Level Up Again (1)
**p**>A commoner named **Katherine Becky**.
**p**>She was a woman so ordinary that you could spot her anywhere without giving her a second glance.
**p**>Just out of her awkward teenage phase with a slightly gloomy expression on her face, she had a habit of wearing long-sleeved clothes even on the hottest days.
**p**>If you bumped into her on the street by chance, she would be completely forgotten after ten steps.
**p**>“Katherine, where did the master go?”
**p**>“Father is at the bank for a little while…”
**p**>“Katherine?”
**p**>“Yes?”
**p**>“Hey, when you’re talking you should at least look at the person, right? That habit still hasn’t been fixed?”
**p**>“….”
**p**>“All right. Don’t speak. Anyway, tell the master when he returns. The merchants’ gathering has been moved to seven o’clock this evening, so don’t be late.”
**p**>“Yes.”
**p**>“You went to the royal academy, right? I wonder why your personality turned out like this…”
**p**>Fortunately, Katherine’s parents ran a grocery store, so her family was not poor.
**p**>However, because she lacked social skills, even though she was old enough to find her own job and leave her parents’ protection, she still could not break free from their care.
**p**>Thanks to that, her reputation in the neighborhood was far from good.
**p**>After all, unless someone was very close to her, no one asked about the kind of life she had led or why she had such a personality.
**p**>“K-Katherine! Katherine!”
**p**>On that day too, Katherine was spending her day accumulating nothing but bad reviews the way one racks up mileage.
**p**>Her parents had temporarily left the store, so she reluctantly stood guard behind the cash register.
**p**>The owner of the hat shop, who had just vented her frustrations, burst in with an expression as if he had seen a ghost.
**p**>For someone who spent every day in nearly identical circumstances, this was a slightly unusual situation.
**p**>She stared blankly at the owner’s deathly pale face.
**p**>She quickly averted her gaze, but she felt oddly pleased.
**p**>The terrified expression on someone she disliked was faintly amusing.
**p**>“What’s the matter?”
**p**>“O-Outside! The person outside!”
**p**>“Yes?”
**p**>“There’s a person outside!?”
**p**>Was he suggesting a game of twenty questions?
**p**>Katherine could not understand his words.
**p**>Yet…
**p**>“Katherine! K-Katherine!”
**p**>Her father, who had gone to the bank, came running in with the exact same terrified expression as the hat-shop owner.
**p**>“What’s wrong?”
**p**>“H-Him! He! He’s looking for you!”
**p**>By now Katherine had no choice but to feel uneasy.
**p**>Her already fragile composure trembled under the two men’s behavior.
**p**>Who on earth was looking for her?
**p**>Her shoulders, tensed with fear, shrank further, making her tiny frame look even smaller.
**p**>“A noble!”
**p**>The moment her father’s voice uttered the word “noble,” Katherine felt her hidden wounds beneath her long sleeves flare with pain.
**p**>‘I must escape.’
**p**>In her mind, there was only one thought.
**p**>But for a moment…
**p**>“Katherine Becky?”
**p**>A noble youth entered with knights swarming around him, and she missed her chance to flee.
**p**>“I’m sorry!”
**p**>She did not know what she had done wrong, but she instinctively dropped to her knees and offered her hands in apology.
**p**>She could not even see her acquaintances’ faces properly, let alone the nobles’.
**p**>Whoever he was, she had no doubt he harbored ill intentions.
**p**>“Katherine……”
**p**>Yet a warm, almost regretful voice pierced her ears.
**p**>This voice allowed the panicked Katherine to regain some composure.
**p**>Perhaps the noble before her had not come with ill purpose.
**p**>“I truly apologize.”
**p**>The apology echoed throughout the grocery store, and her stiffly raised head slowly lifted.
**p**>“Ah……”
**p**>And the moment she saw the face of her opponent, Katherine’s expression filled with a storm of emotions.
**p**>Surprise, admiration, joy, regret, resentment.
**p**>Katherine swallowed hard and called out the man’s name.
**p**>“Adrian?”
**p**>The instant she spoke his name, memories of the past she had tried to bury resurfaced.
**p**>The sight of Adrian, bandaged from head to toe after being bullied by bad classmates in the academy.
**p**>His dignified manner even as he endured beatings and group harassment.
**p**>Yet the more he remained composed, the harsher the bullying became, and his bandages turned into purple bruises from punches.
**p**>Even so, Adrian never changed.
**p**>He never bowed his head to villains and kept his gaze fixed straight ahead.
**p**>Katherine, who shared a class with Adrian in the academy, found him incredibly cool.
**p**>No matter how badly injured, he looked more noble than any other noble.
**p**>That was why, despite knowing she had to look away, her true feelings leaked out.
**p**>‘Are you all right?’
**p**>It was only one question from Katherine to Adrian.
**p**>With that single question, her entire life changed.
**p**>Because she had asked about his well-being, Katherine endured a brutal group beating right in front of his eyes.
**p**>It was merciless and relentless.
**p**>The scars from that day were so deep that even potions could not fully erase them.
**p**>She fled the academy to survive, and from then on she wore long sleeves to hide her injuries while constantly watching everyone around her.
**p**>“Katherine!”
**p**>Lost in memories of the past, Katherine snapped back to reality at her father’s shout.
**p**>“How dare you disrespect His Highness’s name!”
**p**>This was something she should never have done, considering her commoner status.
**p**>A commoner boldly calling the name of one of the kingdom’s top ten most powerful nobles.
**p**>Katherine’s father was startled and roared at her.
**p**>The sheer volume of his voice made her fall flat on her backside.
**p**>“That’s enough. We can call each other by first names, right?”
**p**>“F-Friends?”
**p**>“Friends? As if you were ever friends to Katherine……”
**p**>“What did you say?”
**p**>“Hah!”
**p**>“What do you mean Katherine?”
**p**>“Ugh! I’m sorry! Your Highness!”
**p**>—Clang!
**p**>“I-I have committed a capital offense! Your Highness!”
**p**>For a moment when Katherine was too slow to react, something enormous happened.
**p**>The hat-shop owner, who had spoken out of turn as usual, angered Adrian and a loyal Lawrence knight drew his sword.
**p**>The hat-shop owner knelt and begged for his life in the most servile way imaginable.
**p**>“Close your mouth.”
**p**>“Hiiik!”
**p**>Adrian gave him a cold stare before turning to Katherine and extending his hand.
**p**>“Grab it.”
**p**>“Eh? Eh? Ah, yes……”
**p**>“You don’t have to be formal.”
**p**>“I couldn’t possibly do that.”
**p**>She instinctively took his hand, but then checked her surroundings in worry of backlash.
**p**>No one criticized her action.
**p**>“Have you heard any news?”
**p**>“Which news?”
**p**>“About the territorial war.”
**p**>“Ah……”
**p**>No matter what, she had not been completely out of touch with the world.
**p**>Katherine had read the article about Adrian applying for territorial wars against the four families who were his old enemies.
**p**>That was why she had secretly cheered for him.
**p**>“We won.”
**p**>“C-Congratulations.”
**p**>A single victory against four viscount families?
**p**>Even a young baron was an existence above the heavens, yet he had wiped out four viscount families at once…
**p**>He, who had been abandoned by his own family, now felt like a completely different person from the world.
**p**>“So I brought you here.”
**p**>“Yes?”
**p**>—Snap.
**p**>Adrian snapped his fingers, and his knights dragged in four people like sausages on a string.
**p**>“Oh my god……”
**p**>The eldest son of the Parma viscount, the eldest son of the Doherty viscount, the eldest daughter of the Karma viscount, and the eldest daughter of the Rony viscount.
**p**>Four people who never wore anything less than the finest fabrics stood before Katherine in rags that made them look like criminals.
**p**>The moment they spotted Katherine, they dropped to their knees and burst into tears.
**p**>“K-Katherine! No, Lady Katherine! We were wrong! Please spare us!”
**p**>“Sob! We’re sorry!”
**p**>“Please, please forgive us……”
**p**>“We’re sorry! We’re sorry, Lady Katherine!”
**p**>Their sincere apology was filled with genuine remorse.
**p**>Yet Katherine could feel that fear was the dominant emotion on their faces.
**p**>These were the people she had secretly resented and feared, yet because they were crying and clinging so desperately, her mind went blank.
**p**>“Take them away.”
**p**>“Aaaah! Lawrence Duke! We’re sorry!”
**p**>“Lady Katherine! Please forgive us!”
**p**>Only after they were dragged out of the store did Adrian’s reason for coming become clear.
**p**>He carried a sense of responsibility for Katherine’s past.
**p**>“I planned to make Isabella Caskebell and Philo Brooks apologize too. But for political reasons, they will need a little more time. Please understand.”
**p**>“You didn’t have to go to such lengths.”
**p**>“I couldn’t help it. You wouldn’t understand, but I consider you my benefactor.”
**p**>At the word “benefactor,” Katherine tilted her head.
**p**>“Let me see.”
**p**>But the next action by Adrian made her jump in fright.
**p**>He had revealed the wounds hidden beneath her long sleeves.
**p**>Then.
**p**>“Recovery.”
**p**>Warm golden light enveloped Katherine, and the wounds that had been shackled to her like chains simply vanished.
**p**>“T-This is?”
**p**>“It’s a scar caused by me. I have to erase it.”
**p**>Was it really this easy to remove?
**p**>Katherine burst into tears.
**p**>Yet the emotion in those tears was not sadness; it was something different from before.
**p**>“Heh, and have you found a job? Actually, I need a reliable personal maid for my fiancé. As a baron’s personal maid, you would receive a high salary along with a viscount title……”
**p**>“I’ll do it. No, I will. Just leave it to me.”
**p**>“Haha, good. Then my mind will be at ease.”
**p**>Adrian, who did not know that Katherine had once had a crush on him, had made a rather twisted proposal.
**p**>But in the end, she had never harbored romantic feelings toward him.
**p**>From the beginning, the class difference was too great, and what she felt was closer to admiration than love.
**p**>“From now on, let’s live smiling.”
**p**>“Yes!”
**p**>From that day onward, Katherine’s habit of avoiding others’ gazes disappeared.
**p**>However, her original self returned, but now only Arisa was making a fuss.
**p**>Sadly, it was because Katherine had become a talkative person.
**p**>
**p**>
**p**>[The Lawrence Duke’s territory vs. four viscount families’ territorial war ended in less than half a day]
**p**>
**p**>[Everyone was initially worried about the excessive territorial war application, but their subsequent responses were unexpected.]
**p**>
**p**>[From start to finish, revenge was meticulously calculated. Will Lawrence Duke’s blade now turn toward someone else again?]
**p**>
**p**>[The moment Arrian Lawrence Duke received proper military power, the winner and loser were decided. Some nobles voiced concerns to the royal family that the territorial war permit might have been excessive…….]
**p**>
**p**>[Though it ended in an instant, a territorial war is a territorial war. What will become of the defeated territory.]
**p**>
**p**>—The rebellion of a rotten silver spoon!
**p**>
**p**>└The analogy is too obvious lol
**p**>
**p**>└I originally hated nobles a lot, but I started to think this guy is okay, so was he a rotten silver spoon? lolol
**p**>
**p**>-Kyah, living in Adrian-nim’s gaze is the best.
**p**>
**p**>└Satisfying. Vicarious satisfaction lol
**p**>
**p**>-Is Lawrence’s territory worth moving to?
**p**>
**p**>└It hasn’t changed much from the royal domain days. Probably because of the territorial war, he couldn’t pay attention.
**p**>
**p**>└But Adrian said it. He said he would create the best territory in the Lheinhatz Kingdom where commoners live happily.
**p**>
**p**>└He acquired many companies this time. Job creation is expected.
**p**>
**p**>└Somehow, I feel a lot of free citizens will come. I’ve never seen a noble who communicates with commoners like this.
**p**>
**p**>“It seems I’ve never seen a noble this popular among commoners before.”
**p**>“I’m a bit of a sycophant.”
**p**>
**p**>Mihael Lheinhatz, the Crown Prince of the Lheinhatz Kingdom, looked up from the online article with a low laugh and set down the teacup he had been holding.
**p**>
**p**>He gave me a sly fox-like expression.
**p**>“At first I was surprised by your reckless action. But in the end, everything turned out to our advantage. Honestly, I was impressed.”
**p**>“I’m glad things turned out as you intended.”
**p**>
**p**>The simple reason the Crown Prince reacted this way was clear.
**p**>
**p**>Among the families targeted this time—Parma viscount, Doherty viscount, Karma viscount, and Rony viscount—three families had supported the second prince.
**p**>
**p**>Three viscount families gone was equivalent to one marquis family disappearing, so the second prince’s power was weakened.
**p**>
**p**>Yes.
**p**>
**p**>Although the territorial war application had been somewhat excessive, it was known to be for revenge, but it also served the purpose of strengthening the Crown Prince’s faction.
**p**>
**p**>Even if it wouldn’t directly affect the overall situation, such accumulated gains could not be ignored.
**p**>
**p**>“During that process, one family that supported Your Highness was also wiped out.”
**p**>“It couldn’t be helped. They committed a sin against you, so they had to pay the price.”
**p**>
**p**>In addition, the treasury consumed by the territorial war was replenished, and the nobles acquired the image of an unforgiving figure.
**p**>
**p**>It had been a war with very many gains.
**p**>
**p**>“However, what about Prince Luke? He didn’t say anything?”
**p**>“He did grumble. No matter how much for revenge, he asked if it was right to treat fellow nobles from the same camp like that.”
**p**>
**p**>“So?”
**p**>“Brooks marquis and Caskebell change marquis families also committed the same sins as those four viscounts, and even the rival Raven change marquis needs to be dealt with, but for the sake of His Highness the second prince he said he would hold back. Then, after a long silence, he said he would overlook this matter.”
**p**>
**p**>“Hahahaha!”
**p**>
**p**>Philo Brooks and Isabella Caskebell were the ones who had brutally tormented me in the academy.
**p**>
**p**>But their revenge blades would become the second prince’s trigger, so they had no choice but to set Raven change marquis and them aside for a while.
**p**>
**p**>Well, even if it wasn’t war, there were many ways to torment them, so for a while I had to endure it.