Chapter 1. I Was Born as a Character that Wasn’t in the Original Story.

The Heroine is Born

"Thalia, this is your little sister, Royna."

The moment I heard the name of the tiny baby nestled in Roxana's arms, I couldn't help but despair.

Royna Remetio.

She was the heroine of my novel—the one I had desperately hoped would never be born.

'Damn it.'

"Tilly?"

My four-year-old body honestly reacted to my emotions. As my vision blurred with tears, Roxana laid Royna back in her cradle.

Julian, who had been watching the baby beside me, picked me up and patted my back.

As I wrapped both arms around his neck, the rabbit doll I'd been carrying under one arm fell to the floor.

"There, there. You're jealous because Mommy was holding your little sister, aren't you? Mommy belongs to our Tilly."

Julian comforted me as if he had expected this reaction.

I wanted to tell him internally that wasn't it, but the words wouldn't come out, so I just buried my face in his shoulder.

'What is this?'

"Our Tilly, come here."

Roxana took me from Julian and wiped away my tears. Her eyes were filled with pure affection.

It suddenly occurred to me that when a second child is born, the first often becomes jealous, feeling like their parents have been stolen away. They probably thought that's why I was crying.

'Well, in some ways, that's not wrong...'

When I first heard my parents' names, I had my doubts, but once I learned about the family and country I was born into, I was certain.

This world is the very novel I had written.

Even though I knew it, I had hoped until the very last moment. That the child Roxana would bear wouldn't be a daughter. That the child's name wouldn't be Royna.

However, the setting I had created worked like fate, giving her the name Royna and determining from birth that she would be the protagonist of this world.

"Tilly, look at this."

I sniffled and turned my head to see Julian pulling at his own face, making funny expressions.

That wasn't what I gave him that handsome face for.

I usually indulged him with giggles whenever he wore that pouty expression after my silence, but right now I had no patience for our usual routine.

"Daddy, you're ugly! Go away!"

At my honest words, he looked shocked and let go of his face, while Roxana burst into laughter. I buried my head in Roxana's shoulder again and cried loudly.

Being inside the novel I had written was more unpleasant than I had thought.

Perhaps others might welcome such a fantasy, but for me it was a nightmare made flesh. The tears tracing paths down my face, the burning sensation behind my eyelids, the warmth of arms encircling me, the tender voice caressing my ears—every sensation was devastatingly, undeniably real.

Those sensations whispered that all of this was an inescapable reality.

I had been living here for four years, pretending to be a child.

The last thing I remembered from my previous life was two bright lights rushing toward me. I had concluded last year that it was a car and that I had been in a traffic accident. And ridiculously enough, Roxana had gotten pregnant right around that time.

Had I died and been reborn? Or was I in a coma, having a long, long dream?

Either way, it was equally terrible.

"Tilly, do you like Mommy?"

"Yes."

"What about Daddy?"

"...Yes."

Unlike with Roxana, I answered after a slight pause, making Julian look hurt again.

"Just because Royna was born doesn't mean your beloved Mommy and Daddy are being taken away. Tilly, you've just gained another person you can love unconditionally. Mommy, Daddy, and Royna will all love Tilly too."

"..."

"Do you still dislike Royna?"

"No, I like her."

"Then shall we go say hello to our Royna? We greeted her many times when she was in Mommy's belly, but this is the first time seeing her face. She looks exactly like our Tilly did as a baby—so pretty."

Her distinctive fragrance, that uniquely husky tone despite her femininity, and those cropped platinum locks all worked to soothe my frayed nerves.

Seeing that I had calmed down a bit, Roxana sat me beside the cradle. The chubby cheeks and pretty purple eyes looked like a slightly younger version of my current appearance.

"Now, let's say hello to the baby."

"...Hello."

Royna, who had been staring at me while moving her lips, opened her mouth and drool flowed down her cheek. At that sight, I couldn't help but smile.

No matter how much I disliked this place, this baby was my beloved, perfect heroine.

'Right, 'my protagonist.''

This newborn baby who was the heroine, and Roxana and Julian who were the heroine's parents—they were all characters from the story I had carefully created. But I was the heroine's older sister, who didn't exist in the original work.

I loved them, but they weren't really my family.

I wiped the drool from Royna's face with a handkerchief and met her gaze—the same purple eyes as mine.

I remembered my own embarrassing drooling phase, and someone had always been there to dab away the mess with tender, careful touches. Although I couldn't see properly then and didn't know who it was, it was probably a nanny.

'You have one more person to wipe your drool, so that's even better for you. Right?'

Watching Royna desperately flailing her arms and legs trying to roll over, I pulled at my rabbit doll's ears.

At first, I had waited to help her roll back if she managed to turn over, but after ten minutes of her failing to roll over, I was getting bored. When I let out a long yawn, Royna stopped trying to roll over and stared at me.

'Did she give up?'

Tears began to well up in her large purple eyes, and soon Royna burst into tears. It seemed she was frustrated that things weren't going her way.

The nanny who had been watching us both comforted Royna, and her crying quieted down a bit. I removed my hands from my ears and tried to leave the room.

"Waaah!"

Royna's crying, which had seemed to calm down, got loud again, but since babies cry as part of their job, I just accepted it and left the room. I heard the nanny calling for me from the room, but I cheerfully ignored her. After a whole four months, I had come to visit first, but all I got was fatigue.

'Should I go to the garden and take a nap?'

After wandering around for a bit and deciding on my destination, I carefully carried my rabbit doll and began going down the stairs one step at a time.

Going down the stairs while holding such a large rabbit doll made me anxious about missing a step, but I managed to conquer the staircase safely. The rabbit doll, which sometimes felt cumbersome, was a birthday gift from Julian.

Since I carried it around every day, others probably thought of it as a comfort toy, but it was just a pillow essential for napping. With this, I could sleep anywhere.

'I thought about being reborn as a fat cat in a rich house in my next life, just sleeping all day.'

I had been born into a wealthy family and currently enjoyed the luxury of napping whenever I wanted without many restrictions. As for getting pleasantly plump, well, that remained a delightful possibility for the future, meaning that I had nearly achieved all of my life goals.

Yet the victory felt hollow. I'd completely missed the mark on the single most important detail—my species, I’m still human.

'I should sleep while I can.'

Coming out to the garden, I looked around and lay down under the biggest tree. It was shady and occasionally breezy—my frequent napping spot. Today too, the rabbit doll served as my pillow with its head squished flat.

Just as I was about to fall asleep, I heard someone stepping on the grass approaching and opened my eyes.

"My daughter."

"...Daddy?"

It hadn't even been an hour since lunch, yet Julian, who should be working until evening, was crouched beside me.

"You were sleeping when Daddy left this morning, and now you're sleeping again?"

"...Yes."

"Let's play with Daddy."

"What should we play?"

"House?"

"Then Daddy can be the mommy."

"Will Tilly play the daddy role?"

"No, Daddy is the rabbit."

Julian seemed momentarily flustered by my unexpected answer, but soon smiled again and asked what role I would play.

"Royna. Royna is still a baby, so she'll sleep. Good night."

I handed the rabbit doll to Julian and closed my eyes again. After a moment of quiet, Julian cheekily raised his voice and started talking to himself.

"That's strange? Daddy... I mean, Mommy has two babies, but there's only one here? Royna, shall we go look for your big sister together?"

I opened my eyes slightly to glare at Julian, then turned my body away completely. This wasn't working hours for the cute daughter he wanted, so I decided not to react.

"Royna was just born recently, so Mommy will have to carry her."

'Ah, how annoying.'

"...Wah wah."

Satisfied with my dry crying, Julian picked me up and went into the mansion. As he headed straight to Royna's room, I covered both ears with my hands. The sound of a baby crying could still be heard from inside the room. When Julian and I entered the room, the nanny who had been comforting Royna gave us a troubled smile.

"Your Grace."

"Royna really cries a lot."

"Yes, she's completely different from Miss Tilly, who only cried when absolutely necessary."

'I thought I cried quite a bit though.'

Pretending to sleep with my face buried in Julian's shoulder, I turned my head to look at Royna. The moment our eyes met while she was wailing, Royna stopped crying and stared at me.

"Oh my?"

Royna giggled with her puffy, swollen eyes. Seeing that smile, my lips unconsciously curved upward. I thought she looked quite ugly but cute.

'They say if someone looks cute even when they're ugly, there's no hope.'

"She's ugly."

At my honest observation, the nanny chuckled. Julian laughed too, but scolded me, saying I shouldn't say such things.

"Ugly? She's so pretty."

"No, Royna is ugly because she looks like Daddy."

"But Tilly looks like Daddy too?"

"When you cry, you get ugly, and both of you are always crying. I don't cry much, so I'm not ugly."

"...I, I see. Then I should try not to cry from now on."

"It's okay. Even if you're ugly, you're still cute."

As I patted Julian's head to comfort him, the nanny's face had turned an alarming shade of crimson as she fought a series of violent coughs. She seemed to be trying to cover up her amusement, unable to laugh out loud in front of him.

"Daddy wants to look cool rather than cute."

"Daddy, cute things are the best in the world. And even if you try to be cool, you can't match up to Mommy, so it's more advantageous to take the cute position."

"Advantageous for what?"

At that question, I thought for a moment, then stared intently at Julian's purple eyes. Royna's and my eyes were inherited from him. I smiled sweetly and tidied his disheveled hair with my small hands.

"When Daddy is crying, no matter how cool Mommy is, I'll go comfort you first. So please stay as a cute daddy."

"Does that mean you like Daddy more than Mommy?"

"No, that's not it."

At my serious expression and Julian's hurt look, the nanny finally couldn't hold back and burst into loud laughter.