Episode 152
Chapter 51. Yona Runkandel (1)

It didn’t take long for Jin to realize that the feeling stirring inside her was pity.

“Twelve years old. Or maybe even younger. Has Yona really been raised solely as a tool for killing all this time?”

They’d only exchanged a few brief words, but Jin already sensed that Yona was a deeply emotional person. She smiled often, and tears seemed never far from her eyes.

Yet, those emotions were twisted somehow.

Compared to the Tonar brothers before her regression, Yona was far more numb to guilt after killing.

To her, most people were nothing more than moving chunks of meat. The infinite potential that life inherently holds didn’t matter.

In other words, a monster.

But not a true monster. Even the Yona who had lived like a shadow, wounded by Anne in Jin’s past life, and the Yona who now wept and laughed in front of Jin—both carried within them the full range of human emotions.

Brotherly love, fear of pain, the desire to connect with someone, the simple wish to have a playmate.

All of it had been ignored and dismissed.

She had become history’s worst assassin simply because she was born with power.

A hot, sharp feeling welled up in Jin’s chest. It clawed its way up from her stomach, twisting her heart and scratching at her throat, desperate to be spat out. That feeling was anger.

Anger toward those who had thoroughly erased the humanity of their youngest sister from the time she was twelve—or even younger.

And those people were none other than Jin and Yona’s own blood relatives.

“Are you mad because I’ve been secretly sticking close to you for the past few days? I did stay away when you were washing or using the bathroom, though.”

“That’s not the issue. Wait—did you say you were always by my side?”

“Yeah.”

“Not even for a moment?”

Yona shot a sharp glance at Veradin and Dante.

“Hmm… I think there were less than five hours a day when I was more than ten steps away from you. Even after those… well, them, arrived, it was the same.”

Jin hadn’t been completely unprepared for this, but hearing it directly from Yona hit her hard. Jin had only noticed Yona’s presence three times since arriving in Samil.

Once when Yona had dropped a note herself, once when she’d expected Yona to come with Owl just moments ago, and once while evading assassins with her third eye open.

“Jin, are you scared of me? Or do I make you uncomfortable?”

Jin shook her head.

“I was, until a little while ago. But not anymore.”

“Heeheehee.”

Yona laughed with an innocent smile, then took a light step closer, as if feeling better.

“I did think you might get killed by assassins. But honestly, I want you to grow stronger. If you died, I’d be a little sad, then forget quickly, and you’d be at peace.”

Each of those words, which should have sent chills down her spine, instead cut Jin like shards of broken glass.

“Have you never thought that’s unfair?”

“Unfair? That I’m the only one watching over you? Like I said, I stay away when you’re bathing or using the bathroom…”

“Not that. You’ve been treated like a killing doll your whole life, haven’t you? From such a young age. Even considering you’re pureblood Runkandel, that’s absurd and horrible.”

“Is that so bad?”

“It is.”

Yona tilted her head, genuinely puzzled.

“Have you never killed anyone, little sister?”

“That’s not the point.”

“Heehee, I was born this way. So there’s no need to be sad.”

“Born this way? What does that even mean…”

Jin paused, lost in thought.

“Runkandel is indeed an inhuman family, but what they did to Yona is unusually cruel. That must be why she’s already become an assassin surpassing even the Nameless King.”

Even Owl, the Nameless King, couldn’t have stayed unnoticed in a small room for hours, let alone watch Jin from less than ten steps away for nearly twenty hours over several days.

“Yona, are you a contractee of a god?”

“No.”

There was no god associated with assassination or erasing one’s presence; the closest was Solderet.

But Jin asked because she couldn’t understand how it was possible by normal human means.

“Then how can you do it? If what you say is true, there’s no one in the world you can’t kill.”

“You don’t need to know. Well, there are some I can’t kill alone. But if I lead a team of assassins properly, only about twenty targets would remain.”

In other words, even without considering escape, there were only about twenty people in the world Yona couldn’t assassinate with her squad. It was almost unbelievable.

“Can you tell me who they are?”

“You have your secrets too.”

Just as Jin was about to deny it, Yona glanced at her shadow.

As if she knew all about Jin’s shadow-related powers.

“Does that mean you know I’m Solderet’s contractee? Or are you just looking at my shadow?”

There was no point in asking.

Yona sensed Jin’s spiritual energy because her own power feared it.

Jin didn’t know this, but that power kept whispering to Yona to kill Jin. Yona was ignoring those whispers.

“You really know how to catch me off guard.”

“Just think of it as me loving my little sister too much. You have no idea how shocked I was when you came to Samil. Even kind Luna never came looking for you.”

“That sounds sad. Does Luna dislike you, Yona?”

“I don’t think she likes me. I broke a few promises. Well, a lot of them…”

Jin soaked a handkerchief in water and handed it to her.

“Wipe your face. You have tear stains.”

Yona took the handkerchief and rubbed her face, her eyes shining.

“I want you to like me.”

“We don’t have enough memories or bonds for deep sibling affection yet.”

“You like me even without that?”

“That’s because you had illusions about me. And the fact you tried to kill me was, in your mind, an expression of affection. But to me, it was a deadly threat.”

“Then what should I do?”

“I don’t know.”

Please give me Mandokju.

Jin couldn’t say that. She couldn’t accept such a transparent ploy—offering affection in exchange for an excessive price. She didn’t want to stoop to such foolishness.

And she had no idea how to handle her relationship with Yona going forward.

It was true she felt sorry for her youngest sister, but from what she’d heard, even Luna had given up on or distanced herself from Yona.

“Breaking promises with Luna probably means Yona killed a family member. Otherwise, Luna’s personality wouldn’t allow her to just leave Yona alone.”

Recalling her past life and this one, Jin remembered how Gilly had gone out several times to attend funerals of cousins and uncles in the Storm Castle. Their causes of death were never publicly revealed.

At the time, Jin had thought they were just distant cousins she barely knew, nothing more.

“Ugh, should I threaten to kill you if you don’t like me?”

“That’s usually the fastest way to push someone away.”

“Then should I give you Mandokju? Take it and keep playing with me. If my brothers come looking for me, that’s probably the only reason.”

It would be a lie if Jin said she didn’t want to nod.

But she decided to refuse for now. It was better to sort out their relationship before accepting any demands.

“No. And what you want from me isn’t conditional affection, right? Love isn’t something you give and take with strings attached. Even if you gave me Mandokju, my feelings for you wouldn’t change.”

“Auuugh!”

Yona tore at her hair.

“Then what do you want me to do? Am I never going to be close to you? I like you so, so much!”

Watching her youngest sister tear up and plead desperately, Jin forced a bitter smile.

“There aren’t any students wandering outside today, right? I think they’ve imposed a curfew these past couple of nights to set up a showdown between the assassins and us.”

“That’s right. None today either.”

“Then shall we take a walk?”

“Heehee!”

Jin needed time to think. How should she deal with this reckless, pitiable youngest sister from now on?

As soon as they left the inn room, the moonlit path stretched before them. It was Jin’s first leisurely night walk since arriving in Samil.

“There are a lot of ruined houses here and there.”

“You broke them all. I had to write a hundred pages of apology because of that. If we go a bit further, there’s a place I like. Visitors aren’t usually allowed. Want to see it?”

“Sure.”

Throughout the walk, Yona chattered away while Jin responded with nods and smiles.

Yona walked slowly, as if this might be her last memory with her youngest sister. Jin matched her pace, feeling a strange guilt.

Passing a few streets where no students were on duty, they reached a fairly steep hill after two hours.

“What’s up there?”

“A flower garden and a cliff.”

“Sounds dizzying when you say it like that.”

“Worried I might push you off a cliff? That’d be a pointless thing for me to do. Falling from a cliff that high won’t kill you anyway.”

“I was joking.”

I chuckled and climbed the hill, where a field of wildflowers bloomed—all the same kind.

I knew this flower well. It was called the ‘Green Rose,’ and true to its name, it was a green rose. From a distance, its tiny petals made it almost indistinguishable from weeds, and it grew commonly all across the continent.

Because of that, it was often treated like a weed. It could be found anywhere, grew year-round, and was useless both as an ornamental flower and as food—practically a weed in every sense.

“Wow…”

Still, under the moonlight, it had a certain charm that weeds just didn’t. When I bent down and saw the leaves, no bigger than a fraction of a fingernail, gently swaying, it felt strangely enchanting.

“Pretty, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I never realized green roses gathered under moonlight could look this good.”

“Most people just treat green roses like weeds, but they’re my favorite flower. They don’t die easily, even if you step on them or don’t water them. And if one does die, another green rose quickly sprouts right there.”

There was something about that reason…

While I swallowed my words and looked around the flowerbed, Yona plucked two green roses and began twisting them together.

“When you do this, the tiny petals spread out, making a nicer shape. It’s another charm of the green rose. It’s harder than it looks, you know? If you just tie them roughly, the petals break, so it takes careful work.”

With a smile, Yona held out the two green roses woven together like a ring.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, a forgotten memory from my past life surfaced.

I realized this wasn’t the first time I’d received something like this.

Though it was the first time in this life, in my past life, someone had occasionally left these in my room—two green roses woven together, their tiny petals spread open like this.

Back then, I’d assumed it was from one of the servants who pitied me, since I was treated like trash every day despite being pure-blooded. Gilly had insisted it wasn’t him.

“Take it and calm down. After all, you’re still alive and even opened your third eye thanks to me…”

“To think it was you, noona.”

“Hm?”