Home/The Reincarnated Hero Is Melancholic/ch2

Chapter 2

Several days passed, and I finally succeeded in grasping the situation I was in.

At first, I thought it was a dream—or perhaps the kind of hallucination one sees just before death.

But that notion quickly faded.

"Rowena, our pretty daughter. Give Mommy a kiss on the cheek! …Aigoo, well done! Our princess can do no wrong."

The woman who called me Rowena—my mother in this body—had eyes brimming with such deep, tender love that it was impossible to dismiss it as mere illusion.

So this was neither my dream nor my past. It couldn't be.

I had never possessed an imagination vivid enough to conjure something I had never experienced with such clarity.

And that wasn't all.

"Unis. Rowena."

"Ah, Calips. Did you settle the matter you went to see about?"

"More or less. I'll likely need to go once more next week… Was everything alright with you?"

"Hmm, nothing out of the ordinary—except that our daughter is far too pretty. Come, Rowena, Daddy is here. Shall we greet him?"

"…Rowena, it's Papa."

"You should hold her too. …Hm, you're even steadier than I am."

"…She really is so small."

"Hehe. Kizef and Werner were so big, after all. I suppose that makes her feel even smaller."

The man who carefully took me from the woman's arms looked at me with gruff but undeniably affectionate eyes.

Watching them chat softly as I rested in his sturdy embrace—

"Oh, come on! You two always get to play with Rowena, and I never—urk."

"Werner. What kind of language is that to use with your parents? And I told you not to run in the hallway."

With a clatter of footsteps, a small boy appeared, followed closely by a slightly older one.

The two looked so alike that anyone could tell they were brothers.

At the sight, the woman who had been stroking my cheek broke into a bright smile.

"Our boys are here. Did you come running because you missed Mommy so much?"

"…Mhm."

"Oh? Is that so? It seems our second-born only wanted to see the baby."

"N-no! I missed you too, but…"

His voice trailed off, and even to me, it didn't sound very convincing.

The way he kept sneaking glances my way only added to the impression.

"Hmm. You sure don't look it… Aigo, Mommy and Daddy are so hurt."

"No, I—"

"Oh dear, Mommy is so upset she might cry."

"…Ugh."

With a teasing expression, Unis only stopped her antics after the second-born, Werner, finally burst into tears.

"Ahaha! My crybaby second-born, come here. I'm sorry. Was Mommy too mean?"

"Unis…"

Calips, who wore a somewhat resigned expression, watched Werner sniffle in Unis's arms for a moment, then lowered himself down.

He seemed to be showing me—the baby sharing this body, their youngest sibling—to Werner.

Instantly, the boy stopped crying, as if he had never been sobbing at all.

I blinked quietly at Werner, who had suddenly thrust his face close to mine.

That was all I did, yet Werner beamed.

"Hee… Rowena is so pretty."

"It's not Rowena, it's Rowena."

"Mm, Rowena."

"Kizef. You come here too."

At Calips's call, Kizef, the eldest who had been standing by the door, shuffled over.

'…Both brothers take after their father a lot.'

The genes must be strong.

While I was having such idle thoughts, the older brother—despite having barged in so carelessly—touched my cheek with astonishing gentleness.

"…Her cheeks are so soft."

The eldest, who seemed to have inherited his father's taciturn nature, opened his mouth quietly and murmured softly. The more boisterous second-born grabbed his own hand that had barely touched me, let out a silent roar, and dashed around the room.

In that, I could see just how much the two brothers adored their little sister.

That love, I imagined, was passed down from the parents who watched them with warm eyes.

I remained still in the body of the inexplicably acquired infant, quietly observing that harmonious scene.

Thinking it would surely end someday.

But days turned into weeks, and weeks into months—half a year passed.

"Goodness! Dear, boys! Rowel just rolled over!"

"Wow!"

"…A genius."

When I—trapped in a baby's body—succeeded in rolling over, the whole family cheered.

"Ab… Mamoa…"

"Rowel, me too, me too! Just say 'oppa' once. Please, huh?"

"If it's hard, you can just say my name."

"Opb…"

"…Brother, did you hear that?"

"…I heard it."

When I finally managed to blurt out something resembling babbling out of sheer frustration, they beamed with delight, as if nothing could make them happier.

Those days passed again—days, weeks, months—and soon the day of my birthday celebration arrived.

In the end, I had no choice but to accept it.

This was no dream or illusion, and the beloved youngest of this warm family, whom they called Rowena, was me.

And so, the years passed—until my seventh birthday loomed just one month away.

---

"…Miss."

"…"

"Miss Rowena?"

A familiar voice pierced through my dazed reverie.

"Ah…?"

I lifted my head a little slowly, and saw Jena looking at me with a slightly worried expression.

Only then did I remember that I had become lost in thought on my way to lunch.

"Sorry, Jena. I was just thinking about something for a moment."

"No need to apologize. But what were you thinking about so intently?"

What was I thinking about…?

It was something I could tell no one—not even Jena—so I activated my specialty:

Vaguely smiling and brushing it off.

"Hmm, I was wondering what today's lunch menu is. Actually, I saw Uncle Huey prepping a huge piece of beef yesterday."

I lowered my voice conspiratorially, and Jena's eyes went wide.

"Oh my, when did you see that? The head chef said it was top secret from you!"

Hm. Works like a charm.

"Secret. If I tell you, Uncle Huey will find out too."

"Miss… That one time was truly an accident."

"Nope. I still can't trust you…"

I shook my head and added a somber murmur, and Jena feigned great disappointment before eventually bursting into laughter.

Jena particularly enjoyed this kind of banter.

I watched her for a moment, then grinned and continued walking.

In truth, contrary to what I'd told Jena, I had been submerged in a sudden surge of past memories.

More precisely, memories of the time I died and the moment I first began living as Rowena von Valentine.

Whenever I recalled the past, I tended to become so absorbed that I often lost track of my surroundings.

'I try to do it only when I'm alone… but that's easier said than done.'

Controlling one's thoughts at will was no simple task.

Especially with this young body, so vulnerable to stimuli and impulses.

'Probably because I heard Isid mentioned yesterday.'

Isid. In a way, my one and only friend.

I silently savored that nostalgic name in my mind.

After the first year of denying reality, I had faithfully lived as Rowena von Valentine.

In just one month, I would turn seven—meaning I had already filled six years and eleven months in this life.

Through that time, I learned that this was the future, five hundred years after my death, and that I had been reincarnated as a descendant of my friend.

Before dying, I had four friends in total.

Apart from the black dragon Isid, the other three were comrades I met in the allied forces formed to fight the dark mages.

Kyle, Daina, and Jin.

Rowena von Valentine—the owner of my new name—was a descendant of Jin von Valentine, five hundred years later.

"Roel. Are you alright?"

"…Kyle, Daina. It's best not to fight in public…"

"Roel, Isid. Please have dinner."

Thinking of Jin, his gruff yet gentle voice naturally drifted through my ears.

Jin was a man of few words, but deeply considerate and kind.

He had suffered the most mediating between Kyle, the crown prince, and Daina, the saintess, who tended to clash.

The feeling of becoming Jin's descendant… was complicated and subtle.

Was it because I inherited the blood of a friend, or because the friend whose laughter and chatter I vividly remembered had suddenly become a person from five hundred years ago?

'Who could have ever imagined such a situation?'

I swallowed a familiar sigh and took Jena's hand as we descended the stairs.

Tap.

Just as we reached the bottom and set foot in the lobby—

"Whoa!"

With a booming shout, something leaped into my vision.

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