WARCH 01

“Is this, by any chance, a childcare story?” 001

“Haah, Miela. Even if I die, you must remember this clearly. This is a world inside a novel!”

Stephanie gasped for breath as she tightly held her daughter’s hand. At that, large tears began to fall from Miela’s eyes, drop by drop.

Those tears soaked into Stephanie’s worn clothes.

Miela nodded desperately with a sorrowful expression as she answered.

“I know, Mom. How could I forget something you’ve told me hundreds of times?”

Stephanie had always told her daughter her story.

At first, Miela could not fully understand what her mother was saying.

Stephanie said that she originally did not belong to this world. That this place was the world of a novel she had read in her previous life.

“Mom is a possessor, Miela.”

Stephanie called herself a “possessor.”

But unfortunately, she was not the protagonist of the story. She wasn’t even an extra—just one of the countless unnamed background characters.

What’s more, even though Stephanie knew the contents of the original novel, she could not use that knowledge at all. That was because she had possessed this world long before the story even began.

On top of that, she was not only a destitute vagabond but also born with a frail body. Stephanie’s new life was nothing but hardship.

Then Stephanie met a man. He was not a handsome duke like the male lead of the novel, but he loved her despite her illness and cared for her sincerely.

Stephanie married that man and gave birth to a lovely daughter, Miela, who she adored more than anything in the world.

“I always wished to return to my original body… at least until I met you two, him and you, Miela…”

Happiness was brief. Right after Miela was born, her husband died in a carriage accident. Stephanie had to raise Miela alone while enduring her illness.

But she never once resented her daughter.

“How could I not love a child like you?”

At some point, Stephanie had thought that since even in her previous life she had lived an unremarkable existence, it couldn’t be helped if she couldn’t live like a protagonist after possessing this world.

But Miela had to live differently. Even setting aside that she was her daughter, she was truly a lovable and beautiful child.

“I wish I could have fixed how naïve you are… how you trust people so easily.”

With her vision growing dim, Stephanie continued to take in Miela’s appearance.

Light hazelnut-colored hair and eyes. The way her large eyes sparkled made her look like a squirrel, and her feather-like eyelashes fluttered like a little angel.

And those peach-colored cheeks—how adorable they were!

It pained her that she would never see this sight again.

“My beautiful, cute, and lovely daughter, Miela.”

Of course, Miela was not the protagonist of the novel either.

Stephanie knew that, but still wished her daughter could live a life as radiant as a heroine’s. So she raised young Miela while telling her the contents of the novel, educating her early.

Hoping that when she grew up, she could use that knowledge to live well.

Thanks to that, Miela could now recite the entire plot even in her sleep.

“Do you still remember everything I told you, my daughter?”

In a weak voice, Stephanie asked as she parted her dry lips.

“I-I remember. At fifteen, going to the capital to become a maid in the Valoir Duke House, at twenty going to Roton to purchase an abandoned mine… and then… buying a small cottage in the southern Aro nin coastal village and living there.”

Even while stuttering, she remembered everything without a single mistake.

“Yes… that’s my daughter. Smart… well done. Really. That’s all you need to do.”

Stephanie gave a fragile smile that looked like it could fade away at any moment.

“If you become a maid in the Valoir Duke House, the family of the original male lead, you’ll earn a good wage. Normally, they wouldn’t accept a maid without experience, but by then rumors about the ducal house will be so bad that they’ll struggle to find workers.”

In truth, those rumors were nothing but falsehoods—distortions caused by misunderstandings about the male lead’s curse.

“If you endure just five years, you’ll receive a severance pay. With that money, you can buy an abandoned mine, and later a gold vein will be discovered there. It won’t be an enormous amount of gold, but for a commoner without backing, sudden wealth only attracts flies. So it’s better this way.”

“And with the money from selling that gold vein, you can buy a small house and live out your life.”

“According to the novel, the safest and quietest place is the southern Aro nin coast. There’s no better place for you to live.”

With just this much, Miela would be able to live her entire life without financial worry.

If she wanted, she could even become one of the richest people in the empire using the knowledge of the original story.

But Stephanie knew her daughter well. She was not ambitious or greedy.

“So… even without me… please live well. Don’t forget what I told you, okay?”

Stephanie looked at Miela with pleading eyes.

But Miela was only nine years old.

Overwhelmed by the fear of losing her only family, she burst into tears and clung to her mother.

“Please don’t say things like dying. Hic… I’m scared, Mom. Don’t leave me!”

Stephanie wanted to grant any wish her daughter had—but not this one.

With her fading consciousness, she whispered her final words:

“My daughter Miela… I love you. Please survive. Don’t end up dying like me, unable to do anything. Never live like your mother. So—kuh, cough!”

“Mom!”

Stephanie suddenly coughed up blood. She trembled violently before all strength left her body.

But even at the brink of death, she only worried about Miela.

Could her innocent daughter survive this harsh world without her? Her face twisted in pain.

“I, who was a possessor, couldn’t do anything in the end!”

Miela, pure and naive—did she understand how much her mother wanted to be her shield?

“Even if it’s a torn and broken shield… I wanted to protect you with everything I had… I’m sorry I couldn’t…”

With that thought, Stephanie slowly closed her eyes.

Miela, realizing her mother’s death, cried as if the world was ending. Even after consciousness faded, the sound seemed to echo in her ears.

About one year later

A year had passed since Stephanie’s death.

Contrary to what Stephanie had feared, Miela, left alone, was living in her own way and doing her best.

“Here. Take this, Miela. I gave you a little extra today.”

At ten years old, Miela survived by helping villagers with work and receiving food or small wages in return.

That day too, she had spent half the day helping Nancy, who ran an inn and restaurant.

Unable to hide her joy at the heavier food bundle, Miela said brightly:

“Oh my! Thank you so much, Aunt Nancy. Well then, I’ll be going now.”

“Hehe, alright. Be careful on your way.”

“Yes! Goodbye, Auntie!”

Carefully hugging the food bundle with both arms, Miela made her way home with light steps.

“Home” was nothing more than a crumbling wooden shack. But Miela didn’t hate it.

“I still remember it so clearly. It feels like if I open this door, Mom will welcome me with a smile…”

She had lived there since birth, and every corner of the house was filled with traces of her mother. Even now, it was her only home.

“Maybe I should patch up the broken wall today…”

The weather was cloudy. It looked like it might rain soon. She needed to repair it before then so the rain wouldn’t leak inside.

“First I’ll go home, put down the food, then get some clay from the nearby mountain and fix the wall.”

Miela made plans in her head as she walked briskly.

But just as she was about to arrive home, something on the roadside made her stop abruptly.

“…W-what is that…?!”