Home/The Prince died, so we're starting over!/ch30

Episode 30

"I need to go to sleep soon."

"Already? It's not yet time for bed."

"That's your opinion, Something-or-other—I mean, Your Grace the Young Duke. I'm only eight years old."

He seemed to have just realized that the top of my head didn't even reach his chest.

"Children need plenty of sleep to grow tall. I'm planning to reach two meters, so I need to sleep sixteen hours a day."

The Something-or-other Young Duke looked slightly taken aback. His eyes trembled minutely.

I muttered loudly enough for him to hear, in a clear voice.

"Oh, I'm so sleepy. So very sleepy. But no one will let Hari go. Whatever do they all have so much to say to me..."

The Something-or-other Young Duke stared down at me with an even more bewildered face.

I gave a theatrical yawn.

His stiff shoulders drooped slightly.

"...I seem to have been rude."

"Yes."

"I'll walk you to your room."

"No."

"...Then I'll come again tomorrow morning."

"No to that too."

"...Have a good night."

"Yes."

The North, cold year-round...

Raised harshly on that desolate land, the Something-or-other Young Duke—with that childish setting of knowing no love—walked away with a sullen step that didn't suit his character.

"Whoa."

Hariella's brother, who had been forgotten in the corridor, clapped his hands.

"Aren't you going?"

I glared at him with the most vicious expression I could muster.

"I'm going."

Hariella's brother shrugged, completely unbothered.

"Then why are you still standing there?"

"I just remembered I have something to give you, since it's been a while."

"What? What is it?"

I couldn't think of anything I'd want from him.

What was it? Was this related to the real Hariella?

Frowning, I fell into thought.

Hariella's brother approached me with a sly grin and then...

"Hey!"

...kissed my cheek.

Knowing he'd done something to deserve retaliation, he turned and ran the moment his lips left my cheek.

"A goodnight kiss!"

He shouted from the end of the corridor.

Goodnight kiss... night kiss... kiss...

His final words echoed through the corridor for a while.

"Aaaaaagh! This is so frustrating!"

I rubbed my cheek with the back of my hand until it was raw.

What on earth was that kid?

There must be a curse on the Lulupel bloodline.

Otherwise, there's no way both father and son would be out of their minds.

I scrubbed my cheek with my sleeve, feeling it was about to rot away.

Suddenly, I thought the original Hariella was impressive.

To maintain her single-minded jealousy toward the female lead amidst all these chaotic main and supporting characters... it was truly admirable.

It seemed that being a villainess in a third-rate romance novel wasn't easy.

I let out a hollow sigh and returned to my room.

Tonight, I felt like I'd have nightmares.

---

Perhaps because I'd been tormented by people who were either "full of personality" or "impossible to deal with," I fell into a deep sleep as soon as I returned to my room.

"My lady! My lady!"

And the next morning, I woke to Anna's fussy voice as my alarm.

It was at the hour when dawn was just breaking.

"...Again?"

"Yes, again!"

"Tell him to go back..."

Even though I'd told him not to come, the Something-or-other Young Duke had come to my room once more.

Having been visited so often, Anna had now learned to smile and send him away.

Today too, Anna left the room to send the Something-or-other Young Duke off.

I also sluggishly got out of bed.

Normally, I'd sleep more, but today I couldn't. I had something to do behind Anna's back.

While Anna dealt with the Something-or-other Young Duke, I retrieved the contract I'd hidden in the bookshelf.

There was something I needed to check.

So, the name was...

'Saphirus Aiden Detemir.'

A name long enough to make sausages if it were a bit longer.

At least the name used in public was this short—the one on the Imperial family tree would be even more elaborate.

Even Hariella had five or six more middle names used only within the family, so the Third Prince must have even more.

'Saphirus, Saphirus, Saphirus...'

I stared at the contract and repeated the Third Prince's name over and over.

Last night, I'd had a dream—not exactly a nightmare, but a strange one that left me unsettled.

The only people in the dream were the Third Prince and me.

In a very large, quiet room, the Third Prince wept pitifully.

He struggled to hold back his tears and pleaded with me.

Listening closely, he seemed to be asking me to remember him.

Up to that point, I could understand it.

After all, I'd experienced something similar the previous day.

If I'd woken up there, I would have thought, 'I must have felt guilty for forgetting the Third Prince's name.'

But the dream continued.

After shedding tears for a long time, the Third Prince suddenly grew.

In an instant, he became a remarkably handsome man.

I couldn't remember his face clearly, but anyway, he must have been handsome.

Captivated by the man's looks, I couldn't take my eyes off him.

The man's eyes were also moist.

But the tears in his eyes never fell.

He said:

'You don't have to remember. I'll recognize you first.'

He smiled tenderly and comforted me.

Only then did I realize I was also crying.

The hand that had been touching my cheek began to grow transparent.

Without understanding what situation I was in, the dream-me was seized by impatience, feeling I had to say something.

"I...!"

I opened my mouth urgently.

But the words I wanted to say failed to form and sank beneath my tongue.

Just then, Anna pulled me out of the dream.

What I'd been about to say became an eternal mystery.

But I could roughly guess.

Perhaps I was about to say...

'Surely I wasn't going to say my memory isn't that bad?'

In hindsight, that dream was completely ridiculous.

Wasn't it about the Third Prince giving up because I couldn't remember his name even by the time he became an adult?

Naturally, I wasn't that stupid.

I just didn't see the need to memorize the names of the Third Prince and other characters.

What was the point of remembering names when we weren't close?

Calling someone by name would only create unnecessary attachment.

I wasn't from this world. I didn't want to get too entangled with these people.

Still, I did remember the names of those I'd inevitably grown close to. See—I know Anna's name, and Sir Peter's too.

I didn't memorize them. I never said I couldn't.

It's not like I'm stupid—of course I can remember a few names.

So the Third Prince's name is...!

"...Huh. What was it again?"

It started with 'Sa' or something...

I glanced down at the contract again.

Saphirus Aiden Detemir.

The Third Prince's name was still there, firmly in place.

I closed my eyes tightly once more.

The Third Prince's name is...!

"...What was it again?"

I couldn't remember again.

This was shocking.

Even goldfish, said to have a memory of only three seconds, actually retain enough to survive.

Good heavens. Did that mean I was worse than a goldfish?

This was impossible. Something was definitely wrong. There was a big difference between not memorizing and being unable to memorize.

"My lady? You're awake?"

While I was flustered, Anna opened the door and came in.

I hurriedly hid the contract in my bosom and shuffled dazedly toward the bed.

"Are you going back to sleep?"

"...Anna."

"Yes?"

"Am I a bit stupid by any chance?"

"Excuse me?"

"Or did I injure my brain when I fell from the tree—I mean, when I fell from the tree?"

Could it be short-term memory loss or something?

"Does something hurt? Shall I call a healer?"

Anna approached me with a worried face.

"Let me see... you don't seem to have a fever..."

She placed a hand on my forehead and muttered seriously.

"Don't worry, I'm healthy. But I think I've gotten dumber."

"Excuse me?"

Anna frowned deeply and tilted her head.

After thinking for a moment, she gently stroked my hair.

"I don't know what happened, but don't blame yourself. You're the cleverest eight-year-old I know."

"Well, of course."

Because I'm not eight.

But I couldn't say that to Anna.

In fact, I was no longer confident I was smarter than a typical eight-year-old.

An ordinary eight-year-old would memorize the Third Prince's name easily.

No matter how I thought about it, this wasn't normal.

"There's a problem, a problem..."

"Excuse me? What problem?"

"The problem is I don't know what it is..."

For someone who'd regressed four times, I knew very little about Hariella.

The puzzle of my knowledge had countless missing pieces.

Most of the pieces that were in place came from my first life.

I'd never had the will to gather unnecessary information about Hariella and her surroundings.

Because I'd never once envisioned a future living as Hariella.

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