Chapter 03
One year earlier, Galnem Village.
“Uncle, have you eaten dinner yet?”
At my question, Uncle Zimmer shook his head with a pitiful look.
Just looking at his expression, I could almost hear his stomach growling.
“Then come eat at our house. We still have some venison left, and I was going to make tomato stew.”
Before she passed away, my mother had made me promise to take good care of Uncle Zimmer.
Honestly, it was a ridiculous last request.
How could she ask her seven-year-old daughter to look after a grown man?
According to Mom, my late father and Uncle Zimmer had been close friends, but still…
“Are you sure that’s alright, Arinel?”
“Of course. I’d rather eat with someone than eat alone.”
If Uncle Zimmer had been a bad person, I wouldn’t have bothered honoring Mom’s last wish.
But somehow, we’d become close.
He was honest and simple-hearted, and although I had no idea how someone with his level of athletic ability managed to catch animals, he was actually quite skilled at hunting.
And…
“Arinel, you’re such a kind child.”
Seeing such a large man become excited over getting dinner from a little girl somehow made me feel sorry for him.
He came home injured every day, too.
I honestly wondered if Uncle Zimmer was a little… slow.
There were people like that in the modern world as well.
People who didn’t hurt others but were so innocent that they struggled in society.
Maybe Mom had thought the same thing, which was why she’d asked me to look after him.
“Then I finally get to taste Arinel’s cooking today. This is the happiest day of my life!”
He sounded genuinely delighted.
And he really enjoyed the stew I made.
“The spices have such a unique aroma, but it’s delicious. How did you cook it?”
“I just added some alcohol to remove the smell of the meat, then crushed some Turan leaves into it.”
“Turan leaves? You made this flavor with Turan leaves?”
Turan leaves were common, but once dried and ground into powder, they tasted like black pepper.
“Yes. There are lots of them around the village. I came up with it myself.”
“As expected, Arinel is really talented.”
“Yes. I suppose I am.”
Compared to ordinary ten-year-olds, I definitely had far more skills.
Well…
This was my second life.
I’d better have some talent.
All the transmigrators I’d read about in romance fantasy novels were reincarnated as important characters like noble ladies or saints.
They used their knowledge of the story to build wonderful lives.
But I had become nothing more than an ordinary citizen in an empire that would eventually be destroyed by a tyrant.
The best I could do was dig up sugar beets and survive.
“Uncle…”
“Yes, Arinel?”
Thinking about the bleak original story left me feeling depressed.
I looked at Uncle Zimmer and thought for a moment.
Lately, my mind had been filled with plans to prepare for the disasters that would begin once the cruel tyrant Parmes Aslet took the throne.
“When you’re hungry…”
After thinking for a while, I met Uncle Zimmer’s eyes.
He was smiling brightly, completely unaware that he had stew around his mouth.
Seeing him like that made me certain.
“When you’re hungry, come to my house anytime.”
He blinked in confusion, clearly not understanding what I meant.
I let out a small sigh and continued.
“No matter what happens, I’ll make sure at least you never go hungry!”
His eyes trembled slightly.
“…Arinel.”
I’d already stored enough red sugar beet pills to barely keep myself alive for years.
There were still three years left before the famine.
If I kept making more during that time, there should be enough for Uncle Zimmer too.
…
I truly didn’t want poor Uncle Zimmer to starve to death during the famine.
The other neighbors could probably make and store food after I taught them the recipes.
But Uncle Zimmer…
He had neither athletic talent nor cooking skills.
I’d have to take responsibility for him.
Besides, I’d promised my mother.
“This is a secret between you and me. You can’t tell anyone else.”
I placed my index finger over my lips.
“Shh.”
I deliberately lowered my voice.
“…”
For a long time, Uncle Zimmer simply stared at me.
At the tiny little girl who looked so small compared to his large frame.
His eyes seemed unusually complicated.
Sad.
Happy.
Unlike the innocent Uncle Zimmer I knew.
Just as I began wondering what he was thinking, he finally spoke.
“Arinel really is…”
His voice was low, almost hoarse.
I frowned because I couldn’t hear the rest.
A moment later, he spoke again.
“Then let’s make a signal, Arinel.”
“A signal?”
“Yes. A signal only the two of us will recognize.”
He made a fist and tapped the dinner table.
Knock knock-knock knock knock.
The rhythmic knocking made the bowls of stew ripple slightly.
I made my own small fist and copied the rhythm.
When I finished, Uncle Zimmer smiled brightly.
“I’m happy.”
“Now Arinel and I have a signal that’s ours alone.”
As if the complicated expression from a moment ago had never existed, his eyes once again shone with the innocent brightness of a simple country man.
The very next day…
He left.
Knock knock-knock knock knock.
Like thunder arriving after lightning, the shock came a moment later.
Rumble!
It felt as if my heart had dropped.
Emperor Parmes Aslet.
The male lead of the original novel I’ll Stop Being the Tyrant’s Mistress.
The corpses he killed piled into mountains.
The cries of the people flowed like rivers.
That blood-crazed Emperor…
was Uncle Zimmer?
No.
That couldn’t be true.
Uncle Zimmer was kind, simple, a little slow…
He was my precious neighbor!
“My daughter-in-law.”
Frozen by fear and shock, I flinched at the words that came from Uncle Zimmer’s mouth.
There had been one particular incident that had convinced me he was a little lacking.
“…”
The man who had introduced himself as the tyrant Parmes Aslet reached into the breastplate of his light armor.
His crimson eyes gleamed sharply.
Don’t tell me… that’s…?!
“You’d better not think about running away.”
With his long fingers, he slowly unfolded a crumpled piece of paper and held it out toward me.
Watching my pupils shake, he said,
“You even signed this marriage contract.”
I stood frozen.
My eyes fell upon the childish scribble I’d carelessly written when I was eight years old.
I remembered Uncle Zimmer carefully folding that paper away as though it were something precious.
That innocent face overlapped with the man now standing before me wearing a crown.
“W-Wait a minute! Uncle, that’s…!”
I couldn’t finish my sentence.
Someone approached from behind me.
The newcomer stopped beside me and looked at me.
Still frozen by this unbelievable situation, I slowly turned my head.
It was a boy about half a head taller than me.
He had the same brilliant silver hair as Uncle Zimmer.
And jewel-like blue eyes.
Unlike dirty little country girl me, he looked every bit the perfect young noble.
Needless to say, he was unbelievably handsome.
He looked like someone from another world.
He was dazzling!
When the boy smiled faintly at me, I instinctively took a step backward.
I had no idea who this child was, suddenly appearing and smiling at me.
Anyone was fine.
Just someone explain this insane situation!
Then the boy extended a hand covered in a white glove.
His gentle voice reached my ears.
“At last, we meet, my lady.”
Smiling warmly, he took my tiny, dirty hand in his gloved one.
How could someone’s appearance shine this much?
If I was an ordinary weed growing beside a country road…
Then the boy before me was like a blue rose fit for the grand imperial gardens.
He was literally a fairy-tale prince.
If someone with that face had existed in the modern world, he would have become an idol without question.
But…
What did he just call me?
“…D-Don’t tell me…”
Trying to deny the possibility that suddenly came to mind, I looked up at Uncle Zimmer—
No.
Parmes.
With a thoroughly satisfied expression, Parmes answered smoothly.
“Britain Sein Aslet.”
“…”
“He is my son.”
“And starting today…”
“He is your fiancé, Arinel.”
