Tania Bangas. An adopted child of the Bangas family, she was a person who rose to the ranks of a great merchant despite the disregard and contempt she endured while quietly building her company.

She even subjugated the vassal families under the Bangas family and changed the family head to her liking.

Becoming close to Tania, who didn’t even appear in the original work, was in a way, a coincidence.

[This is the timeline separator]

When she had no power. Because she was a woman. Because she was adopted. Every constraint held her back, Tania first met Diana.

‘Elder sister, why are you crying?’

‘I’m upset.’

‘I see.’

The little child blankly looked at Tania and then at the scene unfolding before her with her cute pink eyes.

The lake in the Beatus territory was a magnificent sight. Diana paid no attention to the crying Tania.

‘Usually people comfort others and tell them not to cry at times like this, don’t they?’

‘If you were crying because you were upset with my elder brother, I would have comforted you. But you’re crying because you’re angry at yourself, elder sister.’

‘……’

Tania held her breath at the child’s sharpness, accurately pinpointing her state.

Tania had tasted humiliation at the unofficial matchmaking meeting with Beatus. She was furious at her own incompetence for not being able to break off this meeting.

‘If you want to cry, then cry. And then you can get back up.’

Strangely, the child’s words brought comfort.

‘If you can’t change your environment, then you can change, elder sister. You don’t need to be tied to your family. You just need to become strong.’

‘I thought you said you wouldn’t comfort me……’

The child keenly heard those words mumbled softly. When the sparkling pink eyes turned to her, a wordless strength was felt.

The child who had been staring without blinking tilted her head.

‘This isn’t comfort, is it?’

‘Ha.’

What the. This little kid. While talking to the child, Tania realized she had stopped crying at some point.

‘You’re pretty when you smile. Elder sister.’

‘Are you hitting on me right now?’

The child burst into laughter as if finding that funny. She herself looked like an angel when she smiled.

Tania mulled over Diana’s words about not being tied to her family. And she came to a conclusion.

‘You’re the youngest lady, so you have a lot of money, right?’

‘Why?’

‘Want to invest in me?’

It’s said that Diana Beatus, the youngest lady, gifted a mine to Debir Beatus, the eldest young master. That mine’s value had multiplied several times now. It was a publicly known fact in the capital.

Besides that, there were subtle rumors spreading that wherever the youngest lady put her hands, it would soon become a thriving business.

‘If you invest in me, I will surely become your strength.’

Debir Beatus had not yet become the heir. She said this with the succession war in mind, but Diana didn’t seem to give it much thought.

She just looked happy to have become friends with Tania. The child spoke with her pink eyes gently closed.

‘Okay. How much do you need?’

After that, the company Tania established with the overflowing gold coins Diana poured in grew rapidly.

‘Call me Tanya. I’ll allow you to use a nickname for me.’

Furthermore, she secured forces in the underworld equal to Debir Beatus.

‘Diana. Diana Beatus.’

One of the reasons was to prepare for the day she could become the strength for her lovely investor.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Tanya unnie. I can’t breathe.”

When Diana, who almost suffocated in her ample bosom, was released, Tania had a face that looked like she would die of love.

“Oh, you cutie. Why are you only coming now? Your unnie waited so long.”

Keeping the face from her childhood, small and cute, she was adorable. If she said those thoughts out loud, Diana would just puff her cheeks saying she wasn’t cute, but pretty.

“Let’s move to another place for now. The smell of food is too strong here.”

“Heli, do you want to eat more?”

Heli shook his head and stuck close to Diana. Tania swept her alluring eyes up and down Heli.

“Is he the one Debir assigned to you?”

“Yes. Heli. He’s my elder brother’s close aide.”

He was a man Tania also knew. He was one of the top five assassins in the underworld.

As an assassin, it was extremely rare for him to reveal himself like this.

“What about that fellow’s right-hand man?”

Haha. Diana laughed silently. Tania was probably the only one who could call Debir Beatus ‘that fellow’.

Tania, who had been Debir Beatus’s unofficial fiancée, broke off the engagement as soon as she gained power.

The reason was that she didn’t need what she hadn’t obtained with her own strength.

“Unnie, do you still dislike our elder brother?”

“Diana, I love you, but that fellow is a separate matter. And didn’t that bothersome fish called the princess attach herself to him?”

A man who seemed to lack emotions. If you stared into those persistently red eyes, it felt suffocating as if you were sinking into a swamp.

No matter how normal he looked on the outside, he was a man you couldn’t eat.

Tania shook her head. The silver-white hair that had been tied up fluttered as it fell loose.

They moved to the top floor and entered a place lavishly decorated with rare ornaments.

“Have a seat. Bring out the Bangas wine.”

“Understood.”

The staff standing by lit a long cigarette holder and handed it to Tania.

Tania, sitting on the sofa with her legs crossed, took it and took a sip, then exhaled a long stream of white smoke.

Diana, smelling the smoke, frowned.

“Tanya unnie.”

“Ah, sorry.”

Tania, who had been smoking out of habit, quickly waved her hand to disperse the smoke.

“Is it paralysis herb?”

Tania, who was handing the long cigarette holder back to the staff, raised an eyebrow.

She didn’t ask how she knew. She just smiled as if it was interesting.

The old vixen’s daughter was paralyzed on the spot.

Zelony would be paralyzed and unable to move for a while due to the paralytic breath Tania had inhaled.

“It seems quite strong?”

“Well well. Our investor is perceptive too.”

I’ve smelled it before. It was the kind Rodrick often used to overcome his mania.

It was such a strong type of poison that ordinary people would suffer from paralysis as a side effect. If used in a weak dose, it could be used as medicine, but that was a poison to begin with.

“Why?”

“It was hard to endure without this. It’s become a habit now.”

“So why.”

To the question asking the fundamental reason, Tania shrugged as if she had no choice and raised her hand.

“After receiving an item, I suffered from insomnia. And my emotions went wild too. Don’t you think it’s abnormal even from my perspective?”

At her gesture, the manager brought a box.

“This has started circulating recently, and I think it’s because of this?”

An ominous energy rose even before the box was opened.

“Priests are selling it saying it grants wishes, and word of mouth has spread so they can’t keep it in stock. It doesn’t seem to have divine power though.”

Diana frowned upon seeing the contents after the box was opened. The small stone tablet engraved with ancient patterns was familiar.

“People treat it like a talisman. They say it’s a piece of a place called the Temple of God. Well, even temples are the same in trying to make money……”

“Jane, destroy it.”

Before Tania could finish speaking, she opened her mouth.

At the mercilessly given order, Jane moved.

Moving at an astonishing speed that made you believe she had teleported, Jane used her monstrous strength to smash the entire box.

The manager’s eyes widened at the shattering fragments.

“What is the meaning of this!”

The manager, who was always neat, shouted and Tania raised a hand.

Even with the sudden event, Tania was unperturbed and wore a leisurely smile.

“Shall we hear the reason? No matter how lovely our investor is, I cannot tolerate reckless actions in my territory?”

Arrogant pressure was useful when dealing with noble people. They would be intimidated by Tania’s intense energy.

But Diana was different.

Diana, who stood up from her seat with a stiff face, stood in front of Tania.

When she bent her waist to grab the back of the sofa, Tania backed away at the face that drew close.

“Diana?”

One hand grabbed the sofa back and the other lifted Tania’s chin.

The pink eyes moved around busily.

Why did she only notice now? The faintly hidden contaminated mana was visible. Through the hand holding the chin, she absorbed Tania’s contaminated mana.

Mana that was forcibly permeated like a curse, not the mana a person originally possessed, could be absorbed by her.

“Diana!”

But the timing wasn’t good. The moment she absorbed the contaminated mana, a vast amount of mana left her body.

Due to the simultaneous events, even Angela’s jewel that should have absorbed the contaminated mana couldn’t react.

“Ah.”

A warm liquid flowed down under her nose. With pain that felt like her heart was being squeezed and her vision blurring, she spoke quickly.

“Ro, drick.”

Before she could say call him, she collapsed into Tania’s arms.

Diana collapsed. Even with a mind cleared by the mana she absorbed, Tania couldn’t come to her senses.

“Diana? Diana.”

The woman called the Dark Noblewoman who wielded enormous power, Tania who held all temptations and fears, threw away the many outward masks and shouted.

“Doctor, call a doctor!”

Jane was also in a panic. When Jane tried to approach Diana, Heli grabbed her wrist.

“Rodrick Schwartz.”

“What?”

“Bring Rodrick Schwartz. He’s the young lady’s medicine.”

Jane’s movement speed was faster than Heli’s. Upon hearing Heli’s words, Jane headed straight to the Schwartz residence without harboring any doubts.

“Give the young lady to me.”

“What are you doing?!”

When Heli picked her up, Tania looked at Heli with bloodthirsty eyes.

“No need for a doctor,”

Heli looked at Tania indifferently with eyes hidden behind long bangs and spoke.

“The young lady snuck out, so just lend us a room.”

At the calm voice that lacked care, Tania came to her senses.

Tightly grasping the hand stained with Diana’s blood, she stood up from her seat.

[This is the timeline separator]

The luxurious high-rise inn made of stone was a place mainly used by nobles who came up to the capital.

Among them, the Royal Floor with a view of the capital’s center at a glance was a place even high-ranking nobles could not easily enter.

Looking at the woman lying still, the man who had rushed over in a single breath took a rough breath and examined the woman’s face.

“Rodrick Schwartz.”

The man who had rushed over without even properly getting dressed was in a very disheveled state. Tania spoke while looking at the large back of the man who had clearly rushed over in a flurry.

“Diana called your name……”

She knew the Schwartz family had sent a marriage proposal. It had already become a big issue enough to turn the capital upside down. Tania, who had regarded it as merely a political move, couldn’t help but be surprised.

Both Diana who called for him even as she collapsed, and the man who came straight away when she called.

“Just what are you two.”

“One more word.”

She had no choice but to shut her mouth at the brutal gaze that glanced back.

“Say one more word, and your head will fly off.”

As if proving the rumors of him dominating the battlefield were not false, Tania took a step back at the murderous energy he emitted.

“Don’t be a bother and get out.”