episode_0154

A week had passed just like that.

As people commonly say, the society of men and women must be different. I wondered if I could adapt well to the society of women, but thanks to the memories of Eleonore, I was able to smoothly blend into it.

Even now, it was the same.

After class, I was waiting in the empty classroom for Eunseo to finish her class so we could go shopping for clothes together.

However, despite having adapted, there was one thing.

“Dmitri….”

Looking at the platinum-haired woman on the turned-off smartphone, I unintentionally uttered that name.

It was like that.

Whether it was a mirror, a glass window, or a smartphone, whenever I faced my reflection, the name of that man naturally came to mind.

The man with black hair who had captured my heart appeared before my eyes. I longed for his warm embrace dearly.

What happened after that?

Was Dmitri back in the north now?

I hope he didn’t get hurt by monsters and demons while spending the winter….

What about my body… Eleonore’s body?

“I miss you….”

I muttered that fact quietly.

Eugene Roelcellar.

A precious friend who had crossed time for me.

I hope everything is fine on that side.

And….

I let out a small sigh.

“I was definitely originally a man.”

I had unknowingly adapted to being a female creature, and I couldn’t help but miss that man. The man with black hair and a strong chest flashed before my eyes.

“Dmitri….”

“Dmitri? Who’s that?”

“The protagonist of the fantasy novel?”

Suddenly, the friends who had approached me seemed to have heard my muttering.

“Oh, Eunseo, Yuna. Hi.”

“Why do you look so down again, our writer.”

“I thought you were fine after the weird incident last time.”

I smiled weakly in response to my friends’ concerned voices.

“No, I’m fine. Is the class over now?”

“Yeah. Sorry, Writer. For making you wait.”

“Sorry. I failed to register for the course.”

With a weak smile, I started to pack up the belongings I had spread out. My makeup pouch, the textbook I had briefly read, and even the assignment printouts were roughly stuffed into my bag.

“Oh, then wait a moment. I need to do my makeup….”

Eunseo then placed her bag on the table that I had cleared. She took out powder and cushion from the front pocket of her bag and started lightly tapping her nose with a puff.

“By the way, Writer, you haven’t been reading fantasy novels lately?”

“Fantasy novels?”

Behind the mirror attached to the compact, Eunseo and I locked eyes. Eunseo raised the corners of her mouth slightly and stared intently with her sky-blue eyes.

“Yeah. I thought you’d be reading fantasy novels right now. Writer, you were so immersed in them that you even secretly looked at your smartphone during class.”

“I really thought you had a boyfriend back then, Writer.”

At Yuna’s words, Eunseo also chimed in.

“Oh! That’s right! By the way, wasn’t the name of the male lead in that novel Seopnam Dmitri? You said you liked him the most, Writer. More than that silver-haired jerk.”

And at the familiar name that came out of Chaeeun’s mouth, I quickly leaned my face towards Chaeeun.

“Wait, what’s that supposed to mean?”

Dmitri?

Silver-haired jerk?

“Wasn’t that the character from the novel you were reading? Writer, you even personally recommended it to us!”

“Right…. That’s why I said I’d watch it if it comes out as a webtoon.”

Eunseo and Yuna nodded at each other as they faced each other.

Suddenly…!

“I’ll be right back to the restroom!”

Juha abruptly grabbed her smartphone and rushed out of the classroom. She ran through the crowd and entered a private stall in the restroom, immediately grasping her smartphone.

Transitioning from the life of a noble lady to that of a college student, she hadn’t even thought about adapting to new human relationships…

With that thought in mind, Juha moved her delicate finger over the purple icon.

And there it was, the web novel app.

My library, and favorite works.

Scrolling through the screen, Juha finally stopped her finger on a familiar title and author nickname.

Contrary to what her friends had said, her reading record stopped at the prologue. Not as the female Seo Juha, but as the male Seo Juha.

Why?

Why was it stopped here?

Juha’s mind raced. If her friends knew the name Dmitry, and with the blonde hair characteristic, the novel was clear.

Lost in such thoughts, Juha’s smartphone screen began to emit a strange light, flickering.

“Choice is yours.”

Eleanor’s voice seemed to whisper in her ear.

Seo Juha, having possessed Eleanor, saved her friend Eugene’s life in exchange for her own. Losing her life as Eleanor, she returned to this world.

And to put it another way, she hadn’t lost everything completely.

“If…”

The hand holding the smartphone trembled.

What could the phrase ‘choice is yours’ mean?

If that phrase was originally an arrangement left by ‘Eleanor’ for Seo Juha, she needed to consider that point.

“The moment I become Eleanor again, if Seo Juha in this world disappears forever…”

Perhaps the phrase ‘choice is yours’ meant something like this?

The smartphone emitting a strange light seemed to be saying just that. And that strange light was flickering in the ‘next episode’ box.

So, surely if she pressed ‘next episode,’ something would change. That feeling strongly came to her mind.

However, Juha’s finger hesitated on top of it.

Although she had become a woman, this was still her life.

Even if her current appearance was that of Eleanor, this life was undoubtedly Seo Juha’s life.

Perhaps her parents, whom she had called earlier, were undoubtedly her original parents. And the children approaching her side were undoubtedly her classmates.

But still…

Juha let out a small sigh.

Was it because of the fact that she was in a woman’s body?

For the past week, this reality didn’t feel like her life at all.

No.

To be honest, there was no lover in this world.

Even though it had only been a week, a world without Dmitry felt too lonely and desolate for her.

That’s why.

After vaguely saying goodbye to her friends, Juha returned home. In her familiar studio apartment, Juha truly pondered for a long time. Until the bright window outside darkened.

But at some point, the final answer didn’t seem to change.

Juha aimlessly paced the floor of her room. She dusted off dust meaninglessly, touched familiar objects, and even lay on the bed staring blankly at the ceiling.

And finally, she made a decision.

“Fine… I’ll do it.”

Joo-ha’s finger tapped on the screen as if slipping. Gradually, the smartphone screen emitted a light that far exceeded the maximum brightness, and in the dimly lit room tinted with yellow, Joo-ha closed her eyes.

#.

“The sacred power doesn’t respond.”

“That’s correct. No matter how much we try, Yeong-ae’s body cannot receive the sacred power.”

“That, that can’t be true!”

The noisy voices made Joo-ha’s eyebrows tremble. Eleanor lifted her heavy eyelids with difficulty.

It was a familiar space.

A princess-like bed, a soft mattress. It was a bit sophisticated to call it a lady’s room.

Just like when she first opened her eyes in this world. Eleanor was now lying on her bed in Beauren’s townhouse.

Eleanor cautiously turned her head to look around while lying down. The voices that woke her up were coming from beyond the partition set up next to the bed.

“Even when she was at the mine, she received the sacred power.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“Is this even possible?”

“No. No, to think that a human cannot receive the sacred power… Yeong-ae’s body was special from the beginning.”

The voices were all too familiar.

Her father, older brother, Albriss. And even the people from the church where she had been a servant last spring.

And by her side, a woman with ivory-colored hair lowered her head and raised her clasped hands.

“She has been unconscious for a week now. Why isn’t she waking up?”

“It’s a similar state to when she had a fever last spring.”

“Since her mana levels are stable, we should wait.”

Finally, Eleanor understood the situation.

I… have returned.

To my original world.

And now, I will truly leave.

Feeling a sense of emptiness for some reason, Eleanor carefully raised her hand on the bed. Her trembling hand reached towards the clasped hand of the woman.

Gently placing her hand on the clasped fingers of the woman, Eleanor’s hand caused the ivory-colored hair to sway gently.

“E-Elly!”

With eyes as surprised as her pupils, the woman, Eleanor, exclaimed.

“Sorry, Elly. I made you worry in so many ways.”

“You, I thought you were dead… I thought you were dead because of me!”

The familiar scent of roses lingered in the air. The warm and soft embrace of Eleanor enveloped the bed, and the trembling voice of Eleanor echoed in her ears.

And Beauren’s townhouse began to get noisier.

#.

Since then, Eleanor spent the long winter at a mansion in the west.

The contract that had bound Beauren to the royal family was ended by the princess’s order, so this winter, Beauren’s family gathered in the west.

Albriss was busy shuttling between the capital and the west.

Eleanor learned later that he had gone to the capital for a purpose other than the family’s affairs.

In the embrace of her beloved family, Eleanor truly became a woman of Beauren.

To her family, she became a cute youngest daughter who acted spoiled with a stern face, and in the social circles of the west, she confidently displayed her beautiful figure as a woman of Beauren in front of other women.

And.

After a long and harsh winter, time passed, and spring came again.

“Excuse me… Foreigner. Why isn’t he coming? Could he have gotten into an accident?”

“Oh, goodness. Miss! We’re actually 10 minutes earlier than the expected arrival time, right now!”

At the train station in Bearne, Eleanor and the foreigner were waiting for the train coming from the west. Eleanor, now familiar with the intimacy between women, even pulled the foreigner’s arm tightly against her chest.

“Ah… When is it coming?”

“Oh, there! Miss, come over here!”

And in the distance, the train’s whistle could be heard. As the sound gradually approached, Eleanor’s voice was trembling slightly.

“Oh, there he is, the foreigner.”

Gently holding the foreigner’s hand that she had secretly grabbed, Eleanor looked at the foreigner as if she didn’t know what to do, like a puppy with its tail on fire.

“Yes, Miss.”

“How do I look? Is there anything strange?”

Turning around with a deeply flushed face, Eleanor’s sky-blue dress skirt swayed under her cape.

Seeing her like that, the foreigner couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“Pfft, hehe.”

“Oh, don’t laugh!”

Seeing her friend like that, Eleanor pursed her lips. The foreigner took out a pink lipstick from her bag and applied it on Eleanor’s lips.

“You look beautiful. Extremely beautiful. The Duke will surely fall for you at first sight.”

“Really?”

“Yes. He. Will. Truly. The Duke was lucky. To have such a lady in his hands.”

Eleanor blushed deeply, lowering her head and turning red in embarrassment. From being nervous and tense to feeling shy, her lady was truly a busy lady.

The train arrived at the station, emitting a lot of white steam. The train doors opened, and people started to get off one by one in the bustling station.

Amidst the chaos, the foreigner gently held Eleanor’s hand.

“Miss, over there! He’s over there.”

At the foreigner’s whisper, Eleanor turned her head slightly. Among the bustling crowd, a black-haired man with sky-blue eyes caught her attention.

And he was the Duke.

Eleanor let go of the foreigner’s hand and nodded towards each other. She started to approach him.

“Dmitri!”

“Elli!”

Like a scene from a movie, the two lovers who had been separated embraced each other on the platform. To ensure that the returning lover would never escape from her, Dmitri held her tightly in his arms.

Nestled in his arms, Eleanor raised her head slightly to look at Dmitri.

His sharp beard, tousled black hair in the wind, and slightly thinner figure.

The man who held her in his arms was undoubtedly Dmitri, but he looked slightly different from her memories.

Still.

Everything about him was lovable.

Eleanor gently rested her forehead on his firm chest. Like a pet expressing ownership, Eleanor enveloped Dmitri’s body with her scent.

Within that embrace, the two lovers finally confessed their feelings.

“I missed you, Dmitri.”

“Elli… I… I feel like I can’t live without you.”

Finally, Dmitri gently brushed Eleanor’s disheveled bangs to the side. He placed his lips on her exposed white forehead.

“Eli… really….”

Dmitri, who had been wanting to ask if she was really right, couldn’t bring himself to speak. His emotions were overwhelming.

Looking at Dmitri like that, Eleanor suppressed the corners of her mouth that wanted to comfort him.

Even though she held him in her arms and kissed his forehead, why couldn’t he believe her, that man.

Eleanor subtly lifted her high-heeled shoe. The heel of the shoe was quite high, but it wouldn’t reach his lips as they were.

“I love you, Dmitri.”

She had no regrets about giving up her life in the real world. Some considered her transmigration into a romance novel as a mere coincidence.

“But now…”

With a bashful smile, this time she kissed him first. With the determination not to run away from his embrace, Eleanor closed her eyes, savoring his scent.