IWTSD 02

Chapter 02

So, this morning.

I had just woken up after sleeping soundly for a whole night while unconscious.

And I was suffering.

A canopy bed decorated with fluttering lace curtains.

I thought only princesses had beds like this, but somehow I was lying in one.

“As expected of the super-rich Count Travel family. Even the annex of the lowest-ranked successor gets a canopy bed… Why do I even know this stuff?”

I had only just arrived at the Travel family for the first time.

It would be normal for me to know nothing, right?

But everything around me felt familiar.

Like the fact that this was my room in the Stone House.

Or that I wouldn’t be able to leave this place until I turned twenty-four.

“Are you sure this is real? Isn’t this all fake?”

I rolled around on the bed before slipping off together with the edge of the blanket.

Far away, the fireplace looked upside down.

More accurately, my vision itself was upside down.

With my legs propped against the bed frame, I stared blankly at the fireplace.

More specifically, at the marble pillar carved with vines.

“…Grandma Marshal always said people should constantly doubt things.”

Maybe I had actually fainted the moment I saw Grandfather yesterday.

Maybe these memories were just dreams.

“Right?”

Now that I had found an excuse to deny it, energy returned to my body.

“Hup-cha!”

I got up and walked toward the fireplace.

To prove these memories were just my imagination.

“If you turn the flower decorations on the left pillar in the correct order, a secret space will appear~”

As if something that ridiculous could really be true.

This is all a dream, a dream.

I walked confidently at first, but when I stood before the six metal flower ornaments scattered across the vine carvings on the pillar, I hesitated.

The fireplace pillar was as tall as me.

Meaning I could actually reach all six flowers and turn them in order.

No, before that.

Would those things even turn at all?

“There’s no way they’ll move~ This is all a drea…m….”

Why are they turning?

Waaah.

I swallowed my urge to cry and moved my hands.

Creeeak. Clank.

The built-in cabinet beside the fireplace slid sideways, revealing a hidden space.

“……”

As though welcoming the person who had finally discovered it, the room began lighting up.

Seeing the dazzling sight revealed before me, I froze completely, unable to even remove my hand from the last flower ornament.

I couldn’t blink my widened eyes.

I couldn’t close my hanging-open mouth either.

I had seen something like this in a picture book before.

When a commoner riding a flying carpet discovered a mysterious cave…

“No waaay….”

Silently, I turned the flowers back.

Rumble. Rumble. Creeeak. Clank.

Leaving the restored cabinet behind, I trudged back to the bed.

For now, I would pretend I never saw that.

“Haaah.”

A sigh escaped my mouth naturally.

Honestly, the Stone House and everything else wasn’t the real problem.

Having these memories wasn’t necessarily bad.

Actually, it was kind of amazing.

It meant I was basically a psychic who knew the future.

But.

It would’ve been fine if that was all.

The problem was that strange memories kept resurfacing one after another.

“All those gathered here shall remember the noble sacrifice of Reitan Quartz Travel….”

A priest speaking solemnly before a coffin draped with the Empire’s flag.

Sixteen-year-old me, dressed in black, staring blankly at the coffin.

Dad had gone to war against another race under the Emperor’s command.

And he returned inside that coffin.

From the day we buried Dad, I stood in front of the main house.

It was a protest, demanding that Grandfather—who had never once met with me privately—listen to my story.

“Miss, how long do you plan to continue this? It’s already been ten days. Even if you neither eat nor sleep outside like this, the Count has no intention of hearing you out.”

“Doesn’t this seem strange to you too, Uncle Kallet? You knew Dad well because you were his friend. You know how strong he was. It makes no sense for a Grand Master to die in such a small war.”

“Battlefields are exactly where impossible things happen. And Reitan… Reitan would not have wanted to see you like this, Miss.”

I wanted the truth behind Dad’s death to be uncovered.

I believed that with the Travel family’s power and wealth, they could reveal the truth even if all I had was suspicion.

But no one in the Travel family listened to me.

Sixteen-year-old me moved alone.

Without the family’s support.

Avoiding the interference of relatives.

After eight years of miserable struggle, I finally obtained a clue that could reveal the culprit’s identity, but—

I died before I could even properly examine it.

Someone stabbed me in the back with a sword….

‘The other me is an idiot….’

Shiver.

My body trembled automatically as I remembered the final scene.

At the very least, I wish I had seen the attacker’s face.

After suffering that much, I couldn’t even find the culprit, let alone get revenge.

It was so unfair.

Was the adult me so resentful that she passed these memories onto me?

“Uwaaah. I don’t know anymore.”

I flopped onto the bed and buried my face in the blanket.

Just a week ago, I had been peacefully living in the countryside with Dad.

If bounty hunters hadn’t destroyed Grandma Marshal’s herb field, I would’ve been eating Dad’s fried eggs this morning.

“I don’t need memories like these or a rich grandfather….”

What kind of disaster was this?

The moment I arrived at the Travel family, my simple little dream of “Maybe rich Grandpa will buy me a teddy bear?” shattered completely.

“Berry, when did you wake up?”

Right then, Dad entered the room.

The moment I heard his voice, my ears perked up, and I instantly jumped to my feet.

“Dad!”

“If you step on the blanket like that— …Never mind. How’s your body? Does anything hurt? Do you remember yesterday?”

“That’s not important right now!”

Dad, who had hurried over to check on me, suddenly stopped.

Then what is important?

That question showed clearly in his eyes.

“Berry would like to offer Dad a job.”

“…A job?”

“Yep. Listen first.”

I didn’t want to believe in a future where Dad died.

Still, I needed more proof that these memories were real.

And I came up with a brilliant idea.

I would compare the information of everyone who visited the Stone House today with the new memories I had gained.

“What is it?”

Dad picked me up, and under the excuse of playing detective, I asked him to act as my investigator.

With a very detailed explanation, too.

“So! Dad asks everyone who comes into the room questions! Their names, ages, all sorts of things! Then I hide and listen before surprising everyone!”

After hearing my flawless plan, Dad frowned.

“…Dad doesn’t want to do that.”

“But Berry’s dream is to become a talented detective. And… Berry is still suffering from aftereffects from fainting…. Owww, it hurts.”

“……”

“Will you help me, Detective Reitan?”

“…Yes, Detective BerryBerry.”

And then, this afternoon.

The results were…

One hundred out of one hundred.

‘Even the part about Head Butler Serber buying stock in the ink company was correct.’

I stared into the mirror with a miserable expression.

Actually, I didn’t need to mention the ink company at all.

But I had my reasons.

‘Because Jacob, the replacement butler, is a total cheapskate.’

Uncle Serber would lose his house and entire fortune after failing his stock investments.

Then he would lose his health too, wasting away like a dried leaf until he eventually quit.

And Jacob would become the new head butler.

‘That evil man who acts stingy over food!’

The main house’s head butler had the authority to decide what food, clothing, and daily necessities were provided to the direct descendants’ annexes.

But after Jacob became butler, the supplies kept shrinking.

Especially the food.

For desserts, only low-sugar options were allowed.

Breakfast was always bread and soup.

Lunch and dinner were limited to only one main dish.

‘All because Dad’s annex was the Stone House? Hmph.’

So it was better if Uncle Serber remained head butler.

He was still Uncle’s subordinate, but second worst was better than the absolute worst….

‘Huh?’

Something felt strange.

For a while now, my thoughts had been sounding too mature.

Tilting my head, I looked at myself in the mirror.

I was still seven years old.

“Second worst is better than the absolute worst. That’s why I came to you.”

The memories of another me who had lived until age twenty-four.

‘So you were the culprit…!’

That’s why I suddenly thought things like “second worst.”

I let my guard down.

I almost accepted these new memories naturally.

You’re trying to make me believe the things you experienced are the real future, aren’t you? But me—!

“Berry, staring at the mirror too closely will ruin your eyes.”

“Okaaay.”

Dad took the mirror away from right in front of my face.

In the tabletop mirror placed on the table before the sofa, Dad’s reflection appeared beside mine.

I didn’t need a future like that.

“What’s wrong?”

“Berry… doesn’t like the big Berry.”

When I puffed my cheeks out sulkily, Dad gently grabbed them and shook them lightly.

“You were singing for months about how happy you’d be once you turned seven.”

“I would like to withdraw that statement.”

“Please do. But, Detective BerryBerry.”

“Yes?”

“I have a question.”

A question?

I looked up at Dad.

Suspicious eyes.

I had a bad feeling about this.

“What was that stock story you told Serber earlier? I never gave Detective BerryBerry any information like that.”

“Oh….”

What a disadvantageous question.

We often played detective games, so he accepted everything else naturally.

But the ink company stock story was harder to overlook… right?

“Grandma Marshal told Uncle Peter not to buy ink company stock because it was totally gonna collapse. Dad knows Uncle Peter too, right? The one who likes matching card pictures!”

And in moments like this, the best strategy was to bring in an experienced adult.

…Or at least, that was what the other me remembered saying.

“Marshal did?”

I could hear the suspicion in Dad’s voice easing slightly.

Grandma Marshal was the only adult capable of making Dad weaken, and she was also the benefactor of our little family.

I had been sickly since infancy, and every time, Grandma Marshal—the village herbalist—took care of me.

“When I saw the butler uncle, it suddenly reminded me of that. Don’t Uncle Peter and Butler Uncle kinda look alike?”

“…They do resemble each other….”

“Riiight?”

I laughed innocently like I knew absolutely nothing.

Dad stayed silent for a while, deep in thought, before finally asking,

“BerryBerry, should we make a promise?”

“Mmm, what kind? Let me hear it first.”

“While we’re staying at Grandfather’s house, let’s keep it a secret that Berry is talented.”

I quietly stared into Dad’s eyes.

People said Dad was scary, but I had never seen anyone with warmer eyes than his.

Even now, his eyes were overflowing with worry.

“We won’t stay at Grandfather’s house long. Just until then.”

“Berry, I’m sorry. I think we’ll have to stay longer than expected.”

But in those memories, we lived at the Travel estate forever.

Dad spent his entire life trying to protect me.

“Your relatives are all beasts. They only think about tearing each other apart to seize the successor’s seat.”

And one of those beasts killed Dad.

“But how do I hide that I’m talented?”

“You pretend you can’t do the things you’re actually good at. Can you do that?”

“Should I try? Since Dad’s asking~”

That’s why I can’t ignore these memories, no matter how much I don’t want to believe them.

Because what if—even if it’s only a one in a billion-billion-billion chance—

Dad’s death is real?