“I need knowledge about this place. If I try to learn and adapt little by little, it’ll take way too long. And also…”
As I was about to keep talking, my chest suddenly felt tight.
I had cried through the late hours of the night, thinking about a lot of things.
First, I mourned my short 25 years of life.
Then I thought for a long time about Rubette, the girl who willingly died in my place.
During those hours, I started feeling so many emotions toward her — even though I had never met her in person.
I felt sorry for treating her like some creepy stalker when she must’ve needed just a single word of comfort.
I felt guilty because, even after all that, she gave me a new life and left.
“Rubette said she lived 45 years under constant pressure, right? Then she was diagnosed with a terminal illness and turned back time. And even after all that, her life was so hard that she still thought about killing herself? She was still so young.”
“…Probably.”
The moment I woke up in Rubette’s body, I remembered the faces of the brother and sister who mocked her.
“I can guess, but just hearing about it doesn’t really make me understand. I want to know why Rubette envied my life, and what her life was like that it pushed her to suicide.”
“…”
“I… want to be able to feel what she felt.”
Maybe that was unexpected, because Wist looked surprised. Then he rubbed his chin and mumbled.
“So, how exactly do you want to wish for that? You want me to give you knowledge about this world and let you experience Rubette’s emotions? That would be two wishes.”
I frowned and glared at him.
“Wow, you really have the soul of a salesman, huh? Don’t you have some kind of welfare benefit for poor me? Like, giving me basic knowledge about this world for free?”
“Sorry. Rules are rules.”
He shrugged firmly. I sighed and thought for a moment before speaking.
“I don’t need two wishes. Just make it so I can remember all 45 years of Rubette’s life as if it were my own.”
“Ah.”
“Her knowledge, memories, emotions… every single moment she saw, heard, and felt. That way, I can get everything I need with just one wish.”
Wist nodded, staying quiet for a moment, then sighed.
“Sure, that’s an efficient way to use a wish. But you’ll regret it.”
“Why?”
“You’re saying you’ll absorb Rubette’s entire life as if it were your own. That’s basically becoming Rubette. Can you handle that?”
He was trying to scare me, but after a moment’s hesitation, I nodded.
“Of course. Rubette literally died in my place.”
“…Alright then. You’d better get some deep sleep.”
Wist snapped his fingers again, and I sank into unconsciousness, like I was drifting into a deep sleep.
After that, it was nothing but a long series of dreams.
Rubettria Diorus.
In this world, where social class is everything, she was born with not just a silver spoon, but a diamond one.
Honestly, she probably had a more glamorous background than I ever did.
She was born into a noble family with great bloodlines, endless wealth, and the blessing of spirits — a family of spirit users. By the time she was 15, she even had her own wish-granting spirit.
And that’s not all.
Her father was the head of the Diorus family, a household with power rivaling the imperial family.
Her eldest brother was so talented that he became the acting family head at just 14.
Her second brother was such an outstanding warrior that he became the vice-captain of the Imperial Knights at a young age.
But sadly, none of that could protect Rubette from her destined misfortune.
She never even got to make use of what she was born with. She spent her entire life being mistreated and oppressed, and then, at 45, she was diagnosed with a terminal illness caused by obesity-related complications.
That ridiculous early death was the final and worst tragedy in a life already full of misery.
‘But she used her first wish to turn back time.’
Faced with death, Rubette chose to rewind her life — to live it properly this time.
But then why, after turning back time and regaining her health, did she end up thinking about killing herself again?
‘Abuse.’
There was a deep-rooted cause that stopped her from ever spreading her wings.
I raised my hand and asked:
“Hey, Wist. Is it okay to wish for someone to die?”
“No. In this world, other than bringing the dead back to life, there’s nothing I can’t do for a wish.”
I tilted my head.
“Then why didn’t Rubette just wish to get rid of the trash in her family?”
“Probably because she was too soft-hearted.”
“…How amusing.”
But it didn’t feel amusing at all.
The Diorus duchy wasn’t just Rubette and her immediate family.
Unfortunately, it was also home to creatures worse than devils — people who mentally abused Rubette her whole life.
The level of abuse she endured was the worst imaginable. I had accepted those memories, but I still couldn’t stop myself from grinding my teeth in anger.
I thought back to Ricky, who’d slapped me yesterday and run off shouting, “I’m telling Mom!”
‘Morga Diorus.’
That was the “Mom” he meant — the real mother of those arrogant twins, the real power in the household, and the main culprit behind Rubette’s abuse.
She had once been the mistress of Rubette’s grandfather, the previous duke, and eventually managed to steal the position of duchess.
A delicate beauty with golden hair, ocean-blue eyes, and pale skin.
‘Of course, her personality was the complete opposite of her looks.’
On paper, she was the stepmother of the current duke — Rubette’s father — but in reality, they were only a year apart in age.
‘A trashy family with an even trashier family tree.’
Feeling suffocated, I rubbed my chest.
After the dream, I now had not just information about them, but also Rubette’s memories and feelings toward them. It was hard to calm down.
‘Morga… that woman is going to make my life hell. I’ve got two wishes left. Maybe I should just erase her?’
I seriously considered it, but shook my head.
It would be a waste of a wish. I could handle Rubette’s revenge without Wist’s help.
“Want to make another wish?”
Wist asked with a slightly hopeful look.
I shook my head.
“Then what are you going to do now?”
“Mm…”
I thought for a bit, then got up.
“First, I’m going to take care of what I need most.”
“And what’s that?”
Instead of answering, I pulled the white tablecloth off the table in the middle of the room and spread it out on the bed.
Then I opened the first drawer of the nightstand. Inside were about ten individually wrapped, colorful macarons.
‘She used to stash snacks like this everywhere and eat them nonstop.’
I dumped all the macarons onto the tablecloth.
In the second drawer were candies and chocolates. In the third, bite-sized cookie packs. I moved them all to the tablecloth.
I was about to head to the next spot when—
“…”
Wist was standing there.
Suddenly, a memory of Rubette came to mind.
“Stop crying. If you hate being teased, just wish to be pretty and slim.”
“No. If I start making wishes, I’ll just get greedy. Before I know it, I’ll use up all three wishes, and then I’ll never see you again. That would be too sad.”
The real reason Rubette never used her wishes her whole life wasn’t because she was saving them for something big.
It was because once the three wishes were used up, Wist would disappear.
“You vanish after all three wishes are used up, huh?”
“…”
Wist froze, staring at me.
‘Once all three wishes are used, Wist disappears. That’s why Rubette stubbornly held onto them.’
For Rubette, who had been alone all her life, Wist was her only friend. I could completely understand why she refused to use her wishes.
And maybe…
‘This alien probably thought of Rubette as a very precious friend too.’
I couldn’t even imagine how he felt when he had no choice but to grant her wish to die in my place.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but I still made you lose your only friend.”
Wist stared at me in silence for a while before turning his gaze away.
“…No. From the start, Rubette was the one who wanted to see your life, and I was the one who granted that wish. None of this is your fault.”
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I crossed the room to the wardrobe.
When I opened it, I saw massive, loose dresses made to fit Rubette’s size.
I reached between the dresses and, as expected, pulled out more snack packs — each the size of my forearm.
Pulling them out, I said:
“You know, Rubette didn’t think of ending her life because she didn’t care about leaving you behind. It’s just… living had become so unbearable for her.”
I couldn’t see Wist’s face behind me, but I could imagine his expression.
‘Even after turning back time, Rubette’s soft personality stayed the same. She couldn’t be cold enough to punish the bad ones, and in the end, she didn’t fight back when her life started going the same way as before.’
Turning back time changed nothing.
It only made her suffer through the same hell all over again, with the added fear of reliving it exactly as it was.
“Sigh…”
I opened the wardrobe’s bottom drawer, which was stuffed full of her favorite chocolate cookies.
With my arms full of diet-ruining snacks, I returned to the bed and dumped them onto the tablecloth.
“And by the way, you’ve got something wrong.”
“What’s that?”
Smiling, I turned to Wist.
“Rubette didn’t want to live as a pretty, slim woman. She just wanted to be happy.”
“…”
“The reason she longed for the life of a pretty, slim woman was because she thought she was unhappy for being ugly and fat. This house’s devils made her believe that.”
“…True.”
“If she hadn’t been abused, she probably wouldn’t have cared about her looks at all…”
I bent down, reaching under the bed.
“…ugh, or at least not as much.”
I pulled out a huge pile of crinkly candy bags and dumped them onto the tablecloth.
“Okay, that’s everything.”
Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I grabbed the corners of the tablecloth and tied it into a bundle. The size of the snack package was massive.
“I owe Rubette, so I’m going to grant her wish. She wanted to be happy, so I’ll make sure she gets that.”
“Alright, I get it, but…”
Wist leaned in and asked:
“Why did you pack all of these up? What are you doing?”
“What do you think? I’m going to lose weight.”
I frowned at his silly question, and he snorted.
“That’s contradictory.”
“What is?”
“Didn’t you just say Rubette’s wish was just to live happily? Being slim isn’t the only way to be happy.”
“Yeah, true.”
“Then wanting to lose weight means you just don’t want to live in Rubette’s fat body.”
“Hmm…”
I wagged my finger in front of his face.
“Even if happiness isn’t based on appearance, you still need to lose weight. Starting today, it’s hell-mode dieting.”
“Why?”
“Why do you keep asking such obvious things?”
I shrugged.
“Because obesity is the root of all kinds of illnesses. I’m not about to live a life where I die at 45 from obesity-related complications.”
