At the main gate of the mansion—
Scarlet stretched her arms dramatically and shouted,
"Let's do this!"
A gust of cold morning air rushed straight into her open mouth.
"—Air! Air! AIR!"
She choked and quickly covered her face.
David turned away, shoulders shaking as he tried to suppress his laughter.
Time: 5:50 AM.
They began walking toward the backyard.
On the way, they met several staff members.
Scarlet proudly declared to each one,
"Grandfather accepted me as his disciple!"
"Congratulations, Lady Scarlet."
"Blessings to you, young miss."
She accepted every congratulation like a victorious general.
David observed her carefully.
Yesterday, she had been cold. Heavy. Drowning in something dark.
Today, she was overly energetic.
Too energetic.
There was a reason.
Samael.
The devil had blurred the memory of her death.
She remembered being shot.
But the faces.
The betrayal.
The exact details.
All fogged.
Like a dream she couldn't fully grasp.
The hatred remained.
But the trauma had dulled.
And her spirit felt… lighter.
Scarlet's POV
"The weather is so nice today!" she declared. "David, where's Grandfather? We should hurry or we'll be late!"
"They're in the backyard training ground," David replied calmly.
Scarlet froze.
"HUH?! Why didn't you say that earlier?!"
She looked at her watch.
5:54 AM.
"We need the car! Hurry! I can't be late on my first day of training!"
She looked like she was about to cry.
David sighed and called for a vehicle immediately.
They arrived.
Her grandfather stood in the open training field wearing tracks, hands behind his back.
Waiting.
Scarlet jumped out of the car and rushed toward him.
"Grandfather, I'm sorry! I didn't know you were in the backyard!"
He didn't respond.
Instead, he asked calmly,
"What time is it?"
She checked her watch.
6:03 AM.
She relaxed.
"It's only 6:03."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
He turned to the others present.
"Leave us."
David hesitated.
"Sir, please… Miss is still naïve—"
One look from the old man silenced him.
Everyone left.
Now only the two of them remained.
Her grandfather's voice was steady.
"If I were dying," he said, "and you had the medicine… but you arrived three minutes late, what would happen?"
Her body stiffened.
Her previous life flashed faintly in her mind.
Late.
Too late.
Always too late.
Her head lowered.
She couldn't answer.
He repeated the question.
"What would happen?"
Her voice trembled.
"You… would die."
Silence.
He sighed.
"It is a hypothetical situation. Why are you crying?"
She blinked.
Crying?
She touched her face.
Her fingers were wet.
She quickly wiped her tears away.
"I'm sorry, Grandfather. I'll be on time from now on."
He shook his head.
"Not on time."
His voice hardened.
"Always ahead of time."
Her spine straightened.
"Sir, yes, sir."
Training
The training was brutal.
Running.
Endurance drills.
Mental exercises.
Precision tasks.
By the end—
"Training is over for today. Come back tomorrow," her grandfather said.
From the ground, a half-dead voice responded,
"S-Sir… yes… sir…"
He laughed lightly.
David arrived to pick her up.
He looked at the exhausted figure lying flat on the ground.
"Should I dispose of this corpse?"
The "corpse" weakly lifted a hand.
"No… I'll handle my own burial…"
She forced herself up.
"Let's go home. I need a nap."
David cleared his throat.
"If you are done dying, allow me to remind you… your second semester of school officially starts today."
Scarlet froze.
"Huh?"
"School."
Her mind short-circuited.
Wait.
Didn't she already graduate?
Didn't she go abroad in her previous life?
Why was she—
Oh
Wait.
In her previous life, she had studied abroad.
So that meant—
Grandfather changed the plan.
Which meant—
He admitted me to another school here.
She slowly turned to David.
"Which school?"
"A.T. Academy."
She stopped walking.
"The number one school in the country?!"
"Yes, young miss."
Her expression darkened.
She had barely survived a mid-tier school before.
And now—
A.T. Academy?
Full of elites?
She slumped dramatically inside the car.
"I was reborn for revenge… not to relive high school hell…"
She made a pitiful face.
"Can I take today off? I'll go tomorrow. I'm very tired. Emotionally. Spiritually. Physically."
David rejected her flatly.
"No."
He brought her home, handed her the uniform, and practically pushed her into the bathroom.
At seventeen, final year of high school—
She was forced back into battlefield number two.
He prepared breakfast.
Shoved her into the car.
And drove her to school.