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The smell of blood, lingering on my nose, red paint like blood that stained the white linen bed.

A man with a body that was too large to fit on my small bed.

With his lips torn, arms with deep scar with an unknown cause.

I swung the knife in my hand towards the man on the bed.

“It’s over.”

It took a long time to finish.

I put my knife down on the bedside table, and I quickly wiped the cold sweat flowing from my forehead.

And I carefully observed him. I trembled, feeling the anxiety, and my heart was pounding terribly, and I couldn’t calm myself.

If anyone seen this suspicious figure and the surroundings, it would be mistaken for abduction and murder.

It was clear.

…Of course, I could never kidnap someone.

It’s just that, I’m a good healer who wanted to save the ‘Duke Anais‘ who was injured in front of my house.

I moved the Duke to bed and even finished his treatment, so I have now become his ‘Lifesaver.’

This knife that I was holding was also used for his treatment, to tear the gauze and nothing more!

I whispered gently as I wiped the unconscious Duke’s forehead with the back of my hand.

“You may not hear this, but… The treatment’s over.”

Fortunately, the fever went down, and the wound was treated.

Well, the reason why this man, who boasted overwhelming power in the novel, got injured so far was unknown.

But the reason why he fainted seems to be due to the outburst of his mana, so I prescribed a special medicine and fed it to him.

Now I am completely relieved that the treatment went well.

With a sigh of relief, I looked into his face carefully.

Certainly, he was the ‘God of the night,‘ and he looked reliable.

Like the dark night sky, his black hair looks the softest of all his features.

Long shades of eyelashes, straight nose, and slight shade under the cheekbones created a sharper atmosphere.

Even if those eyes are close, I think I could capture everything at once.

His eyes, however, were only obscured by his thick eyelashes.

“You must get better. Okay?”

I need to finish the treatment.

As I safely put the sleeping medicine into the man’s lips, I thought to myself ‘Oh my God!!’

“Because I’ve been waiting for more than three years to this day just to save you!”

Of course, even if I tried to think positively, I couldn’t overcome physical fatigue.

Maybe it’s because I worked hard all day, or perhaps it was because of the struggle of dragging this big and heavy man into the house.

“…I only have five minutes left to sleep.”

I thought so and started to doze off.

In front of the bed, while he was recovering.

• • •

I decided to sleep only five minutes, but I couldn’t cope with the fatigue that had accumulated in my body for a short period of time.

I was deeply asleep and dreaming.

In my dream, my past unfolded like a panorama.

It was no coincidence that I saved the Duke of Anais today.

In advance, I knew that he would fall in the grass, about 10m away from the First Treatment Center outside the northern Duke Castle.

The Duke, travelling alone to hunt for monsters, was forced to fall in front of a small log house in the forest because of mana instability due to the last war’s aftereffects against monsters.

That’s why the manager of a nearby branch office ended up saving him.

The Duke of Anais takes the manager of the treatment center to the castle and gives him what he wants.

The reason I knew this was simple and clear.

This was a fantasy novel, 『Bloody Revenge』.

I was reincarnated as ‘Astel’, the younger sister of ‘Cassian’, the novel’s male protagonist.

Unfortunately, in this novel, The Fate of Astel and Cassian had a tragic dark ending.

We were born to the Count Vietry family, the most prestigious wizard family in the Empire, but our family was framed and destroyed.

Sadly, our parents sacrificed their lives for us, using the forbidden stealth magic that no one could trace.

Thanks to that, we barely survived the bloodbath.

But what could a little child who knows nothing do?

Our childhood was challenging, sad, and helpless.

It was customary to be starving, and there were times when I was begging and begged for luck and was beaten.

Luckily, since my brother got a job as a stable keeper, we were able to eat even soiled carrots as one meal for a day.

Still, we enjoy living here. Initially, there exist adversities in one’s life.

However, when I was ten years old, the problem began when I realized that I had reincarnated from this novel.

“The genre was revenge, and even the ending was sad?”

According to the original content, Cassian, who grew up with his younger sister, tried to take revenge for our parents.

As a result, he uncovers the identities of some of the spies who destroyed the Count Vietry, and was cleared of the accusation.

However, after he thought it was a happy ending.

Cassian eventually died at the hands of the final Villain, which he didn’t even know existed.

‘Astel‘ was also in a situation where she was attacked and killed while raising a nephew that her brother left behind.

The novel ends in bitterness, though it was not clear who the final Villain was.

That kind of fate.

When I realized that I had just been reincarnated, I was so scared of the future that I cried while walking and begging.

“Astel! We are beggars, so we have to work. You shouldn’t cry all the time.”

“Brother, what if we are supposed to die?”

Cassian responded calmly to my helpless question.

“Cassian, you stupid idiot. You know nothing! Just go away!”

He laughed without knowing that he’s destined to die or that I’ll be living a miserable life with my nephew alone!

While he looked tense, I had an incredible realization from his words.

“Still… I like the saying that ‘If the ending was bad, you should change it’.”

If I catch and kill the final Villain that Cassian failed to catch in the end.

I would make him eat poisoned carrot soup until he dies. I’d make him eat until his belly burst with carrot soup and dies painfully!

After that, I’ll prepare to take revenge. Of course, it was the same with my brother.

“I want to take the Knights Templar entrance exam.”

“…”

‘Just wait ten years. I’ll tear off those accusations against our family and live in a nice house wearing pretty clothes.’

My brother didn’t share a lot of information about his revenge.

However, he was reborn as a hero of the Empire.

Cassian received the nobility status and connections with High-Level Information. I already knew that he would try to find the truth by meeting people from a dark guild.

He left me in a remote village, to walk towards his future path full of thorns.

“What’s with that expression!”

“It’s just….'”

“Cause I’m not good enough?”

“Yes. You’re not good enough…”

My brother looked shocked, but I couldn’t help it.

Anyway, if he fails. Then we all die.

So there was only one way to overcome this tragic ending.

Without my brother’s knowledge, I would help him uncover who the Final Villain was!

Only then could we truly survive.

I recalled several hints that appeared in the novel, where the Villain wasn’t revealed until the end.

First of all, it wasn’t impossible to know who exactly the spy that infiltrated our family.

Since some of the most important hints were given.

One of the three spies who fabricated false evidence that Count Vietry was a traitor was a ‘human‘, and two were ‘Shapeshifters‘.

It was the fact that after they destroyed our family, they fled into the Duke of Anais.

If I caught them right away, find out who the final Villain was and immediately deal it with him…

With that we could reach a happy ending.

If a problem arises, it won’t be easy to enter the Duke of Anais Castle.

There were complex political reasons for this. In the northern part of the Empire, the entire Duchy of Anais was the land of Shapeshifters.

The Shapeshifters hated humans who had enslaved them in the past, so they would threaten them when outsiders entered their land.

There were also a few humans who had died.

Of course, there had to be some humans who were able to enter the northern Duke castle.

First, I should get a job at the Duke’s treatment center after a difficult journey.

However, the circumstances were different for the Duke, the vassal family, and Duke Castle, where the shapeshifters stay.

It was a dangerous castle where unauthorized persons could not enter and leave even if it were a guard.

The north Duke Castle was a place where if humans tried to sneak in their throat would be cut off immediately due to a magic surrounding the castle.

As a human being, how would I be able to enter the castle without dying and spy them without being suspicious?

After working in the treatment center for a long time, I finally found a good way.

That’s by being the lifesaver of Duke Anais!

It may be another matter of being a lifesaver and getting in without spilling blood in the Duchy.

• • •

For a moment when I realized the contents of my dreams, I opened my eyes like I was playing a game.

Immediately I looked around in a hurry, and the Duke, whom I carefully laid on the bed, disappeared.

Maybe not everything in my dream was true?

Or, unlike in the original, Duke Anais left without gratification for the benefactor who saved him…!

I stretched my shoulders and pressed my eyes, and then I heard a soft voice behind my back.

“Are you the one who saved me?”

It was a terrifyingly stiff tone to describe the phrase ‘the one who saved me’, but the low tone was so sweet that I was confused.

I turned my head and looked behind as if possessed.

At last, our gaze met in the center.

Black hair, bluish eyes.

He was Duke Anais, whom I saved.

The ruler of all the Shapeshifters in the north.

However, except for the title of “Duke Anais,” the truth about his race was unknown, so he was a mysterious figure in the north who was known as a dangerous beast.

And now, he was my only way to enter Duke Castle!

“…Y-you woke up already?”

His gaze stayed on me. I didn’t say anything, but I could feel the tension that seemed to wrap around my body.

Soon his lips opened to speak.

“I want to reward the person who saved me.”

The words he said were about the reward, but it felt like the message meant ‘I’ll kill you‘, speaking with that terrifying expression on his face…

I’m not actually nervous, but I couldn’t help but feel scared of him.

But of course this was the moment I’ve been waiting all this time!

So I spoke confidently.

“R-reward…? That’s great!”

This person would become a problem to my brother’s revenge, so I need to pave the path for our revenge.

Originally, even if the other person returned the favor, It’s still annoying that someone couldn’t receive it comfortably.

The Duke particularly has a fearsome atmosphere, and it scares me…!

“If so then, I’m your benefactor! Oh, and I have one little and precious request for the reward.”

The Duke tilted his head and stiffened.

“Okay, I’ll listen to it.”

“Well, I think it would take a long time to talk about it. Could we talk somewhere else? Because my house was small and shabby…”

It’s better to talk about it at Duke’s Castle, the forbidden fortress.

…I endured trying to say that.

He hasn’t revealed his identity as the Duke yet, so it’s not easy to confess what I really want.

However, God seemed to be on my side.

“Well, my mansion’s near here. If possible, we could go and talk there.”, The Duke replied.

I don’t know why, but things are working out my way.

‘Then, would I be able to enter the Duke castle as his benefactor that saved him as I planned?’

Once I step into the Duke Castle, it would be easier to tell him, ‘Please let me work at the office of the treatment center!’

The Shapeshifters hate and despise humans, but they couldn’t spit ferociously at the Duke’s benefactor.

If I caught the spies while working at the internal treatment center in Duke’s Castle, I would steal the details of their background, then after that my mission would be complete!

After all the calculations, I nodded with a sorrowful look.

Every time I met his gaze, my breathing became weird, but it didn’t matter. I inhaled violently and shouted as if to cheer up the atmosphere.

“Right! I think it’s better to talk at your mansion.”

Wait, does it sound too urgent? But strangely…

“Yes.”

…The Duke seemed more skeptical. With a fierce expression on his face, he replied without hesitation.

I tilted my head in a strange sense of incongruity, but he suddenly took my hand.

And he held it tightly

My difficulty in breathing disappeared at the touch of our hands.

‘What’s this…?’

I couldn’t understand this sudden situation.

At that moment, his face leaned closer in front of my face, and his nose and mine were close enough to touch.

“I was waiting for you to say that.”

Yeah, I think that’s what I’ve been waiting for, but more than that,

“…You waited for me to speak?”

Aren’t things going much easier than I thought?

Was this a trap card?

I doubted all kinds of possibilities, and I was aware of putting my life on the line.

Then the Duke whispered in a slightly harsh voice.

“Yes, I waited.”

I was even more terrified when I heard those words.

There was a guillotine in the castle that executed humans only a decade ago.

Could I really enter this easily?

This is definitely suspicious…

‘Calm down, Astel’

Even though it seems more dangerous than Duke Anais, it shouldn’t be embarrassing for some reason, even if this situation feels like a very sweet trap.

In preparation for meeting him, I wrote a script and practiced acting.

I straightened my face and smiled nicely.

His gaze glanced over my face.

“Do you know me?”

“No, I don’t-”

I took off my pretense and showed a confident expression.

“You seemed to know who I was, but I guess it’s not.”

“No, I don’t ! Never!.”

And there was one more thing.

“Right, I couldn’t really expect anything, even a little.”

The Duke’s eyes narrowed, but he no longer asked questions of doubt.

Instead, he slowly spoke to me.

“We’ll go to the Duke of Anais Castle.”

“…Yes?”

“Because that castle’s my home.”

As far as I knew, he was cold and sober and more aristocratic.

Those perfectly drowsy eyes were staring openly at me, with no way to bend with laughter.

As I had prepared, I replied similarly to the director of the treatment center who had saved Duke Anais from the original 『Blood Revenge.』

“If that castle was your home, if that castle? So, if you do, then you’re Duke Anais?”

“Yes.”, He raised his head and answered.

It was a very concise answer. I put my hand in front of my chest and sighed.

“I have saved Duke Anais! It’s an honor. By the way, it was really close to a critical situation for the north. Thank God, I’ve saved your life to the greatest of my ability.”

It seemed like overreacting, but I couldn’t stop

“…”

“I thought you’re going to die, so I didn’t even notice your handsome face because I was just focusing on the treatment. Haha!”

This dialogue contained a lot of information from the words of the director who saved the Duke in the original. ‘Being not selfish and just a coincidence that I saved him!’

Also, I’m a nice person, and I’m also smart as a trader.

After this was an unseen video.

(ORIGINAL TRANSLATOR'S NOTE: details pertaining to the original which was not mentioned. The author literally used the word VIDEO)

Similar to the original content, the Duke would say, ‘Okay. Then the details of the reward should be talked about after we arrive at the Castle.’

With my glistening eyes, the Duke nodded wearily.

And he replied with a sincere glance as if chewing on the information contained in the previous words.

“I’m handsome.”

“Yes, right now the Duke-, what…?”

Of course it’s the right thing to say.

But now is not the time to say that…!

However, before I could even point out his reaction that seemed to be out of focus, the Duke opened his mouth first.

“Then, please tell me the name of my benefactor.”

Now I have the opportunity to tell him my name.

A bit of a suspicious and strange thing happened but as a result I finally did it!

I opened my mouth and imprinted my name and identity on him.

“It’s Astel, please call me Astel! I’m a commoner working at a treatment center outside the Duke Castle.”

“Yes, alright.”, He answered simply.

I was worried that his attitude would change because I was a low-status commoner, but fortunately there was no such thing.

At last, his languid eyes met mine.

“Astel.”

As the Duke called my name in an indifferent tone, my heart thumped and my face felt hot.

Why do I suddenly feel like my heart pricks?

My breathing kept getting rougher, and it felt like something was pressing my chest.

As a healer, I had an unknown chest pain.

‘I never fell in love at first sight, but my heart felt very uncomfortable.’

I was in doubt, but the Duke reached out to me. I casually put my hand over his outstretched hand.

“Let’s go to the Duke’s Castle and talk.”

It was a polite escort that didn’t seem to contain even a little selfishness.

However, the moment I touched him, a cool energy came up from my fingertips and calmed the mild fever that was burning my forehead.

…What is this??

The slight fever on my forehead and the cold flowing through his hand.

Instinctively, I thought that something was weird.

But anyway, there was only one option.

Entering the Duke Castle as it is.

The opportunity like today will not come again.

It is a lie if I say that I’m not scared.

Duke of Anais, who is notorious. Even if I enter as the duke’s benefactor, it was my responsibility to survive from the human-hating creatures.

However, if I let go of your hand like this, everything will go the same as the original, and I will have a miserable end.

For a happy future with my brother, I have to follow him at this moment.

When I finished organizing my mind, I happily replied .

“I like it!”

He escorted me with a polite manner.

When I came out holding his hand, I could see the carriage waiting in advance.

At this point, the Duke seems to have prepared something as soon as he woke up.

Since when did this person have been awake… …

“Get on, Astel.”

An elegant and noble attitude that is angled to each of the cold expressions and movements.

I nodded and climbed into the carriage.

Yet with a side glance, I looked at him closely.

Duke Anais, even in the original, living in hiding without a presence, A man who is unlikely to have a lifelong relationship with a commoner like me.

Duke Anais, alone looked like a man made of ice.

I turned my head to glanced at the window over the chariot.

I felt like I was going out of my mind, but I was fortunate that I didn’t forget to lock the door of my house before getting on the carriage.

          *

Duke of Anais.

Dozens of spiked spires were visible as they poked through the sky.

The top of the tower is covered with ice caps, so it is called Winter Castle.

Winter Castle was a natural fortress boasting a fantastic shape in its own right.

At the same time, it was also the center of the Northern Autonomous Territory where prisoners lived.

However, the biggest reason why the Duke of Anais is famous was because of the current Duke.

What kind of person is Duke Anais living in this Duke Castle?

A demon slayer and beast of the demon war, a Hegemony who shakes the entire continent beyond the empire, and an arrogant noble that even the emperor can’t touch. However, no one knows the origin from where he was born. One day he suddenly appeared and joined the predecessor of Duke Anais’ family.

There is another one.

Although he is a beast of the beasts, his race or real name is not known, so he is simply called Mr. Duke or “Duke Anais.”

To wipe out the monsters at once and kill anything you don’t like right away… …

…… I think he’s a person with all sorts of horror.

‘The manners are better than I thought, but I don’t know. Because he is a dangerous beast, I have to be extra-careful.’

There must be a reason why those who destroyed the Vietry family were driven into the dangerous Duchy of Anais.

The possibility that Duke Anais was the final villain could not be ruled out.

But right now, it was an urgent need to fully adapt to this duke and see him as much as possible.

As I looked out the window, I turned my head into the carriage and glanced at his sculptural face.

It was an unusually handsome face, but it looked so cold that there was no emotion.

Even though I stare at him like this, it seems like he was not interested in anyone…

“Astel.”

……I thought it was, but it wasn’t.

It seemed that I was staring too deeply. I hurriedly swept my forehead, ” haha!”, and laughed out loud.

“Because you’re exceptionally handsome. So I keep looking  at your face.”

“I guess you like my face.”

I thought it was a joke and looked at the Duke distantly.

However, his face was still emotionless as the cold wind blew.

I just took it for granted, and I was like,

” Why do you stare at me?”

‘A person who cannot even be controlled, No, it’s a beast… … ’

Still, when I think of an answer, it seemed that he was treating me as a benefactor.

He even took out a piece of candy from his coat and handed it out.

As if prepared in advance… …

“Relax.”

“…….ah!”

Like a timid hamster, I, with a sharp ear, pretended to eat candy carefully and put it in my pocket.

Still be alert!, It’s time to be vigilant.

As he stared at me, he uttered.

“It would be better to eat it.”

” . . . . . . ”

Have you noticed that I’m wary?

However, the Duke’s expression was still subtle enough to make it difficult to understand.

“You’ll hear amazing words soon.”

“… … Yes?”

Even to my question, he didn’t answer any more and looked away.

Even that was a very elegant attitude that brought admiration.

Anyway, what will I be surprised at? My head was filled with question marks.

Is it because the Duke Castle is so beautiful?

Or is it because of discrimination by prisoners?

However, it was a fact that I had already felt and prepared firmly after working in the treatment center for over three years.

I carefully calculated the contents of the original, learned healing techniques, and entered the North.

For three years, I worked at a treatment center with an effort to cut bones, and I collected information about the Shapeshifters in my spare time.

So, it won’t be surprising when I enter Duke Castle.

“Don’t worry． It’s the first time I’ve ever had a mountain war, and I’ve been through it all!”

I was confident.

I assured him that I would unveil at some point what would happen.

After going through everything, as much as my heart could take, almost like a grandmother’s, Is it the level of an Old Man?

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, it is!”

He stared at me again. There was a strange heat in his eyes.

“I’m curious if you’re in good shape right now.”

“..…Yeah?”

“My heart must be full and feverish.”

His hand touched mine.

Even though it was only that, the corner of the chest where the dull pain was throbbing became comfortable and my body became cool after the warmth from the touch came up.

As a healer, my gut tells me that this is obviously a bad sign.

“It will be comfortable now.”

I was surprised and opened my mouth slightly.

Unlike me, who tilts my head, he noticed something and put a sweet candy in my open mouth.

“So I told you to relax,”

……I thought it would be bitter if it was the candy The Duke carries.

It tastes like strawberries… … ?

Before I even rolled it in my mouth a few times, he looked satisfied with me, who had swallowed the candy.

As soon as his hand fell, I closed my eyes tightly.

The moment the eyelids were closed,it came as if fainting.

        *

“Well, does that make sense?”

Unsurprisingly, I was very surprised by the serious commitment I had earlier, my mouth was wide open.

As soon as I arrived at Duke Castle, I expected to discuss the reward.

However, the Duke Anais woke me up from sleep, feeling tired he put me straight to the Head doctor of the Duchy.

This is the result after that.

“There, there is an imprint!”

Engraving was a kind of “ancient magic” that existed among the Shapeshifters long ago.

The exact name is ‘An Imprint of Companion’.

Imprinting symptoms varied from mild fever to heart attack, so it was difficult to diagnose in random cases.

But one thing was certain.

Usually there is power only between the ‘hand and hand’ contact,and it is extremely rare that it is engraved between a human and a Shapeshifter.

In order to hold a ritual of swearing eternal love between men and women, most of them used magic with the consent of the two.

This is a ritual that has almost disappeared in recent years.

Of course, if you look back on the contents of the book I read in the past to study healing, There are rare cases where the imprint is suddenly engraved for no reason like us now.

‘What’s important is the effect of my companion’s imprint on me.’

Regardless of how it was engraved, once it was engraved……

The two become a ‘companion of destiny’ during the imprinting period.

Beyond sharing each other’s pain, when one dies, the other dies.

In other words, in the imprinted relationship, each other becomes each other’s fatal weakness.

“I was also surprised.”

The Duke said with an expression that did not look surprised at all.

‘How can you say that you are surprised at this situation? with a face that is not surprised at all’

As soon as his words were over, the Old Library of the Duke of Anais was frozen.

The Duke’s personal physician, who was sitting across from me and the Duke of Anais, replied with a look of death.

“The specific diagnosis is ‘temporary imprint of unknown cause’.”

Temporary engraving.

Besides, it doesn’t make sense to do the ritual together?

“Oh, this is really nonsense… ..”

What the hell is going on?

The doctor’s eyes wide open, staring at me in confusion.