The Patriarch's Bargain
I caught my breath while staring down at the fallen Jerome.
I didn't show it, but my entire body ached like it was about to collapse at any moment.
Part of it was because of his wind magic.
But it was also because of the risks that came with Origin Divine Art.
The power to gather and unleash energy that shouldn't exist, that must never exist.
This power placed a tremendous burden on the body.
Especially since this wasn't even my original body—it was the body of a disgraced noble lady once called a failure.
'It's a relief it ended with just this. That was way too close. I've still got a long way to go!'
Of course, I held back. I had no choice but to keep growing. I needed to learn how to wield my power properly.
The crowd began murmuring as people slowly came back to their senses. They sure snapped out of it fast.
“Huh? Queen just won, right…?”
“Wait, is this real? She beat a 3rd-circle mage without being able to use magic? With just hand-to-hand combat?”
“She must've cheated. It's obvious.”
“But I clearly saw Queen beating him down…”
Reactions split between suspicion and admiration. Some clapped sincerely, genuinely impressed.
Others glared at me like detectives desperate to rack up an arrest.
“Aaaaargh, my sooooon!”
Mirinda came running in a panic. She clutched Jerome and shot me a venomous glare.
Even a saintess protecting a hero from the Demon King wouldn't have looked more dramatic.
“You crazy bitch! Are you out of your mind? You tried to kill my son? This match is void! Queen loses! You filthy murderer!”
“How exactly did I lose?”
“You lost because you tried to kill someone in a duel! What are you, a Croz? You’re finished, you whore. Confiscation and expulsion from the family—expelled!”
It was laughable. Who was the one who showed killing intent first?
Yet several family members were nodding along in agreement.
They all knew I had won. I’d already shown them.
But they wanted to reject me anyway—because I was the girl who would drag the family name through the mud.
It was a ridiculous case of cognitive dissonance.
I looked around the room and sneered.
“Are you all actually stupid, or are you just pretending to be?”
“Sister, what exactly do you mean by that?”
Hollan stepped forward, glaring at me.
“Isn’t it obvious? You want to confiscate everything I own because I tried to kill him? But all of you saw and heard it, didn’t you? The one who showed killing intent first and tried to murder me was that idiot lying over there—self-proclaimed genius Jerome. On top of that, he went berserk and damaged the main family mansion. See that?!”
I pointed straight at the main building. It was a complete mess.
Every window was shattered, and the walls were gouged deep, like some giant white dinosaur with long claws had raked across them.
The people who had been cursing me moments ago all fell silent. Nice and quiet now.
I turned to Mirinda.
“Hey, Aunt. I think you’re misunderstanding something here.”
“What, you disrespectful murderer?!”
“If you married into another family and became an outsider, you should be using their surname. Why do you keep using ours while playing at being the real power here? Are you some kind of parasite? Got nothing better to do? Or are you getting bullied over there too?”
I asked outright. Mirinda trembled violently, looking ready to lunge at me.
Of course, she didn’t actually move.
Weak dogs always bark the loudest, after all.
“Queen, don’t cross the line!”
Blaken, the family head and my father, stood up and shouted.
I shrugged and smiled brightly instead.
“Father, get a grip. I stopped a major conflict before it could happen. And I did it without killing Jerome—just subduing him.”
Mirinda and Jerome belonged to an entirely different family.
Even if this happened during a duel, they had shown killing intent first and damaged our mansion.
It was clearly an act that required compensation.
If I had killed him while stopping that? The situation would’ve escalated far worse, and our family would’ve been branded the aggressors.
So I only subdued him. Turned him into an idiot, nothing more.
Hollan tilted his head.
“What are you talking about?”
“Jerome is a Devilrenov. If he were one of ours, we could’ve covered it up. But some other family’s brat damaged our mansion and tried to kill a family member—me?”
“W-Well, that’s true…”
“If he’d gone any more berserk, a lot more people would’ve gotten dragged into it, don’t you think?”
The family members who had been silent suddenly flinched.
They were finally reading the room. Idiots. This was the problem with medieval nobles.
Actually, it was the same in Joseon too.
The ones who claimed to be family were mostly incompetent and relied only on their status.
Typical useless worms.
“That… is a fair point, Queen.”
Blaken nodded. I got even more fired up.
“If that had happened, it would’ve turned into an inter-family conflict. And even after all that, I’m still the crazy murderer bitch? You pathetic, brainless parasites!”
I let out a refreshing roar. Maybe the original Queen had wanted to shout like this too—especially at Mirinda.
A woman who wasn’t even part of the family acting like an elder while playing power games. Stirring up trouble with that tiny brain of hers.
Parasite trash like her. Pathetic.
My current behavior was definitely crossing noble lines. But so what?
I was going to become the crazy bitch of this district. Why bother with manners?
'This is my way. This is my life.'
In the end, Blaken, the family head, stepped in.
“The winner of this duel is Queen Wednesday. Queen, it seems you’ve been training in secret. I may have… misjudged you.”
“Don’t get satisfied so quickly.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m going to show you and prove a lot more. This is only the beginning. Please handle the aftermath. Otherwise, that Mirinda woman will really go berserk.”
I openly ignored Mirinda and walked off the training grounds.
The crowd was still noisy, arguing back and forth.
Behind me, Mirinda screamed in despair.
“It was a trick! A dirty trick! Bring my son back! She only won with cheap tricks! You rat-like bitch!”
She was throwing a tantrum, that ugly whore.
I returned to my room, leisurely washed up, and lay down on the bed.
I felt truly refreshed.
Emergency Quest ‘Beating the Lawful into Submission’ Cleared!
Congratulations! Secret condition ‘Avoid Direct Hits’ satisfied. Rewards doubled!
Ringudite x4 acquired!
All stats increased by 20!
Huh. There were secret conditions too?
I thought that was something only protagonists got.
This really made me wonder if this was a novel or a game.
'Not that I’m complaining.'
I’d obtained a metal that absorbed water. I could make good use of it later.
Thanks to the doubled rewards, my stats had risen quite a bit.
“Whoa, I can feel power surging through my whole body!”
Unlike before, when I’d felt lacking, my body now overflowed with strength, like I’d become a peak bodybuilder.
I warmed up in my room and tried a sergeant jump.
“Uwooooh!”
I almost hit the ceiling, barely pushed myself off with my hands, spun once, and landed.
I felt light as a cat. It was like vitality had returned to this body.
Plus, I’d earned points from beating Jerome. I could raise my stats and get even stronger.
'But there’s something I need to do right now.'
I couldn’t be satisfied with just this.
I headed straight for Blaken’s office—the family head and my father.
Step by step.
When I left the mansion, the servants whispered among themselves before scattering the moment they saw me.
The news must’ve spread.
That I was the one who had beaten the great Jerome.
The confused gazes of the servants—ones I’d never seen before—stuck to me from every direction.
It was delightful. I felt pure exhilaration.
'I’m going to do this a lot more from now on!'
Knock knock knock. Click.
Blaken, who had been working, looked up at me.
He seemed surprised by the sudden visit.
“Queen, what is it?”
“I have a request.”
“What is it?”
“Please release the seizure on my assets.”
Queen had been treated like someone the family had cast out.
Because of that, all the assets that should have rightfully gone to her remained seized.
Calling it a seizure was generous—it was basically Mirinda stealing them to give Jerome pocket money.
“…Do you think you deserve that?”
I smiled cynically. Of course I did.
“Father, I’m simply claiming the rights that are rightfully mine. Do you still see your daughter as a useless, incompetent failure?”
I’d at least proven the minimum. This much should be obvious.
Blaken cleared his throat and set down his fountain pen. It gleamed coldly.
“Very well. I permit it. From now on, the seized assets are yours.”
The family head’s permission had been granted. No one could refuse it.
Now I could flex like a proper noble. Heh, what should I buy first?
“And there’s something I should tell you in advance.”
“Is there something you want?”
I casually walked over and sat in the chair across from Blaken.
He hadn’t even told me to sit. It was definitely rude, but so what?
'The humiliation I’ve suffered in this family is enormous. I was treated as less than human.'
“I plan to leave this family soon.”
“…No, Queen. Why would you—?”
“Did you see how everyone reacted? I won fairly, yet they’re still trying to tear me apart like lust-crazed goblins. Where exactly is the nobility in that?”
Blaken leaned back in his chair with a small sigh. Even on his pale face, the worry was obvious.
“I know there are many in the family who dislike you. But I can’t satisfy everyone…”
“I don’t want to satisfy them. I have no desire to play along with low-level trash just because they’re nobles.”
“Queen, do you think you can leave this family so easily? You’re the eldest daughter—the eldest!”
“When exactly have you ever treated me as the eldest daughter?”
“That’s because you…!”
He wanted to say it was because I was incompetent, because I was disgracefully incompetent.
But Blaken swallowed those words and shook his head.
Just from that, I could tell he was at least a decent person.
If it had been Mirinda, she would’ve brought up every real and imaginary fault to claim victory.
I chuckled.
“Of course not. I respect that, but you know that statement means nothing unless I become the family head, right?”
“I saw what you did today. But becoming the head isn’t something just anyone can do. Even if you’re the eldest.”
“Then why are you trying to stop me when I want to leave? I don’t get it.”
I yawned openly. Blaken asked, clearly confused.
“Why do you want to leave?”
“I’m going to become a hero.”
“…A hero?”
“More precisely, I’m going to travel around the Life Trees and gain experience in the world.”
For a moment, Blaken’s face lit up. Of course it did.
According to the setting, Blaken was a practical, hardworking 7th-circle mage who had wandered the world gaining experience.
So hearing that I would train like him, he couldn’t hide his joy.
He barely managed to suppress his smile.
“Then that’s fine. Truthfully, I hadn’t placed much hope in you either, Queen. But what you showed today was truly impressive. Thank you.”
“Thank you?”
“For proving that my old eyes were wrong.”
“…I’m glad you acknowledge it. Though if I keep achieving things, you’ll probably face some trouble.”
People like Mirinda would still try to reject me.
All because of that damned ‘noble dignity.’
But I wanted to ask the opposite.
Was it truly noble to be used as a political marriage tool and thrown into another family just because I was a lady?
“If you have the qualifications, who could say anything? I believe in you.”
“We’ve got an aunt who isn’t even part of the family acting like she owns the place, and Hollan and Buzil who see me as a thorn in their side. So I’ll do things my way. Whether that means making them submit or turning them into half-idiots.”
Blaken reluctantly nodded. At least he wasn’t openly saying I shouldn’t kill them—that was something.
“Yes. Our family is all about showing and proving.”
“Exactly. Show and prove! I won’t disappoint you.”
I smirked as I left the office. Time to move on to the next step.
'Alright, let’s go collect my inheritance!'
I quickened my pace.