Reborn As a Character That Never Existed

After leaving the theater, we ordered the most expensive course at the restaurant we had reserved.

The food from the chef was good, but we enjoyed the new flavors so much that we almost licked the plates clean.
As it was hot outside, we were served sorbet and ice cream for dessert, and I pulled the sorbet closer to me.
As we alternated between the two desserts, I felt giddy with excitement.
Although Julian seemed worried about overeating and getting an upset stomach, it was unlikely to happen after indulging only a few times.
“Dad, do you want a bite too?”
When I offered him some ice cream, Julian opened his mouth as if to ask for a bite.
The ice cream was a little melted and I was nervous, but it safely reached Julian’s mouth without spilling on the table.
‘Oh, he’s so handsome.’
He usually made foolish expressions, and I had become accustomed to it over the years, but his unique silver hair and purple eyes were still captivating.
“Oops.”
As I wiped my mouth to hide my drooling, I realized that the chocolate ice cream had stained my sleeve.
Although his characteristic childlike pronunciation had improved due to communication issues, he often spilled or drooled while eating due to his undeveloped hand muscles.
Moreover, the brown stain on my yellow dress today was fatal.
As I frowned, Julian wiped my mouth with a napkin.
I licked my sticky lips and started eating the ice cream again.
“Did you enjoy our date today, son?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“I also had a great time going on a date with you, Tilly.”
“Uh-huh, but…”
“But what?”
“Since I couldn’t go on a date with Lona, can you stay with her tonight?”
Touching his heart, Julian didn’t notice that the corner of my mouth had twitched.
By taking care of Julian earlier, I had become the one responsible for putting Lona to bed, which had previously been Roxana’s duty.
Roxana used to read a fairy tale book every night.
However, since Roxana wasn’t there, Yuri or Yumo would fill in her place.
But Yuri’s storytelling was too noisy.
Objectively, it was very well written, but what I preferred was not the overly-reactive storytelling, but the calm and low-toned one.
“Yumo’s lullaby is a hundred or a thousand times better.”
“Tilly, even if mom and dad like the baby more now, aren’t you jealous?”
“….Huh?”

I had successfully avoided Yuri and was feeling good about it, but I had no choice but to respond to Yuri’s sudden question.
“What are you talking about?”
“Didn’t you go to the baby’s room first this morning too? You never went without taking her with you before.
I thought you might like the baby now.”
“….”
“….Isn’t that right?”
It seemed like the adults thought that avoiding Roy was an extension of jealousy.
“Come to think of it, she cried a lot when she first saw Lana.
It makes sense to think that way.”
I had nothing to say, so I nodded in agreement, and Yuri smiled brightly and asked.
“Can mom and dad stay with the baby now?”
“They’ve been with her the whole time.”
“Not that… um, is it okay for them to stay in the baby’s room a little longer?”
I didn’t understand why I needed to give permission, but I told her she could stay as long as she wanted.
Yuri’s face lit up with praise, calling me a good sister.
I tried to calm down my strange feeling with the sweetness of ice cream.
“It’s your good Tilly’s birthday soon, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Is there anything you want to eat or have? Dad will buy you anything you want.”
When she said that dad would buy anything, I almost fell into unnecessary thoughts, but I shook my head and said I didn’t want anything in particular.
For everyone’s sake, I was trying not to overlap our family with the current one anymore.
However, Yuri didn’t seem to give up easily and hung on, telling me to tell her anything I wanted.
“I hope it snows on my birthday.”
“Nu, nun?”
“Yeah, snow.”
It’s funny, but I was born on Christmas in my past life.
“Thanks to that, our mom was happy to be able to handle birthday and Christmas presents at once.”
Instead, she always gave better gifts than my older brother.
Although our family was non-religious and never believed in Santa, Christmas gifts were important for kids.
Only once, on Christmas when I was in elementary school, it snowed and I felt like I received two presents – a Christmas present and a birthday present.
But my current birthday is in October, so it was unlikely to snow.
“Anything else you want besides that?”

“No.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, nothing else.
I just want snow.”
Forcing down the sticky sweetness in my mouth, I wished for an impossible autumn snowfall.
****

As something hit the carriage window, Ryan, who had been holding onto the curtains, quickly stepped back from the window.
But the problem wasn’t the window.
Startled by the attack, the horse lost control and ran wildly.
Ryan, who had let go of the only support, the curtains, fell off the chair and could only roll around.
Instinctively, Ryan curled up to protect himself and his head.
“Eugh….”
Although it was terrifying, Ryan didn’t make any sound except for a small groan.
Someone was pounding on the carriage door.
It sounded like a signal to open the door, but Ryan knew that there was no time to open it and that they would die if they did.
However, the persistent pursuer eventually smashed the carriage door and forced it open.
“Your Highness!”
Ryan, who had been lying face down, raised his head slightly at the unfamiliar low and sharp voice.
A short blonde woman who had tenaciously followed the carriage reached out to Ryan.
“Quick, this way!”
A hand with a hard gauntlet was extended.
Not realizing that the carriage was about to collide, Ryan looked at her dazedly and did not understand the meaning of her outstretched hand.
“Your Highness!”
The knight following behind Roxana called out desperately, saying that if she didn’t get out now, they would collide together.
Roxana could not give up on Ryan, who was still frozen.
She let go of the reins, stretched out her arms towards Ryan and shouted.
“Come here, please!”
Ryan, who belatedly regained consciousness, jumped into Roxana’s arms.
Roxana, who barely rescued Ryan, held the child in one hand, took the reins again, and calmed the horse.
As the conversation calmed down a bit, Roxanna got off her horse.
“Master! What if something happens to you if you jump into such a dangerous place?”
“Are you telling me to watch something dangerous, Prince?”
“I said I’m going.
Me! Don’t you know that if something happens to you because of this, it could harm the relationship between the three families?”
“You should think about your position, Master!” “That’s why I told you to do it.
As the host of Lemetio, who is no one else, I protected the prince with my life.
I can’t let the empire catch us.”
“……” The knight who couldn’t say harsh words in front of the child felt frustrated and pounded his chest.
Both of them were safe without any major injuries, so they were able to overlook the fact that the prince’s agent was attacked in the empire’s territory, even near the capital.

However, if Roxanna had been seriously injured in the process of rescuing Ryan, it would have been a big problem.
Her husband, Julian, would have gone crazy and the empire would have held onto this matter to the end.
There’s no one who doesn’t know that the attackers were from the 2nd prince’s faction, except for the lack of evidence.
“Oh, did she even calculate that?”
If she had even thought of that in a moment, it would have been really frightening.
As the knight looked at Roxanna with annoyed eyes, she pointed to the broken carriage.
The knight promised to inform Julian of this incident and went to check the horse’s pulse on the broken carriage.
“The carriage is wrong.”
Roxanna took off her cloak to cover Ryan and prevent the child from seeing the body.
Through the hem of the cloak, the red pupils looked at Roxanna.
Despite the fact that he had just almost died, his gaze was dry.
“Are you hurt anywhere, Prince?”
“I’m okay.”
“If you have any pain later, please let me know.”
“Yes.”
After finishing his short and concise response, Ryan lowered his head.
He felt different from the people he had seen so far, but he knew that he would have to part ways with them soon anyway.
“Your Highness.”
Matilda, wearing a dusty dress as if to show she had suffered from the attack, approached Ryan.
Ryan sighed as if he had expected it.
“I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Yes, this knight rescued me.”
“Are you an Imperial knight?”
“Yes.”
“During the chaos of the attack, I was rambling, and if it weren’t for the knight, I don’t know what would have happened to our prince.
Thank you so much for saving Your Highness.”
Matilda bowed, and Loxana smiled slyly, still holding Ryan in her arms.
“No, I just did what I had to do.”
“I will inform my homeland and repay the hard work of the famous Eos Knights and the grace of the Empire.”

Seeing Matilda mentioning the relationship between the Celis Kingdom and the Empire, Loxana swallowed a hollow laugh.
“Talking about repaying, without even asking who I am.”
Matilda had not even introduced herself yet.
According to etiquette, a person of lower status should introduce themselves first.
Matilda did not seem to think that Loxana had a higher status than her, which made her polite attitude even more amusing.
“Yeah, the Eos Knights are still being treated like this.”
Before the Eos Knights, known as the Dawn of the Dawn, were led by Filias and Yurian, they were a group of knights who had gathered failed aristocrats.
After Loxana became the leader, loyalty and ability became the focus, but there was still a perception that they were relatively low in status.
Certainly, most of the Eos Knights were commoners or at most lower-ranked viscounts.
“I will serve Your Highness.”
Matilda extended her arms as if to ask for Ryan.
To go smoothly, Ryan should have handed him over to Matilda, but Loxana’s mind was already twisted in ways that could not be untwisted.
“Before that…”
“Excuse me?”
“Who are you to be serving the prince?”
“Oh, I apologize for not introducing myself earlier.
I am Matilda Erend, the prince’s nursemaid.”
“Oh, are you Countess Erend?”
Nursemaids who take care of children from three families are usually given the rank of Danseung Viscountess.
Although Matilda’s identity had already been investigated, Roxana responded as if she didn’t know.
Roxana smiled forcibly and let go of Matilda, instead helping Ryan to stand on his own two feet.
Ryan stood next to Matilda on the ground.
“I forgot to greet you because I was nervous.”
“No, you can do that.”
Ignoring Matilda’s greeting, Roxana knelt down and made eye contact with Ryan.
Ryan realized that Roxana’s smiling face was much softer than when she was talking to Matilda.
Ryan realized that she wanted to talk to him, not Matilda.
“Nice to meet you.
I’m Ryan of Selis.”
“I’m Roxana of Enfield.”