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Chapter 01
Joo-hee was abandoned at an orphanage on a cold winter night in December.
Her unmarried mother, who had been raising her alone, could no longer endure the burden and left her behind.
A crumpled piece of paper with the name “Kim Joo-hee” written on it was the guardian’s final letter.
Perhaps because she had never received her parents’ full love, Joo-hee showed no emotional expression.
She rarely smiled, nor did she cry.
Ji-sook, the director of the orphanage, worried about her, but she had many other children to take care of and couldn’t focus on Joo-hee alone.
Ji-sook only realized the seriousness of the situation after Joo-hee entered middle school.
“Hello. I contacted you because… there’s something about Joo-hee that concerns me.”
“Something concerning?”
At the homeroom teacher’s sudden call, Ji-sook rushed over and asked. The teacher let out a shallow sigh before speaking.
“I don’t know if you’re aware, but Joo-hee shows almost no emotional expression.”
“Ah…”
“She doesn’t really smile or cry. Because she lacks emotional expression, the other kids don’t approach her easily either.”
At the teacher’s suggestion to try psychological counseling, Ji-sook agreed for now and left the counseling room.
Only then did she realize that since the day Joo-hee first arrived at the orphanage, she had never once smiled or cried.
But perhaps it was already too late—the counseling had little effect.
Though Ji-sook tried not to show it, Joo-hee noticed how tired she became from spending time on counseling sessions.
So Joo-hee firmly said first that she would stop attending counseling.
Even in high school, Joo-hee remained the same.
The other students still found it difficult to approach her, but there was one friend who consistently spoke to her.
“Joo-hee, do you want to come over to my house today? My mom bought macarons yesterday.”
Joo-hee hesitated slightly before carefully nodding.
While the other kids avoided her because they found her intimidating, only Ji-hye stayed by her side.
Joo-hee found Ji-hye somewhat bothersome at times, yet strangely, her heart would feel ticklish around her.
Because of Ji-hye’s clumsy personality, Joo-hee often ended up taking care of her instead—but she didn’t mind at all.
She liked Ji-hye’s shy smile when she said thank you.
It was her first time experiencing such warmth, and though it felt unfamiliar, Joo-hee was slowly getting used to it.
“Really? It’s a promise then!”
At Joo-hee’s positive response, Ji-hye jumped up and down excitedly.
She ran to other classmates and bragged enthusiastically.
“I’m going to hang out with Joo-hee! Aren’t you jealous?”
“Uh… sure, I guess.”
The other students responded awkwardly.
To them, Joo-hee was a difficult person to approach.
Objectively speaking, Joo-hee was quite pretty.
She had what people called a “cat-like” face, and she was slender.
In truth, she was thin because she didn’t eat properly, but the other students didn’t know that.
They simply felt uneasy around her constant expressionless face.
Unlike them, Ji-hye approached Joo-hee without hesitation.
After school ended, Ji-hye ran up to Joo-hee and linked arms with her.
“Let’s go! I even bought milk.”
Joo-hee gave a short nod and slung her bag over her shoulder, which contained only one book.
That book was a romance fantasy novel.
She had started reading it after becoming close to Ji-hye, who had recommended it to her.
When she first received the book, she felt both flustered and happy—it was the first time someone had given her a gift.
Afraid it might get damaged, she even put a transparent cover on it and placed it carefully on her shelf.
Since that day, romance fantasy novels filled the emptiness in Joo-hee’s heart.
It was a silly thought, but sometimes she imagined what it would feel like to enter the world inside those books.
She felt certain it would be much better than her current life.
On the way to Ji-hye’s house, Ji-hye asked in her lively voice,
“Joo-hee, did you finish the book I lent you last time?”
“Not yet.”
“No rush! Take your time. Oh, since you’re coming over, do you want to borrow another one?”
“…Okay.”
At Ji-hye’s house, Joo-hee ate macarons, drank milk, and borrowed another book.
After finishing everything, she was about to return to the orphanage, but Ji-hye stopped her.
“It’s late anyway—stay for dinner.”
Seeing Ji-hye’s bright smile, it was hard to refuse.
Then Ji-hye’s mother added,
“Stay and eat. I’ll make something delicious.”
Before Joo-hee could decide, Ji-hye playfully pulled her in.
“…Just for today.”
The meal was incredibly delicious.
She wasn’t starved at the orphanage, but meals like this were rare.
“Joo-hee, how is it? Is it good?”
“…It’s good.”
Ji-hye smiled proudly.
After dessert and fruit, Joo-hee finally left the house.
“I’ll walk you to the intersection.”
“It’s okay.”
“It’s lonely to walk alone.”
In the end, they walked side by side.
“Make sure to read the book I lent you—it’s really good. I think you’ll like it.”
“Okay.”
“Ugh, I can’t believe tomorrow isn’t the weekend. I don’t want to go to school.”
Ji-hye complained about how hard studying was.
“Next year is our senior year… Will I be okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t have anything I want to do, and studying isn’t fun… It was okay to just play when we were younger, but now we can’t.”
At that, Joo-hee stopped walking, and Ji-hye stopped as well.
“Joo-hee?”
“It’s okay to decide later.”
“Huh?”
“What’s wrong with not knowing what you want to do? We’re only eighteen. It’s not like everything ends tomorrow. We still have time.”
“…”
“You can take it slow.”
Ji-hye blinked slowly, then burst into a smile.
“Thank you. I feel a lot better now. You’re right—I’m still young. I don’t need to worry so much yet!”
“Yeah.”
“You know what? That’s the longest you’ve ever spoken to me.”
Joo-hee didn’t reply and simply walked faster.
Though it was dark, her ears had turned slightly red.
Ji-hye suppressed a laugh and followed her.
At the crosswalk, the signal turned green, and Ji-hye stepped forward first.
That was when it happened.
A large truck sped toward them from afar.
Joo-hee’s steps quickened.
“Ji-hye!”
“Huh?”
Ji-hye stopped and turned around.
From that moment, everything slowed down in Joo-hee’s eyes—the truck rushing toward Ji-hye, and Ji-hye slowly turning her head.
Joo-hee’s body moved on its own.
“Ahhh!!!”
She pushed Ji-hye hard.
Ji-hye screamed and fell, and the truck was already right in front of Joo-hee.
The drowsy driver noticed her too late and slammed the brakes—but it was already too late.
Her vision flipped.
Her body was flung into the air and slammed onto the ground.
“J-J-Joo-hee!!!”
Ji-hye trembled as she crawled toward her.
The truck screeched to a halt, and people gathered around.
Blood spread across the asphalt.
‘Ah…’
Joo-hee blinked slowly.
When she tried to move, intense pain surged through her body.
“W-what do I do… Joo-hee, don’t close your eyes, okay?”
Through her fading vision, she saw Ji-hye’s tearful face.
The first thought that came to her mind was relief—that Ji-hye wasn’t hurt.
Someone called emergency services, and Ji-hye kept crying.
Joo-hee managed to move her arm and lightly grasp Ji-hye’s finger.
Ji-hye’s eyes widened.
Joo-hee instinctively realized this was the end.
“Joo-hee…”
Ji-hye’s trembling voice reached her, and Joo-hee forced a small smile.
“Why are you smiling…? Why did you do that?!”
In two years, it was the first time Ji-hye had ever seen her smile.
But not like this—not like this.
Ji-hye cried out.
She held Joo-hee’s hand tightly, refusing to let go.
Sirens echoed faintly in the distance, and Joo-hee closed her eyes.
Just before she lost consciousness, a faint light flickered from the romance fantasy novel inside her bag… then faded.
A cool breeze brushed past.
Joo-hee’s nose twitched.
She thought she heard laughter nearby.
“Aeril, wake up. How long are you going to lie there?”
She wanted to sleep more, but someone kept chattering in her ear.
“Aeril! Get up already! We still need to gather herbs today! You’re the one who kept saying we need money!”
What does that have to do with me?
Joo-hee thought without opening her eyes.
She wasn’t Aeril.
But the voice kept pestering her.
“Aeril! Ae-ril!”
Finally, unable to endure it, she slowly opened her eyes.
In front of her floated a glowing dust-like lump.
“Oh! You’re awake! Thank goodness!”
Joo-hee stared blankly.
Curious, she reached out and grabbed it.
“Ow! Aeril, what are you doing?!”
The dust struggled and escaped her grip.
“Aeril, does your heart still hurt?”
Though it had no face, it somehow felt like it was looking at her with concern.
Joo-hee’s thoughts slowly cleared.
“…The accident.”
Her last memory was being hit by a truck and Ji-hye crying.
She examined her body.
She had been unable to move from pain—but now she was fine.
What was going on?
“Aeril, what’s wrong?”
“…I was in an accident.”
“An accident? Did you have a dream while you were unconscious?”
“A dream? That was a dream?”
The pain had felt too real.
She needed to figure out where she was.
“Where is this?”
“Aeril, are you joking? This is the Florel Empire!”
“Florel Empire…?”
She had never heard of it.
“…This isn’t Korea?”
“Korea? Where’s that? Tell me!”
The dust spun around her excitedly.
Joo-hee grabbed it again and asked in a low voice,
“Who am I?”
“Aeril!”
“My name isn’t Aeril. It’s Kim Joo-hee.”
“Aeril!”
The dust insisted over and over that her name was Aeril.
For the first time in her life, Joo-hee felt her heart sink.
