Chapter 2
One day, I suddenly opened my eyes… and I was here.
Inside the body of an eight-year-old noble girl named Leriana von Astante.
The real Leriana had been suffering from a mysterious illness, burning with a high fever. Eventually, she went into a coma and was declared dead. When I woke up in her body, I understood the truth:
Leriana was gone, and somehow, I had entered her body.
This unbelievable situation was real, and I now had to live as Leriana.
It wasn’t hard for me to adapt to this new life, and I didn’t suffer from homesickness or depression. The reason was simple—my last memory before coming here wasn’t exactly pleasant.
The last thing I remembered before closing my eyes was a phone call with my mom. As always, the entire conversation was about money.
My mom was that kind of person.
The kind who would say, “If you want to get married, you need to pay me back the money I spent raising you.”
The kind who, instead of comforting me, would ask for my part-time wages when I was working from a young age.
The kind who told me not to go to college even after I was accepted, and to just start working to help the family.
Even when I ran away because I hated hearing about money all the time, she would still call me asking for money under all sorts of excuses.
And yet… because she was my mom, I could never completely cut her off.
That’s why, when I opened my eyes here, I was actually… grateful.
The last thing I had said before falling asleep was, “I wish tomorrow would never come.”
Now, I didn’t have to live as that woman’s daughter anymore.
Now, I could live in a wealthy noble family, surrounded by comforts I’d never had before.
How could I not be satisfied with that?
“Thank goodness… thank goodness, Leri.”
When I saw Leriana’s new parents crying and hugging me, and when I felt their warmth in daily life, I was intoxicated by it.
For two years, I lived as Leriana without knowing the truth about this world. Even at age ten, I still didn’t realize this was the setting of a novel I had read—because the name “Leriana” had never once appeared in that story.
The truth only became clear to me after I met Kashiar.
The first meeting
“So… you want me to take care of that boy?”
I pointed my chin toward the boy standing blankly behind my father, Count Astante.
“Not take care of him—just spend some time with him when you’re free.”
My father looked strangely troubled, and for some reason, I felt uneasy.
“If that’s all, then why does he have to stay here in the Astante estate?”
“Well… there are some circumstances.”
My father scratched the back of his head.
“…This isn’t a case of me suddenly getting a younger sibling, right?”
I smoothed the hair of the doll in my arms, already wondering how to break such news to my stepmother.
“…Leri. What kind of man do you think your father is?”
“I mean, things happen in life. But sorry, I can’t say I’d understand this one.”
“You really are mature for your age…” My father sighed deeply, then glanced at the boy again. Finally, he looked back at me.
“This is Young Lord Kashiar Khan Lesion, the next Duke.”
“…That, I did not expect.”
I blinked, studying my father’s face. He was completely serious.
I lowered my gaze to the small boy, who barely came up to my father’s waist.
His round, jewel-like red eyes stared directly at me.
“And why exactly is the young lord staying here?”
“I can’t tell you the details—let’s just say it’s an adult matter.”
“So, it’s something I shouldn’t ask about or know?”
“Exactly.” My father smiled faintly.
“But why tell me to ‘play with him’ instead of ‘serve him well’?”
“Because what he needs most right now is… to live like a happy child.”
I didn’t quite understand. Shouldn’t a future duke be busy preparing for his role from childhood? But I decided not to press further.
“Well, I don’t really like little kids… but I’ll do my best.”
My father chuckled warmly.
I stepped toward the boy. “Hi, I’m Leriana.”
I had no intention of bowing or treating him like royalty. He’d be gone soon enough, and this would just be a brief, forgettable encounter.
“Leriana…” he repeated softly.
“Call me ‘big sister.’”
And that was how Kashiar and I first met.
Back to the present
“…Yeah. I remember now.”
In the present, I pulled my hair free from Kashiar’s hand—it had only been lightly held, so it slipped out easily.
“It’s been a while,” I said, looking at him for the first time in eleven years.
The chubby cheeks from childhood were gone, replaced by sharp jawlines. The big round ruby eyes had narrowed into something colder and sharper.
“If you hadn’t called me ‘big sister,’ I wouldn’t have recognized you.”
“…Did we really have to meet like this?” I asked.
His eyes flickered, then sharpened.
“Is that what matters most to you, big sister?”
“…What?”
“You don’t seem happy to see me.”
I froze for a second.
We had spent over a year together as children, every single day. Then, we suddenly parted ways and didn’t see each other for eleven years.
I couldn’t say I’d never thought about him since. But the truth was, I wasn’t so overjoyed that I could ignore how inconvenient his sudden appearance was for my current life.
Eleven years is long enough for even the warmest memories to fade—along with the feelings that came with them.
