“Brisa-yang, I regret to deliver such news.”
The day before graduation at the Capital Academy.
“We have received word that Marquis Seers has passed away in a carriage accident. Please accept my deepest condolences.”
I received news of my father’s death while reading a book in the library.
“Furthermore, they say Marquis Seers’s eldest son, who had long been missing, has been found.”
At the same time, I learned of the return of my half-brother.
“Therefore, the title of Marquis Seers….”
The teacher who brought the news wrapped an arm around my rigid shoulders.
“According to the will, it has been decided that the eldest son will inherit it.”
My father’s passing did not deal me much of a blow. There had never been any affection between father and daughter in the first place.
So much so that during my two years at the Capital Academy, I had not returned to the marquisate even once.
Yet the fact that a half-brother whose face I had never even seen was now Marquis Seers came as a shock.
From early childhood, I had been educated as the heir to the marquisate. Yet I was not to inherit the title….
If my mother, who passed away two years ago, were to hear this in the afterlife, she would kick open her coffin right this second, sprint out, and turn the marquis’s manor upside down.
“Do you really think that eldest son born of a maid will ever return? The fact that he hasn’t been found by now means he never will be.”
My father, Marquis Seers, married twice.
His first marriage was a secret ceremony at a rural temple after eloping with a maid from the marquis’s manor.
Just a few days later, the family found out and forced a divorce.
‘And the maid, who was pregnant with a son, vanished without a trace.’
Ten years after that, my father entered into his second marriage with my mother.
In truth, my father had spent all his time searching for that eldest son ever since the divorce. Even though the only thing he knew about the child in her womb was the gender the doctor had confirmed upon pregnancy.
And he had been adamant about passing the title of marquis down to him.
Because of that, Mother had muttered anxiously day after day.
“That lowly thing won’t suddenly appear out of nowhere one day, right? Tainted with commoner blood, there is no way he could ever make a proper Marquis Seers.”
Mother was the last princess of the Kingdom of Riente.
Though it fell in defeat, the Kingdom of Riente had been a nation with a long history.
That was why Mother had always insisted that my lineage was far superior to that eldest son’s.
“He is probably out among commoners farming oriental melons or something. How could someone like him ever live as a person worthy of the storied title of Marquis Seers?”
But every single one of those expectations had been wrong.
My half-brother, Alpheus Seers, was no ordinary man.
Though Alpheus grew up among commoners as a mercenary, his abilities were so exceptional that he caught the eye of the 2nd Prince, who had gone to resolve the northern civil war.
Hailed as a war hero in the North, he was even promised a title by the 2nd Prince.
Having brought the northern civil war to an end, it was on his way up to the capital that he discovered who his biological father was.
Regrettably, just before Father could hear the news, he died instantly in a carriage accident.
Having learned all of these circumstances, I headed for the marquisate regardless. After all, I had to attend Father’s funeral.
I met Alpheus for the first time at the funeral hall in the marquisate.
A strikingly handsome face and a solid, well-built physique.
Platinum-blonde hair and sky-blue eyes identical to mine.
The young man in mourning attire strode over on long legs and offered a tentative greeting.
“Brisa? Are you Brisa?”
My mind went blank for a moment.
“I’m, um, called Alpheus…. I heard you’re ten years younger than me. So that makes you twelve now, right? I don’t know if you’ve heard, but, um, I’m your brother….”
After that.
I had no idea how the funeral proceeded or what state of mind carried me back to my room.
My memory cut off completely.
Because….
‘Have I gone crazy?’
The moment I looked at Alpheus’s face, unfamiliar memories had flooded into my head.
The world I lived in was the world of a novel I had read in my past life.
‘The male lead is Alpheus. Right now he’s a kind, simple young man, but he’ll soon turn dark.’
What was more, the future awaiting me was downright hopeless.
Once the funeral was over, I locked myself alone in my room for the time being.
“My Lady, My Lady!”
“What is the matter? Please, what’s wrong?”
The loyal maids of the marquis’s manor were all at a complete loss. But I did not have the presence of mind to answer them.
Neither the death of a father whose face I had rarely seen, nor the appearance of the half-brother my mother had so fiercely guarded against in life, mattered at this moment. What terrified me more than anything was that I was losing my mind.
That this world was inside a novel was completely absurd.
‘I became an orphan, a half-brother I didn’t even know existed showed up, and on top of that, the title of marquis was suddenly snatched away from me, so I’m just in deep shock.’
Clutched around a thick book as usual, I drew ragged breaths.
‘First of all, I must not let anyone find out I’ve gone mad.’
Saying things like I suddenly knew the future could never, under any circumstances, leave my lips.
“Did you hear? The last princess of Riente… they say she suffered from madness.”
“Really? Then what about her daughter? Isn’t Brisa Seers out of her mind too?”
“Most likely. Why else would Marquis Seers have spent all his time wandering about, searching for the eldest son born of a maid?”
Recalling the whispers I had overheard behind my back, I squeezed my eyes shut.
If I were to talk about past lives or reincarnation, everyone would say I took after my mother and had finally gone mad.
‘Couldn’t it get a little better with time? It’s not like I’m having hallucinations or hearing voices yet….’
It was then.
“Um, Brisa. I’m, well, Alpheus.”
Along with a knock, a deep voice drifted in. Alpheus, whom I had met at the funeral earlier, was knocking on my door.
“Er, I’m that person from before who became your family today. Um, what I mean is, even though Father passed away, you’re not alone….”
The war hero’s way of speaking reeked heavily of a pushover.
“Er, um, would it be all right if I came in for a moment?”
I answered immediately.
“It’s not all right.”
“Um… would you like to talk for a bit?”
“I would not.”
“Then could I at least see your face for a second… please?”
“You may not.”
Seeing Alpheus’s face was what triggered these delusions in the first place….
‘What if my symptoms get even worse if I see him again?’
Giving him the cold shoulder at the door was easy. I had never possessed a gentle or friendly personality to begin with.
“Ah…. Are you busy right now?”
“Very busy.”
“Is there anything I might be able to help with?”
“I am currently reading, so it would be a great help if you would leave now.”
“What book? I really love literature, too! If it’s one I’ve read, we could even discuss—”
“.”
“…….”
The literary young man outside the door finally shut his mouth.
A brief silence followed.
Just when I thought he might leave, cautious words followed.
“I’m setting off for the capital now. I need to collect the war compensation from the Imperial Family as soon as possible, you see.”
“…….”
“It seems the marquisate’s finances aren’t very good. Of course! It’s nothing, absolutely nothing at all, for you to worry about.”
I caught on immediately.
‘It’s something to worry about very, truly, enormously.’
Having returned to the marquis’s manor today for the first time in two years, I wasn’t yet well-versed in the estate’s affairs. However, the estate’s condition had never been particularly good.
“I’ll be back within ten days at the latest. I… hope I can see your face then. Take good care of yourself.”
I drew a ragged, anxious breath.
Right now, Alpheus had spoken in the exact same manner as the ‘future I had come to know.’
‘Don’t tell me the butler was caught embezzling and kicked out, too?’
No sooner had that suspicion crossed my mind than Alpheus added:
“Ah, and… I let the butler go. It’s just, um, an adult matter that turned out that way. I’ll leave my adjutant behind instead, so if you ever need help, feel free to go to him anytime.”
Despair washed over me.
‘Could it be that I haven’t gone crazy? Is this truly the future that will come to pass?’
But among truly mad people, not a single one ever thinks they are mad.
Mother had never acknowledged her own madness until the day she died.
‘Still, if my delusion is indeed the real future….’
In that case, Alpheus will return to the territory not in ten days, but three months later, heavily wounded.
What’s more, there will be no one left in the estate when he returns. Everyone will be dead.
‘If I utter those words aloud, I’ll truly become a crazy child…. No, maybe I really am a crazy child….’
While I agonized, Alpheus’s footsteps began to recede.
I was surely out of my mind, yet everything was proceeding exactly as in my delusion.
If things went on like this… if I let Alpheus leave just like in the original work….
‘Aaaargh!’
In the end, I rummaged through my bag, pulled something out, and shouted toward the door.
“Wait a minute!”
