If the rune armor unexpectedly blocks the sword strike, the recoil that the male lead will receive will be even greater.

Meanwhile, Yussis narrowed the distance between us.

‘I can do it.’

I focused my eyes and didn’t take them off the sword.

‘I just need to activate the rune armor right before the sword touches my body.’

“…!”

However, Yussis’ sword was much faster than I expected.

‘I can’t see it.’

Even though I didn’t take my eyes off of it for even a moment, I couldn’t see the trajectory of the sword.

As a result, I couldn’t determine the timing of when to activate the rune armor.

‘It-it’s okay.’

I had insurance for times like this. The armor’s automatic protective function.

Mammon would never let me, its host, die without defending me.

However.

‘Huh?’

Something seemed wrong.

‘Why?’

…The rune armor didn’t activate automatically.

A creepy sound pierced my ears.

As my eyes widened, a warm stream of blood sprayed into the air like raindrops.

Lukewarm droplets of blood splattered on my face.

The unexpected situation left everything in front of me white.

Thud! Another masked man fell, brushing against the hem of my dress.

“Are you alright?”

Half lost, I lifted my head. Yussis’ red eyes were staring intently at me.

A gaze that showed no sign of hostility.

‘What on earth happened…?’

My mind felt like it had been hit by a bomb. I couldn’t think straight.

‘Why hasn’t he killed me?’

‘What is the meaning of those words, as if inquiring about my well-being?’

It was so confusing that I began to doubt whether the man in front of me was truly the male lead I knew.

“You seem quite surprised.”

‘…What? Surprised?’ For a moment, I thought I had misheard.

His attitude toward me—the worst villain—was so polite that it was hard to believe.

“I’ll clean this up first.”

Yussis wiped the blood off his sword and sheathed it.

I watched that scene with a face devoid of expression as if my soul had fled.

Putting the sword back into its sheath meant he had no intention of killing me at all.

‘Could he not recognize me?’ I had a fleeting thought like that, but I dismissed it.

No matter how much my style changed, Yussis wasn’t so clueless as to not recognize the worst villain.

‘Then why… Ah!’

In an instant, a spark of realization ignited in my mind.

What if he didn’t fail to recognize me, but genuinely didn’t know me? The puzzle pieces that seemed unrelated fell perfectly into place.

‘I forgot. It’s still before the regression.’ Belatedly understanding the situation, a sense of relief washed over me.

‘At least, at this moment, there seems to be no ill will toward me.’

“Certainly.”

Yussis’ gaze swept from my head to toe—it was a gaze that seemed to unearth every secret within me.

“It seems like you have some circumstances.”

I couldn’t find words to refute him. Clearly, it wasn’t a situation for an encounter in an underground sewer.

“As for the circumstances… It seems you have some as well.”

I pondered as I glanced at the surrounding corpses.

Even though it wasn’t after the regression, there was no need to be rude around Yussis, regardless of whether he knew me or not.

Moreover, considering the circumstances, wasn’t Yussis, who killed so many people, more critical?

“I can’t deny that.”

My gaze wavered slightly at the mild acknowledgment.

Even though it was before the regression, the disparity between the Yussis in my memories and the current one was too significant.

‘He-he’s so different.’

In the original work, Yussis was known as cold-blooded, stern, and ruthless.

He relentlessly pushed himself after a single failure and never hesitated in pursuit of his goals.

Some readers even questioned his humanity.

It was surprising to find myself having such a human conversation with such a male lead.

“Shall we consider today’s events as if we didn’t see each other? What do you think?”

“That’s what I was hoping for.”

I answered without hesitation.

Honestly, I was somewhat anxious, wondering what would happen if Yussis changed his mind and tried to silence me.

Even though it was before the regression, human nature didn’t change so easily.

Thus, I was glad when Yussis suggested that we pretend we didn’t see each other; I was more than willing to agree.

“Well then.”

Finding common ground, Yussis turned away as if there was nothing more to see.

‘Will he really leave like this?’ I couldn’t believe it.

Just as I couldn’t take my eyes off him,

“Ah.”

Yussis suddenly stopped, turned around and looked back.

Abruptly meeting his eyes, I tensed up.

“It will be easier to elude pursuit if you follow the waterway into the slums.”

I stared blankly at Yussis, blinking repeatedly.

‘Elude pursuit? Me?’

I didn’t quite understand, but it seemed like he had seriously misunderstood my situation.

Otherwise, there would be no reason for him to offer such a groundless thought.

‘Was he really concerned about me just now?’

It was a casually thrown remark, but it contained clear goodwill.

For a male lead who never showed even a hint of cheap sympathy to anyone until the end, it was unbelievable that he said such words to me, whom he had just met today.

‘…You are quite different.’ I looked at Yussis with renewed interest.

Perhaps this was the true Yussis that couldn’t be seen in the original work, before the loss of loved ones and blackening due to the hatred toward the villains.

Yussis turned away and gradually distanced himself from me.

“Excuse me.”

I squeezed my voice and called out to him, bringing him to a halt.

Yussis had only taken a few steps and turned to look at me.

“See you later.”

I offered a farewell that might have sounded a bit awkward.

Yussis stared at me intensely then responded with a nod and turned away.

His figure quickly disappeared beyond the darkened sewer.

Sigh~ Calling out to Yussis was a half-impulsive act.

In an attempt to leave a lasting impression, I carefully chose my farewell.

This small effort was made in the hope that it might soften any negative feelings he could harbor against me in the future.

Well, it may not make much sense from his perspective.

“I took too long.”

Anyway, concerns related to Yussis could be addressed later.

For now, I just wanted to get out of the sewer that reeked of blood as quickly as possible.

Carefully avoiding stepping on any corpses, I cautiously made my way out of the intersection.

Instead of heading toward the slums, as Yussis had suggested, I retraced my steps back to the square and the back alley near the iron gate.

“Milady.”

Tia saw me coming out of the alley and opened the carriage door wide as if she had been waiting.

I jumped into the carriage, and she quickly closed the door.

“I hope everything went well—Milady, there’s blood on your face”

I was so distracted that I even forgot that there was blood splattered on my face and dress.

“I’ll clean it for you.”

“Thanks.”

Despite Tia’s efforts, the dried bloodstains didn’t come out easily.

‘Come to think of it, why am I so calm?’

People died in front of me, blood splattered everywhere, and there was even blood from the corpses seeping into my shoes, yet my mind remained unaffected.

Normally, I should have fainted at the sight.

Perhaps this, too, was due to the influence of the body assimilation rate.

“Why, why are you like this?”

“Don’t you hear me asking you to open the door right now?”

At that moment, a commotion outside the carriage grew louder. I furrowed my brows.

Thud! Someone forcefully banged the carriage door open.

‘What’s going on now?’

A knight in silver armor looked down at me with an arrogant attitude.

“We’re looking for someone, so please coop—Oh, co-could you be Princess Kiana?”

The knight’s gaze, shifting between the carriage and my face, suddenly wavered.

“Why? Doesn’t seem like it?”

In response to my cold answer, the knight’s face turned pale.

“I-I apologize! I intruded because there wasn’t a carriage emblem!”

I stared silently at the knight with a stern expression.

Adding bloodstains splattered on my face and dress to an appearance already exuding a villainous vibe, the knight was utterly bewildered.

“I-I am Knight Franz, under Lawrence County.”

As I continued to glare at him, he seemed even more at a loss for what to do.

“I am currently pursuing the runaway foster daughter under the Lord’s orders. I made a rude mistake due to my haste. I-I apologize.”

As the knight finished his apology, Tia murmured.

“Count Lawrence is Young Master Leon’s maternal relative.”

As soon as I heard those words, I felt my expression distort.

‘For god’s sake, why of all people…’

Among my half-siblings, Leon was the one competing for first and second place in levels of difficulty and danger.

He had even absorbed Maria’s power and was at the forefront of the successor race.

If it was Leon’s maternal family, there was nothing good about me getting involved.