The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

Cecilia Lien.

A commoner who became a Knight of the Light at the young age of twenty.

As soon as she was initiated, she caught the eye of his father and became a maid and knight, guarding alongside his older sister Alice Vert in Velias.

She acted as a mentor to his sister, aiding in her emotional growth, and was someone his sister trusted and relied on the most.

But strictly speaking, she wasn’t his sister’s person, let alone a member of the Vert family.

Honestly, he didn’t even care to know whose person she was.

She could be a companion of the Second Princess, or someone above her.

Well, he wasn’t entirely clueless now, but what did it matter?

As they say, one has no right to discuss pain until one has experienced it firsthand.

The stab in the abdomen?

I’ve been stabbed hundreds, thousands of times in past lives.

The pain of a sharp piece of iron piercing through flesh is nothing compared to what I’ve experienced.

Alice probably didn’t feel much pain either when her organs were pierced by a sword.

Her pain didn’t come from physical wounds but from betrayal by the person she trusted and relied on the most.

I’ve experienced that pain firsthand. Alice, with her already generous and strong heart, must have felt it even more acutely.

As I’ve said before, our sister is truly a strong person.

Unlike me, who still can’t let go of the anger from back then, she quickly sorted out her feelings.

‘She just wasn’t my person from the beginning,’ she said.

She even blamed herself for not realizing it sooner.

Such a noble-hearted person, one might even say divinely moved?

But don’t be mistaken.

That’s just her thinking, not mine.

To me, this woman is nothing more than the worst kind of tormentor who drove a stake of betrayal into my sister’s kind and gentle heart.

And now, she’s openly lurking around to assassinate my sister.

How could I possibly let this woman live?

“So it’s you…”

As I stared at her for a while, she spoke first.

“You’re the one who lured the demonic monster and saved Alice…”

It’s quite appreciative of her to recognize me without needing any explanation.

Then naturally, she should also understand why I called her here.

“Where do you belong?”

I had no intention of responding to such a banal question.

I simply raised my sword slightly and gave a tacit answer.

* * *

Height: 165cm, weight: approximately 55kg.

Although he has a body so young that he cannot be called an adult man, they say that a person is not always what he looks like on the outside.

From his stance with the sword, the aura emanating from behind the mask, to the eerie energy pulsating from within, Cecilia sensed a threat and immediately drew her sword to confront it.

‘So there was such a formidable presence by Alice’s side?’

She had never felt or heard of such a being during her time with the Verts.

This vile aura couldn’t possibly belong to a knight.

It was the kind of energy associated with beings who mercilessly extinguish the flames of radiant life.

Cecilia immediately understood that the mysterious figure before her was an assassin, here to kill her.

A surge of transparent magic surged from Cecilia’s longsword.

Her life was not as trivial as the necks of mere demonic monsters, and she had no intention of surrendering easily.

Furthermore, if she could overpower this assassin, she could gather more information to report to her master.

Prepared, Cecilia charged forward.

With swift strides, she closed the distance between her and the assassin.

But then…

The assassin effortlessly deflected Cecilia’s sword with their own and subtly shifted their stance, causing Cecilia’s balance to falter.

“…..!”

In that moment of imbalance, Cecilia faced a merciless counterattack.

Swift strikes aimed precisely at her arms and legs, but Cecilia remained composed, calmly evading each blow.

‘This speed… is definitely not normal…’

The assassin’s movements were on a different level compared to novice assassins.

With proper utilization, they could easily subdue even frontline superior demonic monsters.

Handling a Red Wolf alone would pose no problem.

But Cecilia knew better than to underestimate them.

“I call upon the winds of nature to aid me…”

With an incantation, a fist-sized whirlwind of magic materialized beneath her feet.

Wind Worker, a 7th-grade wind attribute magic.

It converted airborne wind into kinetic energy, maximizing her movements—an ability unique to Cecilia.

With her absorbed magic now enhancing her physical abilities, Cecilia charged at the assassin once more.

But even this time, the assassin effortlessly blocked her attacks.

Undeterred, Cecilia increased her speed even further, launching a relentless barrage of strikes.

-Thunk!

With a dull thud, Cecilia’s rough breathing followed.

Though her movements displayed agility beyond human capability, she had achieved nothing.

Meanwhile, the assassin’s face remained unscathed, not even a hint of exertion in their breathing.

Cecilia was stunned.

She has reached the highest level of wind attribute, but he is someone who cannot even be touched by her.

Was she really dealing with a human?

‘Who is this man, exactly?!’

At that moment, an unknown dark energy emanated from under the assassin’s cloak.

It wasn’t the pure mana anyone could wield.

It was an extremely evil energy, unfamiliar even to Cecilia, who had experienced numerous battlefields, stirring up negative emotions within her.

‘Mist?’

As she pondered the nature of this energy, a spell flowed from the assassin’s lips.

“Shadow: Shredding Wind…”

-Whoosh!

Simultaneously with the spell, a strange sound echoed from below.

It wasn’t an illusion but a tangible, distinct sound of something being cleaved.

Yet Cecilia’s body remained intact, and there seemed to be no visible damage around her.

“….!”

But soon enough, Cecilia understood.

What the mysterious assassin had unleashed wasn’t a tangible form but a movement of nature, something no human could touch.

-Swift!

* * *

My eyes may not show it, but I’m quite excited right now.

A drop of sweat dripped down my back from the heat of the intense swordplay moments ago, despite it not being particularly hot outside.

That’s how remarkable this knight’s proficiency is in utilizing this tricky wind attribute.

But that doesn’t mean there’s no way to counter it.

If her enhanced physical abilities were derived from the wind swirling around her, all I had to do was to cut through it.

Can you cut through wind?

What else can’t you cut through?

But remember this one thing: cutting through wind means rejecting the flow of nature itself.

If you try to cut through the flow of wind, even human skin, which is usually unable to be cut, will be sliced apart by the sharp blades of revenge.

-Swift!

“Kwaaaak!”

Just like now.

The gentle wind that had protected her body had now turned into cruel blades that surged in all directions.

The once sturdy armor of the senior knight, which would normally be impervious, was now in tatters, blood streaming like a waterfall through the gaps.

“Huff, huff…”

Incapacitated in an instant, she gasped for breath, her eyes no longer filled with the fierce determination they once held.

All that remained now was a moment for reflection.

“Why don’t you ask?”

As she knelt, momentarily lost in thought, she spoke.

“Why didn’t you ask about the reason for betraying Lady Alice?”

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again.

Regardless of the reason or who ordered it, it doesn’t matter.

But wait?

Lady Alice?

When you hit her in the back without a single hesitation, are you saying you will treat her as if she were her actual owner?

It’s absurd; I couldn’t help but burst into bitter laughter.

“Did you call me here just to seek revenge? To kill me?”

Half right, half wrong.

Seeking revenge is correct, but calling her here solely to kill her is not the purpose.

Sister Alice might feel a bit upset if she knew, but I’ve witnessed her suffering from the betrayal since the beginning to the end.

In other words, I could have intervened from the start.

But I didn’t.

Pain leads to enlightenment.

I wished for sister Alice to experience this pain, which would aid in her growth.

As a knight, hesitation is akin to sin.

If she had to kill her master, whom she had served faithfully, she should have done so with hesitation.

But she didn’t.

She not only made sister Alice feel the pain of betrayal with her feeble strike but also, she even lured the demonic monsters, urging sister Alice to resist until the end.

Why?

Perhaps hoping sister Alice would survive?

That’s absurd.

This woman simply wanted to bring despair to Lady Alice by shattering her firm and resilient heart, to make her die in despair from which no one could save her.

If I hadn’t appeared at that moment, sister Alice would truly have faced such a lonely death.

Knowing this, how can I easily let her die?

-Thud!

With an inexplicable smile, I drove the sword into her shoulder.

“Cough!”

She groaned as blood gushed out.

Despite her eyes still filled with pride, they would soon lose their strength.

“If you won’t ask, then hurry up and kill me…”

This is why knights are problematic.

Even those who are not fit to be knights are captivated, asking to be killed without even grasping the situation.

They comfort themselves, calling it an honorable death for their lord.

An honorable death?

Do they even know if death is honorable without experiencing it themselves?

They’ll know how foolish it is only after experiencing it.

I can already anticipate how pathetic and pitiful her expression will be when her breath is finally cut off.

I’m already looking forward to it.