Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 360

Ruisa remembered that day. She could never forget it. Twenty-four years ago, it was the saddest day of her life.

“Ruisa, don’t forget your mother.”

Her mother’s face was thin, but she still had the features Ruisa loved. Tears ran down her face as she looked at Ruisa.

Mother.

Unknown men were pulling the Queen, her mother, away. Her father was called a king, but he had no real power. He did nothing to stop them.

“You must forget, Ruisa.”

He just held her and spoke words that were very different from what her mother would say.

She was very young and did not understand what was happening. She just cried and said she did not want to never see her mother again.

Her father, who had been called to the Imperial City, came back much later. That night, he held young Ruisa, who was crying for her mother, and he cried all night long.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Ruisa. Daddy is so sorry…”

From that day, the King of the East stopped doing his kingly work and started drinking alcohol all the time.

It was too hard for young Ruisa to handle. The mother who always held her close was gone, and her father, who used to be so loving, didn’t pay attention to her anymore.

From then on, Ruisa started causing trouble, running around the royal palace and making mischief. The once happy family fell apart.

Then, one day.

The days were sad and felt like they could break at any time. Then, something changed.

“How tormented you must be.”

An old man with kind eyes and a long white beard arrived. He was a jester, someone who tells jokes, brought by a very loyal servant to try and make the sad king feel better.

But the old jester did something amazing in front of them.

“An opportunity will come to set right all that has been twisted.”

They thought Archmages were only from old stories. But this old man, who was an Archmage, reached out his hand to them.

“Soon, the time of prophecy will arrive. When our wishes are fulfilled, the Imperial Family, the Emperor, will pay the price.”

“And on the day He descends…”

Ruisa didn’t understand what his words meant at the time, but she remembered that her father looked happy for the first time in a long time.

From then on, her father stopped drinking, always smiled, and started to go out and do things. The young princess, who used to cause trouble, started learning from the mage because she seemed good at magic.

As time went by, Ruisa became curious about what had happened in the past.

Her teacher told her the truth about that day.

“The Queen…”

Her teacher said her mother was blamed for something she didn’t do. The Emperor, who was the Crown Prince back then, wanted to become more powerful, so he ordered her mother to be killed. Her mother’s only crime was being the sister of another prince, a rival to the Emperor, born from the same womb.

That was what changed the fate of the father and daughter.

Also, her teacher told her something even more shocking than she could have imagined.

“Your father, the King of the East, personally killed his own wife.”

He did it to prove he was loyal to the Crown Prince.

At first, she thought it was a lie.

But then, she remembered her father welcoming the Imperial messenger on that sad day.

“How could I hesitate to execute a traitor involved in treason?”

She didn’t understand what it meant then, but she still remembered that day clearly. Now, she could understand what those words meant.

Their difficult relationship as father and daughter became even worse that day.

“Why! Why did you do it! Why?!”

She screamed like crazy, and her father, for once, didn’t smile.

After a long silence, her father spoke in a heavy voice.

“…It was what your mother wanted. All for you and the family…”

“Don’t make me laugh!”

Ruisa didn’t believe those words.

By then, she already knew.

The couple loved each other so much that it was hard to believe it was just a political marriage, and they loved their daughter very much.

She knew that if her father hadn’t done it, someone else would have taken his place as the master of the East Estate right away.

But even if she understood it in her mind, she couldn’t accept it in her heart.

In the end, Ruisa said something that would hurt everyone forever – “You abandoned Mom to save us!!”

After that, the father and daughter didn’t really talk, except about ‘work’.

So much time passed.

A long time passed before the time of prophecy finally came. The King of the East was known as the most heartless husband and a cunning royal, and the princess became a mage who had mastered ancient magic, but no one knew about her.

People started to see signs that the gods were gone. And they knew that someone had the power to change destiny.

However.

“The Imperial Family has drawn its sword. All elders, prepare to go into hiding.”

Again, we have to wait quietly and do nothing?

‘I can’t do that!’

The anger that had been building up since that day was already bursting out, so Ruisa didn’t want to leave.

So Ruisa smiled.

Like her father, who now felt so far away.

With a face that showed no emotion.

“Hee hee. I find it stranger that you’re surprised, Count. Have you forgotten why I came here?”

“Ha, how perplexing. It seems quite different from what you said recently.”

Well, the situation has changed.

Ruisa smiled again, even as she looked at his red eyes that had changed sharply.

“Women can change their minds easily, you know. As we talked, I became quite fond of you, Count.”

“Was there such a romantic element in our conversation? That’s quite a frightening thing to say.”

Ruisa smiled in a way that was meant to be attractive, but Ronian just looked at her carefully and suspiciously. For Ruisa, it was refreshing that a young man was reacting to her like this.

“Bringing someone who committed terrorism in the royal palace into the house, it’s horrifying just to imagine.”

The red-haired young man, who was pretending to be her lover but was really watching her, now spoke honestly without using polite words.

Pfft.

Ruisa chuckled at the sight.

‘Well, it’s only natural from their perspective.’

The first meeting was not good, but in a marriage like theirs, feelings didn’t matter anyway.

“Wouldn’t it be helpful to the kingdom?”

“Excuse me?”

Ronian replied with a surprised look, but Ruisa continued calmly.

“You’re preparing for war with the Empire, aren’t you? I believe our royal family put a lot of effort into making things better after the fortress situation. If we got married, who knows? Maybe there would be support from inside the Empire when the war starts.”

“Puhahaha. What ridiculous words…”

Right. If you don’t know our situation, that would be the normal reaction.

And it was actually an unrealistic boast.

‘If I ordered the East Estate’s forces to attack the Imperial Family, they would rather attack my father.’

That’s how the system was set up from the beginning, no matter what the troops wanted. It had to do with why the Four Directional Royal Estates were created.

It was one of the Empire’s biggest secrets that no one on the outside could ever know.

Especially, refusing to obey orders during war was absolutely impossible.

That was why the father and daughter had looked to the outside.

But Ruisa didn’t want to give up.

‘This country will be able to fight the Empire well. It’s stronger than people think.’

She had seen it clearly while staying in the royal castle. Not only the young Count and his friends, who were hidden superhumans, but also the servants who had been brainwashed came back to their senses in less than a week.

The King, who changes fate, wouldn’t bother to undo the brainwashing of ordinary servants one by one. Besides, if that were the case, he would have already warned me.

Which means.

‘He even has magical powers that I can’t understand.’

Louisa sighed. ‘Of course, I don’t think *this* will be enough to win against the Empire.’

Louisa was from the Kassel Magic Tower. She had watched the Emperor’s family fight for power. She now understood the Empire was even stronger than she first thought.

But the Magic Tower wanted a big war. The more the Kingdom fought back, the better for the Tower’s plans.

The best thing would be to get this ‘one who changes fate’ to join them, especially if he was feeling hopeless.

Louisa thought, ‘The King will never trust me or the Tower, no matter what we say.’ This was the problem for magicians like her, who could change people’s minds. Because of things they had done in the past, trust was impossible.

So, she needed to show them that *she* and Dongwang Province could help the Kingdom.

“I understand that you can’t trust me. So, let’s make a deal.”

“A deal?”

Ronian still looked unsure. Louisa decided to be direct. ‘Let’s be honest with each other. We both know the Kingdom and the Empire are enemies, and war is coming. The Empire might not even care much about the Kingdom right now.’

“…Hmm. Continue.”

‘When war starts soon – and it will – I will get secret information about the Empire’s army from Dongwang Province. Wouldn’t that be a great wedding gift?’

Ronian’s eyes widened slightly. Louisa smiled, a hint of something dangerous in her expression.

Louisa thought about the Tower’s plan: *Help the Kingdom, hurt the Empire. Cause so much damage that it’s like a sacrifice.* She remembered the Grand Master’s calm face. ‘I won’t stop you,’ he had said. ‘Do what you must. This war will happen sooner or later. If we’re lucky, the Emperor will focus all his attention on this Kingdom.’

‘Thank you,’ she had replied. ‘But remember,’ he warned, ‘your secret, and your father’s secret, might be found out by the Emperor.’

‘I accept that risk,’ she said. ‘Good,’ he nodded. ‘Your sacrifice will bring *that day* closer.’

‘It’s an honor.’ ‘The time when the gods left – no, when they *must* leave. We will weaken their power and bring *Him* down. Then…’ *Our leaders, followers of Him…* they would get what they wanted. Louisa pushed away the memory of the Grand Master’s distant, yearning look and made her resolve stronger.

Then Ronian said with a serious face.

“If the Princess really marries me, won’t Dongwang Province be excluded from the Emperor’s plans the moment the war breaks out? I’m not sure if what you said is possible.”

Louisa wasn’t surprised Ronian was suspicious. He had a point. *The Emperor…* Her father’s words echoed in her mind: *’If your teacher wasn’t scarier than the Emperor, I would never have worked with him.’* During *that incident*, her father had been even more desperate than she was, even though she was just a child. She had said she understood, but she hadn’t really felt it.

*The Emperor?* Louisa thought about her teacher. He was special, like a modern version of the ancient Magic Sage, a hero from long ago. Even though important information about the Sage’s family and a great mission had been lost over time, her teacher had made a new prophecy about ‘the one who changes fate’ – something not even in the old stories. He had even created powerful new magic for this person.

He said he wasn’t as strong as the old magic masters, but that was only because magic power, ‘mana,’ was weaker now. He was a genius, as great as the ancient Sage.

Compared to him, what was the Emperor? Just a cruel man who killed innocent women to stay in power. *His power comes only from his throne.* When the Tower’s plan worked, he would be nothing, easily defeated.

‘You’re right,’ Louisa admitted. ‘But don’t forget the power of the Four Directions Kings – powerful families who support the Empire. Even if Dongwang Province is separate from the Emperor, we are still strong. And yes, the marriage is just a reason.’

“An excuse?”

“As you know, it has been a long time since I was supposed to be in the royal castle. The excuse of recuperating under the pretext of an attack is slowly reaching its limit.”

“…Is the marriage an excuse to stay here longer? Isn’t that too much?”

“If I go back to the royal palace now, I can’t promise when I will be able to go out again.”

Actually, she was secretly working here, hiding who she really was. But Ronian and the others didn’t know that. If they just thought about her being a princess, her excuse to stay longer made sense. But there was another reason she wanted to stay, more important than hurting the Empire. She remembered the Grand Master’s words: *’When we start our plan, the balance of the world will change. If that happens, the gods will try to interfere, even if they have to force their way in. Especially to stop the one who changes fate. The worst thing is, a god’s messenger, an apostle, might come to earth.’*

*’Only the Kassel Magic Tower can recognize these apostles. So, you must protect him there. Until *that day* comes.’* This was the real reason the Grand Master let her stay, not just because she was stubborn.

Louisa finished her thoughts. Ronian, the young man with red hair, nodded slowly, thinking hard.

*Just as she thought.* He saw that her plan could help the Kingdom. Ronian was loyal to his brother, the King, in a way that was almost unusual. For him, the answer was clear.

“It’s not a bad suggestion. It won’t be difficult to make a false excuse real….”

Louisa felt a rush of triumph. ‘I’m glad you understand,’ she said, smiling. ‘I might actually be falling for you, Count.’ Maybe a small part of her was telling the truth, but Ronian just laughed, thinking it was a joke.

Ronian smiled slightly, put down his teacup, and then asked, ‘May I ask you something?’

“Yes, ask anything.”

‘We’ve always wondered about your position as a princess. But listening to you now, I feel like I understand something important.’

“Hmm?”

‘Do you… hate the Empire?’

Louisa’s smile tightened a little. She slowly put down her teacup, watching Ronian. *A princess hating the Empire?* Most people would think it was crazy. But in Ronian’s eyes, she saw real belief. *Hate?* she thought. It wasn’t just hate. It was deeper, something that started when she was a child and lost her mother. It had become her whole life, more than just hatred. Louisa gave a small, dry laugh and bit her lip. She stood up quietly and leaned closer to Ronian, whispering in his ear.

“…If you want to know my secret, I’ll tell you in bed after we get married, husband.”

Ronian’s face flushed red immediately. Louisa felt a small thrill of power. Now he looked like a young man, not just a serious politician.

“I’ll see you again with good news next time. Then I’ll be on my way.”

Louisa turned away with a satisfied smile. ‘Woof!’ A small, fluffy dog with silver fur barked at her feet. *A dog? Inside the palace?* It wasn’t on a leash. Louisa looked at Ronian, a little surprised. He smiled gently. ‘Oh, that’s Tir. My brother found him somewhere as a puppy. He told everyone to just let him wander around the palace.’

‘Ah… I see.’ *A dog roaming free in the royal palace.* *The one who changes fate must be unusual,* Louisa thought. She just accepted it and turned to leave. But the silver dog watched her go, its eyes strangely focused.