Side Story Episode 1. Wish You Were

“Lily, wake up! We agreed to get up early today, remember? You asked me to wake you up.”

“…Swan?”

Lillian Maynard.

A girl on the verge of her 17th birthday suddenly felt her sleepiness vanish as she took in the sight before her.

She wasn’t the type to boast about being a light sleeper, but the scene that greeted her upon waking was so unexpected that it jolted her fully awake.

A beautiful and slender girl with long, flowing black hair—just like in childhood.

Standing before her, with the face of a seventeen-year-old, was Swan. She hadn’t changed one bit from their younger days, making it easy for Lillian to recognize her instantly.

Even though she was seeing it with her own eyes, she couldn’t believe it. Her voice, still tinged with drowsiness, escaped like a sigh.

“How are you here…?”

Swan had died at the age of ten.

She had left after revealing the secret of Lillian’s birth and leaving behind nothing but a single notebook.

After that, Lillian had resolved to live as Swan’s replacement…

Just as her thoughts started to spiral, Swan plopped down beside her with a bright smile, ruffling Lillian’s hair as she spoke.

“Oh, come on, Lily! Are you still half-asleep? You did ask me to wake you up.”

“…I did?”

“Uh-huh! Your seventeenth birthday is coming up soon. We’re going to make our debut in society!”

Swan chided her, reminding her that they had planned to visit the town square today to shop for dresses and accessories.

Everything felt just as it had in childhood.

Hearing her talk like that, Lillian almost believed that they had made such a promise…

She gazed at Swan, who was smiling so radiantly.

Now that she was looking closely, there was one thing different about her.

As a child, Swan’s eyes had been purely blue. But now, they were tinged with green—enough to remind her of Cedric’s eyes.

Yet, aside from that small change, everything else felt exactly the same.

Swan was still as beautiful as ever.

She still laughed, talked, and looked at her with the same bright gaze.

Just like when they were at the Merrifield Orphanage.

Back when it had been just the two of them in their own little world…

‘…No, that’s not right.’

Hadn’t they always been together, just the two of them?

Lillian tilted her head in confusion.

“Swan, did we really come to Maynard together?”

For some reason, it felt like she had dreamed of Swan dying.

But in reality, no one had died. She hadn’t lost Swan.

She was still here, still with her.

Swan’s death had just been a bad dream… right?

As Lillian poured out her questions, tilting her head in bewilderment, Swan let out a small laugh.

“Of course, it was just a bad dream. Look, Lillian! I’m taller than you now!”

“What? No way!”

“Haha!”

Swan laughed brightly and grabbed Lillian’s hand, pulling her up from the bed.

Now that she was standing, Lillian could see that Swan, at seventeen, really was taller than her—just as she had claimed.

So if Swan was like a slice of bread generously layered with butter and jam, then Lillian was just plain bread—nothing on top.

“This much? I can catch up anytime. There’s barely a difference.”

“But you can’t deny that I’m still taller than you.”

Heh.

Swan chuckled smugly, as if relishing her small victory, then playfully shoved Lillian behind the partition.

“Come on, come on. Get ready and come out! Like I said, we have a lot to do today, Lily. The carriage is already waiting.”

Only then did Lillian recall the things Swan had said right after waking her up.

Her seventeenth birthday. The debut into high society.

“There’s so much to see at the square! Just throw something on and come out, okay?”

“…Okay.”

Still a bit dazed, Lillian watched from behind the partition as Swan opened the door.

With her black hair and now teal-green eyes, Swan turned back to glance at Lillian—who peeked out just enough to see her.

Then, she smiled.

A smile as fresh and bright as spring.

“Today is going to be so much fun.”

* * *

Beyond the partition, everything was already prepared.

From the washbasin and hairbrush to the dress and shoes she had planned to wear today—everything was in place.

As Lillian removed her nightgown and began getting dressed, memories that hadn’t surfaced in her drowsy state started coming back, one by one.

When she splashed the cool water onto her face, she suddenly recalled the moment when Swan had first revealed the secret of her birth.

“Lily, you have to live… for my sake, too.”

“Do everything I couldn’t… and live happily.”

A voice colored with fever, breath coming in fragile gasps.

A frail hand clutching hers, as if it might slip away at any moment.

After saying those words, Swan had closed her eyes.

Not in death—but merely unconscious from the raging fever.

I remember what happened after that.

She had uncovered the truth about Winston, the orphanage director, and snuck into his office to steal the pendant that belonged to the Duchess of Maynard.

Then, with the help of Theo—an orphan she hadn’t even been particularly close to at the time—she had escaped from the orphanage and made her way to the Maynard estate.

Tightening the laces of her undergarments, Lillian remembered what had happened upon her arrival at the duchy.

“Hello, Your Grace. My name is Lillian.”

“I see, Lillian. And do you have something to show me?”

“I… I come from an orphanage. I don’t have much to offer, but my friend told me something important.”

With those words, Lillian had held out the pendant she had gripped so tightly.

“My friend’s name is Swan. This pendant belongs to her, and right now… right now, she’s very sick… so she couldn’t come here herself.”

Swan is very sick.

Saying those words aloud, Lillian had finally broken down into tears.

By the time she left the orphanage, Swan had still been unconscious.

The doctor had said there was nothing they could do.

What if, in the short time she had been gone, Swan had died?

If that were the case, she wouldn’t have been there for Swan’s final moments.

“I-I’m so scared. My friend… she might already be dead… So please… please save her.”

Swan would surely look for her the moment she woke up—but what if Lillian wasn’t there?

Through her desperate tears, she had pleaded.

And in response to her courage, Cedric had given her the answer she had hoped for.

He had gone straight to Merrifield and brought Swan back.

Thankfully, she was still alive.

The orphanage director, Winston, had clung to a last shred of hope and tried to keep her alive—most likely with the intention of using her for financial gain.

He must have wanted to keep her alive just long enough to extort more money.

But unfortunately for him, his plans had failed.

Swan and Lillian’s testimonies had exposed his embezzlement of the imperial funds allocated to the orphanage.

As a result, he lost not only his position but also the orphanage itself to the Maynard family—escaping with nothing but his life.

Once Swan was brought to Maynard, the duchy’s physician examined her thoroughly.

“If we had waited even a little longer, this could have been disastrous. This is not just an ordinary fever.”

It was no wonder she hadn’t been getting better—the orphanage had been treating her for a simple fever when her condition required an entirely different approach.

The physician had been relieved that they weren’t too late and immediately prescribed the correct treatment.

And before long, Swan had made a full recovery.

As Lillian adjusted the folds of her dress, she recalled the first thing Swan had said upon waking up.

“…Father?”

In a hoarse whisper, Swan had called out for Cedric.

Not for Lillian, as she always had before.

But for her real family.