【 Chapter 2 – Drizzle at First Sight 】
“….nuelle.”
A soft touch shook her shoulders.
“Minuelle.”
“Oh, let go of my clothes….”
“She’s doing all the sleep talk she never had before. Wake up, Minuelle.”
“Huh?”
“We’re almost there.”
“Already?”
It seems like it was just a moment ago that we were told to leave.
I reluctantly raised my eyelids that didn’t want to move.
Ramande patted my head, which was leaning on his shoulder, and laughed in disbelief.
“Are you nervous about meeting your family after a long time? Is that why you sleep so well?”
“No, I just closed my eyes for a moment! When did I fall asleep?”
“You started snoring as soon as you closed your eyes.”
“Liar.”
“If you noticed, stop pushing me. My shoulder is about to break.”
Grumbling. I hesitated and straightened up.
“Nervous is nervous… Your shoulder is at the perfect angle for a comfortable sleep.”
“So it’s my shoulder’s fault?”
“Yeah.”
At the same time as the answer, Hua-am, a huge yawn flowed out.
“Oh… Sometimes it seems like there’s no sense of feeling.”
“Again, you say something that doesn’t make sense.”
“Hehe, Ramande…..”
I grinned and clung to Ramande again.
Ramande was a friend I met shortly after entering the temple of Flendena.
We were the same age, and his divine power matched well with me, so we became close for eight years. Now, I couldn’t imagine a life without Ramande.
“Why are you laughing like that? What else are you going to do?”
“No, someone would think I’m a troublemaker!”
“Isn’t it? Please go home and live quietly, okay?”
Memories of the misdeeds committed over the past years flooded back, and I couldn’t possibly argue against them. Like the time I sneaked out during the fasting day to visit the market and got caught or the time I released a cat into the henhouse because I didn’t want to take the scripture test…..
“Whatever, it’s all in the past.”
“Hah.”
“Tsk.”
Ramande said in a stern voice to me, his mouth closed in anger.
“Now, get ready. Comb your hair and clean your face a bit.”
But despite telling me to get ready, it was Ramande who was doing all the moving task. He gently combed my hair with a large comb and skillfully wiped my face with his young hands, which were cool with divine power.
“Look at this, look at this.”
How annoying. This guy, Ramande, always takes care of me like this even though he complains.
“What you looking at?”
“There’s something like that.”
“Do you want to keep muttering to yourself?”
Ramande gave me a rebuke, I was completely relaxed, like a fluffy cotton candy.
Ramande was my friend, brother, sister, and guardian. Although he had sighed, asking to be graduated from the guardian role….
I heard you were going to come with me even if my mother didn’t ask you to.
I chuckled and stuck my tongue out slightly while Ramande turned away from me.
In front of the descending carriage, servants were lined up in a row.
‘No, I’m not a king, this much…’
For a moment, my burden was lifted as I saw my mother spreading her arms in front of me, and all my worries disappeared.
“Welcome.”
“Mom!”
I ran towards my mother and hugged her tightly. Unlike my mother who could easily catch me even if I jumped at her, my body was already panting from running this distance.
“Sweetie, are you all right?”
My mother’s blunt red eyes quickly faded into concern. I kissed my mother with a smile.
“Ungg, I missed my mom.”
“Minuelle, what about your father?”
“I missed Dad too!”
In the midst of hugging my mother tightly, I heard a slight cough from next to us. It was the sound of Sister Elga, who resembles our mother in her blunt mannerisms.
“Sister Elga.”
As I hugged sister Elga tightly, the second older sister who was with me pinched my cheeks without hurting me.
“Our youngest is getting cuter and cuter, so it’s a big deal.”
“Hehe, I missed Sister Juella a lot too.”
I am now in my twenties. Compared to someone who is about to have a coming-of-age ceremony, I tend to act immaturely. But my eldest sister is ten years older than me, and my second sister is eight years younger. Besides, because I was sickly from a young age and spent a lot of time in the temple, my family tended to find whatever I did cute.
“I’m glad to see you again. It’s Ramande Flendena.”
While my sisters and their love surrounded me, Ramande greeted my parents.
“It took a lot of hard work to take care of Minuelle, but now our entire family has been helped by the priest.”
“Thank you, Father Ramande.”
In Flendena temple, people who perform can choose two paths. One is to stay in the temple for a certain period of time with the family’s permission like me, or to fully devote themselves to the god as a priest. A few months ago, Ramande chose the path of a priest and received the name of the god of Flendena.
‘Why?’
When our eyes met, Ramande smiled and asked with a mouth-shaped question. I just shook my head quietly. Life surrounded by family and friends who love me was the pinnacle of happiness for me.
‘It’s like a world made just for me.’
I was never going to miss this, even if it meant feeling guilty toward the original owner of this body.
💧
When I woke up, I was a ten-year-old kid.
‘It’s hot…’
I still thought I was in flames. The soaring heat made it difficult even to breathe properly.
‘I’m tired now. Just let me die quickly.’
I didn’t want to feel the pain of the fire-eating flesh. Life was like a thorny road. I wanted to let go of everything and become comfortable.
“Sweetie, open your eyes.”
However, the cool and desperate voice heard at that moment forced the vague consciousness to hold.
“Huh…?”
“Sweetie, you can’t fall asleep. We’re almost at the temple, just hold on a little longer.”
Who is this person?
A woman with red eyes was holding me in her arms. Her face was unfamiliar, but more importantly, she had red eyes. I opened my mouth, but all that came out was a hot breath.
“Open your eyes. Please…..”
And as she spoke to me, my mind became clearer little by little.
The woman with red eyes who had tirelessly carried me to the temple while my fever raged and threatened to consume me was, as I later learned, my birth mother. She was Judith Karinen, the Grand Duchess who ruled over the northern part of the Preseria Empire.
And I myself was her youngest daughter, Minuelle Karinen.
When I found out the truth after my fever subsided, I screamed and fainted at the sight of my own reflection in the mirror, unable to believe what I had just learned.
“Ah! I possessed!”
It was natural that the temple was turned upside down again, as the youngest daughter of Judith Karinen, whom they barely saved, collapsed.
💧
“What are you doing? Are you playing that game again?”
Ramande approached me, sitting in front of the mirror blankly, recalling the past, and touched my shoulder.
“What kind of game?”
“You know what you used to do while looking in the mirror. Did you ask the mirror who is the prettiest in the world?”
“Oh, what are you talking about?”
I looked in the mirror every day in love with the beauty of the body I possessed, and Ramande would still tease me about it years later.
I stretched my cheeks in the mirror. I did the same thing in the mirror.
‘Yes, this is me.’
Minuelle Karinen was originally a villain in the novel 『The Blessings of Flendena』.
A beautiful woman with cherry blossom-like hair and eyes like the dawn sky.
Her beauty and family make her walk the path of a villain because of the male protagonist, Theodore Tregosnan. She fell in love with him at first sight and got married, but when the female character appeared….
Well, you know how it goes. She sacrificed her family’s power, her own life, and everything, trying to separate the two, but all failed. And the ending is a tragic death.
‘Are you kidding me? If I were you, I’d get divorced right away.’
Why bother obsessing over a man who turned away? Revenge is only worth it if you can do it when you’re on top.
Anyway, in the end, even if she went so far as to do despicable things that show the end of her character, Minuelle is undoubtedly the victim.
However, due to the author’s writing skills and the tragic atmosphere that permeated the entire novel, it was a strange novel that made me empathize not with Minuelle, but with the main characters.
“What are you doing, you have a pretty face.”
Ramande took my hand off and rubbed my ragged cheek in the meantime.
“Am I pretty, Ramande?”
If it were my past life, even the questions I couldn’t bring myself to say would have popped out easily now that I know that my current body is pretty.
‘Except for one.’
I felt like it was impossible, but my palm stung. Even though I was inside the house, I held onto my hand that hadn’t taken off the gloves. Ramande, who had been quietly watching me, answered playfully.
“All Flendena children are beautiful.”
I laughed.
“That’s right.”
I thought as I looked in the mirror again.
‘Even if the original story was like that, I would never get involved with the male protagonist.’
I won’t take a step out of this peaceful life.
But… life doesn’t work out the way you want it to. I had to hear a shocking story that it had been days since I had made such a commitment.
“Cough, cough, cough.”
“Minuelle.”
I choked properly. Ramande, who was next to me, slapped me on the back in a hurry.
“My nose hurts.”
The tea ran down my nose, and it stung. Ramanda sighed and used his divine power to calm my condition.
“Sweetie, aren’t you so surprised?”
My mother put her cup down quietly. However, my father, who sat with her, frowned a little and was embarrassed.
“It’s a sudden story, but isn’t it natural that Minuelle is surprised?”
Apparently, my father didn’t like it. I’m sure he will.
“Am I engaged to the Third Prince?”
“Yes.”
If you are the third….. Esadien Roquette, the sub-male in the original.
‘I didn’t know you are my fiancé. Oh, my God.’
I returned home for my coming-of-age ceremony and my second sister’s wedding. As my physical condition had greatly improved, there were talks about me staying at home now. While the atmosphere at the Flendena Temple was peaceful, there was still a lack of discipline in communal living. Of course, I immediately jumped at the chance to leave and return to the comfort of my own home…..
“When did I get engaged?”
Moving my fingers restlessly, I looked at her mother, and her red eyes softened a bit as if feeling sorry.
“It’s a story that happened to you just before you went to the temple.”
The Emperor strongly pushed for my engagement with Esadien, but the timing was not good. My health was deteriorating at that time and I entered the temple, so my family thought it was a non-issue.
“And, Your Majesty has heard that you have returned this time, so Your Majesty said that we should let you meet your fiancé.”
“You must have been very surprised, but, Minuelle, now that you’re an adult, I don’t think it’s our decision to make anymore. The prince and you may be on the same page.”
Yes.
“What if… what if it doesn’t work?”
“Then I will break the engagement. For our family, we can’t even make a dent like that. So let’s meet.”
My father said with a gentle smile. My mother never forced me either.
“……”
To be honest, I didn’t want to meet him because Esadien Roquette was the closest friend to the male protagonist Theodore.
“However.”
The soft hem of my dress crumpled up badly under my finger. No matter how atrocious the Duchess is, she is the Emperor’s servant.
‘If I refuse, my mother will be in trouble.’
I hated you more than I was reluctant to meet Esadien.
“Then let’s meet first.”
“Will you be all right?”
“It’s like visiting the Imperial Palace, right?”
I smiled brightly and answered casually, but my hand was shaking sweetly under the table. As I fumbled around, Ramande, who had been silently listening, reached out and held my hand. A consistent warmth spread through my body, and finally, the trembling subsided.
“Haahh.”
As long as I don’t fall in love with Théodore, it should be fine. That’s how it was supposed to be.
💧
Thank you for reading!
