I was so glad to see Adel.
Even in death, her face remained gentle.
I wrapped my arms tightly around poor Adel’s nape.
Just like when she was alive, I could feel the familiar warmth at the back of her neck.
“Adel! I… I missed you so much…”
Adel’s shoulders were soaked with my tears and snot.
I didn’t care. I rubbed my tears off on her clothes.
I was dead anyway—what did it matter? No one was going to scold me for this.
If I were alive, Madam Bellin would surely scold me for failing to maintain the dignity of the Laniero family…
“What on earth are you doing?”
At that moment, an unwelcome voice reached my ears, even in death.
I slowly turned my head.
There she was: Madam Bellin, glaring at me with her hooked nose deeply furrowed.
“…Madam?”
It really was her.
They say speak of the devil and he appears. Just thinking about getting scolded by her, and she was suddenly right in front of me.
Of course—thinking about it, she would be here, too, since she had died.
She had been entrusted with the critical duty of managing the Laniero family succession, so she couldn’t have shirked responsibility.
While alive, she had been one of the people I least wanted to see—but even her face now felt welcome.
I ran to her, crying, and clung to her thin legs.
“Sniff… sob… Madam, I… I didn’t want to die…”
Bawling uncontrollably, I wiped my face on Madam Bellin’s blue dress, leaving it smeared with snot.
I never thought I’d be happy to see this woman.
Then it happened.
My short legs dangled helplessly in midair.
Madam Bellin had lifted me into the air with both hands.
Seeing me, soaked in tears and snot, she grimaced.
“Adel, whatever is going on with Miss Linci?”
She asked sharply.
Adel bowed her head deeply, flustered, and answered:
“It seems the young lady had a nightmare. I… I tried my best…”
“The young lady has lunch with Master today. Adel, you haven’t forgotten, have you? But look at her like this…”
Madam Bellin handed me over to Adel politely but firmly.
Then she turned and strode away, her elegant shoes clicking on the floor, gradually fading into the distance.
“…Lunch?”
I stopped crying and looked up at Adel.
“Miss, you do have lunch with Master today. Go change your clothes quickly.”
The last time I had been invited to a lunch with my father was before I turned ten.
Lunch?
“…I’m not dead?”
“Miss Linci, how long are you going to keep saying that? You need to get up and wash your face now.”
I slowly turned my gaze.
My reflection stared back at me in the ornate mirror by the bed.
A young child with curly light brown hair, green eyes, and plump milky cheeks was looking back.
Spellbound, I reached out to the mirror and asked:
“…Adel, how old am I?”
“You just turned seven yesterday.”
I slowly looked around the room, dazed.
A small yet lavishly decorated room, a little bed draped in white cloth, a plush sheepskin rug at my feet, and a soft teddy bear on the bed.
This was the room I had lived in when I was very young.
Before Adel was sent away, before my hair had turned red, when I was my father’s cherished daughter.
“…I’ve… returned?”
To before I died?
Even though I was clearly dead.
Adel, bustling about, dressing me, tying a ribbon in my hair, and bringing wash water, didn’t seem to think so.
“Adel, I really didn’t die?”
After asking the same question about six times, Adel placed her hands firmly on her hips, looking exasperated.
“How long are you going to keep talking about dreams? You’ve been awake for almost half an hour.”
She scolded me with a stern expression.
Then she untied the blue ribbon in my hair and asked,
“Would pink be better?”
I vaguely nodded.
It didn’t matter what color the ribbon was—how could I tell whether this was a dream or reality?
‘Is this a dream?’
But everything felt far too vivid for a dream.
Adel’s warmth, the hot wash water, the soft touch of the blanket against my small palms.
I had to accept it.
I had returned. Back to age seven.
‘Does that mean I’m doomed to die in this life too?’
I didn’t want that.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
I still remembered the flames that had almost swallowed me and the acrid smoke clinging to my throat.
I didn’t want to die.
But if I stayed idle, I would surely be killed unjustly again, just like in my previous life.
What should I do?
‘One thing is certain, even if I don’t know everything.’
I couldn’t let Arsen Yekhart die.
Otherwise, the wolf tribe would kill us all.
“…Miss!”
Lost in my thoughts, I was brought back to reality by Adel’s voice.
“Huh?”
Adel sighed, wrinkling her delicate brow.
Holding my hand gently, she said,
“What are you thinking about so early in the morning? You need to go now, Miss. You woke up late, so there isn’t much time.”
If my memory was correct, my father’s lunch was always scheduled at 12:30.
Being even slightly late or behaving improperly always earned a scolding.
No doubt Adel was worried for that reason.
“You must behave there too, Miss. Answer promptly if Master asks….”
She held my hand firmly and warned me seriously.
“Eat with dignity, just a little. After finishing, wait politely until Master has finished, understood? Don’t forget Madam Bellin’s instructions.”
“Mm, don’t worry, Adel.”
“When you come back, I’ll bring more bread from the kitchen.”
Adel flicked my dress gently, straightening it.
Even though it was neat and wrinkle-free.
I felt like I might choke.
I placed just a small portion of the mountain of food onto my plate.
To my immediate right sat my father, Arthur Laniero, eating calmly. Behind me, Madam Bellin watched my every move, eyes sharp.
‘It would be stranger if I didn’t choke…’
I had seen with my own eyes myself hanged on the castle wall.
Yet here I was, alive, eating a meal—it felt surreal.
I took some fish from my plate, neatly placed my fork and knife down, and watched my father and brothers slowly eat the mountain of food.
All of them, heads lowered, as if by agreement.
Just as Madam Bellin had taught.
I shifted my gaze to the youngest, Shuvil.
I had assumed he had already left for the Yekhart family before lunch.
Because in my memory, Shuvil had gone to the Yekhart household when I was seven and he was six.
‘I even considered warning Yekhart ahead of time.’
About Shuvil killing Arsen.
But surprisingly, I had returned to a time before Shuvil had gone to become Arsen Yekhart’s bridegroom.
Proof of this was Shuvil, shoveling fish into his mouth right before my eyes.
“Shuvil.”
My father’s low voice rang out.
Shuvil, startled, dropped the fork he had been bringing to his mouth.
My father wiped his mouth with the napkin around his neck and said,
“Behave properly at the table.”
Shuvil’s face flushed red.
He bowed his head, ears bright red.
The ‘proper manners’ my father referred to were strict dining etiquette, required of the noble Sai wolf lineage.
One mustn’t eat too quickly, nor finish everything on the plate.
No matter how abundant the food, one mustn’t eat to fullness or spill anything.
From a young age, Madam Bellin had rigorously trained us in these ‘table manners.’
But Shuvil was the youngest.
A year younger than me.
‘What could a mere six-year-old know?’
I, too, had been scolded during lunches in my previous life, just like Shuvil.
Even though the food was of high quality, the situation made it hard to enjoy it.
Thanks to that, I could follow ‘manners.’
“You’re eating with such dignity today, Linci.”
My father’s gaze fell upon me.
Cough!
I couldn’t help but cough, quickly covering my mouth with both hands.
But by then, everyone at the table was already focused on me.
“I-I’m sorry!”
I bowed my head quickly.
After a long silence, the clattering of cutlery resumed.
‘Phew.’
I peeked up and met Madam Bellin’s gaze.
She seemed to glare at me for being careless during the meal.
‘But I couldn’t help it.’
It had been ages since I heard my father’s gentle voice.
After red fur started growing on my body, I had barely heard any gentle voices, let alone kind words.
My father had locked me in my room, and the servants treated me as invisible.
Thinking of that made me grip my fork tighter.
‘I don’t want to be locked up again.’
Of course, I didn’t want to be treated as invisible.
But once the shedding ended, I’d be abandoned again. In the Laniero household, I would be completely erased—just like before.
My expression twisted momentarily.
Fortunately, my father didn’t see it and looked away.
“Tomorrow, the head of the wolf tribe will visit Laniero.”
