Chapter 3
I realized I had been born as a character in a book two months ago.
That memory came to me without any warning.
I had simply flopped carelessly on the sofa for a nap and woken up, but everything felt strangely unfamiliar. As if I was still dreaming.
The ceiling in my field of vision was tremendously high. It was like being in some grand castle rather than an ordinary home.
A large carpet covered the floor, and the ceiling decorated with geometric patterns was so ornate I wondered if it really was a ceiling. Above all, what was that enormous chandelier?
I blinked my eyes for a long time. If I had opened my eyes in an unfamiliar place, I should have been afraid, but I felt strangely at home.
I already recognized this place as home.
‘Where was this again?’ The moment I thought that, I heard the sound of pages turning. I sat up and turned my gaze toward the sound. A large holographic newspaper was fluttering by itself, turning its own pages.
Back then, my head was so confused it made me nauseous. It didn’t feel like new memories being layered over existing ones, but rather like memories hidden behind a veil were slowly being revealed.
Memories from my past life and present life tangled together chaotically.
My name is ‘Algenfrina Ariella.’
In the novel ‘Cold Heart’ that I had read in my previous life, I was a supporting character who died futilely while trying to take revenge on the worst dark mage, ‘Chervan Kallius.’
Of all things to be reincarnated as, why did it have to be a character who dies like that!
But realizing my reincarnation didn’t suddenly make my family feel awkward. Because…
“Ariella! Come here for a moment!”
The face of my mother calling me from over there was exactly the same as my mother’s face in my memories.
And it wasn’t just my mother. My father and brothers were all the same too. Not just their appearance, but their personalities and way of speaking.
At my mother’s call, I closed the notebook I’d been scribbling in carelessly. Inside the notebook were traces of how I might preserve my life over these past two months.
In the novel ‘Cold Heart,’ the Algenfrina ducal family falls to ruin when everyone except Ariella dies in a massive fire of unknown origin.
Now, unable to remember all the detailed content of the original story, what I can do is survive together with my family using minimal information.
Using everything I have.
“Ari?”
Finding me unresponsive to her calls, my mother came looking for me, bent down, and placed her hand on my forehead.
“Why are you spacing out like this? You don’t have a fever… Are you hurt anywhere?”
When I burrowed into my mother’s embrace without saying anything, thinking it was just being spoiled, warm hands patted my back.
Seeing my mother laugh as she held me made my nose sting. I absolutely couldn’t let my mother die, nor my father, nor my brothers.
I know how to avoid death, so I should just sit here doing nothing?
The original Ariella was just an ordinary supporting character who occasionally appeared in the role of envying the female protagonist’s strong unique magic that could stand against her enemy, Chervan Kallius.
So clichéd that readers cursed her as too predictable.
But her unique magic was hard to call predictable. That’s because her unique magic was a disgustingly ugly and stupidly sturdy club.
If that club had merely been unsightly, my future would have been dark. If I hadn’t bothered to read the behind-the-scenes setting collection uploaded after the work was completed, an even more desperate future would have awaited me.
What surprised readers wasn’t some hidden secret of the protagonist, but the ‘Author’s Note’ section that contained application methods for the unique magics appearing in the novel.
Among them, readers couldn’t help but gasp when they saw the hidden ability of Algenfrina Ariella’s unique magic.
Who would have thought that what seemed like just a useless ugly club was actually a ‘goblin club’ with insane performance?
With this, couldn’t I survive against Chervan Kallius?
Chervan Kallius.
The worst dark mage in the original story and a genius born with two powerful unique magics.
It’s already hard to get even one unique magic, but giving two to one person is really unfair. And they’re not even weak abilities—both are deadly powers!
‘Flame’ and ‘Corrosion.’
Flame is threatening enough, but on top of that, he has magic that makes objects rot and crumble. Truly abilities suited for a villain.
To think I have to survive against such a guy. Isn’t this second life too high difficulty?
“Ah…”
“What’s with the sighing? You’re really not hurt somewhere, are you?”
“Mom…”
The time when the ducal family falls due to fire is when Ariella turns nineteen. Actually, calling it a fire of unknown origin is just talk—it was too clear who caused that fire.
There was only one person in the empire who could start a massive fire capable of bringing down a ducal family overnight.
‘I spared your life, yet you rush toward death.’
Those were the last words Ariella heard from Chervan Kallius just before she died.
How can I twist this ending…
Our family was currently not at the duchy, but at a villa located between the capital and the ducal territory. My mother’s frail health had been particularly bad this year, so we were here for her recuperation in a quiet place.
The village ten minutes away by carriage was peaceful, and behind the villa were gentle hills good for walking and a small lake. The problem was that this place was surrounded by mountains.
…Is it here? Surely we won’t stay here without returning to the duchy until I turn nineteen, and the fire happens here?
Come to think of it, if a fire had occurred at the ducal castle, there’s no way the duke and duchess couldn’t have escaped. With all the magic circles installed to prevent external attacks…
The villa also had magic circles installed, but they weren’t as solid as those at the ducal castle, so it was uncertain whether they could properly protect us. But I couldn’t throw a tantrum about returning to the duchy immediately with my sick mother!
“Come on, snap out of it and come eat pancakes. You’ve been singing about wanting them since yesterday.”
“Okay, but where’s my brother?”
“He went down to the village to meet a friend he made recently.”
Shoving the thick-baked pancakes into my mouth, I fell into thought.
About the danger ahead, all I knew was ‘fire.’ If it’s fire, I should respond with water, but water-related unique magic has already been assigned to the original female protagonist, so it has nothing to do with me…
The fortunate thing is that my goblin club doesn’t burn in fire. Because it’s sturdy.
If I use the goblin club’s subspace well, I think I can somehow deal with it… But how am I supposed to stop a natural disaster-level fire?
“Oh right, Ari.”
“Yeah?”
Lost in thought for a while, I turned my gaze following my mother’s voice calling my name.
“Try to take Charlette with you when you go to the mountains alone.”
“Huh?”
My head tilted automatically. Charlette is my mother’s maid and also the head maid overseeing the villa.
I’m just going out to play by myself, but I should take Charlette?
“They say there are traces of outsiders in this area. Just to be safe.”
“Outsiders? Not villagers?”
“Right. So even if you give Charlette the slip, you mustn’t lose Shady too. Understood?”
As if knowing I would give Charlette the slip to go to the mountains, my mother instructed me with a confident voice.
‘Well, how did she know? Charlette nags too much.’
“How can I lose Shady? I don’t even know where he is!”
Shady was the Algenfrina ducal family’s shadow knight. So I know he’s nearby, but there’s no way to tell where he actually is.
“Playing around is fine, but be careful.”
“I’m more worried about your health, Mom!”
“Listen to this child talk.”
My mother snorted as if quite amused. But she didn’t particularly refute my words. Because my mother also knows it’s not wrong.
My mother hated moving her body. She’s always sitting or lying down, so her stamina is weaker than mine! It would have been nice if her unique magic was at least something active.
My mother’s unique magic was related to stars—she could put stars in the sky and read light prophecies through them.
It’s truly beautiful and enchanting magic, truly wondrous! But it wasn’t an ability that contributed to my mother’s health at all.
For these reasons, I let my mother’s words go in one ear and out the other as I left the house.
“Don’t go too deep into the mountains today, and don’t lose Shady!”
“I said I got it! I’ll be back!”
