Winston Ducal House—
“The young duke died ten years ago…!”
He had supposedly died in an accident ten years earlier.
“They say it wasn’t an accident, but murder. Count Humphrey killed him to swallow the Winston family.”
“So… you’re saying the young duke survived and is taking revenge now?”
“...Yes.”
“I understand what you’re saying, but why do we have to run? We’re not part of the Winston branch families anymore! Everything was confiscated and we were thrown out ages ago! We must’ve even been erased from the family registry, so why—?!”
“No, Noona. The Frost family was never officially removed.”
“After throwing us out, they apparently used the Frost family name everywhere to evade taxes. So… we became one of the young duke’s targets too.”
As her siblings continued explaining, all strength drained from Hystia’s body.
The fear on their faces was real.
The newspapers had clearly stated that everyone—adults and children alike—had been slaughtered.
Then that meant the precious siblings here, their spouses, even their children… all of them…?
Neighhh—!
Rattle—! Crash—!
At that moment, the wagon shook violently along with the horses’ panicked cries.
“Damn it!”
“Everyone hold on tight! We’re being chased!”
The situation turned dire in an instant.
With a dreadful feeling, Hystia slightly lifted the wagon cover and looked behind them.
Knights in uniform were charging after them on horseback at terrifying speed.
“Waaaah! Mommy, I’m scared!”
“It’s okay, it’ll be alright.”
“...Dear God, please protect us.”
Overwhelmed by terror, everyone began praying to a god they didn’t even believe in.
But God was not on their side.
Boom! Craaash!
Neeighhh!
The wagon shook even harder.
When the horses were finally struck down, the wagon overturned completely, sending everyone tumbling inside the cramped space.
“Kyaaaah!”
“E-Everyone, are you alright?!”
Pain surged through her body, but Hystia hurriedly regained her senses and checked on her family.
“Get out here at once!”
But before they could even recover, the terrifying voice of a grim reaper rang out.
The knights’ rough hands dragged them outside.
Thrown onto the ground, Hystia spotted Elvin and her brother-in-law already captured.
“Elvin!”
“Who said you could speak?”
Just as she tried to approach him, a cold blade pressed against her throat.
A sharp sting followed as blood trickled down the sword.
“Are these the ones?”
A low voice sounded.
The knights saluted the figure approaching on horseback.
Hair as red as though drenched in blood.
Eyes of crimson.
An appearance that reminded her of someone she had only glimpsed from afar as a child.
The moment she saw him, Hystia recognized him.
“...Young Duke Leonhardt.”
The owner of those emotionless, murderous eyes was none other than the true heir of Winston.
“Who are Derrick Frost and Anna Frost?”
Those were her deceased parents’ names.
Thinking she was the only one who could resolve this situation, Hystia spoke up.
“They are our late parents.”
“Hm. Then you must be Hystia Frost.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“You know why you’ve ended up like this, don’t you?”
“...No. I do not.”
“Yes. Your kind always claims ignorance. After stealing my parents, the family they left me, and even my inheritance, you all pretended not to know anything. Even my uncle…!”
“That’s not true, Your Grace! There’s some misunderstanding!”
“No, there is no misunderstanding. It is a fact that you branch family bastards joined hands to try to kill me.”
“Please, listen to me! The other branch families may have done that, but we did not!”
“...Duke, shall we simply dispose of them now?”
As Hystia desperately pleaded, one knight spoke coldly.
There wasn’t the slightest hesitation in his voice about killing them.
Meeting Hystia’s desperate eyes, Leonhardt narrowed his own.
“Very well. Let’s hear this excuse of yours.”
“It’s true that we are the Frost family! But twelve years ago, we also lost everything and our parents to the other branch families! I raised my younger siblings alone all this time! We absolutely did not participate in any attempt on your life!”
Leonhardt’s brows twitched.
Thinking her words were getting through to him, Hystia hurriedly continued.
“If you still doubt us, then please investigate the Harbor family! They took everything from us! We were driven out penniless, so we believed we had already been removed from the Winston family registry long ago!”
“...You must have your grievances too.”
“Yes, exactly! So if you would only believe me—!”
“Then let me ask one thing.”
“...Yes?”
“You said you were driven out twelve years ago. When exactly was that?”
“...Early winter.”
Leonhardt’s eyes turned icy cold.
As he turned away and gestured to the surrounding knights, they drew their swords.
Realizing something had gone terribly wrong, Hystia screamed.
“W-Why are you doing this?! We’re victims too! Please spare our lives! No—at least spare the children…!”
“...In the spring twelve years ago, after my parents died, the branch families reached out to me. Even if you are innocent now, your parents were already allied with those bastards back then. Spare the children? Then how could your people be so cruel to an eight-year-old child?”
“That’s not true! There must be some misunderstanding! Your Grace…!”
Hystia could not continue speaking after that.
Because the merciless blade of a knight ended her first life on the spot.