Tiya’s Smooth Regression Life Chapter 5

Tiya could feel her heart pounding hard against her chest.

 

It wasn’t from fear of the terrible future Winter had described earlier.

 

“Me……?”

 

It was hope.

 

<Yes. To save the Vladizev family, I need you.>

 

The expectation that even a so-called defective member of the family could do something for the clan—for her family.

 

<You are the only one who can do it.>

 

At those words, which filled the hole in her heart completely, Tiya sprang to her feet on her own.

 

“I’ll do it! No—let me do it!”

 

At Tiya’s spirited answer, a satisfied smile finally touched Winter’s lips.

 

* * *

 

Three hours later.

 

Winter and Tiya’s grand plan to save the Vladizev family was complete.

 

1. Stop the plague.

 

2. Eliminate the evil mastermind.

 

3. Gather allies (supporters).

 

“Perfect!”

 

Tiya puffed out a sharp breath through her nose.

 

Winter, exhausted from communicating in simplified terms so Tiya could understand, lay sprawled haphazardly in the air. 

 

<You… you really understood this time, right?>

 

“Of course! I’m smart enough to have already learned how to read!”

 

<For a kid who can’t even do addition, you’re sure full of yourself.> 

 

“Ahem, I’ve always been a little weak at math….”

 

Winter, who had been lying in the air as if it were her own bedroom floor with her head tilted against her hand, suddenly asked.

 

<First. What is the raw material for the cure for the plague, the Reaper’s Mark?>

 

A sudden quiz time had begun. 

 

However, Tiya raised her hand high and shouted confidently. 

 

“Dibs! Palancho!”

 

<…You missed the most important part. How many times do I have to say it’s Palancho imbued with divinity?>

 

“Oh, right. That’s why you said it can only be obtained through the temple.”

 

Thankfully, Winter knew the herb that could cure the plague.

 

In the early days of the outbreak.

 

For some reason, the imperial family sent large quantities of Palancho—an herb effective against the plague—to the North.

 

But there was one crucial thing missing.

 

It wasn’t enough to be an ordinary herb; only when a priest infused it with divine power could it completely cure the plague.

 

Divine power was the sacred strength bestowed by the gods to heal people.

 

Therefore, priests use divine power only when healing people.

 

This meant that even if Tiya were to obtain Palancho right now and go to a priest saying, “Please pour divine power into this!”, the priests would cite religious laws and refuse. 

 

<Second. Why can’t we tell the priests or other people that ‘Palancho imbued with divinity is the cure for the plague’?> 

 

“Dibs! Because of the Taboo, I cannot speak of future events!”

 

<Correct. The fact that the Vladizev family will fall, and that divine Palancho is the cure—those are both pieces of information I learned in the future. Under the Great Spirit’s regulations, information gained through regression cannot be revealed to others—>

 

Winter, who was providing a supplementary explanation, suddenly stopped talking.

 

Even though she had given the correct answer, Tiya was tilting her head again in confusion.

 

It seemed the explanation had gotten too long.

 

<Third. Who is the Vladizev family’s true enemy?>

 

Winter’s voice dropped lower, and tension settled over Tiya’s face.

 

The fundamental reason for the Vladizev family’s destruction wasn’t the plague.

 

Nor was it the barbarians.

 

<There was a massive invasion by the barbarians. Strangely enough, they were armed with the Empire’s latest weapons.>

 

The imperial family, which had refused to lift the North’s lockdown until the very end.

 

And the Empire’s advanced weapons in the barbarians’ hands.

 

Behind all of it lurked a mastermind.

 

With a solemn expression, Tiya spoke the name.

 

“Marquis Montes.”

 

<…Correct. The uncle of the prince who will later become emperor is our true enemy. Even if we cure the plague, as long as he stands firm, the Vladizev family won’t be safe.>

 

Therefore, Marquis Montes must be removed from power—or, if necessary, assassinated.

 

Concealing that blood-stained plan from the child, Winter moved on to the next question.

 

<Fourth. Why do we need to secure allies?>

 

From the fourth question onward, the difficulty suddenly skyrocketed.

 

Tiya took a deep breath, looking as though she had been expecting this.

 

However, Winter did not expect Tiya to answer this one.

 

It was politically complex for a child to understand—

 

“Marquis Montes is backed by the imperial family. The Vladizev family is practically king in the North, but because of its closed environment, it cannot exert strong influence externally. Therefore, we need allies who can check Marquis Montes and move within the capital for the sake of the Vladizev family!”

 

By the end, perhaps running out of breath, Tiya rattled it off in one go without pausing, panting hard.

 

When Winter’s mouth fell open, Tiya puffed up her shoulders proudly.

 

After a moment, Winter asked again.

 

<…And what is an ally?>

 

“Marquis Montes is backed by the imperial family. The Vladizev family is practically king in the North—”

 

<You don’t even understand it, you just memorized it word for word?!>

 

“G-Grandma said if you don’t understand something, memorize it!”

 

<That’s a very difficult way of saying you don’t know.>

 

And she had to carry out such schemes and plots with a child like this.

 

The road ahead felt bleak.

 

“But Winter, who’s the ally? Who do we need to make our side?”

 

At that, Winter hesitated briefly.

 

Someone who had built influence at the heart of central politics in the capital.

 

Someone powerful enough to check Marquis Montes, who also had connections with northern nobles—able to act as a bridge between the capital and the North.

 

‘And that man also has ties with the temple.’

 

Considering the North would be isolated by plague, there was no more perfect figure.

 

Despite this, Winter hesitated for a long while before finally speaking in a reluctant tone. 

 

<…Shurka. We need to make him our ally.>

 

“Okay. We’ll make Shurka our ally!”

 

Tiya, who had been repeating like a parrot for the sake of memorization, flinched.

 

Wait. Shurka? That name sounded very familiar.

 

Tiya tilted her head, then soon shouted with her eyes wide open. 

 

“That’s my dad!”

 

Tiya immediately puffed up proudly and thrust out her chest as if to say, Leave it to me.

 

“Don’t worry, Winter. My dad’s already on our side.”

 

<Why do you think he’s on our side?>

 

“Because we’re family!”

 

At that, Winter snorted.

 

<Shurka is the man who didn’t send so much as a single herb to the North during a lockdown that lasted over ten years. That cold-blooded man is hardly going to become our ally just because you’re family.>

 

“C-cold what?”

 

<Cold-blooded. A man with no blood and no tears, who treats even his children like chess pieces.>

 

As Tiya stood blankly listening to Winter’s words, her eyes gradually grew sharp. 

 

She didn’t fully understand everything—but one thing was certain.

 

“Did you just insult my dad?”

 

<Oh? Did it sound like an insult? I merely stated facts.>

 

“You insulted him again just now! I understood that perfectly!”

 

Until just moments ago, the girl and the ghost had been united in purpose.

 

Now, an uncrossable river had formed between them.

 

Neither willing to yield, they glared at each other tensely—when—

 

Knock, knock.

 

A timid young maid entered after knocking lightly.

 

“Young Lady, the Count is looking for you. Would you like to go?”

 

<Perfect timing. Why not see with your own eyes what kind of man the Count really is?>

 

After five long days, her father had finally called for her.

 

* * *

 

Tiya swallowed dryly as she looked up at the door before her.

 

The door that had looked so massive when she was four was still intimidating now that she was eight.

 

Tiya forced her shoulders, which were trying to shrink instinctively, to straighten up proudly. 

 

Because of her conversation with Winter, she had briefly forgotten.

 

That yesterday, she had caught Erin—no, the thief—who was trying to steal the Spirit’s Egg. 

 

Every servant she met offered her concern and praise.

 

‘So maybe Dad wants to praise me too.’

 

Her heart pounded like she had just sprinted.

 

Soon, the door opened, and a scent like sun-heated sand drifted out.

 

There were many adults inside the office, but Tiya’s compass pointed to only one person.

 

Long jet-black hair like her own.

 

Icy blue eyes.

 

An air of precariousness, like a flower blooming at the edge of a cliff, combined with an arrogance that seemed to look down upon the world.

 

“Dad.”

 

The words that she missed him and longed for him were all pressed tightly into that one word. 

 

With every step toward him, her joy etched itself deeper—until the Count’s next words stopped her in her tracks as though she had sunk into a pit of sand.

 

“What were you doing there?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I am asking for the reason you were in the room where entry is prohibited in the middle of the night, Astiya Vladizev.”

 

Her father, who finally looked up from the documents, stared at Tiya. 

 

Before, she had thought those eyes were merely cold. However, in the gaze of her father whom she met again…

 

‘It feels empty.’

 

Far from being cold, they held nothing at all.