The impact caused by the brief introduction was huge.
Except for me, none of my half-siblings was aware of Evan’s existence.

As for me, despite knowing this day would come, never would I have expected it to be today.

When I looked in his direction, our gazes abruptly collided.

“…!”

Evan’s gray pupils rippled. A glance was all it took for him to recognize me.

‘I can understand why he’s taken aback.’

He would’ve never guessed that I was a Brunak.

The difference between the woman he saw in the slums and the one sitting as a member of Brunak must’ve confused him.

However, even that only lasted for a moment.

As Evan stared at me, his gaze turned cold.

『Warning! Fatality risk is increasing』

I was befuddled when I saw the warning window, written in red.

‘Ha, this is how things get complicated.’

The timing of the adoption was horrendous.

As things stood, Evan would misunderstand that I went in and out of the slums to spy on him at the behest of the duke.

If only I had been given a bit more time, these series of unnecessary misunderstandings could’ve been avoided.

‘There’s nothing else I can do other than resolve them gradually.’

As long as I was a Brunak, it was something that I’d inevitably experience at least once.

Evan may have felt betrayed by me as of the present, but everything should be settled once I proved that the one in the slums was my true self.

I made a good impression back in the slums for that purpose.

“Father.”

Josephine stared intently at Evan and spoke.

“By any chance, is he related to Uncle Ygreve?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

At the duke’s swift acknowledgement, my half-siblings looked at Evan half-heartedly.

Ygreve was born to the former duke after the latter was over 60 years old.

In other words, Ygreve was Duke McEnroe’s half-brother, being over 20 years younger than him.

However, regardless of age, Ygreve was recognized as heir apparent in the same line as the duke.

As a result, the Duke of McEnroe found himself in a bloody race with Ygreve to become the successor.

The duke had waited nearly 17 years for Ygreve to awaken his Ability.

‘It’s unfortunate, but the real victim here is Ygreve.’

Even if Ygreve was a prodigy with amazing talent, compared to the duke, who had killed three of his half-siblings and amassed power, the difference was like Heaven and Earth.

Ygreve himself was well aware of that reality.

It was said that as he grew day by day, he spent every second in anxiety over his impending doom.

Unable to withstand the pressure, Ygreve gave up and spent more time away from the family.

Then, a child was conceived from his one-night stand, Evan.

“Although he isn’t a direct descendant, he’s a child who deserves to be included in the successor competition just like you.”

After all, according to the family rules, one could participate in the successor competition as long as they were of the same rank, regardless of the number of descendants.

“Above all, Evan has not yet fully developed his Ability.”

“…”

“In order to ensure a fair competition, I will allow ‘predation’ of the power core starting from three weeks after the awakening of Evan’s ability.”

I stared dumbfoundedly at the duke’s remarks.

‘Fairness my a*s. Might as well tell him to go die.’

Evan and his half-siblings had different starting lines from the beginning.

No matter how adaptable and resourceful Evan was, there was no way he could compete against his half-siblings, who had received an elite education from an early age.

No wonder Evan chose to run away from this crazy family.

“You may sit down.”

Evan nodded and sat down in the chair pulled out by the attending maid.

His seat was right next to me.

‘I should pretend not to mind.’

I maintained a blank expression, not sparing Evan a glance.

Getting involved in the current situation will only lead to more misunderstandings and suspicion.

It was better to pretend to be clueless about him while feigning ignorance and disinterest.

“I won’t be bored for a while.”

“If you don’t know something, you can ask this sister.”

“Let’s get along, cousin.”

Unlike me, as they looked at Evan, the eyes of my half-brothers and half-sister were voracious.

They didn’t recognize Evan as an object of caution, but as prey that must be caught and eaten.

‘Evan must’ve sensed it, too.’

After all, he was a highly vigilant child.

Surely, he would instinctively realize his predicament in this lunatic family.

The duke began the meal by scooping up the lukewarm soup.

I just gnawed on my fork while eating.

Only the occasional sound of silverware and plates clinking could be heard. No one spoke.

Finally, the one who spoke amidst the awkward silence was the duke, the host of the dinner.

“A dungeon was discovered in the northwest Kant Territory.”

I had been soullessly mixing the salad, and my hands froze.

It wasn’t that uncommon for a dungeon to be discovered during this period.

Dungeons had been appearing all over the continent before the start of the original work.

What surprised me was the name of the area where the dungeon was discovered.

‘Kant… Isn’t that where the Hidden Dungeon is?’

Hidden Dungeons were rare dungeons not often found on the continent.

Compared to regular dungeons, the difficulty was so extreme, it was doubtful whether it could be cleared in the first place.

Nevertheless, people still willingly risked their lives there, tempted by the promise of a bountiful reward unlike that of regular dungeons.

In fact, even the Male Lead was obsessed with conquering Hidden Dungeons, so what more needed to be said?

‘It was a two-layered dungeon.’

〈Blind Wolf Den〉

In terms of difficulty, it was closer to a low-level dungeon that wasn’t that difficult.

However, that in itself was a trick.

An entrance to the actual Hidden Dungeon was hidden inside.

“So far, whenever a dungeon is discovered, our family has dispatched an exploration team.”

“…”

“The damage wasn’t small, but the compensation given in the dungeon was deemed sufficient to make up for the loss.”

The duke continued speaking, casually leaning his head against the backrest.

“But then, it occurred to me that this method is, in fact, quite inefficient.”

I stared at the duke, wondering what he was trying to say.

In the first place, a dungeon was a perilous place.

The very premise of trying to capture it without sustaining any damage was absurd.

‘Oh, but there are exceptions.’

Yussis knew all dungeon strategies through regression.

—And I had looked into the life of Yussis through the original work.

“So, we plan to reduce the size of the search party for this dungeon raid. And to fill that empty space—”

The duke slowly looked around at his children.

“I think I’ll send you instead.”

“…!”

My eyebrows twitched at the duke’s explosive announcement.

‘H-how could you reach such a conclusion?’

To reduce the damage to the family, he chose to sacrifice his children instead.

I wondered what was going on in his head to think such crazy thoughts.

“Sounds like fun.”

“I’ve been wanting to go out, so this is perfect.”

“How do the demons of the dungeon taste when you cut them?”

I stared incredulously at them. And here I thought they couldn’t get any crazier.

I didn’t know whether they were fearless or thoughtless, but to think they would treat the dungeon as nothing more than a park or amusement park.

‘Maybe it takes dying for them to come to their senses… Huh? Wait a sec.’

Suddenly, something occurred to me.

‘This is an opportunity for me too, right?’

〈Blind Wolf Den〉was one of the very few dungeons that could be cleared without extensive preparations.

It was precisely because of the two-layered structure and the existence of a strategy that would allow me to effortlessly tackle it.

I was confident that I would easily succeed in the raid if I prepared well in advance.

“I will go.”

Leon was the first to volunteer, and he seemed very excited.

“Brother, why don’t you take a break? Don’t overdo it. Father, please let me go.”

Without missing a beat, Clark also appealed.

“Why don’t you let your sister do it this time?”

Even Josephine, who was coquettishly resting her chin, was adamant.

After all, by clearing a dungeon, you could obtain a special reward.

If they could keep even a portion of it for themselves, they would be able to take the lead in the successor race.

‘I can’t waste this opportunity either.’

Although the purpose was different, I also had a motive to go to the dungeon.

“I want to go, too.”

As soon as I spoke, everyone at the banquet hall turned to me.

Everyone seemed shocked. None of them thought I would volunteer.

“Kiana, are you sure?”

__