IWOE 01

The Real Head of the Family Was Me — Chapter : 1

Chapter 1: How to Escape the Family

“Liarte Elheim.”

It rained on her twentieth birthday.

The sky, heavily overcast and gray, looked especially reminiscent of a funeral.

Liarte, kneeling on top of a gigantic water magic circle, slowly raised her head at the sound of her name.

“No one in the family will ever forget your sacrifice.”

Her blue, water-colored eyes stared blankly at her father, Duke Elheim.

The heavy shackles pressing down on her wrists, and the chains forcibly fastened around her feet so she could not escape.

This was the punishment handed down to Liarte, the only unawakened person and sinner of Elheim.

‘Now you’re going to kill me.’

Someone had said that if the water magic circle was infused with the power of water, Liarte’s life force would be drained away.

No one said it aloud, but today was an “execution.”

The blood relatives whom she had once considered her family and loved unilaterally were surrounding the magic circle, waiting for Liarte to die.

“Begin.”

In the rain, she saw a boy sitting on the highest throne.

Her younger twin brother, with black hair and water-colored eyes.

‘Rian.’

Unlike Liarte, who was unawakened, he was an awakened person who possessed water power comparable to that of the first head of the family.

A noble boy loved by everyone in the family.

He was the reason Liarte had to die.

The Elheim Ducal Family was a family of water.

Unlike most other families, whose powers had almost completely faded with the passage of time, powerful water awakeners were still being born into the Elheim Ducal Family.

However, contrary to what was known to the outside world, Elheim was gradually losing its power.

“Liarte, are you saying you still haven’t awakened the power of water?”

As a child, Liarte kept her eyes lowered before the Duke of Elheim.

No one cared that her small body was trembling with fear.

“I couldn’t bring myself to abandon hope because you were born on the day the Spirit Stone shone, yet you’re this useless.”

The Duke clicked his tongue coldly.

With each passing generation, even the direct descendants of Elheim were experiencing a weakening of their water abilities.

And then Liarte was born.

She was unawakened.

Her family considered Liarte a disgrace to the family. The more Liarte tried to earn their love, the deeper their contemptuous gazes became.

“Remember this. Your existence is permitted only as Rian’s shadow.”

The Duke in her memories was always like that.

Unlike Liarte, her younger twin brother Rian had been born with everything.

Powerful water abilities, an appearance that anyone could love, and an aloof, indifferent personality.

Everyone in Elheim loved Rianlicious.

However, Rian had a secret that was known only to a very select few within the family.

‘That is.’

He could not use his water abilities if his twin, Liarte, was not by his side.

That was why the Duke of Elheim raised Liarte as Rian’s shadow.

Whenever Rianlicious needed to use his water power, Liarte was always dragged out.

At first, there had been times when Liarte desperately tried to earn her family’s love. But as time passed, Liarte gradually learned to give up. The more starved she became for affection, the more the Duke of Elheim and her older brothers, the Elheim heirs, despised her.

‘Why did I go that far?’

In their eyes, Liarte was nothing more than a foolish woman desperately begging for love.

But Liarte’s feelings did not last forever.

The affection that had been unilaterally consumed was eventually worn away until nothing remained. Her resignation had long since hardened into surrender.

Just as she began erasing her expectations one by one—

“Your Grace, I’ve finally found out.”

The family physician discovered a clue about Rian’s abilities.

Unlike Rian, who was sitting beside the Duke, Liarte was kneeling on the floor.

“The Spirit Stone?”

She could not hear everything clearly, but she remembered the Duke’s trembling voice.

“Yes.”

The physician came from a family that had examined only water awakeners ever since the founding of Elheim.

“You will remember that the Spirit Stone shone when the young master was born.”

On the day the twins were born, the family heirloom, the Spirit Stone, had begun shining on its own.

The Spirit Stone was a stone containing an enormous amount of sleeping mana. It was a legacy left behind by the first head of the family, Yuruen, along with his final will.

“Someday, the true owner will appear, awaken the Spirit Stone, and restore the family to glory.”

For generations, awakening the Spirit Stone had been the greatest wish of every Duke of Elheim. However, even after many years had passed, there had been no sign that the Spirit Stone would awaken.

“That’s right. It briefly shone when Rian was born.”

The true owner who would awaken the Spirit Stone.

The people of the Elheim Ducal Family had secretly convinced themselves that the person was Rian.

“The young master is not yet complete because he is a twin.”

“Because he is a twin?”

The Duke’s displeased gaze turned toward Liarte, who was kneeling on the floor.

“According to the ancient records of our ancestors, when an ordinary person and an awakener are twins, part of the awakener’s power can sometimes be transferred to their twin.”

Rian’s water ability, which he could not use without Liarte.

The Spirit Stone, which had shone only on the day they were born.

“It means it’s because of Liarte.”

All the blame lay with Liarte, the unawakened one.

That was what the direct descendants of Elheim began to believe.

More time passed.

When Rian reached adulthood, he became capable of using his abilities without Liarte. However, for some reason, he could not wield power as formidable as before.

‘Was it from then?’

After finishing her hazy recollection, Liarte opened her eyes as the pouring rain struck her.

‘Was that when you started thinking about killing me?’

The fact that the Elheim Ducal Family’s water abilities were declining became known to the outside world.

The Spirit Stone, which everyone had expected to change once Rian became capable of using his water power on his own, never shone again.

“We must kill Liarte.”

Someone said it when they were cornered.

Liarte could not remember which member of her family had said it. Even if she did remember, it no longer mattered.

“If Liarte is gone, Rian will become the true master of the family.”

No one opposed the suggestion of killing the unawakened one.

And so, Liarte’s twentieth birthday was decided to be the day of her execution.

“This is a great thing.”

Her eldest brother, Ainrias, spoke quietly to Liarte.

“Through your death, Rian will become the true master.”

The people of the family firmly believed that Rian would awaken the Spirit Stone.

Soon, the enormous water magic circle began glowing blue.

There was no reason for her to live anyway. Liarte’s blue, water-colored eyes had already become numb and dry.

She only thought one thing.

‘I spent all this time trying for people who were worth nothing.’

To Liarte, her family was nothing.

They were people who were less than strangers.

The end of surrender had finally turned into indifference.

As Liarte counted the days she had lived until now, she closed her eyes.

‘If there is a next life…’

She would abandon them.

She resolved that no matter what it took, she would escape from Elheim.

‘Definitely.’

Soon, her life force began to drain away, and her consciousness grew hazy.

When darkness finally descended, Liarte’s body had already collapsed.

It was the death of the unawakened one that the people of the Elheim Ducal Family had so desperately desired.

But no one could smile.

Because at the exact moment Liarte died, the Spirit Stone shone brilliantly before shattering into pieces.

“This… Could it be…?”

The Duke of Elheim collapsed to the floor, his face drained of color.

“That’s impossible…”

The shattered fragments scattered haphazardly.

The enormous amount of mana that had been sleeping inside the stone vanished helplessly.

The instinct that came from their water abilities whispered a horrifying truth.

The true owner of the Spirit Stone was…

The rain that had been falling became a fierce downpour, pouring over the entire world. No matter how desperately the water awakeners tried to stop it, they could not.

The people of the Elheim Ducal Family regretted it from the depths of their bones.

But it was already too late.

The dead Liarte would not return.

Never.

And then,

time was turned back.

Three years earlier.

Liarte Elheim, six months away from her coming-of-age ceremony, slowly opened her eyes.