Chapter 2
‘What am I supposed to do now?’
Judging from the furniture and surroundings, this place seemed to be a foreign country.
‘Does that mean I’m going to have to live all alone in a foreign land from now on?’
While she was worrying about her future, her thoughts drifted to her parents—what happened to them? Just then, the door gave a small click as it opened.
Startled, Hye-seo pulled the blanket off her head and, pretending to be calm, ran her fingers lightly through her hair as she looked toward the door.
A beautiful blonde woman walked in. Following her was a young woman in a maid’s uniform carrying a tray.
“My dear! Are you alright? Why are you up? You should still be lying down.”
Seeing Hye-seo sitting up, the blonde woman hurried over and placed a hand on her forehead. Hye-seo could understand her perfectly, though she was too busy trying to grasp the situation to notice this fact.
“Your fever’s gone down a lot. Thank goodness.”
“Lady Elenoa, you’re awake. The Count and Madam have been very worried about you,” the maid said with a bright expression.
‘Lady? Does that mean this woman is my maid?’
The blonde woman told the maid to fetch the doctor. Then she sat in front of Hye-seo, lifted the soup bowl from the tray, and said,
“Ellen. Your mother made this herself. Let’s have some first. The doctor will be here soon.”
Hye-seo had been repeating the name Elenoa in her head so she wouldn’t forget it, but now the woman’s words caught her off guard.
…Mother, she said.
This person claimed to be her mother.
Hye-seo didn’t even know whether her own mother in her original life had died in the accident or was still alive—but here was this stranger calling herself her mother.
The memories and guilt toward her real mother pressed on her heart and mind. On top of that, she now felt guilty toward this woman, too.
The strangeness, the fear, the helplessness…
Emotions she couldn’t untangle welled up, and tears began to fall onto the blanket.
Mom… I miss you. My mom, with black hair—not blonde.
“Ellen! Oh dear, are you still in pain? Crying like that will bring your fever back. Ellen, shh. If you take your medicine, you’ll get better soon.”
The woman hastily gathered her into her arms, wiping her tears and patting her back.
I’m sorry, ma’am. I’m not Ellen. I don’t even know what happened to your real daughter…
The gentle pats on her back only made her cry harder.
It hurt to be comforted by a woman who didn’t even know her own daughter’s body was inhabited by someone else—and it hurt just as much to be clinging to a stranger and weeping.
After crying for a long while, Hye-seo finally calmed down and finished the whole bowl of soup.
Once she’d eaten, the doctor—an older man with a monocle—arrived and gave her a thorough examination. After he left, she took the medicine he had prescribed and lay back down.
“Sleep a little more,” the woman said, gently stroking her hair and kissing her forehead before leaving.
Hye-seo already felt exhausted by the situation itself. She wanted to sleep and forget everything, but sleep wouldn’t come; she tossed and turned all night.
If this were really my body, I’d somehow find my way back to Korea and my family.
But in this child’s body, there was nothing she could do.
Even the idea of waiting until she grew up and then looking for her family, revealing she was Hye-seo… it felt too far away, too impossible.
What am I supposed to do?
She clutched her head.
“Why is this happening to me, seriously…!”
If fate existed, then fate. If God existed, then God.
Whoever it was, she wanted to blame them for this reality.
✿ ✿ ✿
Because she was a sick child, no one had woken her, and so she didn’t fall asleep until dawn and only got up when the sun was high in the sky.
But once she was up, she didn’t know what to do—so she just sat quietly on the bed.
Looks like my fever’s completely gone… First, I need to gather information: my name, my family’s names, where this is. Fortunately, since I’m a child, it won’t be too strange if I don’t know things… but how am I supposed to find all this out?
It felt like climbing an endless mountain.
I didn’t say much yesterday… Maybe I can just pretend I have amnesia? There’s got to be internet here, right? If there was an accident on the highway, maybe there’s an article or two about it on a Korean portal site?
While she was racking her brain over how to gather information both about this world and her own, there was a knock at the door.
“My lady. It’s Marsha. Are you awake?”
“Come in.”
Would it be okay to speak informally?
Thinking of how nobles behaved in old times, she figured she should, so she spoke casually and then gauged Marsha’s reaction. She seemed unfazed—so that must be fine.
Marsha had a kind-looking face and wore clothes different from the maid she’d seen yesterday.
Head maid? Nursemaid? Personal attendant?
While Hye-seo was mentally running through every term she could think of, Marsha sat beside her and touched her forehead.
“You seem to have fully recovered now. You went through a lot, my lady. Once you’ve had Roland’s Disease, you won’t catch it again. All children around your age get it at least once.”
So it was like measles? In any case, it was good news that you couldn’t get it twice.
Marsha then offered her a bowl.
“My lady, you should have a light meal and then take your medicine.”
Yesterday, she’d been too dazed to care what she was eating, but now the strong bitter smell of the medicine made her grimace—it looked like poison.
“You said I’m all better. Can’t I skip the medicine?”
“It’s a tonic. You were so ill for days that you could barely stay conscious—please take just a little more.”
Seeing her chance, Hye-seo quickly asked,
“For days? Then what’s today’s date…?”
“It’s the seventh day of autumn, Imperial Year 1258.”
Imperial Year? Which empire was that?
The only empires she knew were ancient ones like the Roman Empire or the British Empire.
Still confused, she stared at Marsha when—
“Ellen.”
Hearing the door click open, Hye-seo turned toward it. A tall, broad-shouldered, muscular man walked in, barely knocking.
“My lord,” Marsha greeted him, bowing politely before stepping aside.
Count? So the woman yesterday must’ve been the Countess, and this man is the Count… meaning this is the girl’s father?
The sudden appearance of ‘Elenoa’s father’ made Hye-seo’s eyes waver.
The Count returned Marsha’s greeting, then sat beside the bed and touched Hye-seo’s forehead.
“Your fever’s really gone. Thank goodness, my daughter.”
After confirming she wasn’t hot, he cupped her face in his hands.
“I was so worried. You’re not hurting anywhere else, are you?”
“No,” she murmured, nodding slowly.
“You still seem weak. Marsha, shouldn’t she keep taking her medicine?”
“It’s about time for it anyway.”
Marsha handed him the bowl she was still holding. The Count took it and offered it to her.
“If you take your medicine well, I’ll bring you your favorite strawberry cake from Roanoke.”
Roanoke? What was that?
She wanted to ask, but since she knew nothing about this place, she decided to keep quiet and just nodded.
He stayed and watched until she’d finished the entire bitter concoction, smiling with satisfaction.
“I have to leave now. Sorry I can’t stay with you. I’ll be back.”
“…Have a safe trip.”
She gave a small farewell as he patted her head.
He handed the empty bowl to Marsha and left the room. As soon as he was gone, Hye-seo looked at Marsha.
“Marsha, I want to see a map.”
It was an odd request for a child just recovered from illness, but she couldn’t help herself.
Even after Marsha left, she remained dazed.
The map she saw… she couldn’t read any of the place names!
They were written in a completely unfamiliar script.
On the large sheet, there was a world map on top and a map of this country below. Naturally, she couldn’t make sense of the country’s map, and the world map looked nothing like the globe she was familiar with.
She had vaguely thought this might just be some obscure, tradition-bound noble family in a small, unknown country, and that she might visit Korea once she grew up. But those hopes and plans were shattered.
If this wasn’t Earth, then what planet was it?
The realization that she wasn’t even on Earth made her feel dizzy. How had she gone from a car accident to a reality this absurd?
So this isn’t Earth, and I’m in the body of a girl named Elenoa? Is this even real? A dream?
The thought of some “afterlife service” didn’t even cross her mind—it was too ridiculous.
Before, she had vaguely considered looking things up online, calling Korea, or even traveling there once she was grown. But now…
She was at a loss.
If the car was crushed that badly, maybe my real body died? Or maybe I’m just in a coma, my consciousness here. If I die here, would I go back to my real body?
No matter how she thought about it, dying seemed like the only possible way back.
But actually trying it was far too risky. What if she really died, mind and all? Or what if she ended up in another strange body instead?
Ah… she missed her mom again. She wanted to see her dad. And Hye-rim.
Mom, Dad, Auntie, Uncle, Eun-ho…
Were they all alive? This was all her fault…
