The next day.

I woke up early in the morning and was helped with my grooming by the maids.

I asked the maid dressing me,

“Where is Alexis?”

“He is in his room. I sent a servant to attend to him, but he said he preferred to prepare himself, so the servant left.”

“Does he not find ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) the room uncomfortable? His room is the guest room at the far west end, unused for a long time.”

Alexis’s room had been set as the far western guest chamber.

Originally, I wanted to give him the room next to mine, but Dad and my brothers completely opposed that.

Alexis said,

“I don’t mind.”

So I reluctantly nodded as well.

The maid smiled gently.

“Michelan checked it thoroughly.”

“If it’s Michelan, I can be at ease.”

After saying that, I left the dressing room, where Michelan bowed his head.

Michelan really was a wise person.

The dressing room had poor soundproofing, so he must have heard the conversation between the maid and me, but he pretended not to.

A servant who eavesdrops on their master is an awkward thing to be.

I nodded and left the room.

As I descended the stairs, I asked Michelan,

“Tell Alexis to come down for breakfast... no, better send breakfast to his room.”

After all, yesterday had been hectic and dinner was hastily eaten; breakfast should be comfortable.

Eating in an uncomfortable place might upset his stomach.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Michelan opened the dining room door.

But then...

“Huh?”

I was startled and looked at the people gathered around the dining table.

Dad and my brothers were glaring at someone as if ready to kill.

“Alexis?”

“Yeah.”

“How come...?”

“Came down for breakfast.”

Well, that was natural.

‘Is he really not uncomfortable?’

He didn’t seem the type to care about such things.

Still, even as my family glared at him like they wanted to kill, he calmly ate breakfast alone.

Dad’s eyebrows twitched.

But since I had made it clear yesterday, he didn’t lose his temper at Alexis.

“Come and eat, Erilot.”

“Yes.”

I answered and sat down.

Right next to Alexis.

From somewhere, a simultaneous grinding of teeth sounded.

Michelan asked,

“Lamb potage, corn bread, asparagus salad, eggs Benedict, and seasonal fruit waffles are ready.”

“Just potage and salad. No drink.”

“Shall I bring some tea with it?”

“Iced tea would be good... um, Darjeeling.”

As I spoke, Alexis handed me a cup.

It was steaming rooibos tea.

“Drink.”

“I wanted iced tea.”

“When your stomach is upset, it’s common sense to avoid cold drinks.”

I took the cup Alexis offered with a sulky face.

‘Yesterday he troubled me, and today he’s taking care of me.’

He was an unpredictable kid.

“How did you know I wasn’t feeling well?”

Grumbling, Alexis cut the eggs Benedict with the side of a fork and said,

“That’s why a bread-lover would skip bread and eat warm potage instead.”

“You’re perceptive...”

“Stop grumbling and just drink your tea.”

“Grumbling? You’ve been poking me since yesterday—”

As I spoke, there was a cracking sound from ahead.

Balzac was gripping the table edge tightly, as if ready to break it.

“They’re talking among themselves... Are they married or what?”

It sounded like a mutter, but the intensity was so ominous that even the servants flinched.

I realized I had misunderstood.

The uncomfortable one during our family meals wasn’t Alexis, but my family.

They looked at me like a husband bringing his mistress home.

I felt as if I could hear hallucinations saying, “How can you do this...!”

I quickly averted my gaze, and just then, the meal was served.

‘Maybe it’s because my stomach’s upset. The smell of lamb is especially strong today.’

Before I finished thinking, Alexis handed me a pepper grinder.

“How did you know about this?”

He wiped his hands lightly and said,

“I’m always watching you.”

“Huh?”

Alexis didn’t answer and quietly slid his chair back and stood.

Then suddenly leaned in close to my face.

“Um, I—”

“...!”

“...”

Balzac abruptly stood up, Rishmond’s face hardened, and Joshua, unusually expressionless, stared at Alexis.

Michelan, quick to read the atmosphere, dismissed the servants.

Even as the servants all left the dining room, Alexis paid no mind and said to me,

“I’ve been watching you all along.”

“...Thanks... wait?”

Alexis bowed his head to Dad.

“May I go? Is it alright if I enter the training grounds?”

“...Yes.”

After saying that, Alexis left the dining room.

I stared at his back, dumbfounded.

‘Did he really eat something wrong?’

Why had he been like that since yesterday?

Then I recalculated Alexis’s age.

Fifteen.

The age of puberty.

If I were an ordinary girl, I’d be swayed terribly.

As I thought that, a loud thud sounded.

Dad slammed down his utensils with a fierce expression.

“Finish your meal.”

He said through clenched teeth, rising from his seat.

Balzac followed him up.

“You’re heading to the training grounds? I’ll come with you.”

A harsh aura rippled along Dad and Balzac’s body.

Balzac was about to grab the dining room door handle, but I hurriedly said,

“Dad, I have something to say.”

“Later.”

Just as the dining room door was about to open,

“Grimie’s uncle is going to kill me.”

“...!”

“...!!”

“What...?”

Joshua, who was poking salad with a fork, Balzac ready to storm out, and Rishmond who was quietly trying to follow them, all widened their eyes.

Dad froze and looked back at me.

“...What?”

“Would you believe me if I said I traveled back in time?”

“What are you talking about...?”

“I was miserably killed by Grimie’s uncle and came back to the past.”

“...”

Michelan squeezed his eyes shut.

Seeing that, Balzac forced a hollow laugh.

“What’s with that expression? So... so it seems the joke is real...”

“...”

I said nothing and stared at Dad.

Dad fixed his pupils on mine.

For a long, long time.

Without blinking once.

“...You’re serious.”

“Yes. That’s why we need Alexis. He is the real eldest son of the imperial family.”

Outside, the sound of a flock of crows’ wings echoed.

Just like when I was dying in that narrow, shabby prison.

Dad and Balzac sat down.

Rishmond, who had stood, also sat, and Joshua put down his utensils.

Amid my family’s steady gazes, I began to speak.

“Dad died when I was about three or four years old.”

He was said to have died during the war, but in the past I saw, Dad was sealed with a restraining stone.

He was immobilized during battle and lost his life to the enemy.

“A dirty blood without a protector. That’s what people called me.”

My previous life was unimaginably miserable compared to this one.

I joined the public office when I grew up.

But even there, I was fingered and wounded all over.

“I was always last. I don’t even know how many times I almost died during battle training.”

“You have blessings! The amazing blessing of monster taming—”

“That’s a lie, Balzac.”

“...What?”

“I don’t have that blessing. The one I have was sealed by Grimie at birth, so I didn’t even know I had it.”

“...”

“A useless person without blessings, dirty blood without parents. That was me.”

Rishmond tightly closed his eyes.

If I had lived like that at Astra, you could imagine how terribly I would have been treated.

Balzac said urgently,

“Why did your uncle seal you at birth? That doesn’t make sense. Your father wasn’t even in the succession then, and you were just a baby!”

I told them what Grimie said to me as I was dying.

“He said, ‘Why were you born with that blessing? It’s irritating.’”

Hearing this, Joshua furrowed his brows.

“‘That kind of blessing’?”

“Blessings are powers given to humans by the souls of ancient people.”

“And my blessing was given by Sailon, an ancient priest who was like a king.”

Reading.

A blessing that allows you to know all information in the world.

At first, I thought that was all.

But it wasn’t.

With , I can use that enormous power I roughly call the “protagonist buff.”

The power that transformed Lagon, once just a steel raven, into a dragon.

That must have been the power Grimie feared.

Hearing that, Rishmond nodded.

“Then it makes sense to be afraid... You died and became who you are now?”

“No.”

“Then...”

“My next life was in another world. My name then was Yoo Hyemin.”

I told them the story.

How my biological father died when I was young, and I was raised by a single mother.

How my mother remarried and gave birth to a half-brother, making me a burden.

How I was an ATM for the household as a child.

“Stop... stop.”

Joshua covered his eyes with one hand and spoke in a voice about to break.

I smiled.

“But there was something good! I worked as an aide. Like a politician’s assistant today!”

“...”

“I learned important things there! Cool, right?”

“...”

“I read a novel called Possession: The Dark Hand.”

“A novel?”

“Yes. A girl living in Yoo Hyemin’s world possessed by a girl in our world, who turned out to be the granddaughter of a dark duke.”

“...”

“That girl’s grandfather’s name was Kronos Astra.”

“...!”

My brothers’ eyes widened.

I continued with a cold expression.

“It was the story of Grimie’s biological daughter. The blessing I had showed me the story of our world as a novel.”

“Then...”

“The protagonist was a girl named Dalia. She was bright, loving, warm. The brothers liked her very much.”

“...Us?”

“Balzac loved her so much. ‘She’s my sister! Save her, please—!’ He even grabbed Philippo’s collar in front of the grandfather.”

“...”

“Joshua once took a hit for Dalia trying to protect her from an ancient monster.”

“...”

“Everyone will like her. She’s a good child.”

Joshua stared at me.

“Did we hurt you because of her?”

“No!”

“...”

Oops. I answered too quickly.

‘Joshua is quick-witted, so didn’t he realize I was lying?’

I felt embarrassed and took a sip of tea.

‘Honestly, I was hurt. I was fragile back then.’

Dalia and I had similar birthdays, and she was thrilled with a birthday gift her twin had painstakingly gotten her.

Seeing that, Balzac and Joshua hugged Dalia and shouted,

“What scheme are you planning looking at Dalia again?!”

“Please, just leave this castle.”

‘Thinking about it makes me angry.’

I just looked out of envy.

After all, I had never once received a birthday present.

Probably when I was in high school. It’s normal to envy such things.

‘But it was reasonable to be cautious.’

Whenever Dalia got involved with me, I got hurt or sick.

It was likely Grimie’s plan to isolate me among the three-year-olds.

“I’m protecting the girl who will be possessed by Dalia.”

“That’s... a relief.”

Balzac murmured.

I nodded and continued.

“Alexis was another protagonist in that novel.”

“The real eldest son of the imperial family.”

“Yes. He has the Authority’s Majesty blessing, said to be the strongest blessing from the founding emperor.”

“But if Grimie is gone, you wouldn’t really need Alexis, right?”

I clicked my cup on the coaster and said,

“I think it’s time to talk about that.”

Dad looked at me steadily.

I slowly opened my mouth.

“Astra will fall when I am nineteen.”

My family’s faces hardened.

“What...! Isn’t Grimie the duke now?”

“Grimie, Duke Falosto.”

“...Falosto?”

“That’s the name of the new family established on Astra’s estate as a reward for Grimie’s alliance with all the empire’s nobles to overthrow Astra.”

“Crazy.”

Balzac stood abruptly.

“There’s a grandfather, so that’s impossible...!”

“The one killing my grandfather is the Emperor.”

“...What?”

“He personally came to Astra Manor and killed grandfather.”

“...”

“Everything was done by the current Emperor’s hand. That’s why we have to make Alexis the Emperor.”

“...”

I tightly closed my eyes and said,

“...I don’t want to.”

“...”

“I don’t want to die.”

“...”

“Dad, I... I want to live.”

“...”

“I want to keep living with you and my brothers.”

Tears finally spilled out.

My tragedy, swallowed alone, our family’s tragedy, and simply the wish to live was so painful.

Dad hugged me.

“Yes.”

“Dad...”

“Yes, let’s live.”

I grabbed Dad’s collar and sobbed.

Dad’s eyes shone coldly.

“I will never let you die. No matter what it takes.”