AFINA 01

                                                                Chapter 01

          1. Potato Farming

“I regret to bring you this news, Miss Brisa.”

The day before the Capital Academy’s graduation ceremony.

“It is said that Marquis Searce has passed away in a carriage accident. Please accept my deepest condolences.”

I heard of my father’s death while reading a book in the library.

“And they have also found the Marquis Searce’s eldest son, who had been missing until now.”

At the same time, I heard news of my half-brother’s return.

“So the title of Marquis Searce…”

The teacher delivering the news gently held my stiff shoulders.

“According to the will, it has been decided that the eldest son will inherit it.”

My father’s death did not affect me much. There had never been any affection between us to begin with.

In the two years I spent at the Capital Academy, I hadn’t returned to the marquisate even once.

However, it was shocking that a half-brother I had never even seen had become the Marquis of Searce.

From a very young age, I had been educated as the heir of the marquis family. And now, I was told I would not inherit the title…?

If my mother, who had passed away two years ago, heard this news in the afterlife, she would probably burst out of her coffin and overturn the entire estate.

“Do you really think that son born of a maid would come back? The fact that he hasn’t been found until now means he never will be.”

My father, Marquis Searce, had married twice.

His first marriage was a secret one held in a rural temple after he ran away with a maid from the estate.

But it was discovered within days, and he was forced to divorce.

“The maid, who had been pregnant with his child, disappeared.”

Ten years later, my father married my mother.

In truth, ever since that divorce, he had constantly searched for his eldest son. The only thing he knew about the child was the gender, told to him by a doctor when the pregnancy was confirmed.

And he had always wanted to pass the title to that son.

So my mother would mutter anxiously every day:

“There’s no way that lowborn thing will suddenly appear one day. With commoner blood, he could never become a proper Marquis of Searce.”

My mother was the last princess of the Kingdom of Liente.

Although it had fallen after a defeat, Liente was a nation with a long history.

So she always insisted that my bloodline was far superior to that eldest son’s.

“He probably ended up farming melons among commoners. Someone like him could never live as a person worthy of the noble Searce title.”

But all of those assumptions were wrong.

My half-brother, Alpheus Searce, was no ordinary man.

He had grown up among commoners as a mercenary, but his abilities were so outstanding that he caught the attention of the Second Prince, who had gone north to resolve the civil war.

Called a war hero in the north, he was even promised a title by the Second Prince.

After finishing the northern civil war and heading to the capital, he learned who his biological father was.

Unfortunately, my father died instantly in a carriage accident just before hearing the news.

After hearing all of this, I headed to the marquisate anyway. I had to attend my father’s funeral.

I first met Alpheus at the funeral.

A strikingly handsome face and a well-built body.

The same platinum-blonde hair and sky-blue eyes as mine.

The young man in mourning clothes walked toward me with long strides and greeted me cautiously.

“Brisa? Are you Brisa?”

My mind went blank for a moment.

“I’m, um, Alpheus… I heard there’s a ten-year age gap between us. That means you’re twelve, right? I don’t know if you’ve heard, but, um, I’m your older brother…”

After that…

I don’t remember how the funeral proceeded, or how I made it back to my room.

My memory cut off.

Because—

“Am I going crazy?”

The moment I saw Alpheus’s face, unfamiliar memories flooded into my mind.

This world I lived in… was actually the world of a novel I had read in my past life.

“The male lead is Alpheus. He’s kind and naive now, but he’ll soon fall into darkness.”

And even worse, the future awaiting me was bleak.

After the funeral, I locked myself in my room.

“Miss! Miss!”

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

The loyal maids of the estate were at a loss, but I couldn’t respond.

My father’s death, the appearance of the half-brother my mother had always feared—none of that mattered right now.

What terrified me most was that I might not be sane.

“This world being a novel? That makes no sense…”

“I became an orphan, a half-brother I never knew appeared, and I lost the title all at once… I’m just in shock.”

Clutching a thick book as usual, I took a shaky breath.

“I must not let anyone find out that I’m crazy.”

There was no way I could tell anyone that I suddenly knew the future.

“Did you hear? The last princess of Liente… she was insane.”

“Really? Then what about her daughter? Isn’t Brisa Searce crazy too?”

“Highly likely. Why else would the Marquis keep searching for his son born to a maid?”

Remembering the whispers I had overheard, I squeezed my eyes shut.

If I started talking about past lives or reincarnation, everyone would think I had finally gone mad like my mother.

“Maybe it’ll get better with time… I don’t have hallucinations or hear voices yet…”

Just then—

“Um, Brisa. It’s… Alpheus.”

A low voice came with a knock on the door.

“That person from earlier… your family now. Even though Father passed away, you’re not alone…”

For a war hero, his tone was surprisingly timid.

“Um… can I come in?”

I answered immediately.

“No.”

“…Do you want to talk?”

“No.”

“Then at least… can I see your face for a moment?”

“No.”

I had started having strange visions after seeing his face.

“What if it gets worse if I see him again?”

Rejecting him was easy. I had never been particularly kind or gentle.

“…Are you busy?”

“Very.”

“Is there anything I can help with?”

“I’m reading, so it would help a lot if you left now.”

“What book? I love literature too! If I’ve read it, maybe we could discuss—”

“Understanding Livestock, Volume 17 – Mating and Reproduction.”

“….”

The literary young man outside finally fell silent.

After a moment of quiet, he spoke again cautiously.

“I’m leaving for the capital now. I need to collect the war compensation from the imperial family as soon as possible.”

“….”

“The estate’s finances don’t seem very good. But of course! That’s absolutely, completely, not something you need to worry about.”

I immediately understood.

“This is very, very much something I need to worry about.”

I had just returned after two years, so I didn’t know the estate’s situation well—but it had never been good.

“I’ll be back in ten days at the latest. I hope… I can see you then. Take care of yourself.”

I breathed uneasily.

He was saying exactly what I remembered from the “future.”

“…Surely the steward wasn’t caught embezzling and dismissed too?”

As if answering my thought, Alpheus added:

“Oh, and… I dismissed the steward. Just… adult matters. I’ll leave my adjutant here, so go to him if you need anything.”

I despaired.

“Am I… not crazy? Is this really the future?”

But truly insane people never think they are insane.

Even my mother denied her madness until the day she died.

“Still… if this is really the future…”

Then Alpheus wouldn’t return in ten days—he would come back three months later, badly injured.

And when he did, there would be no one left alive in the estate.

Everyone would be dead.

“If I say that out loud, I’ll really seem insane… or maybe I actually am…”

While I was lost in thought, his footsteps began to fade.

Everything was unfolding exactly like my “delusion.”

If this continued… if I let him go like in the original story…

“Aaaah!”

At last, I rummaged through my bag, pulled something out, and shouted toward the door:

“Wait!”

Next →