“Finally found you.”
It took a full five years. Five years wasted just to find him.
After making thorough preparations to ensure my identity wouldn’t be exposed, I secretly brought him to an abandoned building.
‘Strictly speaking, this is kidnapping.’
Wearing a black blindfold, I murmured the name of the unconscious boy lying before me.
‘Lenox Euclid.’
The boy in front of me was the protagonist of the original story of this world—and the last surviving member of the Euclid family.
The eleven-year-old Lenox, unconscious, was so emaciated that it wouldn’t be surprising if he died by tomorrow.
Perhaps due to prolonged malnutrition, his build was even smaller than Melin, who was only nine.
He looked powerless now, but in the future, he would become the hidden mastermind of this world—the one who would hold my life in his hands.
I asked Agathe, who had brought him here on my orders,
“Did you feed him?”
“He resisted strongly, so I had to hold him down and force some porridge into him.”
“…That’s torture.”
“But it would be a problem if he died.”
“That’s true.”
I looked down at the boy sleeping soundly in front of me.
After living outside for so long, he was covered in dust and grime to the point that it was hard to make out his features. Still, there was one reason I was certain he was Lenox.
‘That necklace.’
The necklace he was clutching even in his sleep looked like an ordinary emerald necklace, but it was actually a Euclid family heirloom.
‘Impressive that he managed to keep it.’
I didn’t know the specifics of life in the back alleys, but protecting that necklace couldn’t have been easy.
I gestured to Agathe.
“Give me that necklace.”
“…Are you serious?”
The look she gave me said it all.
A shameless person who kidnaps a poor child and even robs him.
I nodded casually.
“Yeah.”
“Even a flea’s liver…”
“That liver looks pretty tasty.”
After taking Lenox’s necklace, I carefully tucked it into my clothes.
‘If he keeps this, it’ll only put his life in danger.’
The imperial family didn’t know that Lenox was still alive.
But if he were discovered, this necklace would prove that he was a Euclid.
And then, instead of being an heirloom, it would become evidence tightening around his neck.
“So what will you do now?” she asked.
I looked at the sleeping Lenox and calmly reviewed the plan I had made before meeting him.
“I’ll send him somewhere else soon.”
“Where do you mean?”
That was the key point.
Somewhere he could never meet my younger sister, and…
‘A place that will ensure he never thinks of taking revenge on our family.’
“Send him here.”
I handed Agathe the letter I had taken out.
After confirming the recipient written on the envelope and seeing her nod, I looked down at Lenox again.
‘Stay well there for a while, Lenox Euclid.’
From now on, he would live there not as the descendant of a traitor, but under a new identity.
‘Until then, I’ll prepare a path of flowers for you.’
I whispered words he couldn’t hear and returned to the mansion.
That was five years ago.
The moment I transmigrated into this damned novel.
On my way home from work, I saved a child who was about to be hit by a truck—only to be hit in their place and end up like this.
Being overly meddlesome was the problem.
‘Well… as long as that kid didn’t die.’
I saved the child, and fortunately (?) I gained a new life.
‘Since it’s come to this, I might as well try to live well again.’
Not even five minutes after making that resolution, I realized that this life, too, was heading for delisting.
“Ugh… Miss, the Count and Countess have… passed away.”
I had a bad feeling from the moment the old head butler approached me with teary eyes.
My parents—the Count and Countess Jacqueline—had died together in a carriage accident on a rainy road.
“And so… you will need to prepare their funeral.”
On top of that, I, who had only just transmigrated a day ago, was given the task of preparing my own parents’ funeral with my own hands.
Fine. That part was manageable.
At least until I saw my younger sister Melin and realized I had transmigrated into a novel.
<Melin’s Happy World>
As the title suggests, the protagonist of this novel was ‘Melin.’
‘Oh, I’m the protagonist’s older sister? Jackpot!’
Someone might say that.
If you get along well with the female lead, being her sister means you’ll walk a flowery path.
‘If only that were the case…’
The problem was that the story begins with our family destroying the male lead’s family.
That’s right.
Despite its bright title, this novel was actually a 19+ dark tragedy.
Lenox, the male lead, who lived as a servant in our household and suffered humiliation, would later reclaim the throne and mercilessly slaughter the Jacqueline family.
Amid that, there was only one person he didn’t kill—my younger sister, Melin.
Kind-hearted Melin pitied young Lenox and took him in to care for him.
And because of that, Lenox developed a strange obsession with her.
So then—
‘What your father did, you must repay with your life.’
—he kidnaps and imprisons her, saying such vile things.
Back when I read it, I enjoyed it as trashy entertainment from the comfort of my home.
But now?
I wasn’t just some extra—I was an extra destined to be killed.
‘I’m screwed.’
It would be a relief if he killed me cleanly.
Like snapping apart building blocks, my limbs…
Let’s stop there. It’s too horrifying.
It would be nice if I could prevent that disaster in advance, but my transmigration timing was terrible.
It hadn’t even been ten days since Count Jacqueline framed the Euclid family for treason and annihilated them.
‘Is this for real?’
With no chance to stop anything, I ended up kneeling at the funeral.
‘Oh God, I ask for just one thing!’
Amid the sympathetic gazes of the mourners, I prayed sincerely.
‘Not transmigration—regression! Not transmigration—regression!’
What I needed at this point wasn’t transmigration, but regression.
But mercilessly, time continued to move forward, not backward.
Now, five years later—
The moment I returned to the mansion, Melin ran out of her room.
“Big sisteeer!”
Her violet eyes, looking at me, were filled with joy and delight.
Even though we only met briefly once every three months, she always smiled brightly at me, her eyes curving into lovely crescents.
“…Nothing happened while I was away?”
“Nope! Nothing at all!”
Hmm. Really?
I looked her over, checking if anything had happened while she was at the academy.
‘…No visible injuries, but why is she so thin…?’
Even if she didn’t have much appetite, it was strange how she kept getting thinner.
They wouldn’t be starving her while I’m gone, right?
“What about you, sister?”
“I’m fine too.”
Even after five years since transmigrating, she, six years younger than me, reminded me of my little sibling from my past life.
My sibling in the hospital used to smile brightly every time they saw me too.
‘What’s so great about a sister you barely get to see?’
Feeling uneasy from the sudden memory, I spoke.
“Do you have anything else to say?”
“N-no…”
The way she fidgeted with her lips clearly suggested she wanted something, but as always, I pretended not to notice.
“If not, I’ll be going now.”
“…Actually, sister.”
As expected.
I looked at her, and Melin, who had been fidgeting with her fingers, finally met my gaze with a determined look.
“Can we raise a cat at home?”
“No.”
“Waaah…”
I turned away, pretending not to see her dejected expression.
It might seem a bit cold, but it was better to be clear than to give her false hope.
‘It’s not that I don’t want a cat.’
I currently had no authority within the family.
Even something as simple as raising a cat was no exception.
I handed my luggage to Agathe.
“Agathe, can you unpack my things for me?”
Usually, I wouldn’t stay even a day, so my luggage was light—but today it was quite heavy.
After all, it contained everything I had used during four years at the academy.
“I have something I absolutely need to take care of today.”
More precisely, it wasn’t something—but someone.
I glanced at the grandfather clock.
Before I knew it, evening was approaching.