Chapter 2

Persephone of Hell

The Kendall Orphanage was not very different from other orphanages located outside the walls of the capital. It was a place where the living conditions were horrific, there was never enough food for the children to grow properly, and the harsh principal ruled over a hundred or so gaunt children with an iron fist. The one thing that made the nearly cookie-cutter orphanage different was that this orphanage only took in children who would become magicians in the future. That was what set Kendall Orphanage apart.

“I’ll say it again—as magicians, you have a duty to protect this empire with not only your bodies, but your entire selves. That’s the reason His Grace Grand Duke Nacht is going out of his way today to see you orphans. Understand?” the principal, Sir Marian Kendall, yelled at the students before him.

“Yes, sir!”

Among the hundred or so children who answered the principal, a pretty girl with green eyes laughed to herself hollowly. Oh, right. That’s what sort of place this was. The girl was none other than the Sienna who had traveled back in time a few days prior. When she opened her eyes in her stiff, shabby orphanage cot, it had been the first time in a long time that she felt relief somewhere deep within herself. True, she wasn’t very happy about living her life twice, but this time, she at least had some hope.

I should at least be able to avoid her here.

To her relief, Sienna and Lorena weren’t sisters by blood. To put it bluntly, the two were simply beneficiaries of the same aristocratic family.

The world had been fighting against evil ever since the country was founded and had waged war to conquer the demons. The empire drew borders, called the demons’ territory the “Otherland,” and tried its hardest to protect its land for humans. Meanwhile, the powers of the Otherland would constantly try to raze the humans’ impregnable fortress at whatever cost. It was a situation where everywhere was on a hair trigger. Localized fighting occurred here and there and clean up operations were carried out from time to time.

People who could use magic were a very important resource under such circumstances. Thus, aristocrats would take in beneficiaries, even if they were of common blood, if the commoners possessed great talents. It wouldn’t even matter if they were orphans if they were talented enough. Being a beneficiary meant you were transplanted into aristocratic society because it was common for benefactors to arrange for their children to marry their beneficiaries.

All for the sake of strengthening their magician bloodline.

Sienna and Lorena were beneficiaries of a particularly special house even among the great houses. There were three guardians of the empire that were considered “the aristocrats’ aristocrats” since they were seen as the families who aided in founding the empire.

House Eurus of the sky, House Ferrato of the ocean, and House Nacht of the underworld.

House Eurus and House Ferrato guarded the skies and oceans, respectively, while House Nacht guarded the land.

The greatest head of the family thus far, Grand Duke Rodrik Nacht, led the Army of Hades consisting of ten thousand magicians. No matter how anyone looked at it, they were the last house in need of an orphan beneficiary. And yet, on that particular day he stepped forward and declared Sienna his beneficiary.

Not that he ever did much for me.

In truth, it would be more accurate to say Sienna lacked skills even when he did try to do anything for her.

“She’s supposed to be the direct beneficiary of the Grand Duke Rodrik Nacht, but she’s worse than even the worst student at the military academy!”

“She’s of common blood and lacks the right stuff, yet she’s Nacht’s beneficiary? It doesn’t make any sense at all.”

Being the recipient of House Nacht’s sponsorship meant she could marry one of Nacht’s sons. That was merely a possibility, but there isn’t even an iota of a chance of that happening. Either way, even if it was just an iota, that was still different than absolutely no chance at all. That was precisely what irritated so many people.

“How could a lowly commoner get such a chance when neither I nor my own child could?!”

People accused Sienna of being a shameless, good-for-nothing orphan who didn’t know her place. Especially with Lorena there beside her. Unlike Sienna who was lacking in so many ways, Lorena was the young lady of the historic House Minanchy, thus she was the daughter of a count. She was so talented that people called her a genius. People soon started to encourage her to attack Sienna. Sienna belatedly realized that if she hadn’t served as a shield, then Lorena could have been the target of everyone’s jealousy and criticism instead. Or perhaps she would have been fine since she was such a lovable person...

Sienna shrugged nonchalantly. Well, whatever. That story will have nothing to do with me from now on anyway. Thankfully, the way to avoid her sister was very simple at the moment. This time, I just have to avoid becoming a beneficiary of House Nacht.

There was no way she could win, so she had to avoid them. Since she had traveled back to the past after all that, she thought it best to dream a bit bigger as she knew all too well that she had no chance of winning against Lorena. Even dreaming of taking revenge was beyond her station.

It would be a hopeless fight.

The principal continued to ramble on as Sienna was deep in thought. “We are very grateful that His Lordship and Grand Duke Nacht, who have come here for an inspection, continue to lead an army of ten thousand magicians in Hades Army.”

As Principal Kendall’s speech dragged on, the orphans began to zone out. Thus, he soon chose to employ a simple technique for keeping their attention.

“Wake up! If he so much as frowns, orphans like you might just die without even a squeak!” The children flinched at his harsh tone. “Don’t make a ruckus, don’t cry, don’t do anything! There’s no chance he’ll choose any of you as his beneficiary anyway. Shut your mouths and don’t move unless you want to die!”

It was basically a threat, but Sienna didn’t disagree with the principal’s rules.

Don’t catch anyone’s eye.

The reason she had become the grand duke’s beneficiary, or rather “a child of Nacht,” was because she had done something to catch his attention the first time. Back then, she made a mistake and tripped in front of the grand duke while he was inspecting the orphanage. For some reason, he chose to make her his beneficiary instead of punishing her for that. Back then, she just thought it was a good thing she wouldn’t be punished by the principal. All the while, she was ignorant and in the dark about what she would go through.

Anyway… I just have to be careful and not do anything out of the ordinary.

Sienna tried to calm her pounding heart. Orphans who didn’t become beneficiaries usually entered the military academy and served as soldiers. She was set on walking the same path as the other ordinary, orphaned magicians this time.

“Welcome, Your Grace!”

Heavy steps thudded across the floor.

Stay calm.

At the moment, she was certain that she could at the very least avoid making the same childish mistake of tripping on her own feet. Thus, all she had to do was quietly wait for the grand duke to finish his inspection and leave.

A hundred or so children held their breaths as the sound of the footsteps approached their line.

I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine...

Sienna just had to last a bit longer and it would all be over soon. She barely breathed as she waited for Grand Duke Nacht’s footsteps to pass by her, but suddenly... she couldn’t hear anything.

The footsteps had stopped all of a sudden right in front of her.

She stared down at the toes of the same boots that had carefully walked in front of the children, but had halted right in front of her. She could almost hear her heart thumping. She had maintained a calm, steady beat thus far, but it started to pound.

No way… No, this can’t be happening. There’s no way…

Thankfully, the duke simply stopped in front of Sienna. He didn’t abruptly declare “I’ll take this child” like he had the last time.

It’s a coincidence. Just a coincidence.

Sienna silently begged him to turn his attention elsewhere and move on, but the deviation from her past life didn’t stop there.

“Oh my... Your Grace!”

Something just a little more impossible happened. Grand Duke Nacht had dropped down to one knee in front of her without saying a word.

He got as close as he could to her eye level, but Sienna avoided his gaze. He had such a strong build to begin with, and Sienna was not just small and scrawny, she was also practically folding in on herself at that moment. But even if she couldn’t see his face, she could feel it.

I can feel his stifling mana just from standing near him… Something about such pressure was inhuman, but it was undoubtedly Grand Duke Nacht.

But... why? Why was he standing in front of her? Sienna forgot to even breathe due to her shock.

“Your name?”

Sienna didn’t respond. She didn’t want to answer him. The child at her side couldn’t put up with her silence any longer and prodded her, forcing her to speak. “Greetings, Your Grace. My name is Sienna.”

Thankfully, the lines the principal had drilled into each of their heads flew out of her lips unconsciously. All of a sudden, the grand duke looked relieved for some reason. Of course, Sienna couldn’t see that.

“I see, Sienna.” Again, she didn’t speak. “Perhaps...” The grand duke trailed off for a moment as if he was hesitant. But soon he asked, “Would you like to go to Nacht with me?”