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Chapter 2
Was there some kind of switch in their brains?
The people of the Krollot family would turn off their conscience and sense of morality whenever it suited them.
‘The count and countess, who looked so benevolent, were actually corrupt nobles blinded by money.’
And what about Jonathan, who was smiling so warmly in front of Reina?
He was a lunatic who didn’t even consider anyone outside his family to be human.
There was no way Reina, who had grown up in such a family, would be any different.
After possessing Reina’s body, she had to calmly listen to the count and countess casually sharing tax evasion tips, just to avoid suspicion.
‘No matter how rotten their personalities are…’
Kidnapping a child is going too far!
“And Reina, kidnapping? That’s a bit harsh.”
Just as a chill ran down Reina’s spine, Jonathan spoke in a slightly hurt tone.
“This kid is a wandering orphan. I just picked him up from the southern coast.”
…The southern coast?
Reina looked at the boy again.
Black hair. Blood-red eyes.
A body so frail it was pitiful.
And…
A wandering orphan from the southern coast.
‘No way.’
Reina’s face turned just as pale as the boy’s.
“Reina.”
Jonathan called her gently when he noticed she couldn’t take her eyes off the boy.
“You’ll feel less lonely with him. He’s human, so he’ll live longer than a cat.”
Jonathan smiled in satisfaction, hoping she would fill her brother’s absence with this boy.
“Are you—”
“Hmm?”
Her voice was too quiet, so Jonathan leaned closer.
That was when—
“Are you insane?! Have you lost your mind, brother?!”
Reina suddenly raised both hands and started smacking Jonathan on the back.
Who was the boy he had brought?
‘It’s Kalix!’
The terminally ill younger brother of Lucius Ingersoll—the “Monster Grand Duke” of the Empire.
Reina felt like crying.
‘Now the Krollot family is definitely going to be wiped out by Lucius!’
Not long after Jonathan left for the naval academy, Reina came across Lucius’s name in an imperial newsletter.
Grand Duke Lucius Ingersoll, dispatched by imperial order to a conflict zone with neighboring countries.
That was when she finally realized which novel she had transmigrated into.
In the original story, it began when the female lead took in Kalix, who had become a wandering orphan.
All she did was care for him devotedly until his death—yet her entire family faced annihilation.
Because the villain, Lucius, lost his brother and descended into darkness, declaring war on her family.
‘He accused the female lead of kidnapping Kalix and causing his death.’
Reina had felt sorry for the female lead, who was destined for hardship.
But only briefly—it had nothing to do with her.
The Krollot family, to which Reina belonged, wasn’t even mentioned in the original story.
In other words, she was neither a villainess destined for punishment nor a side character doomed to die unjustly.
She could just let the original protagonists defeat the villain as intended, and live her second life in peace.
To do that, all she needed was to slowly distance herself from her family—who might end up in prison at any time.
‘That was the plan!’
But Jonathan, returning home after a long time, had just dropped a ticking time bomb into her peaceful life.
“Reina.”
Jonathan grabbed her wrist.
“You’ve changed.”
Gasp.
Reina realized her mistake.
The shocking situation had made her lose control.
The Reina Jonathan knew was not someone who showed her emotions easily.
Her reaction just now was enough to raise suspicion.
‘That’s bad.’
She recalled what had happened about a month after possessing this body.
When she tried to stop the count and countess from harshly punishing a servant for a mistake…
Their once-gentle gazes turned cold instantly, and they began suspecting something was seriously wrong with her mind.
She had almost been dragged to a suspicious and dangerous place called a “mental correction facility.”
“You’ve become…”
Jonathan stared at her intently before finishing his sentence.
“…softer.”
“…What?”
“You used to slap me across the face.”
Whenever she was displeased, Reina would often strike Jonathan’s cheek.
He even seemed to miss the scratches her nails would leave behind, looking disappointed at her comparatively weak back-hitting.
‘Thank goodness.’
That he was crazy.
Reina sighed in relief inwardly and pulled her wrist free.
“Why did you even go to the southern coast in the first place?”
Why, of all people, had Jonathan—not the original female lead—brought Kalix back?
“It was a stopover on my way home. I stayed there with some academy classmates.”
Reina felt her heart sink.
A group of men in cadet uniforms would have stood out—people would definitely remember them.
‘And if he brought Kalix while he was with his friends…’
With so many witnesses, it would only be a matter of time before Lucius traced his way to the Krollot family.
“The southern coast is a famous resort area. I sent my friends back first, but I wanted to stay a bit longer alone. I even dressed casually to feel like I was traveling.”
“Then… you met the boy while you were alone?”
Jonathan nodded.
Reina’s stiff body relaxed slightly.
At least it wasn’t the worst-case scenario.
“I met him the night before I left, near a cliff by the sea.”
Jonathan glanced at Kalix, then back at Reina.
“When I saw him standing there alone at night… he reminded me of you. His eyes looked like yours the last time I saw you.”
He reminded him of me?
What nonsense is that?
“When I think about the day I left, it still hurts my chest. That wasn’t an exaggeration.”
Jonathan placed a hand gently on Reina’s shoulder.
“You suddenly couldn’t speak and looked so confused. We were practically like friends—of course you must’ve been sad.”
Because of her weak body, Reina couldn’t go out much, and Jonathan had been her only companion.
He knew how lonely she must have felt after he left.
“Even after I entered the naval academy, your face that day kept lingering in my mind.”
Wait…
Reina’s mouth slowly fell open as she listened.
“So… I felt like if I left this child behind, it would be like leaving you there.”
So in other words—
‘The reason Jonathan brought Kalix… was because I stayed silent back then?’
Reina was speechless.
She had just been hit by a truck and awakened inside a novel—what else could she have done?
Until she figured out which novel she was in, the only safe option was to stay quiet.
‘I held back so I wouldn’t accidentally affect the original plot…’
And yet it ended up distorting the story anyway!
Reina felt both absurd and wronged.
“When I told him to come with me, he followed without resistance. He didn’t speak, but he clearly nodded.”
As Jonathan recalled, he glanced at Kalix again.
“Come to think of it, I’ve never heard him speak. Is he mute?”
Jonathan clicked his tongue.
“What a shame. If he can’t talk, he’s no better than a cat.”
Shrugging, he added,
“Reina. I prepared this as a gift to make you happy, but if you don’t like it, you don’t have to accept him.”
Reina snapped out of her daze.
“Will you return him to where he came from?”
“That sounds like too much trouble. I’ll just hand him over to a slave trader.”
Reina felt dizzy.
Whether they kept Kalix or sold him, Lucius would come for revenge either way.
‘Lucius will start a war no matter what.’
There was a reason he was the villain of the original story.
On the surface, he waged war out of grief for his brother—but in truth, his brother was just a tool.
There was a darker motive behind it all.
‘If I return Kalix to where he was… can this still be fixed?’
Reina looked at Kalix.
At that moment, he raised his head, and their eyes met.
Those dark, sunken red eyes left her momentarily speechless.
Until now, she had been too focused on the situation to think about him.
What must he be feeling, hearing himself talked about as a “gift” or being sold?
As Reina struggled to find words—
“Nothing…”
Kalix, who had remained silent the entire time, finally spoke.
“I won’t listen to anything, won’t see anything, and won’t say anything. So…”
His voice trembled faintly.
“Please… just let me stay here.”
