Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.
What is this? Cold sweat trickled down my spine.
Tick tock, tick tock.
The sound of the clock’s seconds hand had never been so loud. Swallowing nervously, I tried to compose myself.
“I will ask again. Viscount, no, Lady Cele.”
“… ”
“Is Valerie my child?”
Karl’s gaze relentlessly scanned my face.
“Celeste.”
Each syllable of the name was pronounced deliberately. His voice was icy, yet oddly tender. But his piercing gaze felt like it could see right through me, making me shrink.
When did he find out? No, when did he start suspecting? Had I been pretending all this time? Sweat began to bead in my clenched fist.
“… I didn’t know either.”
The words fell from my lips after much deliberation. It sounded absurd to anyone listening. A mother not knowing the father.
But it was truly unfair. I had become Celeste in this story just over half a year ago. How could I have known about the real Celeste and whether she had a child?
I lost my original life and suddenly became Celeste, and then discovered a child in the story that had never existed before. Until now, I hadn’t done anything wrong. Yet…
“Are you trying to pass this off again as amnesia?”
The consequences of the original Celeste’s actions were now falling on me, who was just pretending to be her!
“I truly had no memory! It’s not all lies.”
If it’s not all lies, does that mean some of it is? Damn. Realizing the ambiguity in my own words, I closed my mouth, defeated.
Karl’s narrowing eyes drilled into me. They seemed to ask, ‘Do you really not remember?’ His gaze spoke volumes.
“That night.”
“Yes?”
“Do not claim to have forgotten until that night. Celeste.”
What is he talking about? My eyelids blinked rapidly.
“I’ve never forgotten that night, not even for a single moment.”
Listening to it, the words sounded strangely eerie… mysterious and oddly familiar. What? Night? What night?
“Please answer, Cele. Valerie…”
I shouldn’t get involved with this man. Karl is the male protagonist who kills the villainess Celeste in the novel I was reading, ‘Roses of LaHart.’ Warning bells rang in my head. What should I answer?
“Is it my child?”
I couldn’t say yes or no. Just swallowing dry saliva nervously, Karl pulled something out of his embrace.
Confirming the identity of that something, I immediately made my next move.
I have to escape. No questions about it!
***
About a month ago, Southern Urethum.
Our eyes met.
Two clear, sparkling blue eyes as if embedded with crystals.
“Umm…”
I was taken aback.
“Abweh.”
“No way.”
“Abu, abubu.”
“Really?”
“Abubu. Booh.”
“That’s impossible.”
I couldn’t make out what I was doing right now.
Feeling a sudden headache from the meaningless exchange with an incomprehensible counterpart, I tightly shut my eyes.
“There’s no way. Saying I have a child.”
As I was leisurely preparing for my morning tea time as usual, I was supposed to be steeping the tea leaves, pouring hot water, and closing the teapot lid for 3 minutes. This had been my morning routine for a few months now.
Even if someone knocked on the door to call me, by now, I would have been calmly sipping my tea as usual.
“Is this a dream?”
I went out at the sound of a knock, but there was no one to be seen. Only a large basket covered with a blanket was there.
Thinking, ‘It can’t be a bomb or terrorist attack,’ I cautiously lifted the blanket, only to find a baby lying there, eyes gleaming.
Until then, I had only thought someone had come to the wrong house. It wasn’t until I found the letter attached to the baby’s necklace.
Miss Valarie, the child of Lady Louisette. As the agreed deadline has passed, we are here to collect the young lady.
The short note in the letter, written in a very neat handwriting, was enough to confuse my mind with just a few words.
My mind was filled with question marks.
Celeste Aisha Louisette.
She was praised as the most beautiful in the Empire and simultaneously criticized as the most wicked in Imperial history.
She was the flat villainess number one in the romance fantasy novel ‘Lahart’s Rose,’ which failed to secure a place in people’s memories and was soon forgotten.
But no matter how much I thought, it didn’t seem like the original Celeste had a child.
“Bubu, bubu.”
The child continued to babble, lips pursed in an incomprehensible manner.
The purple hair matched perfectly with the bright turquoise eyes.
The chubby cheeks seemed like they held flushed flower petals, and the large eyes took up almost half of the face like embedded jewels.
The chubby arms and legs resembled stacked slices of bread. If you were to nibble on them, they seemed like they would taste sweet.
“No, no. Snap out of it.”
I almost got carried away by the child’s cuteness unknowingly. I shook myself forcefully. Snap out of it!
“I don’t have a child.”
Yes, there must be some misunderstanding.
I stood up and left the child as it was.
This doesn’t make sense, no way a sweet daughter like this could be born to a ruthless villain who mercilessly kills those she dislikes.
Whether aware of my awkward feelings or not, the child gleamed its eyes cheerfully, sucking on its thumb.
Celeste Aisha Louisette.
Celeste Louisette, the last heiress of the Viscountess who first plunged into the empire’s mining development industry and amassed tremendous wealth before meeting her demise.
Despite being praised as the empire’s greatest benefactor with all the charms, she couldn’t shake off her desire for power and was eventually executed for the alleged murder of her relatives, becoming one of the most notorious villains.
Every nickname that followed her name in stories depicted her. However, there was no mention of phrases like ‘got married’ or ‘had a child.’
“Babppappa.”
Upon hearing the child’s whimper, I muttered to myself about waking up from the dream at least ten times. I was not the ‘real’ Celeste.
While her appearance matched the villain Celeste from the novel, inside, I was a completely different person. Despite being far from the empire or nobility, I was just an ordinary citizen living in the 21st century in South Korea.
I heaved a sigh of resignation. After escaping the destined death of becoming Celeste, I sought refuge in the far southern end of Urentum for my own reasons.
“Aboobu, booby.”
The child’s incomprehensible babbling was quite adorable. Looking at the child, reaching out with short arms, asking to be held, I sighed heavily.
Cute things were cute, and absurd things were absurd.
Oh, my dear. My head was throbbing with pain.
Half a year had passed since I became Celeste.
In the original work, Celeste was a beautiful woman who had it all but, ironically, ended up meeting her death as a very one-dimensional villain.
Was she willing to go to any lengths to get what she wanted? Blinded by her insatiable desires, she committed regicide and was promptly executed by the newly crowned king.
Thinking about the imminent death upon my revival was not a pleasant experience. Therefore, I decided to start a new life and made a significant decision after just a week.
If I don’t want to die, I shouldn’t create situations that will lead to death. I promptly escaped to the countryside to avoid all the upcoming events.
It was a kind way to put it – going into hiding.
Luckily, being the wealthy Viscountess, Celeste owned villas and farms all over the country.
If only we don’t get greedy, and if we don’t meet the protagonist, living as Celeste didn’t seem too bad.
With a beautiful appearance and overflowing wealth. And maybe a bit smart. So why only do bad things with such good conditions?
As a commoner, I couldn’t understand the Celeste in the original work. Of course, for the story to progress interestingly, an antagonist is necessary, so the character must have moved faithfully according to the given character settings.
“Sweetheart, try to speak. Where are you from?”
“Mommy.”
“Who brought you here?”
“Daddy, daddy.”
“Who is your mom?”
At the word “mom,” the child’s eyes widened and looked up at me, as if trying to understand the meaning of that word.
“Um. Mum.”
“What did you say?”
“Um-ma.”
