Chapter 2
I bolted upright, screaming.
“No! Don’t go!”
“Ah, ah, ah, my lady!”
“Let me go! What’s a Comet?! No!”
“Oh dear, my lady!”
“No! Let go! All of you, get lost! I said get lost!”
I stood there crying loudly, flailing my arms. Then suddenly, someone beside me pulled me into a tight hug. I froze at the unfamiliar, soft sensation of being embraced—something I had never experienced before. Who was holding me like this?
“Oh dear, my lady. You must’ve had a bad dream. But ‘get lost’? And where did you even learn such harsh words?”
A kind voice asked. Then, a gentle, thick hand wiped the tears off my face. I sniffled and looked at the woman in front of me. She was older, wearing what looked like a very expensive dress. Her dark eyes sparkled kindly.
“…Who are you?”
I glared at her, my tone wary. And it was bizarre—she kept calling me “my lady.”
“Who else? I’m Hebe, your maid.”
The woman who introduced herself as Hebe laughed heartily, her face warm and friendly.
“Lady Margaret, who served you for years, retired. Didn’t I tell you I’m your new nanny now? Or do you not like me, Lady Hebe?”
This isn’t right.
I couldn’t hide the confusion on my face. Of course I couldn’t—my last memory and the current scene were completely different. A nanny? Seriously?
“I… I…”
I had definitely died. …Or, wait. Did I come back to life?
I frowned.
Now that I thought about it, my arms, my vision, my whole body—everything felt fine.
What on earth is going on?
The last thing I remembered was that cult, Nad, and that man.
Looking down at me, calling me his love.
“Um, I’m sorry, I don’t know where this is but… I…”
I was about to speak to the woman who introduced herself as Hebe, but something felt off.
Wait a minute—aren’t my arms a bit short? I looked down at the arms I had been flailing.
“Huh?”
It was true. My arms and legs were short. Even my fists were tiny. Like a child’s. And the sleeves on my arms… were covered in layers of fine lace ruffles.
What is this, a porcelain doll’s dress from some fancy shop window? I stared at my arms, dumbfounded.
“…I’m a kid?”
No, even my voice—what I just said sounded very young. What is happening…?
“Well of course, you’re a child.”
“…Sorry?”
Hebe, still wearing that gentle smile, responded.
“You’re seven years old this year.”
“Se-seven?!”
I asked in a voice like I was being strangled.
“Wh-what year is it now?”
“It’s Imperial Year 571.”
I died in the year 587. I was twenty-three then…
Which means… this is sixteen years ago.
I turned my head and looked into the carriage window, examining my reflection closely. No matter how I looked at it, it was me. Dressed in expensive clothes and jewelry, but still definitely me.
“That’s right, you’re seven years old, the youngest daughter of the prestigious House of Sailkar.”
Hebe said it playfully, like I was joking with her. But the more she spoke, the more confused I became.
What is she talking about?
“M-me? Sailkar? …Wait. Sailkar?!”
My eyes went wide.
“You’re just unlucky. It’s actually because your friend Anna sniffed out the ‘Sailkar Destruction Operation’ that you’re all gonna die too.”
That man from Nad had laughed and said that to me before I died. That fallen Sailkar? Me?
“M-me? I’m from Sailkar? But I’m just… just Verdette…”
Hebe tilted her head at me. Her face showed a brief flicker of awkwardness.
The kind of look that said: how should I react to this joke?
“Oh my, Lady Verdette Sailkar, let’s stop the jokes. You’re not asking me to call you by your full name, ‘Verdette Sailkar, the only daughter of the Grand Duke of Sailkar and keeper of Otern’s peace,’ are you? You’ll be having dinner with your grandfather after your long training trip, so let’s save your energy…”
“Gasp.”
My jaw dropped. She was serious. I wanted to deny it, but how could I, after all that detailed explanation?
I clutched my head, then pinched one cheek—hard. It hurt, like really hurt.
Which means… this isn’t a dream.
“Oh dear, my lady, are you alright? You’re acting so strangely.”
Of course I wasn’t. I didn’t answer and held my head.
Growing up in the back alleys, I didn’t have many memories of my childhood. My first memory was huddling with Anna and Mayra in a cold winter, begging for coins that were eventually stolen by some homeless people. I barely remembered my name and age, and I had no idea who gave them to me.
“Was I really part of Sailkar?”
If that’s true… and I was from Sailkar but ended up in the slums…
…I quickly scanned the inside of the carriage.
“What about my mother and father?”
“Oh my, done with the jokes now?”
When I asked, Hebe smiled kindly again.
“The Duke is at the imperial palace, and Madam Horhne is probably waiting for our lovely Verdette at home. And of course, your two dependable older brothers are there too.”
“…Brothers…? I even have siblings?”
“Pardon?”
“N-no, never mind.”
…I shook my head and started thinking hard. At this time, the House of Sailkar was still active and publicly present. But when I was growing up in the slums, they had declared closure and abandoned managing the slum district.
Which means… the time I’ve returned to is just before the Sailkar Destruction Operation began. I looked at my hands with a serious expression.
…There’s a connection. There’s a strong connection between me being from Sailkar and ending up an orphan in the slums, and this destruction operation.
Just then, the carriage came to a sudden stop with a rough screech.
“Whoa!”
It stopped so abruptly that Hebe let out a startled cry.
Suddenly, the side window between the coachman’s seat and the carriage opened with a clatter, and a rough-looking man’s face appeared. He definitely didn’t look like someone employed by a noble house. Honestly, he looked more like a thug.
“You’ll have to get out. The carriage is broken.”
“The carriage is broken?”
“Yeah. Out. Now.”
He barked, jerking his chin at us to get out.
No words were needed—that was a threatening gesture. Hebe looked frightened but gently helped me down.
“Let’s just get out for now, my lady.”
* * *
The coachman dropped us off and drove away. I looked around, following Hebe’s nervous glances. The street looked awfully familiar. My eyes widened. This was the entrance to Otern Snakepit.
I mean, I was familiar with this place and didn’t mind it.
But this wasn’t a place two women should be getting off. Even ten years ago, when the Sailkar family still oversaw security, Otern was already a hotbed of crime and overt violence—a slum through and through.
“This doesn’t feel right. Why would we be dropped off in such a dangerous area? The butler warned us never to go near places like this.”
Hebe muttered to herself, clearly sensing something was off, and held my hand tightly.
A noble’s daughter and her nanny, dropped off here?
…Suspicious. I turned my head immediately.
“Hebe.”
“Yes, my lady?”
“…I think we got off in the wrong place.”
