My Past Life is Riddled With Many Sins - Chapter 50

When Regina first used mana because of Friedrich, she nearly coughed up blood and collapsed on the floor. But when she had to threaten Fathom or kill a newly manifested monster, she didn’t falter. Her body had become conditioned over time. Though she wasn’t training to the death every day, she was still diligent.

‘Now, using it for a short time is okay.’

Of course, she was nowhere near the level of a true Swordmaster. Swordmasters can wield a mana blade for days on end without faltering. How did she know? Because she had done it herself during Yekarna’s era.

‘I need to reach that level soon…’

Her mind already possessed the enlightenment of a Swordmaster; all that was left was for her body to catch up. Therefore, the answer was rigorous training.

“What I need now is muscle!”

Grinding her teeth as she repeated this mantra, Regina swung her sword. The students around her watched with weary expressions.

“Who is that girl, obsessing over muscles and training like mad every day?”

“Don’t you know? She’s the freshman representative.”

“The representative? The top of the class? Why would someone so academically inclined do that?”

“Maybe it’s academic stress has gone too far?”

“Seriously, to think that a bright young freshman could end up like this… they say studying can kill you.”

“Should we challenge her to a spar?”

“Arthur, stay out of it. You don’t want to mess with her.”

Among the students focused on their sword training, Regina was gaining a reputation as the ‘muscle-obsessed freshman.’

“Hey, junior? You seem to be in our department. This drink helps with building muscle, it’s just dried egg whites mixed with milk. Want to try it? It’s nothing weird.”

A burly senior approached timidly and offered her the drink.

“Ah, thank you, senior.”

Regina accepted it without hesitation and drank it. The muscular senior watched her pleased and cautiously offered,

“And if you’re interested in muscles, maybe you’d like to join our ‘Muscle Morning’ club…”

“Wait a moment.”

Just as Regina was about to enter the training ground, she spotted Fathom trying to back away and cut off the senior to chase after him.

Fathom, who was trapped against a wall and with nowhere to run, grimaced in dismay.

“Why! Why are you following me?”

“It seems more like I should be asking you that. You’ve been circling around me.”

She had felt this guy’s presence at lunch, in the library, and even on her way to the training grounds. She had ignored it until now out of annoyance.

Caught off guard, Fathom hesitated before closing his eyes in apparent resignation.

“Be careful.”

“Careful of what?”

“Iskanda is targeting you.”

Regina’s heart sank.

“Prince Iskanda is targeting me?”

“Yes. You might not be aware, but Iskanda is here at the academy too. He remembers his past life… and he seeks revenge.”

Fathom swallowed hard, recalling a conversation he had with Darien on the day of the freshman acceptance ceremony.

“Ah, revenge. Of course, I should. I’ll return what I received, exactly.”

Darien had definitely said that.

After a moment of silence, Regina spoke up.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Th… that…”

Fathom stuttered. He couldn’t understand why he was betraying Darien, someone he had somewhat befriended. And why he was warning Regina, his past life’s enemy. She was even someone who had recently tried to kill him.

Regina studied the conflicted expression on Fathom’s face. He was searching for any hidden motives. However, it seemed that he didn’t.

Is this guy stupid?

She remembered Rupert from the Gilagon Peninsula as having a useful brain, but this reincarnation seemed to lack that. Perhaps he had forgotten everything?

Curious, Regina subtly reached into her pocket, pretending to pull out a butter knife. Fathom panicked and flailed.

‘So he does remember.’

But why risk its life like this?

She couldn’t understand the motivation behind his behavior, but she was not particularly curious, so Regina decided to let it go.

“I won’t kill you, so you can relax.”

“Is it because of what I just told you?”

“No. You’re not worth killing.”

Leaving the flustered Fathom behind, Regina calmly returned to the training grounds.

She wasn’t naive. The moment she had seen Prince Iskanda leaving Fathom’s room, she had a rough idea of what was going on.

It was Prince Iskanda who had manipulated Fathom, using him to probe Regina’s identity. By the time Regina had broken into the men’s dormitory to silence him, it was already too late.

Killing Fathom now would be pointless. Regina had originally intended to eliminate him solely to protect her secrets, not out of anger now that everything was exposed.

“Revenge.”

Prince Iskanda targeting her….is justified, she thought. Who in this world could forgive someone who had killed their family and destroyed their country?

‘Was it just my shameless illusion that our relationship was improving?’

Back then, as she was the Empress, was he forced to conceal his true feelings to survive? Had he only smiled at her and shown kindness out of obligation, even if it disgusted him?

Disturbed, Regina rubbed her face with her palm. She didn’t feel betrayed. It was more a realization that in this life, she would be an easy target for him.

An enemy who he couldn’t touch when she was the Empress was now a commoner. For him, the situation couldn’t be more advantageous.

However, separate from any feelings of regret, Regina had no intention of passively accepting his revenge. She planned to survive this hellish academy and live a happy life.

Regina took a moment to sum up her situation:

Rupert’s reincarnation, Fathom; and Prince Iskanda’s reincarnation, Darien, both knew she was Yekarna’s reincarnation.

Skyler’s reincarnation, Bliss the academy dean, and Friedrich’s reincarnation, Valenti, had not yet obtained definitive proof of her being Yekarna’s reincarnation.