~Chapter 01~
Did I drink too much to celebrate surviving death?
The sunlight pouring in was blinding, and my head hurt like it was splitting.
“Still, I don’t think I overdid it.”
Pressing my temples, I pushed myself up on the sofa and saw an unfamiliar scene.
One wall was filled with a dressing table and mirror, and sofas and chairs were arranged around the room.
‘Was this the lounge in that mansion yesterday?’
As I wondered why I was here, a gentle voice spoke.
“Someone spiked the drinks at last night’s banquet.”
It was the man I’d met in the hallway before my memory cut out.
“He confessed to trying to do something awful to the unmarried ladies.”
Noticing that the speaker was a handsome blond man, my whole body stiffened.
Now that I thought about it, the coat I was wearing looked like the one he wore yesterday.
Damn it. Thinking that made my mind go blank.
“Did you bring me here?”
I doubted it, but if not, then I could guess why he was here.
“About last night…”
He tilted his head curiously.
“Don’t you remember?”
His gaze on me was intense.
But unfortunately, my memory had been cut off as if someone had snapped their fingers.
‘In the original story, I never had any contact with this man.’
I calmly recalled what I knew about him.
“Louis Arvan, Duke.”
He was the secondary male lead in the novel, someone who treated everyone like insects except for the female lead.
‘He’s only lenient with his first love.’
Lenient, of course, is relative—basically, he wouldn’t kill someone unless they truly annoyed him.
“Really don’t remember?”
A chill ran through me at his gentle smile.
Worried he might do something to me, I quickly replied,
“…To be honest, I don’t remember anything after we met in the hallway.”
“Is that so?”
He seemed to ponder something for a moment, then tilted his head.
“You also said you were always looking for someone like me?”
“…I said that?”
“Yes.”
Louis nodded shortly and added with a smile,
“I also said I was your first love.”
That couldn’t be. Was I speaking nonsense from the drug? I hoped he wouldn’t think I was mocking him and kill me.
Then Louis laughed, a clear, refreshing laugh.
“Just kidding.”
His curved lips were infuriatingly smug.
“I was the one looking for you.”
“….”
“And I was the one who said I was your first love.”
Louis stepped closer and adjusted the coat on me.
“You are my first love.”
‘…What?’
I blinked in confusion.
“This joke is going too far,” I said, thinking he was teasing me.
“No, do I look like someone who’d joke around?”
Then why did he act like he was joking a moment ago? I thought, but I stayed silent.
His expression was frighteningly serious.
“You came to the mansion a few times as a child.”
That’s impossible. I rarely left the Count’s house as a child.
“You visited to see Rian Arvan, your brother, and after that, he sometimes mentioned you.”
Ah, he must be confusing me with my sister. My sister, the female lead, had visited the Duke’s mansion.
‘He must have mistaken me for my sister.’
I was about to correct him when he continued.
“You also knew my brother well, even knew he disliked roses.”
I couldn’t answer.
“It was nice to talk about my brother again. After he died, everyone kept quiet.”
“…We really did talk about that?”
I answered calmly, but it was clearly my mistake.
If I told him he was mistaking me for my sister, I’d have to explain how I knew things from last night.
‘If I said that, he might think I’m mocking him and try to kill me.’
‘…Why did he have to drug me?’
I had no idea how to explain how I knew things from last night.
There was only one way to survive:
‘Pretend to be his first love instead of my sister.’
I had to risk deceiving Louis.
“After my brother died in an accident, I thought you were dead too.”
“…I had complications from the accident. My memory isn’t fully back yet.”
In reality, my sister had lost her memory after the accident.
‘Originally, I was supposed to die and she would regain her memory, but I survived, so she won’t.’
“Ah.”
I tried to get off the sofa but almost fell from dizziness.
Louis caught me and made me sit back down.
“…Is there any side effect from the drug?”
Now I was a little worried. Was I going to die because of a drug after messing with the story?
“Some memory may be lost or confused, but as long as you take the antidote, there’s no other side effect.”
I thought, “That doesn’t sound safe,” but Louis smiled softly.
“You never know.”
He handed me water and the drug.
“Is this the antidote?”
“I made it just in case things got serious,” he admitted.
I swallowed it. The dizziness lessened.
‘Time to get going.’
I considered standing but stopped.
What if I leaned on Louis again?
‘…Terrifying to even think about.’
He hated contact with others, always wearing gloves—and still did.
Even if I was lucky this time, if it happened again, only God and Louis would know if I’d survive.
“Are you sure you don’t remember?”
Louis looked at me suspiciously.
“I usually don’t show much expression.”
“Really?”
He tucked my hair behind my ear. His touch was gentle but cold as a corpse.
“Since you don’t remember, I’ll say it—I proposed last night. I asked you to marry me.”
‘…What?’
Louis continued, calm but dropping a bomb.
“Think carefully why I proposed.”
“…….”
“And you might as well answer.”
He turned away, leaving the coat for me to handle.
Leonia Bellacy.
That was my second name after reincarnating into the book.
Leonia, the younger sister of the female lead, had an unhappy childhood compared to her perfect older sister.
Even when betrothed to a high-ranking man, it only briefly changed her treatment.
In the first scene of the book, in front of her sister, she is murdered.
The book’s title was The Sister is Dead, so it was inevitable.
The story follows the female lead seeking revenge for her sister, occasionally adding romance.
And the person who would kill me, Leonia…
Was my fiancé.
Before regaining memories from my previous life, I was exactly like the original Leonia.
‘Back then, I only cared about him.’
After regaining my memories, I realized how blind I had been—and broke off the engagement.
Now, I face a new crisis.
“Ah, my head hurts…”
Was it the hangover or the drug? A headache washed over me.
I must have dozed off, because when I opened my eyes, I was in a familiar carriage.
‘Louis must have brought me here.’
Seeing him immediately confused me.
‘Why did he propose? Is it because I’m his first love?’
Louis thinks I’m his first love.
‘In the original story, he was lenient to his first love but didn’t propose like this.’
He must have confused me with my sister.
Even though I’m the female lead’s sister, aside from pink hair, we don’t really look alike.
‘He probably never saw my sister’s face clearly.’
Then why would he propose to someone he didn’t even know?
Squeak!
The carriage stopped suddenly, and my body lurched forward.
…What’s happening?
