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Chapter : 02
I Thought the Original Story Was Over, But It’s Episode 2
“Gasp—!”
I jolted awake, sucking in a sharp breath as if I’d been suddenly hauled up from the depths of the ocean.
When I looked around, I found myself in a room inside the viscount’s mansion where I had spent my entire childhood. The snow-white curtains, the stuffed doll I cherished on the bed, the half-finished homework in ancient language still lying around…
A sense of dread crept over me, and I rushed straight to the mirror.
“……”
Reflected there was a chubby little girl with thickly braided brown pigtails and green eyes, wearing bear-shaped pajamas.
At that sight, I realized that this was five years ago—shortly after I had first possessed this body.
“What was that just now…?”
A dream? Or a premonition?
But it was far too vivid to be a dream, and far too long and detailed to be a premonition.
“What on earth is going on…?”
Could it be that time itself had been turned back?
I didn’t know the answer, but there was only one person who might be able to explain everything.
Leopold—the crown prince of this country and a Sword Saint. Right now, he would just be a child, but he might know the full truth behind all of this.
Having made up my mind, I immediately opened my bedroom door and stepped out.
“Miss Tina, you’re up early today.”
“Good morning.”
As soon as I opened the door, I saw the maids who used to serve in the mansion, along with my nursemaid in her younger years. So it wasn’t just me who had become younger. That was the moment it truly sank in that I had returned to the past.
I was briefly lost in the nostalgic sight, but quickly snapped out of it and spoke.
“I need to go to the imperial palace. Prepare at once!”
“…Pardon?”
The nursemaid asked in confusion, and instead of getting ready, the maids simply stared at me with wide eyes.
Blink. Blink. Blink…
Why wasn’t anyone moving?
As the maids and I stared at each other awkwardly, they suddenly burst into laughter.
“Miss Tina, did you watch a funny play or something?”
“My lady, the imperial palace isn’t somewhere you can just go whenever you feel like it.”
“What?”
As I stared at them blankly, I noticed the amused, indulgent looks on their faces and let out a small gasp of realization.
Ah, right. I wasn’t the lady of the house—I was the youngest daughter of a viscount. And only just thirteen years old at that.
Of course it must have sounded ridiculous for someone like me to suddenly declare, in a dignified tone, that I was heading to the imperial palace immediately.
I wasn’t a friend of the future crown princess, nor did I have any connections—not even with the palace gate guards. The crown prince wasn’t someone you could meet just because you wanted to.
“But… I have to go to the palace.”
Growing anxious, I stamped my feet. Perhaps thinking I was throwing a tantrum, the nursemaid suddenly scooped me up into her arms.
“Heave-ho.”
I felt a bit guilty watching her lift me with effort. At my current size, I wasn’t exactly light—yet she didn’t show any sign of strain.
Suddenly, I remembered how she would suffer from a herniated disc five years later.
“There’s no need to rush, my lady. If you sleep ten more nights, you’ll be able to go to the palace.”
“Really?!”
That was wonderful news.
Now that I thought about it, around this time the empire had won a major victory in a war of conquest, and the whole country had been celebrating. There would be a victory banquet at the palace, and I had been properly invited. It had been the first banquet of my thirteen-year life.
So did that mean I just had to wait ten days?
Waiting wasn’t difficult… but would I still be here ten days from now? Surely I wasn’t trapped here forever, right?
That would be a problem.
Because I had family… Well, after they practically sold me off in a contract marriage to Asad, they never contacted me again.
But I had my close friend Evelyn… No, I never saw her even once after I got married. Meanwhile, I saw Asad every single day.
Asad… That bastard was probably celebrating with champagne now that I was gone. He might’ve even hung a banner at the duke’s estate for Evelyn to see: Congratulations on your divorce.
“…Sigh.”
Thinking about the future made my teeth clench with anger, and then all the strength drained from my body.
Why were all the people around me like this? I hadn’t lived my life doing bad things.
If my family, my friends, and even my husband wouldn’t look for me… was there really any reason to go back?
What a pitiful life I had lived.
Come to think of it, this time—when I had no worries at all—might have been the happiest period of my life.
“……”
“Miss Tina?”
Suddenly overwhelmed by bitterness, I slipped out of the nursemaid’s arms and stared blankly at my reflection in the window.
The gloomy duchess with brown hair and green eyes was gone, replaced by an ordinary thirteen-year-old girl—slightly plump, a bit rustic-looking.
That sight drove home the reality once again: I truly had returned to the moment right after I possessed this body.
…Wait. Then does that mean I have to diet all over again?
My face twisted at the thought. Just imagining going through that insane process again made me dizzy.
That alone was reason enough to want to return to the future.
Don’t tell me… was this what Leopold, that lunatic, wanted? To make me suffer through all that again? Did he turn back time just to torment me? Did he hate me that much?!
If it were him, it wouldn’t be surprising…!
“……”
With trembling eyes, I placed both hands against the window and stared at my reflection.
I was still young enough for people to call this “cute,” but in the original story, Tina Valentine kept this body type from childhood into adulthood. Staying like this for so long would eventually harm her health.
“…I guess I’ll start by losing weight.”
That was how I slowly began to accept the fact that I had returned to being thirteen.
I muttered the words in half-resignation, but the maids suddenly wiped the smiles from their faces and stared at me seriously.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Miss Tina, are you serious? I’ve told you again and again—you look perfect just the way you are.”
“……”
They weren’t joking; they genuinely thought I looked cute as I was. I had believed that when I was young. But not this time.
“Alright, alright. Just make my meals healthy from now on.”
“Miiiss Tiiinaa—!”
I waved off the maids’ protests and walked away. I could hear wailing behind me, but I ignored it.
Shaking off the maids who clung to my legs as if abandoned by a loved one, I hurried my steps.
There was someone I absolutely had to see if I’d really returned to the past. If this truly was five years ago, he should still be here at the mansion.
My steps quickened with urgency until I was nearly running.
“Huff, huff…”
Searching through every corner of the garden left me out of breath after only a short sprint. I really needed to lose this weight again—damn it.
After wandering around for a long time, I finally spotted a small figure sleeping inside a fountain in the far corner of the garden, just as my brown hair became damp with sweat.
“Russell!”
At my shout, loud enough to shake the garden, the figure submerged in water slowly opened his eyes.
When I was young, I could briefly see spirits. And Russell was the water spirit who had spent my childhood with me.
Unlike other spirits who were friendly to humans, he was a bit of an oddball. He never ate the offerings I gave him, rarely smiled, and hardly spoke. I’d thought we weren’t very close.
Yet in the end, he shielded me from a poisoned arrow and died on his own accord. After that shock, I never saw spirits again.
I never imagined I’d be able to meet him like this again.
If Russell had been there, maybe my future wouldn’t have turned out the way it did. He was someone who pretended not to care, yet worried about my safety more than anyone until the very end.
“Huff, huff…”
Breathing heavily, I stared at Russell as if he were a mirage, then slowly stepped closer.
“……”
Standing before the fountain, I looked down at Russell submerged in the water.
There were so many things I wanted to say to him.
Why did you do that? What were you thinking? Why would you sacrifice yourself for someone like me? You always ignored me—didn’t you dislike me?
But no words came out.
Before I realized it, my tears were dripping into the fountain. The ripples blurred Russell’s face as they spread across the water.
“…Russell, I’m sorry.”
Russell, who had been staring at me from beneath the water, slowly rose.
With a splashing sound, a beautiful, small child-shaped spirit with aqua-colored hair and eyes emerged.
Though he had been submerged moments ago, he wasn’t wet at all—a reminder that he wasn’t human.
After stepping out of the water, Russell slowly opened his mouth.
“Salty.”
“……”
Right. This was exactly the kind of spirit he was.
Instead of asking why I was crying or apologizing out of the blue, he was more bothered by the fact that my tears had increased the salt content of the water he’d been resting in.
Thanks to that, my tears stopped instantly. I wiped my eyes firmly with both hands and spoke in a resolute tone.
“…From now on, I’ll protect you.”
