~Chapter 2~
“How did this even happen? My holy power is so weak!”
They said only huge amounts of power could trigger the relic—yet here it is, working with my tiny bit of power from when I first manifested at age five.
“The relic must’ve taken pity on me… Is it really that merciful?”
But thinking about it didn’t help. There was something way more important right in front of me.
“So… I really did go back ten years.”
I crossed my arms and started planning.
“If I’m back at the Noart mansion, that means my brother is still alive right now.”
Yulian Noart.
My brother, twelve years older than me.
The heir of the Noart family who’d brought me here and treated me like a princess.
I knew exactly what would happen to him once he lost his memory—Zahid told me before I escaped the prison.
“All his relatives will rob him of his inheritance, he’ll leave the mansion injured, and then assassins from the temple will kill him. The temple never stops hunting him.”
Wounded and amnesiac, Yulian wouldn’t be the unstoppable powerhouse he used to be—just a clueless seventeen-year-old country kid.
That’s why he died so easily, even though before he was legendary.
“And the count was overseas at the time… so nobody was there to protect Yulian Noart.”
When I heard that, I cried for days in the prison. I swore I’d protect Yulian this time.
And after that…
Thanks to Zahid’s relic, I got this second chance.
I couldn’t ever forget what he did for me. I wanted—no, needed to see him again.
“But ten years ago, Zahid must be suffering too…”
Right now, Zahid doesn’t know me yet. If I rushed to the Dyphenril estate, they’d probably lock me out.
“I need to wait for the right moment.”
My next goal was revenge on the temple. They locked me up, tortured me, and killed everyone I loved.
“Either way, we’d all die if we stay passive—because of the temple.”
If I couldn’t avoid fighting them, I had to win.
“Their power is massive now, but I know the future!”
Even locked up, Zahid told me so much. I knew the temple’s every move.
“I always asked him about the outside world.”
Through experiments, I even learned some of the temple’s secrets from the inside.
“First things first: the Noart family mustn’t fall.”
Soon after Yulian’s death, our grandfather would die too. The incompetent relatives left behind would ruin the family, and the temple would crush the Noarts.
“To stand up to the temple, I need the Noart name and resources.”
So I had to stop the relatives from taking over, no matter what.
“I can do this. I have to. I’m not locked up anymore!”
I clenched my fist and breathed deeply.
“Last life I was powerless and useless. This life, I refuse to be that way.”
Just then, as I was skimming today’s newspaper to get my bearings…
“Lady Rossi!”
A frantic knock, and my maid Heidi rushed in.
“Lady Rossi, Lord Yulian has regained consciousness!”
Oh.
That’s when I remembered what day it was.
A few days ago, Yulian had gone on a secret mission for Grandfather and had a terrible accident.
I didn’t know the details. I only guessed it was temple-related—Zahid hinted the same thing once.
“Only the temple could’ve done what they did to your brother.”
Anyway, Yulian was brought back to the mansion barely alive and out cold—until today.
“Well… but…”
Heidi looked at me with both joy and worry.
“Lord Yulian has partial amnesia. His last memories are from seven years ago.”
I swallowed hard.
- I’ve Really Gone Back to the Day I Left Yulian
I’d literally gone back to the exact day I ran away from Yulian.
“So now….”
I took a deep breath.
“It’s time.”
I’d have to face a totally different version of my brother now. Not the caring powerhouse I knew, but a total brat.
“I went through puberty like a wrecking ball. If you saw me then, you’d freak out. I was a savage black-flame dragon brat—totally hopeless.”
Right now, Yulian’s mental age isn’t twenty-four—it’s seventeen.
And everyone in the mansion who wants him out of the way is swarming around like vultures.
If I want to protect him, this is exactly when I need to steel myself.
“Lord Yulian probably won’t remember you, Lady Rossi.”
He only came for me fourteen months ago. Seven years ago, he’d never met me.
Heidi looked nervous as she met my eyes.
“…Do you still want to see him?”
I shut my eyes, then opened them, determined.
“Yeah. I’m going to see my brother.”
I found him in his room, clutching his head.
“Ugh… I’m supposed to be twenty-four? Not seventeen? And I’ve lost seven years?”
“Yes, Lord Yulian has partial amnesia.”
Poor country butcher’s son, age seventeen. Dad gambled, mom drank, they fought all the time. When he showed up, his mom had already run away—he grew up a local thug.
Then suddenly he wakes up a count’s grandson, heir to the Noart name!
“You’re telling me my mom was the daughter of the Noart count?”
“Yes. You learned at nineteen, came to the mansion, and took the Noart name.”
His adjutant, Schulva—Yulian’s childhood friend turned officer—spoke calmly.
“In five years you grew unbelievably in every skill. You became the strongest of regular people. Becoming heir was natural. This is the fifteenth time I’ve told you, my lord.”
Yulian clenched his fist.
“Damn it, tone it down! When did you start talking to me so formally?”
“I’m not your childhood friend anymore. I’m your adjutant—and this is also the fifteenth time I’ve answered.”
Schulva sighed, squeezed Yulian’s hand, and looked him in the eye.
“If you still don’t believe me, I can pretend to be seventeen again and talk straight like before. Would that help?”
That caught Yulian’s attention.
“Yes! Please go back to the old you. How am I supposed to believe any of this?”
Schulva nodded, dead serious.
“Stop parroting the same questions. If a person says something, try believing it, you idiot.”
“Uh… okay?”
“They say it’ll take months for you to regain full function. I’m trying not to smack you upside the head right now, got it, you savage brat?”
Then politely:
“Anything else I can clarify?”
“No… that’s fine.”
Yulian shut his mouth, staring at himself in the full-length mirror.
Smooth silver hair, bright green eyes—handsome enough. But his body was covered in injuries; he couldn’t even sit up without help. Hard to believe he used to out-fence dukes.
Just then, a gentle knock.
“Um, Lord Yulian? Did you cough?”
A soft-spoken maid spoke up.
“Lady Rossi is here. May she see you?”
“Rossi?” Yulian tilted his head. Schulva winced.
“The thing is… we’re worried you’ll be shocked. And I haven’t even explained who Lady Rossi is yet…”
Yulian looked ready to ask, when a clear, confident voice called:
“It’s okay. I know everything.”
“I want to see my brother.”
…Brother? What is she talking about? I have no brother!
