I Cured the Mastermind and Failed to Run Away - Chapter 1

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 1

Today was finally the day to leave the Capital City.
I hadn’t told my family beforehand—I’d explain the situation once I arrived. But if they found out earlier, there was no benefit to them.
I’d prepared the Private Villa where I’d hide perfectly.
I’d even been meticulous enough to slip a sleeping draught into the evening meal, just in case my family tried to stop me.
The Original Work had already changed, so I’d handle what came next on my own. I could check on things from the villa, and if a problem arose, I’d visit my family then.
Rebelina, who’d slipped out of the Ethelionne Mansion like a thief, smiled with satisfaction.
Now I just had to board the Carriage I’d prepared beforehand and slip out of the Capital City.…
“Rebelina.”
“Oh!”
Rebelina, who’d been quietly laughing to herself, froze at the cold, low voice behind her, her breath catching.
‘Why is that voice here? This wasn’t part of the plan?’
Rebelina’s head turned stiffly, like a wooden puppet. A Carriage belonging to the Belharck Ducal House came into view, parked in front of the Ethelionne Mansion.
“Wh—why—what are you doing here?”
Standing there was Cedwin, the Carriage’s owner, arms crossed and leaning to one side.
“It’s late. Where are you going?”
I’m running away from you.
Rebelina swallowed those words she couldn’t possibly speak, along with a dry gulp, her eyes darting about.
“Surely you’re not trying to run away.”
When Cedwin’s gaze darkened and settled on her, Rebelina spoke in a trembling voice, flustered.
“R—run away? Me? Why would I—”
“You’d better not abandon me, Rebelina.”
He stepped forward slowly and stopped before her, bending at the waist. A shadow fell across her face.
“If I’m abandoned and heartbroken, there’s no telling what I might do.”
“Are you threatening me?”
Cedwin laughed dryly.
“Threatening? I’m just saying I’d cling to you sadly if you left me.”
This man’s definition of “cling” was clearly different from the standard one. Just what kind of clinging was this?
‘And I never had him in the first place—what am I supposed to abandon?’
Rebelina glared at Cedwin. He didn’t budge. If anything, he was smiling as though delighted.
“Think about it. If I’m sad, I could make a sudden visit to the Knight Order where Arent is and have everyone undergo outdoor sleeping drills for a few days. Though of course, I’d exempt Arent. He’s your brother, after all.”
Outdoor sleeping drills exempt! If the senior knights all trained while her brother alone was excused, how uncomfortable would that be for him!
A devil stood before her eyes.
“Or maybe to soothe my aching heart over your departure, I could dine with His Imperial Majesty and invite Count Ethelionne.”
A dinner with the Emperor. The seat every family head desires!
“A dinner with His Imperial Majesty? Father says his digestion suffers if eating is uncomfortable, and then he can’t sleep early! That means he’d have to go to bed late!”
“I know that well, Rebelina. Do you think I’m ignorant of your family’s affairs?”
Rebelina’s eyes widened. Cedwin laughed at the sight, clearly amused.
“So you’re threatening me with my own family?”
“No. You asked if I was threatening you, so I thought I’d show you what a real threat looks like. Despicable and petty, I know. But I like that you keep worrying about me.”
Arent has an honest nature, so his heart would be uncomfortable, but his body would be fine; and Father’s seat might be uncomfortable, but outwardly it would look as though he’d earned the Emperor’s and the Duke’s trust, which is fortunate enough!
Still, it troubles me!
“Since you said you weren’t running away, that secretly purchased villa, and the jewels and dresses you converted to cash, and how you cleaned up your affairs—none of that means anything special, right?”
How does he know all of that?
I had to look composed here. Rebelina forced her rigid head to move, nodding stiffly. Cedwin chuckled softly and tilted his head deliberately.
“Good. As it happens, I’ve decided to build a villa across from the one you purchased.”
“…I’m sorry?”
“I had it designed so that your villa would be in plain view from my villa, so we’ll be able to see each other much more often than we do now.”
It’s over.
There’s no reason to run away if that’s the case.
“Since you’re not running away, it doesn’t matter, does it?”
I’d planned everything in complete secrecy, yet somehow he found out. Caught the moment I stepped outside the mansion—could this even be called an escape?
Should this count as running away at all?
“And going out alone at dawn is dangerous, so take a guard with you. Or if you don’t mind, you can call for me anytime. Rebelina, I’d be happy to come running if you called.”
As though to say he’d accompany her whenever she wished, Cedwin gestured toward his Carriage with a tilt of his chin.
Rebelina’s attempt to escape failed, and she shook her head, retreating a step.
“I just… couldn’t sleep, so I came out for a bit. I’ll go back in soon.”
“Is that so? Well, then there’s nothing for it.”
Cedwin, dressed for going out and carrying a travel bag, slowly examined Rebelina, yet graciously played along with her lie.
“If you need the jewels and dresses you sold off cheaply, just say the word. I’ve bought every single thing you got rid of and kept them all.”
“What? But I sold those to a merchant! Why does Your Grace have them?!”
“Of course I do. I can’t stand the thought of anyone else’s hands on your things.”
It meant he’d known everything from the start.
Rebelina clenched her fists tight, seething that her meticulously laid plan had been completely seen through.
‘Next time, I really will plan this more carefully before I run away!’
Rebelina had no intention of staying in the Capital City to treat that man—that is, the hidden mastermind.

* * *

“Word has it that the Belharck Ducal House just passed through the outer walls of the Capital City.”
“It hasn’t been long since the victory bells rang, yet the movement is remarkably swift.”
“I’ve heard the Duke isn’t bringing back all the knights under his command—just the First Division, returning ahead of the rest.”
“Hmm. It seems His Majesty called him urgently. The empire surely needs good news soon enough.”
As the tedious conversation threatened to bore him, a roar of acclaim so loud it made one’s ears ring erupted.
The Belharck Duke had just passed through the city gates.
Not a single casualty, and he’d slain every Magical Beast in the Contaminated Zone—truly worthy of being called an imperial hero.
‘The Original Work begins now.’
Rebelina had first recalled her past life during her academy graduation exam.
During the exam, some students deliberately provoked a Magical Beast to harass Rebelina before fleeing, leaving her alone to nearly be devoured.
It happened to be a new species unreported in academic circles, and so powerful that even other Magical Beasts fled with their tails between their legs. Dozens of professors had to intervene before it was killed and Rebelina could be rescued.
‘After that, I never went near Contaminated Zones or places where Magical Beasts appeared.’
As the Magical Beast’s blood seeped into Rebelina’s wounds and she writhed in disgust,
she realized that this world was the one from “Healing Through the Body,” an adult reverse harem novel she’d read in her past life.
The female protagonist, a second-class Purifier, heals three male leads with her body.
Among them, Rebelina was the youngest of the Ethelionne Family and the sister of one of the male leads—barely more than an extra in the Original Work.
Now, several years later, she could accept it calmly, but she remembered how devastating the revelation had been at first.
“Rebelina, step back.”
At that moment, Arent Ethelionne, the eldest son of the Ethelionne Family standing beside her, Rebelina’s older brother, turned his gaze forward and whispered flatly, curtly.
“No one will notice if you’re not here.”
This very brother was one of the three male leads who drive the female protagonist to madness in the Original Work.
‘Especially when I learned about his romantic history—the shock was unbearable! I don’t want to know anything about his love life!’
Back then, she’d avoided her brother so much that it bordered on revulsion.
“Brother, if you’re worried I might hurt my legs, just say you’re worried instead.”
At her gentle words, the usually clipped Arent flinched.
‘If he thinks I look tired, he should just say I look tired and suggest I sit down in the back chair to rest.’
Her mother had passed away long ago, and her father was always busy.
It was always Arent who stood by lonely Rebelina’s side.
He was a precious older brother and family.
So when she learned that Arent would die, corrupted by deep Dark Magic, she couldn’t describe the despair.
But Rebelina made a decision quickly.
‘I won’t let my brother die like in the Original Work.’
After Arent’s death, their father too wasted away from grief and passed from the world.
Afterward, the hyenas were busy picking apart the Ethelionne Family, which operated the Croisen Empire’s only central bank.
The family that had once been said to hold all the empire’s merchant houses and banks in the palm of its hand saw its fortune plummet catastrophically.
In the end, alone and stripped of everything the family owned by swindlers, Rebelina starved to death.
She had no intention of letting that happen.
‘My brother—no, my family—I’ll protect them.’
This world had “Contaminated Zones.”
Within a “Contaminated Zone” that appeared unpredictably flowed Magical Beasts and deep Dark Magic.
Civilians who were caught died or were wounded, and if a Contaminated Zone wasn’t purified within a certain time, a fissure would open and Magical Beasts and Dark Magic would pour out into the world.
So when a Contaminated Zone appeared, knights or mercenaries would first slay the Magical Beasts within it, and then Purifiers would come forward to cleanse the Dark Magic in the area.
The male leads were frequently exposed to Dark Magic, and Arent too was corrupted by such deep Dark Magic in the latter part of the story that he required a first-class Purifier, ultimately dying.
Rebelina could only watch helplessly as her brother died.
‘The Original Work doesn’t matter—I’ll protect my precious family.’
That was Rebelina’s only goal.
Today was a triumphal procession announcing the imminent start of the Original Work.
“Ah? They’re arriving, it seems.”
The moment a certain nobleman’s murmur faded, the ground trembled violently.
Measured footsteps rang out, and cheers drew steadily closer.
‘He’s here.’
Every nobleman and royal turned their gaze in one direction.
The banner of the Belharck Ducal House fluttered magnificently in the wind.
Above the knights’ black armor hung an unmistakable air of triumph and pride.
Behind them emerged Cedwin Belharck, the procession’s central figure, mounted on horseback.
His appearance truly inspired awe. One could not look away.
‘If I came face to face with him, I’d be too frightened to speak.’
His face was devoid of any warmth, fixed in a rigid stare ahead, yet even as the crowd roared their approval, not a flicker of emotion crossed his features.
Despite every reason to be elated by such a victory, irritation and boredom flickered subtly in the depths of his blue eyes.
“He seems displeased because the entire Knight Order couldn’t attend the procession, having rushed to arrive on schedule.”
“His Majesty said he would appoint a proxy for the procession if the Duke didn’t arrive on time.”
“His Majesty is quite bold, threatening the Belharck Duke himself.”
“Though they share the same lineage, they’re hardly of the same blood, are they?”
Cedwin descended from his horse and climbed the stone steps. The Emperor stood with the Imperial Sword of the Royal House in hand, smiling.
“My nephew, I commend you on this flawless victory.”
“Then why not delay the procession date, Uncle?”
“The empire must hear glad tidings so that its spirits lift.”
Cedwin clicked his tongue and ascended all the steps, then knelt on one knee before the Emperor.
“I pledge unchanging loyalty and victory without defeat to Your Majesty.”
“Let the Belharck Duke’s loyalty and honor shine eternally. You are the empire’s pillar, my family, and ever my staunchest ally.”
The Emperor lightly rested the Imperial Sword of the Royal House upon Cedwin’s shoulders, a gesture of his trust.
“I name the Belharck Duke a hero of the Croisen Empire!”
As the Emperor’s proclamation rang out, cheers and applause erupted thunderously.
‘Cedwin Belharck.’
Rebelina stared intently at his back as if etching his name into memory.
In the Original Work, the shadowy mastermind who kidnapped and imprisoned the heroine.
Hailed as the empire’s hero, he would eventually be corrupted by Dark Magic, his mind shattered, before descending into madness and slaughtering every living thing his eyes could perceive.
And.
‘The one who corrupts my brother with Dark Magic.’
He was also complicit in Arent’s death.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————