Chapter 4
I stuck out my tongue and quickly hid behind Aria. Seeing that, he glanced at Aria’s reaction and held back his anger, breathing heavily through his nose.
The one who stepped in to stop the fight was Daniel.
“Let’s go inside and talk first. Riela shouldn’t stay outside for too long.”
Thanks to Aria and Daniel shielding me, I was finally able to escape from Leonit’s intense gaze.
As soon as we entered the reception room, Leonit naturally sat at the head seat, acting all high and mighty.
Of course, considering his status, it was only natural for him to sit there. But since I knew he was the shadowy villain who tormented Aria, I couldn’t help but feel annoyed just looking at him.
“Jessie, bring some tea.”
At Daniel’s order, the maid quietly left the room.
“……”
“……”
An uncomfortable silence followed. Only after tea was poured and we each had a sip did Daniel finally open his mouth.
“So, why are you here?”
“Can’t I come?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“There’s no place in this empire where I cannot go.”
At that moment, Aria, who had been quiet until now, suddenly spoke up with a cold face.
“But coming here without notice isn’t proper etiquette.”
“What?”
“Even if you are Prince Leonit, you shouldn’t act so recklessly like a child.”
Whoa. That was a direct hit.
I covered my mouth with my teacup to hide my laugh and watched Aria verbally beat Leonit down.
His face turned red, and he trembled, unable to say anything back.
‘Serves you right!’
Looking desperate, Leonit glanced at Daniel as if asking for help. But in the end, he turned his arrows toward me—the easiest target.
“So, who exactly are you?”
Even though my body was that of a child, my mind was an adult’s. I couldn’t seriously fight a kid.
So, I politely lowered my eyes and gave the answer he wanted to hear.
“It’s an honor to meet the small sun of the empire. I am Riela Hound of the Hound Count family. My health is poor, so I am temporarily staying here at the Maynard Ducal household.”
“Hmph! An honor, you say. Very well, I’ll forgive you this time.”
Satisfied with my submissive bow, Leonit puffed up his chest, clearly pleased.
The conversation continued with Leonit at the center. Eventually, I learned that a few days ago he had received a legendary sword passed down through generations of emperors, and that he had just begun magic lessons.
‘Magic, huh…’
In terms of talent, Daniel was far more gifted than Leonit. He had entered the academy at fifteen and graduated in just three years.
But since he died before his abilities could fully bloom, and because the novel only gave him a short 3-chapter side story, I had no way of knowing just how skilled he really was.
‘Ugh, the author should’ve written a longer side story.’
I sighed inwardly when Daniel suddenly turned to me.
“Riela, you look unwell. Do you want to go rest in your room first?”
I blinked at him in confusion, but soon realized what he meant.
‘Ah, he’s telling me not to feel uncomfortable and just go rest!’
As expected of the female lead’s older brother. What kind of brother looks after his sister’s friend like this? Amazing!
But the moment I tried to stand, Leonit scowled.
“How dare you rise before I do?”
Ugh, this young brat…
In the end, I had no choice but to sit back down.
This world valued social status above all else, so even if you were older, you still had to show respect to higher-ranked nobles.
“I came to give something to the young Duke Maynard. Bring it over.”
At his signal, a servant carried over a small box. Leonit proudly handed it to Daniel.
“I chose this especially for you. I hope you like it.”
He peeked at Aria while puffing himself up, though she didn’t even spare him a glance.
Her complete lack of interest seemed to dampen Leonit’s mood, and for a moment, I felt almost sorry for him. After all, he was still just a kid right now—not yet the future villain.
“Thank you, Your Highness. May I open it?”
With Leonit’s permission, Daniel quickly opened the box.
“This is…”
Daniel’s eyes widened in surprise, while Leonit scratched his nose, trying to hide his embarrassment.
“What is it?”
Curious, I leaned over to peek inside.
“Wow…”
It was a magic stone, crafted into a necklace for easy use—an essential tool for any magician. The gem was a beautiful shade of blue, sparkling in the sunlight like Daniel’s own eyes.
“This is a top-grade magic stone from the Kingdom of Leopold. I heard you have talent for magic, so I prepared it just for you. Do you like it?”
But Daniel didn’t answer.
His expression as he stared at the stone was unreadable. That made Leonit uneasy.
“If you don’t like it, you don’t have to keep it.”
When he reached out to take it back, Daniel clutched the box tightly to his chest and stepped back.
“I’ll treasure it, Your Highness.”
“G-good. I got it especially for you, so use it well.”
Leonit turned his head away with a huff.
Only then did I come back to my senses.
‘Wait, he came all the way from the capital just to give this?’
What a ridiculous amount of effort for a gift.
I glanced up at Daniel, who was still staring down at the magic stone.
‘Does he actually like it?’
But his face didn’t give anything away.
Then suddenly, he closed the box, smiled at me, and asked—
“Do you want it?”
What… what did he just say?
I instinctively looked at Leonit and swallowed nervously. His fierce glare practically screamed, How dare you reject my precious gift?!
“…N-no?”
But that didn’t seem like the right answer either. Leonit’s eyes darkened with clear irritation.
Desperate to change the subject, I blurted out, “But magic sounds so amazing. Do you think I could use it too?”
“Hmm… want to learn?”
I nodded eagerly.
This was a fantasy world, after all. How cool would it be to cast at least one spell? If I had talent, maybe I could even become a great mage someday.
“Then let’s try it now. If you can feel mana, you should be able to use magic.”
“Really?”
“Of course. It’s worth a try.”
With a bright smile, Daniel reached out his hand.
“You’ll need to hold my hand to sense the mana properly.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
Leonit grumbled, clearly annoyed again.
‘Is he sulking because no one’s paying attention to him?’
Most likely—he had been trying to get Aria’s attention this whole time and failing miserably.
“Riela.”
But Daniel’s firm voice pulled my focus back to him. Carefully, I placed my hand in his.
“I’ll help you feel mana. If you sense anything strange, tell me right away. Got it?”
He made me promise several times.
“Do you feel it?”
“Uh… maybe? Sort of? But not really?”
It was honestly vague. I tilted my head, confused, and Daniel looked slightly disappointed.
“Looks like you don’t have any talent for magic. If you did, you would have felt the mana right away.”
On the other hand, Leonit perked up. His voice was almost cheerful.
“Hah! Figures.”
‘Why does this kid hate me so much? What did I ever do to him?’
But I couldn’t exactly argue with a child, so I just laughed it off and played along.
Two hours later, Leonit finally left the Maynard household.
“Now that Prince Leonit is gone, what should we do?”
Aria’s lively voice returned the moment he was gone. For a second, I felt sorry for Leonit again.
But no—I wasn’t going to help him. Love is something you have to win on your own.
***
“Why haven’t her parents contacted her?”
I crossed my arms and looked around the bedroom. I even searched places where letters might be hidden, but found nothing.
With a guilty heart, I finally looked into the mirror.
Short black hair. Bright green eyes like fresh sprouting leaves.
Even if the hair could be ignored, the unfamiliar eyes always reminded me this wasn’t my body.
‘What if Riela Hound really died, and I only came in afterward?’
If that were true, maybe I wouldn’t feel as guilty. But even so, living someone else’s life wasn’t something I could easily accept.
Still, to make my favorite character happy, I needed to uncover the truth of this body’s illness and find a cure.
“In the novel, everything worked out easily. People around her helped, too.”
But unlike those smart, capable heroines, I wasn’t particularly skilled or knowledgeable.
“Haah…”
I let out a sigh and lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. That’s when a familiar voice came from the foot of my bed.
