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Chapter – 01
“Rose, aren’t you nervous?”
“Brother.”
“Hm?”
“Did you really just ask me that?”
“…I suppose not. The daughter of the House of Leothium shouldn’t be nervous over something like this.”
Rosemary Leothium.
Among the ladies making their debut this spring, there was no doubt that hers was the most noble name of all.
House Leothium, headed by a count, was one of the five most venerable families in the Empire, and I was the youngest daughter whom the count had cherished and raised with utmost care.
There was nothing I had ever lacked, and I had lived my entire life as the protagonist. The imperial debutante ball—one’s official entrance into high society—was surely another stage where I would be the star. Everyone said so, and I naturally believed it too.
“Viscount Gerard Leothium Fior and Lady Rosemary Leothium, daughter of the Count, are entering!”
Up until the moment I entered the grand ballroom on the arm of my escort—my older brother Gerard—I was unquestionably the protagonist of this stage.
Smooth, flowing black hair; pale lavender eyes reminiscent of the rosemary flower; a radiant dress in an even lighter hue. More than that, there was my noble bearing that seemed to melt naturally into my body, my clear gaze, and my confident steps.
I was flawless—perfectly worthy of being the star of this place.
“You’ll give me the first dance, right?”
“Of course I will.”
I smiled as I answered playfully, matching Gerard’s joking invitation.
“Do you have someone in mind for the second dance? Father said not to let any worthless fellow even kiss your hand.”
“Well… I’m not sure.”
I swept my eyes casually across the hall. I could feel countless gazes directed toward me.
“I suppose it depends on who asks me, Brother.”
“Everyone will want to dance with you, Rose. You’re the star of this year’s debutante.”
“I know—”
“Duke Kaizers!”
At that moment, the many gazes that I had thought would remain fixed on me all evening shifted at once, as if a spotlight had moved in perfect unison.
And suddenly, I was seized by a strange sense of déjà vu.
The one shouting angrily at Duke Kaizers was Princess Lucia. Furious at the duke’s refusal to dance with her, she flung the champagne glass she was holding—but the champagne—
“Ah, my deepest apologies, Your Highness…!”
It was Eclett Adrian, the illegitimate son of Baron Adrian, who stepped in front of Duke Kaizers and took the splash instead.
“So Duke Kaizers even rejected the princess’s dance. If the Crown Prince appears too, everyone will be making a fuss over there.”
“…”
“Rose, there’s no need for you to pay attention to that. Let’s go somewhere else.”
“…”
“Rose?”
In my mind, it felt as though the pages of a book were opening, lines of text flowing past my eyes.
The black hair, tended neatly only because there was no servant to adorn it, was dripping with champagne, and his only formal uniform was stained. Without even realizing it, Eclett had placed himself in front of Duke Kaizers, and only afterward did he flush, not knowing what to do.
Before him was the furious face of the princess, and behind her, the shocked face of Baron Adrian. When he returned home, he would be locked up. He would be beaten. He knew it well, yet his body had moved first.
Even knowing that the duke was far stronger and nobler than himself, for some reason he looked fragile, and Eclett wanted to protect him. Presumptuously so.
“Rosemary!”
“Brother.”
“Are you feeling unwell? Shall we go rest?”
Only then did I realize it. The scene I was witnessing—one I had “already known.” A book I had completely forgotten throughout this lifetime came flooding back to me.
Rosemary Leothium had been reincarnated.
I had lived all seventeen years believing that was all there was to it, but in truth, I had known almost nothing at all.
Still, it couldn’t be helped. I couldn’t even remember every book I had read in this life—how could I immediately recall one novel among the countless stories I had read in my previous life?
Besides, that novel never even mentioned my name, Rosemary. But one thing was certain.
“…Eclett Adrian….”
It was that man. Not Rosemary Leothium.
“I wasn’t even a supporting character.”
The scene unfolding before my eyes was straight out of a romance fantasy novel.
The problem was that it was a BL novel.
All eyes in the ballroom turned toward Eclett, a man who had never once been the focus of attention in his entire life. Among those gazes were Duke Kaizers, whom Eclett had boldly shielded from the princess; Crown Prince Edgar Vientia, who had come to stop the princess and stood frozen in shock; and Luke Ventus, captain of the knights, who had found something amusing in an otherwise tedious ball.
It was the moment Eclett’s fate was overturned.
Eclett Adrian.
That man was the protagonist of this world.
Of all the novels I could have read, it had to be one I hadn’t even liked very much. It had been frustrating and dull from start to finish, yet for some reason I had read it all the way to the end.
Or maybe I was the strange one. In any case, though I had encountered the names of characters from that novel throughout my life, I had never once made the connection—until I saw a familiar scene with my own eyes.
The novel was quite long, but it could be summarized simply.
Eclett, the protagonist, was foolishly kind and naïve, and the other men loved him unconditionally, without much justification. Of course they did. Eclett Adrian was the protagonist of a story destined for a happy ending.
Whenever Eclett was in danger, they would devote everything to protecting him, and in the end… how did it go again?
It was an open ending where no single partner was chosen, but I remembered it being more or less a happy ending.
Knock, knock.
At the sound of knocking, I sat up from the bed. Ever since returning from the debutante, I hadn’t left my room once—no doubt everyone was worried.
“Come in.”
“Rose, may I speak with you for a moment?”
“Father.”
The one who had made House Leothium so powerful was my father. That very man entered my room with unusual caution, unbefitting of a count. When he saw my pale complexion, his face filled with concern.
“Rose. You don’t look well. Are you sure you don’t need me to call your physician?”
“I’m fine, Father. It’s just…”
I’d been shocked.
I couldn’t bring myself to finish the sentence, because I couldn’t explain why.
I remember my past life. I read a novel about this world. I know the future. And in all of it, there was no place for me—not even as a minor character.
Everything was something I couldn’t say.
“It’s nothing, Father. I was just a little disappointed that the debutante ball wasn’t quite what I expected.”
“Ah. Gerard told me. He said there was some unnecessary commotion. Shall I host a ball in your name? One just as splendid as a debutante.”
“What are you saying?”
I smiled and shook my head at the sincerity in his voice.
“Everyone loves me too much, that’s all. Brother even said until the moment we entered that I was the star of this debutante.”
“Of course you are. Especially to Gerard and me—it’s only natural that you’re the protagonist.”
“…Even if I married someone unbefitting of House Leothium? Even if I forgot my status and lived however I pleased?”
“Even if you never marry, even if you cause trouble wherever you go, you are my daughter, Rose. You are my entire world.”
To hide the lump rising in my throat, I clenched the hem of my dress tightly.
That’s right—what did it matter? Whether this life followed the story of a book, whether I knew the future from a past life, or whether I wasn’t the protagonist at all. Even those who merely pass by, those who never appear on the page, have lives of their own.
And to the people who love me, I am the protagonist.
Fortunately, I still hadn’t become entangled with the novel’s main characters. Fortunately. The Empire was vast, and though there were few noble houses that could rival ours, the House of Leothium was strangely never mentioned in the book.
There probably wouldn’t be any entanglement in the future either. After all, Eclett—the protagonist—was constantly getting dragged into incidents and accidents. He had countless powerful enemies, including the princess herself.
At the very least, until he resolved all those events and reached his happy ending, I didn’t want to get involved even a little.
“Thanks to you, Father, I’m smiling again. I feel much better.”
“Truly?”
“How could I ever lie to you?”
Wanting to act spoiled, I hugged him tightly.
“My daughter, who’s already had her debutante, is acting even more childish than before.”
“You like it, though.”
“Of course I do, my Rose.”
Wrapped in his warm embrace, everything settled down. As the chaos in my heart cleared, a new sense of resolve took shape.
“Father, I may cause you quite a bit of trouble from now on.”
“Weren’t you always more mature than Gerard, even as a child? I suppose it’s finally my turn to worry over my daughter.”
“I want to find what I want to do—not as a noble lady, but as Rosemary Leothium.”
“You can do anything, Rose.”
“…Thank you, Father.”
I didn’t want even a fragment of the spotlight meant for the protagonist. High society would soon revolve around Eclett anyway, and no matter how hard a mere supporting presence like me struggled, I’d only end up as background decoration.
I didn’t want to be scenery—clapping politely while watching a predictable stage, like at the debutante. So I would simply find something I wanted to do, something I could do, somewhere outside the novel’s scenes.
That would be the stage I built for myself.
My past, my present, and my future—all of it belonged to me, Rosemary Leothium. Sinking into despair over a single day’s shock didn’t suit me at all.
