Chapter 1

I stared blankly at the baby thrown into my arms.

The baby in my arms was hot to the touch. As if it could swallow me whole.

“That’s your child to raise.”

The baby screamed loudly, my father looked down coldly, and my mother was crying while clutching the corpse of my younger sibling.

My child to raise?

This child isn’t mine.

Of course, I could understand my parents kicking me out. I was the family’s troublemaker, a villain hated by the empire.

But this child was born to Ellice.

In the lavish and extravagant room, I was the only one lost and confused. I couldn’t grasp my father’s shocking words, nor could I do anything in front of my younger sibling’s dead body.

Holding the cold, lifeless body of my sibling, I embraced the only daughter she had given birth to and was driven out of the house.

Ah, this is nonsense.

Really, it makes no sense!

This is not what I wrote in my novel!

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

<The Fallen Lady Lives Tomorrow>

I set three main characters in this novel. The female lead Ellice, the male lead Alexand, and another female lead, Veloce.

Ellice and Veloce were the two daughters of the Artemio Count family.

The eldest daughter Veloce had black hair and blue eyes. In the Artemio family, hair blacker than a raven’s wing was considered the devil’s, and she suffered frequent verbal abuse and mistreatment from her parents.

The discrimination against black hair was partly due to a prophecy cast upon the Artemio family.

“A child born with black hair will bring ruin to the family!”

After a child fitting that prophecy was born as the eldest daughter, the position of the count and countess became unstable. There were internal talks about whether the count who gave birth to that child should hold the family head position.

Until the birth of Ellice, who was said by the temple’s prophecy to offset the curse, Veloce was called “devil” without even a name. But no one outside knew about this problem. Who would spread rumors about the family’s ruin?

Veloce was a noble lady of Artemio but was said to have been born weak and registered late in the family register.

The younger daughter Ellice was completely different from Veloce. Ellice, with her blonde hair and blue eyes, was revered as a saint. It was natural for Veloce to envy and want to take everything Ellice had.

In Veloce’s heart lived a child who had never been loved.

So, Veloce tried hard to drive a wedge between Alexand and Ellice.

Some said Veloce should be hated and killed at the end, but to me, Veloce was also a painful part, so I spared her. I thought it was a perfect ending. Veloce was punished to serve Ellice for life.

That was all I wrote.

But for some reason, I still had lingering feelings. At the end of the novel, I ended up possessing Veloce’s body.

There was a line from Alexand.

“As a knight, I want to die on the battlefield.”

He died on the battlefield as he wished. About a year after the novel ended. And Ellice, pregnant, went to see Alexand’s corpse herself, but caught an illness on the way. The doctor gave her six months to live.

If she gave birth, she would only live three months, the doctor added.

I told Ellice.

“Alexand is already dead!”

Tragically, that was the truth.

“Better to kill the baby and live a little longer yourself. Please… for my sake.”

It was cruel, but it was sincere.

She was the heroine I had written for three years. I could say she was my child, born and raised by my hands. Alexand’s death alone broke my heart, and now Ellice was dying. More than the baby I hadn’t even seen, Ellice was more important.

Still, like any good heroine, Ellice wanted to save the baby.

“Sis. The baby will stay with you. The baby will live longer than me, right by your side. Longer than me… So please take good care of the baby.”

That was her last will.

Ellice gave birth and lived only three more weeks. Even shorter than the doctor predicted.

“…Oh?”

The baby, still unnamed, tilted her head. She looked exactly like Ellice with blonde hair and blue eyes. Even the dimple on her sunken cheek was the same.

I couldn’t let this baby freeze to death in winter because she reminded me so much of Ellice.

“Wah…”

The baby nibbled her little lips and looked into my eyes.

Seeing Ellice’s shining eyes, I made up my mind.

“I will definitely save you.”

I gritted my teeth.

There was no time or luxury to cry.

I was driven out in the dead of winter, holding a newborn baby with no clothes on. I had to find a way to survive first.

Luckily, Veloce’s fiancé suddenly came to mind.

He lived only 30 minutes away on foot.

The problem was… we hadn’t contacted each other once in ten years.

I ignored that and held the baby tightly.

“What’s the problem now? I have to survive first.”

Fortunately, I hadn’t made Veloce’s fiancé a heartless character.

He really wasn’t.

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

Enduring the freezing weather that felt like it could cause frostbite, I walked and walked.

Having been driven out naked, I had no money except for the baby.

Damn cruel authors.

Anyway, they’re not my real parents, so I’ll curse them all I want!

Shivering, I hugged the baby tightly and asked people for directions until I stood in front of a grand mansion.

I stared blankly at the mansion located beyond the vast garden and muttered.

When will I ever come here again?

“Sigh, I’m here. Well, at least I arrived. That’s enough.”

I comforted myself and pulled the baby, who had never once woken up, closer.

Good baby.

Luckily, the baby inherited Ellice’s gentle nature. She ate well, slept well, and played well.

I pressed the doorbell with my hands blue from the cold.

“This is the Jeremias Mansion. Who is it?”

“I-I-I’m… A-Artemio’s…”

“I can’t hear you well. Could you say that again?”

My teeth chattered from the cold, and words barely came out.

So I closed my eyes tight and shouted quickly.

“Veloce!”

Surely they wouldn’t forget the fiancée’s name?

“…Who is that?”

Maybe they could forget.

Ten years is a long time.

So I took a deep breath and shouted again, this time short and clear.

“Artemio!”

Only then did the door open.

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

Tap tap tap…

No one in this house ran like that.

Who on earth is running around so recklessly?

The sound disturbed Maynus, who frowned and looked up. Maynus was sensitive while working, so the mansion’s servants were always careful.

Who is it? I have a mountain of paperwork to finish today!

Maynus muttered.

Knock knock knock…

Someone knocked, and Maynus said irritably.

“Come in!”

The door opened, and in came a butler I had never seen before, looking disheveled.

The old man’s face was pale, lips trembling, signaling the news he brought was serious.

Seeing someone like that react this way eased my irritation a bit. There must be a reason.

“What is it?”

Maynus sighed deeply and asked.

“…Your fiancée has arrived.”

“…Who?”

It seemed the master had forgotten about the engagement after ten years and only stamping the papers.

The butler added for the master.

“Th-the Artemio family’s…”

Ah.

Maynus frowned and pulled the fiancée’s name from old memories.

“Was it Veloce? But why would she come here?”

The last rumor about Veloce was that she was obsessed with the hero Alexand and was desperate to get her sister.

The butler swallowed dryly and shook his head.

“I don’t know the reason, but you should come down.”

Maynus sighed long.

Today must be a bad day. Judging by the butler’s reaction, it doesn’t seem like a situation where he can send her away quickly.

“Sigh.”

‘I hope it’s nothing serious.’

Or else he wouldn’t leave the Artemio family alone even if they are protected by the royal family.