“Lady Brisa, I regret having to bring you such news.”
It was the day before the graduation ceremony at the Capital Academy.
“Marquis Sears passed away in a carriage accident. Please accept my deepest condolences.”
I was reading in the library when I heard the news of my father's death.
“And the eldest son of Marquis Sears, who had long been considered missing, has also been found.”
At the same time, I learned that my half-brother had returned.
“So the title of Marquis Sears…”
The instructor who had delivered the news wrapped an arm around my stiff shoulders.
“According to the will, it has been decided that the eldest son will inherit it.”
My father's death did not strike me particularly hard. There had never been any affection between us to begin with.
During the two years I spent at the Capital Academy, I had not returned to the marquisate even once.
But learning that a half-brother I had never even seen before had become the new Marquis Sears was a shock.
From the time I was very young, I had been educated as the heir of the marquisate. Yet now I was being told that I would not inherit the title after all.
If my mother, who had died two years ago, could hear this news in the afterlife, she would kick open her coffin and storm the estate immediately.
"You think that maid's son is ever coming back? If they haven't found him by now, they'll never find him."
My father, the Marquis of Sears, had married twice.
His first marriage had been a secret wedding held in a rural temple after he ran away with a maid from the estate.
A few days later, the family discovered the affair and forced them to divorce.
The maid, who had been pregnant with his child, disappeared without a trace.
Ten years later, my father married my mother.
In truth, he had spent the years following the divorce searching obsessively for his eldest son. The only thing he knew about the child was the gender, revealed by a physician when the pregnancy had been confirmed.
And he had always wanted to pass the marquisate to that son.
Because of that, my mother constantly lived in fear.
"That lowborn thing won't suddenly appear one day, will he? A person with commoner blood could never become a proper Marquis Sears."
My mother had been the last princess of the Kingdom of Riente.
Though the kingdom had fallen after losing a war, Riente had possessed a long and distinguished history.
So my mother insisted endlessly that my bloodline was far superior to that of the missing eldest son.
"He's probably been growing melons among peasants somewhere. How could someone like that possibly have lived as a person worthy of the ancient title of Marquis Sears?"
But every one of her predictions turned out to be wrong.
My half-brother, Alphius Sears, was no ordinary man.
Although he had grown up among commoners and become a mercenary, his abilities were exceptional enough to attract the attention of the Second Prince during the Northern Civil War.
Known throughout the North as a war hero, he had even been promised a noble title by the prince.
After helping bring the civil war to an end and traveling to the capital, he learned the identity of his biological father.
Unfortunately, my father died instantly in a carriage accident just before receiving the news.
And so, after hearing everything, I returned to the marquisate.
Whatever else happened, I still had to attend my father's funeral.
I met Alphius for the first time at the funeral hall.
He was astonishingly handsome.
Strongly built.
Platinum-blond hair and sky-blue eyes exactly like mine.
Dressed in mourning clothes, the young man strode toward me on long legs and greeted me carefully.
“Brisa? You're Brisa?”
My mind immediately went blank.
“I'm... um, Alphius. I heard there's a ten-year age difference between us. That means you're twelve now, right? I don't know if anyone told you, but, um... I'm your brother...”
After that—
I had no idea how the funeral proceeded or how I ended up back in my room.
My memory simply cut off.
Because...
Am I losing my mind?
The moment I looked at Alphius's face, unfamiliar memories flooded into my head.
The world I lived in was actually the setting of a novel I had read in a previous life.
Alphius is the male lead.
Right now he's kind and sincere, but soon he'll fall into darkness.
And even worse, the future awaiting me was utterly hopeless.
After the funeral ended, I locked myself in my room.
“My lady! My lady!”
“What's wrong? Are you all right?”
The loyal maids of the estate fussed anxiously around me, but I couldn't spare them any attention.
My father's death, the appearance of the half-brother my mother had feared all her life, even the loss of the marquisate—none of those things mattered right now.
What terrified me most was the possibility that I had gone insane.
A novel world? That's ridiculous.
I'm just shocked.
My father died, a half-brother I never knew existed appeared, and I lost my inheritance. That's all.
Holding a thick book in my hands as usual, I took a shaky breath.
First of all, I absolutely cannot let anyone know I've gone crazy.
There was no way I could tell people I'd suddenly gained knowledge of the future.
"Did you know? The last princess of Riente was insane."
"Really? Then what about her daughter? Isn't Brisa Sears crazy too?"
"There's a good chance. Why else do you think Marquis Sears spent all his time searching for that maid's son?"
Recalling all the whispers I had overheard behind my back over the years, I squeezed my eyes shut.
If I started talking about past lives and future knowledge, everyone would simply say I had finally inherited my mother's madness.
Maybe it'll get better with time. At least I'm not seeing hallucinations or hearing voices...
Then—
“Brisa. Um... it's Alphius.”
A knock sounded at the door.
It was Alphius.
“I'm... um, the person you met earlier. Your family from today onward. What I mean is... even though Father passed away, you're not alone anymore...”
For a war hero, he radiated the overwhelming energy of an easy mark.
“Um... would it be okay if I came in?”
I answered immediately.
“No.”
“Um... would you like to talk?”
“No.”
“Then maybe I could at least see your face for a moment...?”
“No.”
After all, looking at his face was exactly what had triggered these bizarre visions.
What if it gets even worse?
Turning him away was easy.
I had never been particularly kind or friendly to begin with.
“Ah... are you busy right now?”
“Extremely.”
“Is there anything I could help with?”
“I'm reading. It would help immensely if you left.”
“What book? I absolutely love literature too! If I've read it before, maybe we could discuss it—”
“Understanding Livestock, Volume 17: Mating and Reproduction.”
“......”
The aspiring literary gentleman finally fell silent.
A long pause followed.
Just when I thought he had left, he spoke again carefully.
“I'm leaving for the capital now. The Imperial Family needs to process my war compensation payment as soon as possible.”
“......”
“The financial situation of the marquisate doesn't seem particularly good. Of course! That's absolutely, completely, not something you need to worry about.”
I immediately understood.
It's absolutely, definitely, very much something I need to worry about.
I had only returned to the estate today after two years away, so I didn't know the details.
But the estate's finances had never been in good shape.
“I'll be back in ten days at the latest. Hopefully... we'll be able to see each other then. Take care of yourself.”
I inhaled sharply.
Everything Alphius was saying matched the future I remembered exactly.
Don't tell me the butler was dismissed for embezzlement too...
No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than Alphius added:
“Oh, and... I dismissed the butler. Just... um, complicated adult reasons. I'll leave my adjutant here instead, so if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask him.”
Despair washed over me.
Am I really not crazy? Is this actually the future?
But truly insane people never think they're insane.
My mother had denied her madness until the day she died.
Still... if these visions really are the future...
Then Alphius would not return in ten days.
He would come back three months later, battered and heavily wounded.
And when he finally returned, nobody would be left in the estate.
Everyone would be dead.
If I say that out loud, everyone will think I'm insane. Or maybe I really am insane...
While I agonized over it, I heard Alphius's footsteps moving farther away.
I was almost certain I had lost my mind.
Yet everything was unfolding exactly as my so-called delusions predicted.
If this continued...
If I let Alphius leave just as he did in the original story...
AAAAAAAH!
In the end, I rummaged through my bag, pulled something out, and shouted toward the door.
“Wait a minute!”
