“…Father?”
A man in his late twenties with brown hair could be seen reading a book.
“…Fathe— no… Dad?”
Green eyes that looked just like mine shifted and turned toward me.
“What is it, Tia?”
At that familiar voice, exactly as I remembered it, a chill ran down my arms.
What is this… is this real?
If I dismissed it as a deathbed illusion, the scent of books in the library and the texture of everything around me were far too vivid. I blinked several times, trying to grasp the situation.
I was just hit by a carriage and thrown into the air, waiting for my breath to stop… so why am I suddenly standing in the mansion’s library? And why are the bookshelves so big, and the desk so high?
“Tia?”
When was the last time someone called me so gently? Looking into those familiar green eyes filled with concern, I felt like I might cry.
My father looked exactly as I remembered him when he was young.
“Tia, are you alright?”
I don’t know what’s going on, but I need to get out of here first.
“Um, just for a moment… may I go back to my room?”
My father tilted his head slightly, then, as if reassured, smiled softly and nodded.
“Of course. Shall I walk you there?”
His large hand gently patted my head as he asked.
“N-no! I can go by myself!”
“Haha. You’re especially brave today. Be careful.”
“Yes… I’ll be right back. Please wait here for a moment!”
With that, I shouted and began running without thinking. As I ran, I looked around, and the library still retained its old appearance.
That is, the outdated version from before I took charge and reorganized it efficiently.
This is strange! This is really strange!
I rushed out of the library, and a corridor that felt both familiar and unfamiliar greeted me. My room was too far, so I opened the first door I saw and stepped inside.
The room, furnished with just a bed and simple furniture, seemed unoccupied. It might have been a guest room, but that didn’t matter right now. The Lombardi estate was so vast it was practically a village; there were countless empty rooms.
“A mirror! Right, a mirror!”
Fortunately, I found a full-length mirror in the corner of the room. It didn’t seem that far away, yet for some reason, it took several steps to reach it.
And the moment I stood in front of it, I understood why.
“Why am I so small?!”
My body didn’t even fill a third of the mirror, which had been made for an adult’s height. Looking down, I saw tiny hands like maple leaves, a round child’s belly, and small feet.
“How old am I right now?”
There was no one to ask. After thinking for a moment, I quickly lifted the hem of my skirt.
“I fell and got badly hurt on my eighth birthday!”
I had once scraped my knee badly on a rock while playing in the garden, and the scar had been large enough to remain even when I was twenty-five.
“It’s gone. The scar is gone.”
My knees were smooth and unmarked.
“Then that means I’m not eight years old yet…”
I looked into the mirror again, but there was no doubt, this was my childhood self. Waking up after an accident without a single injury would already be shocking, but waking up to find myself in the past…
Even for someone like me, who had once died and been reborn, it wasn’t easy to accept.
Going back in time is a first.
My legs weakened, and I sat down on the bed beside me. Even that wasn’t easy with my now small body. Through the window, barely visible at my height, I could see the scenery of Lombardi.
“I really came back to the past.”
I murmured as I looked at the towering evergreen trees deep in the garden.
Those were the trees my eldest uncle, Viese, had cut down after becoming the head of the family. He claimed it was for landscaping, but it was obvious he simply didn’t like the trees my grandfather cherished.
Later, it was revealed that those trees had been a gift from the founding emperor to celebrate the completion of the estate, which caused quite a scandal.
For someone who was the eldest son and the head of the family, he knew astonishingly little about the family itself.
“Idiot Viese.”
I didn’t know what my grandfather had been thinking, but Viese was absolutely unfit to be the head of the family. Then again, my second uncle, Lorels, wasn’t qualified either. If Viese was narrow-minded and petty, Lorels was nothing more than a loyal hunting dog who blindly followed his older brother.
The only one who showed any promise was my father, Gallahan. He overthought things and had a weak constitution, but he was so knowledgeable that even the Academy coveted him.
But because my father died early, my grandfather had no other choice…
Wait.
“Can I… save Father?”
My father died of illness shortly before my eleventh birthday. At the time, there was no cure, and we could do nothing but watch him go. But I clearly remembered hearing, just a few years later, that a doctor had discovered a treatment.
“I can save him!”
My whole body trembled with joy. My eyes grew hot, and a tear fell.
I don’t have to lose him.
I can save him.
I won’t have to watch him suffer and fade away at such a young age.
It sounded impossible, but now that I had returned to the past, I could do it.
And then another realization struck me.
“Then… can I save Lombardi too?”
I jumped to my feet and walked to the window. From the library, I could see the grand four-story main building of Lombardi and the many surrounding structures. I could see guests, servants, and employees working for the family.
But the Lombardi I last saw before being hit by the carriage had none of this. The empty estate, the imperial soldiers locking the gates, the image was still vivid.
“First, I have to stop Viese from becoming the head.”
Back then, supporting the First Prince was his decision as the next head. The First Prince’s mother, Empress Rabini Angenas of the Lambrou Empire, was cousins with Seral Angenas, my aunt by marriage and Viese’s wife.
It was natural for him to favor that side, but this was about the next Crown Prince.
The First Prince was not someone capable of bearing that immense power and responsibility, and Emperor Jovanes was no foolish ruler. Failing to understand that was Viese’s mistake.
If he hadn’t openly declared his support. No, even if he hadn’t tried to threaten and harm the Second Prince, Lombardi would have been safe.
For a moment, I considered persuading Viese, but quickly dismissed it. If he were the kind of man who could be persuaded, none of this would have happened.
That meant someone else had to become the head instead.
“I would have entrusted this family to you…”
My grandfather’s habitual sigh came to mind.
“Should I… try it?”
A small laugh escaped me, but it wasn’t an absurd idea at all. While helping my grandfather and effectively managing the family’s affairs, I had often thought that it would be better if I were the head, especially when Viese kept ruining everything I built.
Honestly, no matter what I did, I would be better than my uncle.
“At the very least, I wouldn’t make that mistake with the Second Prince. Then our family would survive. After all, the Second Prince will obviously become the Crown Prince…”
Then what if I aligned myself with the Second Prince in advance?
If I built a connection, wouldn’t it benefit Lombardi?
And that wasn’t all. I had memories of everything that would happen over the next twenty years. If I used that knowledge well, I could make Lombardi even more prosperous.
I could protect the Lombardi I loved with my own hands.
Definitely.
“I’ll do it.”
If things continued like this, the family would be completely ruined. A house that had stood for hundreds of years collapsed so easily it was almost absurd. I couldn’t just watch that happen again.
“I’ll become the head of the family.”
Or my father could succeed my grandfather.
As long as it wasn’t Viese or Lorels.
“Then first…”
I sat back down on the bed and organized my thoughts further.
“Lord Gallahan has been summoned by the head of the family and has gone to the office, young lady.”
When I returned to the library, my father’s seat had already been neatly cleared, and the librarian spoke to me.
An elderly librarian with graying hair, Broschul.
I only began working in the library after Broschul retired due to illness. He had originally been a renowned professor at the Academy before coming to Lombardi.
“Grandpa Librarian.”
For my usual age, it would have been quite rude to address a former professor that way, but what did it matter?
I’m a child right now.
“Please lend me that book.”
“Which book do you want?”
When I told him the title, Broschul looked utterly shocked.
“Did Lord Gallahan ask for it?”
“No. I’m going to read it.”
His surprise was understandable, but I met his gaze without avoiding it.
This was the book I had most wanted to read before I was hit by the carriage. It was so rare and expensive that I never got the chance.
A moment later, I left the library with a rather heavy book tucked under my arm.
“I’ll go near the office and read while I wait.”
When I asked earlier, I was told that today was the third day of the week. It was my grandfather’s long-standing habit to gather his three sons and one daughter for a brief meeting on that day.
However, the time varied each time, so my father and his siblings had to remain in the estate all day, waiting for his summons.
Even so, no one complained.
In Lombardi, my grandfather’s authority was absolute.
As I walked along alone, I reached the main building and soon arrived at the corridor in front of the office. It was a place I had frequented so often it felt like my own room when I assisted my grandfather, but seeing it from a child’s perspective made it feel different.
I wanted to explore the interior of the main building more, but I had to rest by the window. The distance from the library to here was far too much for my short legs. And as expected, this child’s body tired easily.
Just as I was thinking I might need a nap soon—
“Hey, half-breed.”
A rude child’s voice called out to me.
