TOSWB 03

Chapter : 03

I Thought the Original Story Was Over, but Episode 3

“Protect you?”

Russell asked back, sounding puzzled. It was as if he had heard a completely unfamiliar word. For someone as taciturn as him to unconsciously ask again, he must have found it quite strange.

But in my previous life, Russell had protected me—so this time, it was my turn to protect him.

On the outside, he looked indifferent, but in truth, he was someone who could die for me. I only realized it after I died in my past life, but this time was different.

Russell frowned slightly, as if unconvinced, and looked at me.

“You? You’ll protect me?”

“Yeah. I’m going to change starting today!”

“…….”

“So help me out, Russell.”

I grabbed the hand of the guy who was staring blankly at me and said it with a bright smile. In my palm, I could feel the cool sensation of water.

“…Help you with what?”

Russell glanced down at the hand I was holding, then slowly lifted his gaze to my face as he asked. I wiped away my tears, forcing them back, and spoke.

“…Hmm, well? For now, I guess exercise.”

“Exercise?”

“Yeah! Train me.”

“…….”

My build aside, my current body was so weak that just running around the garden for a bit left me gasping for breath. I was far weaker than in my previous life. Whatever I wanted to do, this body held me back.

Besides, Russell, as a spirit, could use all kinds of abilities. Maybe I could hope for a little stroke of luck. Like… some way to lose weight without exercising…

As if he had read my thoughts, Russell spoke in his characteristically cool voice.

“I won’t go easy on you.”

“Great!”

“What’s gotten into you?”

Russell seemed to think all of this was just another one of my whims. Even so, while sighing, he stepped down from the fountain onto the earthen ground.

As the water that had been touching his body disappeared, his spirit form soon transformed into that of a human boy, with water-colored hair and eyes and long eyelashes.

Russell, being a spirit, was genderless, but when materializing, he could conveniently change his outward appearance.

“Wow—Russell! You’re incredibly beautiful!”

Seeing Russell’s beautiful human form, I clapped my hands in admiration. The faint, almost imperceptible smile he gave me in response looked like something straight out of a painting.

At the time, I didn’t know it yet—that this appearance would later feel downright demonic.

And so, today marked the eighth day since I started exercising.

“Kill… me… please….”

Every time I moved, it felt like the bones in my entire body were being reassembled. Russell definitely had some very convenient abilities when it came to maximizing training efficiency.

Like letting me exercise continuously in water without running out of breath… though it did come with the side effect of developing a fear of water.

Still, thanks to that, I managed to finish what would normally be a month-long routine for someone else in just a week. Even so, it still felt like I had a long way to go before returning fully to my old self.

I pushed myself up with my creaking body and stood in front of the mirror, staring at my reflection.

Did I lose weight? Maybe I did… or maybe not…

Tia Valentine had a constitution that made it hard for her to lose weight. Unfortunately.

“Hmmm… but I do feel like my old face is starting to show a bit.”

“Old face? Do you mean when you were just born?”

Around the time I was muttering to myself at the mirror, someone suddenly appeared behind me and replied. That startled me—I thought it was mini-Leopold again.

I didn’t know whether Leopold visiting me in my previous life had been a dream or an illusion, but it seemed to have left a deep impression on me.

Anyway, recently Russell had become quite talkative. Sometimes he even started conversations like this. A good change.

“At that time, you were really wrinkly and strange-looking.”

No—scratch that. Being talkative wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

I stared at Russell, who was delivering mercilessly blunt words with a completely neutral expression, utterly dumbfounded.

Newborn babies aren’t cute, okay? Well, sure, some are cute from birth, but at least I—an extra—wasn’t.

By around eighteen in my previous life, I had grown into a beauty who didn’t lose out to Eveline. Needless to say, that came from my immense effort as a transmigrator.

Suddenly, I found myself wondering what Russell thought of my current appearance.

“Then what do you think now?”

I asked in a playful tone. In response, Russell merely turned his water-colored eyes toward me.

They say spirits can’t lie. Unlike himself, Russell hesitated for quite a while, as if carefully choosing his words, before finally speaking.

“…I think it’s distinctive.”

What is that supposed to mean?

At last, ten days had passed since my regression. After a long period of hardship, today was finally the day I would enter the Imperial Palace.

The mansion had been bustling since morning with preparations for the visit. I too had woken up at dawn to get ready.

“Oh? Miss, the dress seems a bit big on you. I’ll call the tailor.”

“Really?”

At the maid’s words about the custom-made dress feeling loose, I cheered inwardly.

It wasn’t like there was some dramatic outward change after just ten days of running around, but it seemed there had been some change in my measurements after all.

After the maid hurried off to fetch the tailor, I sat alone in front of the mirror.

In the mirror, I saw myself wearing a green dress matched to my eyes, with long brown hair flowing down.

The accessories were custom-made by me, since the styling from five years ago was unbearably tacky. Am I about to become a fashion leader in high society? Heh.

I entertained the thought briefly, but with this body acting like a poor clothes hanger, the outfit didn’t quite shine. What a shame.

Anyway, today was finally the day I would meet Leopold. If I met him, I’d surely find out what this mysterious situation was all about.

“?”

Just then, someone clicked the door open and entered.

There stood Russell, for some reason fully materialized and dressed in a tailcoat. Dressed like that, he looked like the precious scion of some noble family.

“You’re going too?”

At my question, Russell nodded slightly.

“So you didn’t completely disbelieve me after all.”

When I told Russell about my previous life, he had reacted as if he were listening with one ear and letting it out the other. It seemed like he thought I’d just had a long dream, so I didn’t press the matter. It was hard to believe, after all.

He acted uninterested, but it turned out he’d been listening.

“You’ll see when you meet him.”

At Russell’s words, I nodded. Right—everything would become clear once I met Leopold.

Though I had come to a banquet hosted by the Imperial Palace, under normal circumstances, it would be fair to say there was no chance of meeting the Crown Prince directly.

He would appear briefly at the banquet to offer encouragement, stay for a short while, then leave. But I knew a route that would allow me to meet Leopold privately.

I turned away from the path leading to the banquet hall and headed for a hidden corridor of the palace. It was the place where Leopold and I had first come face to face in my previous life.

This was where that bastard had ignored me after I tripped over my dress hem. This time, I decided to wait there for Leopold to come.

After glancing around the corridor, I opened the door to a small room used as a storage space.

“Let’s hide here.”

Holding Russell’s hand, I went inside the storage room. It was inconspicuous, and it had a small window facing the corridor, making it easy to observe what was happening outside.

It was a place even palace employees might not know existed, but since I had frequented the palace like it was my own home in the past, I knew about it.

The reason I had been able to come to the palace from a young age was solely because I was Eveline’s friend.

Eveline was a princess from a weak country, but she had a somewhat special ability, so around the age of thirteen she was invited as a treasure of the Empire.

Since young Eveline had no relatives or acquaintances, I was chosen to be a friend her age to help her adjust to life in the Empire. Those were nostalgic days.

Anyway, since I didn’t know how Leopold would act, it was best to observe for now. With that thought, I crouched beneath the window.

“…….”

“…….”

A long time passed as Russell and I stood on tiptoe in the storage room, peering out the window and waiting for Leopold. But not only did Leopold fail to appear—there wasn’t a single shadow of a person in the corridor.

At some point, Russell had returned to his spirit form and was dozing off. Staying materialized for a long time without water must have been exhausting.

“That guy Leopold should be showing up soon if he had any sense. Honestly, he’s been clueless since forever.”

Bored out of my mind, I grumbled nonsense to myself. But no matter how long I waited, Leopold didn’t appear.

“…He’s not coming.”

That was strange. It was definitely the same date, the same time. Had I misunderstood something? Remembered it wrong?

No—that day was something I could never mistake or forget.

It was the day the transmigrated me first entered the Imperial Palace. Somehow, I got separated from my family and lost my way in the vast palace. That’s how I ended up in this secret passage.

And then, from afar, I saw a silver-haired boy who looked about my age. I approached him happily, just to ask for directions.

…I should have turned around and run at full speed without looking back.

“An assassin? To think they’d come all the way here. Who sent you? The Empress?”

Upon spotting me, Leopold coldly questioned me and abruptly shoved me against the wall. I had never seen such intimidating eyes on such a young boy in my life.

Startled, I instinctively tried to run away, only to trip over the hem of my dress and fall.

With a pain that felt like my skull was about to crack, I looked up at the golden eyes staring down at me in disbelief.

“Ha, hahahaha.”

Soon after, I heard Leopold’s laughter—clearly mocking.

“No, assassination would be too much for you.”

The moment I realized the implication behind his words, my face flushed bright red. After making that dismissive remark, Leopold calmly walked away.

I don’t even know how many times I kicked my blanket that night.

Come to think of it, that might have been when I first resolved to lose weight.