🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 1
“Everything is done, miss!”
At the cheerful voice, the woman’s eyes suddenly flew open.
Her gaze met the brown eyes of an unfamiliar woman sitting in front of her.
Who?
She tilted her head slightly to the right.
The other person tilted her head in exactly the same way.
It took her a moment to realize that what she was looking at was not another person, but a mirror.
She moved her hand and touched the pale wheat-colored hair braided up like stalks of grain.
The feeling against her fingertips was vivid and real.
“…What is this?”
“D-do you not like it? You asked for your hair to be put up, so I did that… Should I change the accessories?”
“There’s no time for that. We’re already delayed enough.”
The door opened, and another voice suddenly interrupted them.
A middle-aged woman walked in and spoke in a scolding tone.
“Miti? It suits the dress very well. You look mature.”
Her voice softened slightly, almost as if she were urging her to go out with this hairstyle.
She quietly repeated the name Miti in her head.
What exactly is going on here?
My name isn’t Miti.
My name is—
“You kept nodding off earlier, so I suppose you’re still half asleep. Hurry and wake up properly. Your corset needs to be tightened too. Come here.”
Before she could even speak, the middle-aged woman pulled her to her feet.
“Your brother is waiting outside for you. For thirty whole minutes already.”
“Hhk—”
Every time the woman pulled the corset strings tighter, her voice broke apart little by little.
At the same time, her breathing became tighter and tighter.
“Whew, done. Finish getting ready and come out, understood?”
Only after thoroughly torturing her ribs did the woman finally leave with a satisfied expression.
Why is this thing so hard to breathe in…? Is this torture? Was I captured?
While she wasted time blankly trying to understand the situation, a dress covered in luxurious frills and lace was placed onto her body.
“It’s all done, miss. You can leave now!”
Without realizing it, she frowned.
The dress was heavy and uncomfortable.
“Leave? Leave for where?”
“Huh? Today is the day you’re going to the party.”
“Party?”
“Yes. A party.”
“What party?”
“Oh my, what’s wrong with you?”
The maid laughed as if she had heard a funny joke.
“You’re going to the party at Count Kirchhoff’s estate with the young master!”
“Who’s the young master?”
“Miss, did you have a strange dream or something? Young Master Mirhel. Your real older brother!”
“I…!”
Her voice suddenly weakened before she could say that she was an only child.
“I… don’t have an older brother…”
Something was strange.
What about the academy? The exams? The monsters?
There was an enormous gap between the world stored inside her memories and the things she was seeing now.
“Are you really still half asleep?”
The maid tilted her head.
“Please wait a moment. I’ll go bring some cold water.”
Muttering that she absolutely could not attend Count Kirchhoff’s party in a sleepy state, the maid busily left the room.
She remained standing there blankly.
Where… am I?
She slowly looked around the room.
Suddenly, an unfamiliar presence brushed against her senses.
Instinctively, she grabbed the long hair ornament stuck in the vanity table and spun around. If necessary, she intended to stab with it.
Who is it?
But the only things in the room were herself and a single bird inside the cage hanging on the wall.
“What the.”
After confirming with her own eyes that nobody strange was there, she loosened her grip.
Just as she was about to put the ornament back, the bird in the cage suddenly flapped its wings.
“You idiot.”
“…A parrot?”
“I’m not a parrot! I’m a canary!”
The bright yellow bird chirped angrily with its orange beak.
Every time it flapped its wings, the hanging cage swayed together with it.
“You’re noisy. Stay still already!”
Already overwhelmed with confusion, she finally exploded at the noise.
“You’re getting angry at me when this is all your fault?”
But the canary refused to lose.
The bird used its beak to open the cage door by itself and flew right in front of her.
Then it poked her forehead.
“You fool! You still haven’t figured out the situation?”
At the sharp sting, countless scenes flashed before her eyes like a lantern show.
Only then did she realize it.
This isn’t my world.
She turned her head and stared at the person reflected in the vanity mirror.
And this isn’t my body either.
“…What happened here?”
“What do you mean, what happened?! You wandered into the wrong story!”
“Me?”
“Yes, you, you directionless fool.”
The canary’s round black eyes sharpened.
What ridiculous nonsense.
She looked back at her reflection in the mirror.
The person inside looked as unfamiliar as a complete stranger.
“Listen carefully. From now on, you are Minachelti.”
Light suddenly burst out from the bird’s body as it spoke the unfamiliar name.
Its tiny form, smaller than a palm, twisted and stretched out long.
“God created a soul like yours for a certain story.”
The glowing mass slowly began to take on the shape of a person.
It was tall enough that she had to tilt her head far upward to look at it, and its gender was impossible to tell.
“But then a problem occurred.”
The light surrounding the figure gradually faded.
The moment Miti could finally see the figure clearly, the being suddenly pointed a finger at her.
“Because you got lost and wandered into the wrong story!”
“T-then just send me back to the original story!”
While shrinking back slightly, Miti shamelessly argued back.
The angel’s silver eyes, filled with irritation, turned cold.
“If I could do that, do you think I’d be standing here like this?”
“You can’t?”
“Haa…”
The angel let out a deep sigh and ran a hand through its hair.
“During the process of you entering this world, the two worlds collided slightly.”
The angel slammed its fists together dramatically.
“So now both worlds have become unstable. If I send you back now, another collision will happen, and the unstable worlds will come crashing down…”
The angel wiggled its fingers noisily, probably trying to imitate something turning into dust.
And she understood perfectly.
Slowly nodding, she crossed her arms.
“But there is a way to return, right? That’s why you appeared before me.”
“To return to your original world, this world must become stable enough to survive one collision. And for that to happen, the characters must follow their destined paths…”
The angel stopped explaining midway.
Someone was approaching her room.
“For now, just go! Here. Knowing the original story should help a little.”
The angel flicked her forehead.
Immediately afterward, countless scenes rushed through her mind.
Minachelti dancing with a man.
Minachelti crying in front of him.
And then… Minachelti kissing him.
“Uwaah!”
She screamed and violently shook her head.
Her face turned bright red as she breathed heavily.
“What is this?! You’re telling me I have to date this guy now?!”
“If you don’t, you can’t go back.”
The angel cut off Miti’s protest and answered firmly.
“Then you’ll have to live here forever.”
“……”
Miti tightly shut her mouth and glared at the angel.
Her face was full of complaints she wanted to say.
“Miti, unfortunately, you don’t have a choice right now.”
The canary shook its head with a sigh.
Then it lightly pushed the back of the still-confused girl.
“If you want to return to your story, you have to make this story flow the way it originally should.”
“No, even so, there has to be another—!”
Miti had no time to argue or get angry.
“Miss!”
At the cheerful voice calling for her, the angel’s form twisted back into a tiny sphere.
“Don’t fight with people, tone down your personality, and act like Minachelti if possible. Got it?”
Returning to the form of a canary, the angel hurriedly whispered its advice to her.
“I brought the water!”
Miti stared blankly at the canary calmly chirping inside the cage.
“Miti! Aren’t you ready yet? Your brother is waiting!”
Along with the voice urging her on, Mirhel Sestol Mirhel Sestol knocked on the already open door.
“If we don’t leave soon, we’ll be late.”
“Please have a safe trip, miss!”
The maid half-forced a sip of water into her mouth before pushing her forward.
Even while being dragged away, Miti could not take her eyes off the canary.
She felt certain that bird was the cause of this entire situation.
As if cheering her on, the canary clenched its wings like fists and nodded firmly once.
What exactly am I supposed to do?
Miti’s silent scream disappeared down the back of her throat.
