Home/The Prince died, so we're starting over!/ch22

Episode 22

The moment I woke, I threw back the covers and examined my body.

My hands and feet seemed ever so slightly smaller than yesterday—or perhaps not.

Either way, I had regressed again...

"Huh."

But the window was far too bright for that.

"Anna, what time is it?"

"Two o'clock! You slept for over sixteen hours! You have no idea how worried I was, my lady!"

With tears welling in her eyes, Anna threw her arms around me.

What on earth had happened?

I wanted to ask for an explanation, but Anna spoke first.

"Ah! This is no time to be standing around! There's someone who's been waiting for you to wake up!"

"Huh? Who?"

"Hehe. Just wait a moment! I'll bring them right in!"

Anna left the room, her face brimming with excitement.

She was practically hurrying—she who always said it was unladylike to run and never did.

Watching Anna's delighted retreat, I grew curious about the guest who had supposedly been waiting for me to wake.

Soon, someone knocked on my door.

"Hari! My adorable little kitten! May I come in for a moment?"

Judging by the odd epithets, it must be Count Lulupel.

"Come in."

But something about the voice was different. The tone was strangely gentle...

Though a bit puzzled, I casually allowed Count Lulupel to enter.

But the person who opened the door and stepped in was not Count Lulupel.

"Hari! I've been waiting for you to wake! How are you feeling?"

"...Who are you?"

Seriously, who are you...

I leaned back slightly and looked the guest up and down.

He was a very cute boy.

With cotton-candy pink curly hair and eyes the color of green leaves, he had a delicate, refined impression.

This Empire certainly had a bright future—but wait, was this Hariella's brother? They looked like two peas in a pod.

"That's so mean, Hari. Are you still mad at your big brother?"

It seemed I'd guessed correctly.

The boy looked down at me with a pout.

"Er, well... Please have a seat."

"Hari! Are you trying to speak formally to me now? Of course I'm happy to see you grow up, but I can't help feeling a little left out too."

"...Sit."

"Alright, thank you."

The boy casually fetched a chair and sat down.

His movements were so natural that he'd clearly done this many times before.

This was my first time meeting Hariella's older brother.

Because the Count and Countess had essentially kept him locked away at the Imperial Central Academy.

They claimed it was for his studies, but to me, it seemed like pointless rivalry.

The heir of a neighboring county also attended the same academy.

Count Lulupel wanted to prove that his son was superior to that boy.

Hariella's brother had to devote himself to his studies without even vacations, driven by his father's pressure.

So I'd never had the chance to meet him before.

'What was his name again... Taki? Taco? Something with Ta...'

If I'd known we'd meet like this, I should have at least remembered his name.

"So, what brings you here—I mean, when did you—no, I mean..."

"You can ask slowly. Here, let me guess what our princess is curious about."

Was he really her biological brother?

Hariella's brother was so strange that I had to wonder.

Siblings were supposed to be the kind of relationship where speaking more than two words rots your tongue, and accidentally touching each other makes the flesh fester.

My real brother—well, my blood relative under the same parents—used to call me "hey" or "that thing."

"I met the Duke of Caledonia at the academy."

Just as I was scrutinizing the boy with suspicious eyes, he abruptly brought up an unexpected topic.

"Excuse me? Who?"

"Hmm... Sadly, our Hari doesn't seem very interested in what I have to say."

"...No, I am. Go on."

This kid, obsessed with casual speech.

I'd seen people hinting at using formal language, but I'd never seen anyone hint at using casual speech before.

When I changed my tone, the boy smiled with satisfaction and continued.

"When I met the Duke of Caledonia at the academy, I was truly surprised. I never dreamed he would enroll."

"Yes, I—I mean, I see..."

"I thought it was a gift from the gods. So I followed him around diligently. Since he's the third man our Hari likes most in the world, I figured I'd try to score some points."

"...Third?"

Why third?

Wasn't the Cal-something young duke supposed to be Hariella's first love?

I tilted my head in puzzlement.

A look of bewilderment crossed the boy's eyes.

"...I thought first was your big brother, second was Father, and third was the Duke of Caledonia... Was I wrong?"

It seemed this boy was a bit unhinged.

There was no way he could say such insane things otherwise.

Who in the world likes their own older brother?

"Hari? You should answer."

The boy smiled awkwardly, urging a response.

But I refused to open my lips. At that, he furrowed his brows deeply.

He crossed his arms, puzzled.

"...How strange. Whenever I said this before, our Hari would always throw a tantrum and tell me to go away... This isn't like you at all."

This was bad.

It seemed the Hariella in the boy's memory was quite different from how I was now.

His face was filled with suspicion.

This was troubling.

In all my four lives, I'd never once been met with such suspicion.

Anna, Hariella's closest confidante, was the type who accepted anything.

Sir Peter, the knight escort, was naturally oblivious.

The other servants barely even made eye contact with me.

So I'd never had to worry about them.

The only ones I needed to be careful around were the Count and Countess.

But even fooling them wasn't that difficult.

Because the Count and Countess were astonishingly ignorant of Hariella's personal tendencies.

Thanks to this environment, no one had ever realized I wasn't the real Hariella.

'What should I do? What kind of behavior would be like Hariella?'

I didn't know much about who Hariella had been before I possessed her.

I'd never made an effort to find out.

Of course, living as Hariella, I'd occasionally pick up bits of information about her. But that was all.

So I had no idea how to act in a situation like this.

"Ah. A-ah. My head hurts."

Unable to find a suitable excuse, I improvised by feigning illness.

Clutching my head, I collapsed back onto the bed.

"Hari! Your head hurts? Shall I call a healer? How bad is it?"

Hariella's brother rushed to my side.

I coughed weakly and answered in a dying voice.

"...A-a little?"

"A little? You're in this much pain and you say just a little?"

"...A little a lot? ...A-a lot, very a lot!"

"This is serious! I should call a healer after all!"

"A healer? No, I don't need a healer..."

If you just left, I'd be cured in no time...

But I couldn't explain that. Having nothing to say, I pressed my lips shut.

However he interpreted my silence, the boy's voice softened.

"Don't worry. I'll bring a different healer—not that quack who said you had no injuries. Of course, I'll have his hands and tongue cut off and banish him from the territory."

The problem was that while his voice was gentle, his words were anything but.

I was inwardly horrified.

Is he insane?

Why cut off an innocent healer's hands and tongue? What did the healer do wrong to deserve banishment?

It was hard to believe such twisted words were coming from a boy who looked as sweet as cotton candy.

It seemed that in this life too, the Lulupel blood ran with villainy.

Or perhaps the territory itself had terrible feng shui. Maybe there was some cursed ley line running through it.

At any rate, I couldn't let an innocent person be ruined just for my sake.

I urgently grabbed the boy's arm.

"O-oppa!"

"...Oppa?"

Was that wrong?

"O-orabeoni?"

"...Or-abeoni?"

That didn't seem right either.

What on earth did Hariella call her brother?

"...Our Hari isn't calling me a crazy bastard!"

Fortunately, the boy provided the correct answer himself.

Hariella... She was surprisingly sharp-minded, wasn't she...

Yes. Even I thought the boy seemed unhinged.

What started as a feigned illness was now giving me a real headache.

I pressed my hand to my forehead and called out to the boy.

"Hey."

"Hm?"

"Get out."

"Alright. But I'll have a healer come."

"Just get out! I think I'll be cured the moment you're out of my sight!"

From the circumstances, it seemed Hariella had despised her brother with a shudder.

Given their identical looks, they really were true siblings.

I decided to just say whatever came to mind.

That seemed to be the right answer, as the boy smiled contentedly.

"Now this is the Hari I know. But if you could, instead of 'get out,' say 'piss off' instead?"

"...Fine. Then would you please just piss off?"

"Drop the 'please' too."

"...Just piss off!"

"Alright. I'll see you at dinner."

The boy seemed thoroughly satisfied that he'd gotten me to curse.

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