🔊 TTS Settings
CHAPTER 05
The owner of that presence was my older brother.
The moment his voice called my name, the heavy tension that had been filling my chest melted away, and I could finally breathe again.
In the chaos of this unfamiliar world, it felt like I had returned to a real “home” for a moment. That cold, heavy voice was the only anchor holding me steady.
I greeted him with a light smile. At that moment, Iris stepped closer and said quietly,
“You must be Count Floris.”
My brother observed his cold gaze for a moment, then replied in a firm but polite voice,
“Please protect my sister safely.”
Iris gave a small nod, his expression calm. There was tension in their first meeting, but also a subtle sense of trust beginning to form.
I turned my gaze to Iris. As always, his face was composed—his profile perfectly unshaken.
“Shouldn’t you… be going soon?”
At my words, Iris tilted his head slightly and looked at me. A faint glimmer passed through his eyes, and then a familiar, relaxed smile appeared.
“Yes. It seems it’s time to go.”
He leaned in slightly and whispered,
“I’ll come to pick you up soon. Lily.”
His tone carried the dignity of a duke, a man’s ease, and a hint of playful audacity all at once.
I bit my lip and looked away.
For some reason, my heart skipped a beat.
After Iris left, silence fell briefly, and then my brother’s deep voice cautiously reached me.
“…Lily, you’re not actually really engaged to the Grand Duke of the North, are you?”
I didn’t answer. I simply lifted my gaze to the quiet sky.
The silence answered for me.
Meanwhile
While walking through the corridor, I suddenly stopped. My brother, who had been following behind me, also halted beside me. After a moment of hesitation, I looked up at him.
“Brother.”
“Hmm?”
“…I want to learn swordsmanship.”
“Suddenly?”
He looked at me in surprise. But I didn’t avert my gaze.
“I want to be able to protect myself.”
I knew who the sword instructor would be—Lion Harven.
But in this story, I wanted to protect myself.
My brother was silent for a moment. It must have been a strange answer. It was probably the first time I had ever said I wanted to protect something on my own.
But then he gave a small smile and gently patted my head.
“Alright. It won’t be easy.”
Yet in his eyes was quiet trust—trust that he would watch my resolve.
He eventually walked me to my room without another word.
“I’ll arrange for it to start tomorrow.”
“Thank you, brother.”
At the door, I bowed slightly. He patted my head once more in his familiar way, then quietly turned away.
As his figure disappeared down the corridor, something inside me slowly settled.
When I opened the door and stepped inside, the familiar scent of my room wrapped around me.
“If things had gone according to the original story, I wouldn’t be meeting Lion like this today.”
I murmured to myself. In the original plot, we first met on the way to the imperial palace.
As I loosened my coat buttons, I turned—
“Milady!”
The door burst open with a loud bang, and a familiar figure rushed in.
Rina.
My personal maid, the one who had taken care of me longer than anyone in the Floris household.
“You’re… really alive…!”
She threw herself into my arms. Her tear-streaked face pressed against my shoulder, her slender body trembling.
A familiar warmth. A familiar presence.
For a moment, I froze, then gently patted her back.
“Rina… I wasn’t exactly going there to die.”
I laughed softly.
She sniffled and looked up at me with red, tearful eyes.
It was so pure that I couldn’t help but smile.
“Alright, stop crying. I need to change clothes.”
I held out my hand.
“Help me?”
She quickly wiped her tears and nodded.
“Yes, milady!”
The room felt just a little warmer.
While organizing my clothes, Rina spoke carefully.
“While you were in the North, His Highness the Crown Prince visited the Floris estate several times. Even late at night. He kept asking when you would return… very quietly, but persistently.”
At that moment, I thought:
He really would have stormed the North if I’d stayed a little longer.
No matter how much I changed the story, his obsession didn’t change at all.
The Crown Prince—an unavoidable force in this story.
And if he kept appearing in my path, I would have to become stronger.
That night, under the pale moonlight, I closed my eyes with that resolve.
Tomorrow, I would grow stronger.
And I drifted into sleep.
The Next Morning
Sunlight gently tapped against the window. Birdsong woke me slowly. Light spilled across the white blanket, softly waking the day.
I stood before the mirror.
My resolve from yesterday rose again within me.
Soon, I would hold a sword.
And I already knew my instructor would be Lion Harven.
Bind emotion carefully. Grip the sword calmly.
I tied my hair neatly and opened the door.
“You’re up early.”
My brother’s calm voice greeted me.
I smiled lightly.
“It starts today. I didn’t want to be late.”
He simply looked at me, then walked ahead. I followed.
The heroine of the original story would now take up a sword—not to swing it recklessly, but as a blade to protect.
I decided to become stronger.
When the training hall doors opened, cold air and a sharp presence brushed past me.
And then I saw him.
A man standing with a neatly held wooden sword.
Brown hair glimmering under the sunlight, eyes the color of warm amber—yet filled with cold focus.
Lion Harven.
The imperial knight captain in the original story, and one of the men who loved Lilienne to tragedy.
I took a slow breath.
The beginning of the story, once again. But this time, it would be different.
“This is my younger sister, Lilienne Floris.”
At my brother’s words, Lion’s gaze fixed on me. He bowed silently.
I met his eyes calmly.
A wooden sword was placed in my hands.
It felt strangely familiar, as if I had always known its weight.
He took his stance.
Perfect posture. Perfect balance.
“The training will begin slowly.”
His voice was calm—like a teacher guiding a beginner.
But I already knew how dangerous he truly was.
The first strike was slow. I blocked it easily.
The second and third as well.
But from the fourth, it changed.
His speed subtly increased. His technique sharpened.
I stepped back to avoid it—or tried to.
But my body moved on its own.
Clang!
Wood struck wood, echoing through the hall.
Surprise flickered in Lion’s eyes.
He adjusted his stance.
“…One more time.”
This time, his attacks came in sequence.
I blocked them all.
No—my body blocked them.
As if it remembered movements I had never learned.
Then I noticed it.
A slight tremor in his blade.
An opening.
I stepped forward.
My target—the shoulder.
In the original story, this was where Lilienne first crossed swords with him.
But my strike was faster, more precise.
His eyes widened.
He blocked, but lost balance—stepping back.
So this is talent… I thought.
But what surprised me more was his expression.
He was looking at me as if he had seen something new.
Surprise. Then something deeper.
Reverence.
And beneath it—
Love.
I murmured softly,
“So you’re following the original story too.”
The words scattered into the air.
After training, my brother glanced at Lion.
“You went easy on her, didn’t you?”
Lion said nothing.
I set down the wooden sword.
“Thank you for the lesson.”
Then I added calmly,
“But I hope you didn’t go easy on me. I really want to become strong.”
I met his gaze.
“I’m not learning swordsmanship to be protected. I’m learning it to protect myself. Can you understand that?”
A clear message.
Don’t see me as fragile.
Lion’s fingers trembled slightly.
I walked back to my brother.
“It’s my first day. I’m exhausted.”
He nodded.
“Go rest.”
At the door, I turned to Lion.
“Thank you for today.”
He still stared at me.
I bowed once more, then turned away.
And walked forward without looking back.
But I could still feel his gaze trembling behind me.
