ãChapter 2 â Drizzle at First Sightã
ââ¦.nuelle.â
A soft touch shook her shoulders.
âMinuelle.â
âOh, let go of my clothesâ¦.â
âSheâs doing all the sleep talk she never had before. Wake up, Minuelle.â
âYes?â
âWeâre almost there.â
âAlready?â
I think it was just a while ago that we said weâd be leaving.
I managed to lift my eyelids that wouldnât move.
Ramande patted me on my head that leaning on his shoulder and smiled.
âYou say youâre nervous because itâs been a while since youâve seen your family? How can such a person sleep like this?â
âNo, I just closed my eyes for a second! When did I fall asleep?â
âYou snored as soon as you closed your eyes.â
âLies.â
âIf you noticed, stop moving. My shoulders are going to break.â
Grumbling. I hesitated and straightened up.
âNervous is nervous⦠Your shoulders are at a comfortable angle, so I can fall asleep easily.â
âSo itâs my shoulderâs fault?â
âYeah.â
At the same time as the answer, Hua-am, a huge yawn flowed out.
âOh⦠Sometimes I see no general feeling.â
âAgain, you say something that doesnât make sense.â
âHehe, Ramandeâ¦..â
I grinned and clung to Ramande again.
Ramande was a friend I met shortly after entering the temple of Flendena.
Itâs already been eight years since we lived together because weâre the same age and his divine power fits me particularly well. Now I couldnât imagine a life without Ramande.
âWhy are you laughing like that? What else are you going to do?â
âNo, someone would think Iâm a troublemaker!â
âIsnât it? Please go home and live quietly, okay?â
As I remembered the things I had done in the past years, I couldnât really refute it.
Whether it was a case of going to the market on a fasting day, or putting a cat in a chicken coop because I didnât want to take a scripture testâ¦.
âItâs all a thing of the past, though.â
âWhat the heck.â
âTsk.â
Ramande said in a stern voice to me, his mouth closed in anger.
âNow get ready for real. Comb your hair and wash your face.â
But it was Ramande who actually moved when he told me to get ready.
He was more skilled than anyone else at gently combing my hair with a large comb and wiping my face with a cool divine power with a soft hand.
âWhat you looking at?â
âThereâs something like that.â
âDo you want to keep muttering to yourself?â
Ramande gave me a pin, but I was untied like a fluffy cotton candy.
Ramande was my friend, brother, sister, and guardian. Although he sighed now and asked me to graduate him from the nanny roleâ¦..
Iâve heard that when my mother asked me to come with her, she said she would, of course, even if she didnât ask.
I grinned, slightly biting my tongue while Ramande turned his back.
There was a long line of servants in front of the carriage when I got off.
âNo, Iâm not a king, this muchâ¦â
It was a burden for a moment, but when I saw my mother with her arms outstretched in front of me, all of her thoughts disappeared.
âWelcome.â
âMom!â
I ran and hugged my mother.
Unlike my mother, who takes it as if nothing happened to me even if I ran, my body was already gasping for this distance.
âBaby, are you all right?â
My Motherâs blunt red eyes quickly faded into concern. I kissed my mother with a smile.
âUngg, I missed my mom.â
âMinuelle, what about your father?â
âI missed dad too!â
While I was hugging my father, I heard a cough next to me. It was the sound from Elga, my eldest sister who looked exactly like my motherâs blunt point.
âSister Elga.â
As I hugged Sister Elga tightly, the second older sister who was with me pinched my cheeks without hurting me.
âOur youngest is getting cuter and cuter, so itâs a big deal.â
âHehe, I missed sister Juella a lot too.â
I am twenty now. The attitude of a person who is going to have a coming-of-age ceremony soon is rather childish.
However, Sister Elga is ten years older than me and Sister Juella is eight years older than me. Moreover, my family only adores me in whatever I do because I have been weak since I was young.
âIâm glad to see you again. Itâs Ramande Flendena.â
While my sisters and their love surrounded me, Ramande greeted my parents.
âIt took a lot of hard work to take care of Minuelle, but now our entire family has been helped by the priest.â
âThank you, Father Ramande.â
A person who practices in a temple can choose two paths. Like me, staying in a temple for a certain period of time while writing for my family or returning to the arms of God as a priest.
A few months ago, Ramande took the path of a priest and received his name from the God Flendena.
âWhy?â
When his eyes met, Ramande smiled and asked in the shape of his mouth.
I quietly shook my head. Being surrounded by family and friends who loved me was the culmination of happiness.
âItâs like a world made for me.â
I feel sorry for the original body owner, but I could never miss this.
***
When I woke up, I was a ten-year-old kid.
âItâs hotâ¦â
I still thought I was in flames. The soaring heat made it difficult even to breathe properly.
âIâm tired now. Just let me die quickly.â
I didnât 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.
âBaby, open your eyes.â
However, the cool and desperate voice heard at that moment forced the vague consciousness to hold.
âHuhâ¦?â
âBaby, you canât fall asleep. If you hang in there a little longer, weâre at the temple.â
Who is this person?
A red-eyed woman held me in her arms. Iâve never seen her face before, and her red eyes are second to none. She opened her mouth, but only hot breath came out.
âOpen your eyes. Pleaseâ¦..â
And the more she talked to me, the more her mind became clearer.
A red-eyed woman who took the dying âmeâ who was dying of fever to the temple without resting all night.
I later found out, she was the mother of the body I woke up to. Judith Karinen, the Grand Duchess of the Northern part of the Preseria Empire.
And this the body of her youngest daughter, Minuelle Karinen.
When I found out after the fever had gone down, I looked in the mirror with half doubt and immediately screamed and fainted.
âAh! Iâm possessed!â
It was natural that the temple was overturned once again, as the youngest daughter of the Grand Duchess Judith Karinen, who was barely saved, collapsed.
***
âWhat are you doing? Are you playing that game again?â
Ramande approached me, sitting in front of the mirror blankly, recalling the past, and touched my shoulder.
âWhat kind of game?â
âYou know what you used to do while looking in the mirror. Did you ask the mirror who is the prettiest in the world?â
âOh, when are you talking about?â
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.
âYes, this is me.â
Minuelle Karinen was originally a villain in the novel ãThe Blessings of Flendenaã.
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 lateâ¦.
Well, thatâs what it is. She sacrificed her familyâs power, her own life, and everything, trying to separate the two, but all failed. And the ending is a tragic death.
âAre you kidding me? If I were you, Iâd get divorced right away.â
Why are you obsessed with a man who turned around? Revenge is enough after youâve become strangers.
Anyway, in the end, even if she ran to the end of her humanity, Minuelle was definitely the victim.
However, due to the writerâs writing skills and the tragic atmosphere that penetrates the entire novel, it was a novel that I unknowingly became immersed in the main characters, not Minuelle.
âWhat are you doing, you have a pretty face.â
Ramande took my hand off and rubbed my ragged cheek in the meantime.
âAm I pretty, Ramande?â
Questions that I wouldnât have been able to put into my mouth if I had been in a previous life came out well because I knew I had a pretty body.
âExcept for one.â
It couldnât be, but my palm seemed to sting. Even though I was in the house, I rolled my hands without taking off my gloves.
Ramande, who quietly looked down at me like that, answered with a playful sign.
âAll Flendenaâs children are beautiful.â
I laughed.
âThatâs right.â
I thought as I looked in the mirror again.
âEven if the original story was like that, I would never get involved with the male protagonist.â
I wonât take a step out of this peaceful life.
But⦠life doesnât 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.
âCough, cough, cough.â
âMinuelle.â
I choked properly. Ramande, who was next to me, slapped me on the back in a hurry.
âMy nose hurts.â
The tea ran down my nose, and it stung. Ramande sighed, arousing divine powers and calming my condition.
âBaby, arenât you so surprised?â
My mother put her cup down quietly. However, my Mather, who sat with her, frowned a little and was embarrassed.
âItâs a sudden story, but isnât it natural that Minuelle is surprised?â
Apparently, my father didnât like it. Iâm sure he will.
âAm I engaged to the Third Prince?â
âYes.â
If you are the thirdâ¦.. Esadien Roquette, the sub-male lead in the original.
âI didnât know you were my fiancé. Oh, my God.â
I came home for my coming-of-age ceremony and my second sisterâs wedding.
Since my physical condition has improved a lot, there have been talks about whether it would be okay to stay at home now.
Although the Flendena and temples were in a mild atmosphere, there could be no discipline in group life. Of course, I ran out right away because I liked a comfortable houseâ¦.
âWhen did I get engaged?â
Her red eyes softened a little as if sorry, as she wiggled her fingers and looked at her mother.
âItâs a story you went back and forth a little before entering the temple.â
She said that the emperor strongly pushed my engagement to Esadien.
But the timing was not good. At that time, my health deteriorated and I entered the temple, so all my family thought it had never happened.
âAnd, Your Majesty has heard that you have returned this time, so Your Majesty said that we should let you meet your fiancé.â
âYou must have been very surprised, but Minuelle. I thought it wasnât up to us to decide since youâre an adult now. The prince and you may be on the same page.â
Yes.
âWhat if⦠what if it doesnât work?â
âThen I will break the marriage. For our family, we canât even make a dent like that. So letâs meet.â
My Father said with a gentle smile. My mother never forced me either.
ââ¦â¦â
To be honest, I didnât want to meet him. Because Esadien Roquette was the closest friend to the male protagonist Theodore.
âHowever.â
The soft hem of my dress crumpled up badly under my finger. No matter how atrocious the Duchess is, she is the Emperorâs servant.
âIf I refuse, my mother will be in trouble.â
I hated you more than I was reluctant to meet Esadien.
âThen letâs meet first.â
âWill you be all right?â
âItâs like visiting the Imperial Palace, huh?â
She answered casually and smiled. But her hands were trembling under the table.
When I stuttered and reached out to the side, Ramande, who was listening to the story silently, held me tight. The constant warmth was delivered, and then the tremor subsided.
âHaahh.â
As long as you donât fall for Theodore. It was definitely going to be fine.