Chapter 2
After a few days, I succeeded in understanding my situation.
At first, I thought it was a dream or an illusion people supposedly see at the moment of death.
But that thought quickly faded.
“Rowena, our beautiful daughter. Kiss mommy’s cheek! …Oh my, well done! Our princess can do everything.”
The woman calling me Rowena—presumably this body’s mother—had eyes filled with such deep and affectionate love that it was impossible to dismiss it as an illusion.
So this was neither a dream nor my past. It couldn’t be.
I had never had such imagination as to create something this vivid from nothing.
And that wasn’t all.
“Yunis. Rowena.”
“Oh, Calypse. Did things go well?”
“More or less. I think I’ll need to go again next week… Nothing happened at your end, right?”
“Hm, nothing except our daughter being too cute. Come on, Rowena, daddy’s home. Shall we greet daddy?”
“…Rowena, it’s daddy.”
“Why don’t you hold her too? …Hm, she feels more stable than me.”
“…She really is too small.”
“Fufu. Kizef and Verner were always big. That’s probably why she feels even smaller.”
The man carefully took me from the woman’s arms. Though stern-looking, his eyes undeniably held affection as he looked at me.
Watching the couple quietly chatting while holding me in that sturdy embrace—
“Ah, seriously! Mom and Dad always play with Rowena alone—kgh!”
“Verner. What kind of manners are those in front of your parents? And I told you not to run in the hallway.”
With a loud rush of footsteps, a small boy appeared, followed by another slightly taller boy.
Two boys so similar anyone could tell they were brothers.
Seeing them, the woman stroking my cheek smiled brightly.
“Our sons are here. Did you miss Mommy so much you ran all the way here?”
“…Yeah.”
“Oh? Looks like our second son only missed his little sister?”
“N-no! I missed Mom too…”
His voice trailed off unconvincingly, and his frequent glances toward me gave him away completely.
“Hm. Your face doesn’t say that at all… Oh dear, Mommy and Daddy are so sad.”
“I, I…”
“Looks like I’ll just have to cry then.”
“…Ugh.”
Yunis’s teasing expression only stopped when Verner finally burst into tears.
“Hahaha! My little crybaby, come here. Sorry, I was teasing you too much, right?”
“Yunis…”
Calypse, who had been watching with a resigned expression, gently set me down so Verner could see me.
The moment he saw me, Verner stopped crying instantly.
He leaned his face toward me.
“Hi… Rowena is so pretty.”
“Not Rowena, it’s Rowena.”
“Yeah… Rowena.”
“Kizef. You too, come here.”
At Calypse’s call, the eldest, Kizef, who had been standing at the door, walked over.
‘…Both sons really resemble their father.’
Strong genes, apparently.
While I was thinking that, the brothers reached out cautiously and touched my cheeks.
“…So soft.”
The eldest murmured quietly, while the energetic younger one suddenly ran around the room in excitement.
Their affection for their little sister was obvious.
And it was probably inherited from their parents, who were watching them with warm eyes.
I simply observed the peaceful family scene from within the unfamiliar body of a newborn, thinking it would eventually end.
But a day passed. Then a week. Then a month. And half a year.
“Goodness! Honey, the boys! Rowel rolled over!”
“Wow!”
“…A genius.”
When I finally managed to roll over as a baby, the entire family cheered.
“Ahh… ma… mama…”
“Rowel, me too! Me too! Say ‘big brother’ just once, please!”
“Even just my name is fine!”
“…Oob…”
“Did you hear that?”
“…I heard it.”
Whenever I managed to babble something incomprehensible, they smiled as if it were the greatest joy in the world.
Days like that passed—another day, another week, another month—and eventually it became my birthday celebration.
At that point, I had no choice but to accept it.
This was neither a dream nor an illusion. This loving family truly regarded me as their youngest daughter, Rowena.
And so years passed.
Before I knew it, my seventh birthday was only a month away.
“…Miss?”
“….”
“Lady Rowena?”
A familiar voice broke through my dazed thoughts.
“Ah…?”
I slowly lifted my head and saw Zena looking at me with concern.
Only then did I remember I had been lost in thought while walking to lunch.
“Sorry, Zena. I was just thinking about something.”
“It’s alright. But what were you thinking about so seriously?”
What was I thinking about…
It was something I couldn’t tell anyone—not even Zena.
So I activated my specialty.
The art of smiling it off vaguely.
“Hmm, just wondering what’s for lunch. I actually saw Chef Huey preparing a piece of beef this big yesterday.”
I lowered my voice conspiratorially. Zena’s eyes widened.
“Oh my, when did you see that? The chef said it was top secret!”
Hm. Works every time.
“Secret. If I tell you, Chef Huey will find out too.”
“Lady… that was a mistake last time!”
“Nope. I still can’t trust you…”
As I shook my head dramatically, Zena finally burst into laughter.
She loved this kind of teasing.
I watched her for a moment before smiling and walking again.
In truth, I had been lost in sudden memories from my past life.
To be precise, memories of my death—and of when I first became Rowena von Valentine.
Whenever I thought about the past, I tended to get too absorbed and forget my surroundings.
That’s why I tried to think about it only when alone… but it was difficult.
Maybe it was because I saw Isid yesterday.
Isid. My only friend, in a sense.
I quietly repeated his name in my mind.
After the first year of denial, I had lived steadily as Rowena von Valentine.
In a month, I would turn seven—meaning I had already lived nearly six years and eleven months as her.
And I had learned something important.
This world was 500 years after my death—and I had been reborn as the descendant of my friend.
I once had four friends before I died.
Excluding the black dragon Isid, the other three were comrades I met in the war against the dark mages: Kyle, Dana, and Jin.
Rowena von Valentine, my current identity, was the descendant of Jin von Valentine.
As I thought of Jin, his calm but warm voice echoed in my memory.
“Roel. Are you alright?”
“Calm down, Kyle, Dana. Please don’t fight in public…”
“Roel, Isid. Dinner is ready.”
Jin had been quiet but deeply kind and considerate, often acting as a mediator between Kyle the crown prince and Dana the saint, who were both… a little eccentric.
Becoming his descendant felt complicated.
Was it because of shared blood? Or because someone I once laughed and fought with had become someone from 500 years ago?
Who could have imagined something like this?
I sighed quietly and took Zena’s hand, heading down the stairs.
The moment we reached the lobby—
“Whoa!”
With a loud shout, something suddenly jumped straight toward me.
