episode_0003

After a brief silence.

“Sister..? Did you have a nightmare?”

The boy who resembled me spoke again.

Judging by his pajamas and rubbing his eyes, it seemed like he had just woken up.

“It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

I replied reflexively, hiding my surprise.

“If you’re scared, tell me. This time, I’ll pat your head! I’ll chase away the bad dream!”

He said with exaggerated gestures, avoiding my shoulders, which made me chuckle.

“No, there’s no need for that. I’m sorry for waking you.”

I approached and stroked his head as I spoke.

I didn’t know I had such a cute and kind little brother..

But why hasn’t he appeared in the novel?

Is it a part I haven’t read yet?

“Milord? Milady?”

At that moment, a woman’s voice called out to us.

A maid, holding a candle, was walking down the corridor, illuminating the darkness. Her impressive silver short hair shone in the candlelight.

Yulia.

Silver hair, a maid of the Daliah family.

Combining the two, it was easy to identify who she was.

As a commoner attending the academy, she was a servant of the Daliah family.

The fact that even a maid was admitted to the Imperial Academy showed how much the family cared about Beatrice’s academic life.

It was nice to meet a character I knew this time.

“Milord, did you have another nightmare? Milady, you should go back to sleep. I’ll stay by your side until you fall asleep.”

“No! This time, it’s not me, it’s my sister..”

“Milady? Has Beatrice also started having nightmares?”

Yulia looked at me with concern.

‘Beautiful…’

When I looked in the mirror, I couldn’t help but be captivated by Yulia’s beauty, which seemed to make me forget my previous appearance.

Therefore, her gazing at me was so beautiful that I couldn’t help but admire her.

“Milady, is there something on my face?”

“Oh, no, Yulia.. I guess I haven’t fully woken up yet.”

“Did you have a really bad dream..?”

I began to worry about Yuriya little by little.

I took a step back in time with Yuriya’s steps.

As I looked up at her pretty face, I found myself averting my eyes unknowingly.

Thud!

Yuriya grabbed my hand with the hand that wasn’t holding the candle and pulled me towards her chest.

“Oh… this is dangerous…”

I tried to take another step back, but I was startled and frozen by the sensation of the maid’s uniform.

“What kind of dream were you having? Are you still afraid because of a dream?”

“It’s not that…”

“If it’s not that, then why…? Why are you trying to distance yourself and trembling?”

No. It’s because you’re getting too close!

Between a man and a woman who have just met…

My mind recognized the situation, but my instincts did not.

If it had been Beatrice, who grew up with Yuriya since childhood, she wouldn’t have shown the same reaction now.

But instead of Beatrice, who should have been here, I am here.

Yuriya must be worried about my unusual behavior…

I have to act as much like Beatrice as possible.

“Ahem! It feels like I woke up from a nightmare, Yuriya, but I don’t remember much.”

I cleared my throat and said.

For a moment, Yuriya let go of the hand she had been holding.

However, she only put the candle on the table and held my shoulders with both hands, coming even closer.

Literally, Yuriya’s face came so close to mine that my intention to act as Beatrice disappeared, leaving only the instinct of a weakened male in front of a beauty.

“What…! What kind of dream is it! Do you really not remember anything? Even a little..!”

Sigh-

I wanted to escape from the gaze that looked up, but this time, it was impossible when Yuriya’s scent also approached.

Men may be visually sensitive animals, but smell is the most primal sense of humans.

When the fragrance stimulated the brain through the nose, my mind became confused.

“Beatrice was tall for a woman…”

Yuriya’s purple eyes aligned with my lips.

From a distance, I couldn’t gauge her height due to her small face and long legs, but up close, she was definitely smaller than Beatrice.

“My height was in the late 160s due to settings… Yulia would be around the early 160s, which is an average height, but she had proportions that made her seem much taller from a distance.

…

It seemed like even such random contemplation about height wouldn’t get absorbed into those violet eyes. It was a struggle to grasp onto reason.

I wonder how Beatrice treated Yulia…

One thing for sure, she wouldn’t have treated her as I do now.

“You look tired, Yulia… Let her go.”

It wasn’t Yulia who noticed my distress, it was my younger sibling. More precisely, Beatrice’s sibling.

“Oh..! I’m sorry, Beatrice, I didn’t realize…”

I was released from Yulia’s grip and could put some distance between us. In this confused state due to possession, such stimulation was dangerous.

I needed more time to think.

“Let’s talk again in the morning. I want to be alone.”

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

“It’s fine… Please, just give me some space.”

Yulia hesitated, but soon picked up a candle and prepared to leave the room.

“Theo, you should go back to your room and sleep. Here, hold my hand, it’s dark, you might stumble.”

“Yeah! Let’s go, sister, so you can rest.”

Theo… Theodore de Daria. Beatrice’s younger brother.

How can he be so kind and cute?

I always regretted growing up without siblings.

“I found one good thing about being possessed.”

“Beatrice, rest well, and if anything happens, please call for me.”

“Got it.”

“And…”

Yulia hesitated before continuing.

“If you happen to remember the contents of the dream, please tell me. It’s important to me… no, to everyone.”

“Hurry up, Yulia!”

Theo took Yulia’s hand, leaving behind cryptic words, and they left the room.

Click –

As the massive door of the room closed, silence filled the air. Sitting on the bed, bathed in moonlight pouring through the window, I pondered. The window, fitting for the spacious room, extended high above.”

“Is this household a nightmare even when dreaming collectively?

It seemed that Yulia was intrigued by Beatrice’s mention of having had a nightmare, unlike her usual self.

Theo also mentioned nightmares… Judging from what I just heard, each time that happened, Beatrice must have been by Theo’s side, comforting him in his fear.

To think she has become a character from a novel… I’d like to pass it off lightly, but it doesn’t seem possible.

Bluntly put, one could die alone in a novel. It might not be safe for me if I were Beatrice.

Knowledge is power.

That saying fits my current situation perfectly.

To survive, I need to know as much as possible.

The point at which I’ve possessed her and the situation Beatrice is in, her strength shown in the novel, Beatrice’s abilities, her purpose, her preferences, from her favorite foods to the ones she dislikes, I need to know everything.

Live the life of a heroine? I don’t know what that means, but for now, I need to adapt to this body.

I may not like it, but what’s done is done…

Oh, of course, I do like Beatrice herself, but the situation of becoming Beatrice is a different story, isn’t it?

Well… for now, I should get some sleep. There’s so much to do ahead.

After thinking a lot for the first time in a while, I quickly became exhausted.

*

Chirp chirp-

At the sound of birds chirping, I gently opened my eyes.

‘This bed is amazing…’

The room of the Countess Yeong-ae in the fantasy novel was better than I imagined.

The feeling of the wide bed and the soft touch of the bedding was something I had never experienced before.

I don’t know what kind of magic was cast, but from the bedding to the corners of the floor, everything was neatly organized without a speck of dust.

“Mmm~”

Stretching as I sat up, I got out of bed. As I tossed and turned to get out of bed, the fat on my chest shook with gravity.

Ugh… it’s a sensation I’m not used to…

Standing in front of the mirror, my face looked exactly like the beautiful Beatrice. Under the sunlight, her flawless skin and features became even more prominent, unlike under moonlight.”

Even though I just woke up, I admired my unblemished appearance and turned my eyes away from the mirror.

Similarly, it was an unfamiliar visual.

It’s not time to indulge in idleness.

I found a robe hanging on the hanger, put it on over my negligee, and walked towards the door.

From now on, I have to understand the Dallia Mansion.

Half excited and half worried at the thought of meeting people other than Theo and Yulia.

If Beatrice’s parents, the Marquis and Marchioness, notice anything suspicious?

Will I be able to handle this?

No, pondering is meaningless.

There’s no choice but to do it.

Thud-

I pushed the door handle with force.

The life of Beatrice de Dallia.

It begins now.