Chapter 1 ♧ Prologue
The original novel was definitely a dark reverse harem.
The male leads were even willing to start a war just to win the heroine’s heart, but in the end, she never gave her heart to any of them.
It was a tragic story that felt like it had come straight from hell.
But at some point, the genre changed.
It seemed to have started with the original heroine’s death…
Even so, could everything really change this much?
“Isn’t it amazing?”
François Cassel cast a brilliant illusion spell, filling the air with transparent whales and schools of fish that floated through the sky.
François was the genius magician of the century and the current Head of the Magic Tower. In the original story, he was one of the male leads known for his madness.
Now, however, he was also my youngest sister Emilia’s fiancé.
I stared at the beautiful illusion with my mouth hanging open before shouting,
“Yeah! It’s amazing! Really amazing!”
“Then, Liliana. Try calling me ‘Oppa.'”
“H-Huh?”
“Say it after me. Op-pa.”
François lowered himself until our eyes met.
His face was so beautiful it looked like an angel’s.
It was so close that I almost forgot how to breathe.
Even though I saw him every other day, I still couldn’t get used to how incredibly handsome he was.
“But you’re my youngest brother-in-law, not my Oppa. Liliana already has an Oppa.”
“It’s fine. We’re family now, so you’re my little sister too.”
“I don’t think my real Oppa would like that…”
I slowly delayed my answer.
Although François tried his hardest to win me over, I was still a little afraid of him.
In the original story, he had been driven mad and had pushed even a supporting character like me to the edge of a cliff.
He had been a cruel man who would do anything to achieve his goals.
Just remembering that made me nervous.
Besides, if I really called him “Oppa,” I’d feel guilty toward my real older brother, Andrea.
And my youngest sister would definitely hate it.
‘My youngest sister is really scary when she’s angry.’
So I quickly stood up to escape the situation.
“I’m going to play!”
“L-Liliana!”
Leaving my future youngest brother-in-law behind, I ran down the hallway toward the garden swing.
Then, I suddenly missed my step and twisted my ankle.
“Ah!”
Just as my body fell forward, someone lifted me into the air.
“Huh?”
When I opened my tightly shut eyes, I saw a large, rough hand holding me.
There was only one person around me with hands covered in so many scars.
“Second Brother-in-law!”
“I told you not to run in the hallway. You’ll fall.”
His blunt voice made me shrink a little.
“Mm… I won’t do it again.”
“Good.”
The name of my second brother-in-law, whose handsome face was crossed by a large scar, was Leopold von Waltrahen.
He was one of the original male leads and the strongest warrior in the world.
As one of the strongest people in existence, Leopold was incredibly tall and muscular.
Maybe because of that, he often picked up seven-year-old me as if I were a doll.
Just like now.
He grabbed me easily and lifted me onto his shoulders.
“Where were you going? I’ll take you.”
“I want to go to the garden! I want to ride the swing!”
Over the past few months, I had learned that my second brother-in-law was actually kind and thoughtful.
He was even the one who had installed the swing in the garden just for me.
That was why I really liked him.
The only problem was that he was slightly upset because I had accepted François as my brother-in-law.
Still, I was trying my best to get along with him.
After all, he only wanted my attention.
“Where were you going, Second Brother-in-law?”
“I was looking for Lady Regina.”
“My second sister?”
“Yes.”
My second sister, Regina, got along with Leopold much better than anyone had expected.
She had such a cheerful and bright personality that she naturally took the lead in their relationship.
More importantly…
My second brother-in-law absolutely adored my sister.
And she loved him just as much.
“Liliana.”
His voice was much more serious than usual.
For some reason, my heart started beating faster.
“Yeah?”
“…I’m your favorite brother-in-law, right?”
“Huh?”
I tilted my head.
Not my eldest brother-in-law.
Not my youngest brother-in-law.
My second brother-in-law was saying something like that?
I looked at him again.
His face was slightly red.
Pat.
I placed my hand on his cheek.
There were probably only two people in the whole world who could casually squish the face of Leopold von Waltrahen, the Empire’s most feared man.
My second sister…
And me.
“Second Brother-in-law, you’re silly.”
So he wanted to become closer to me.
He just couldn’t say it.
At that moment, my second sister, Regina, appeared at the end of the hallway.
“Lily. There you are. His Majesty arrived an hour early, so we’ll all be eating together soon.”
At her gesture, Leopold gently put me down.
She smiled playfully.
“Hehe. What were you two doing?”
“…It’s a secret.”
“We’re best friends! We share secrets!”
I proudly held my brother-in-law’s rough hand.
His eyes shook ever so slightly.
Since he had spent his whole life in boys’ dormitories and the knight order, he always got flustered whenever I casually touched him.
He said I looked so tiny and fragile that he was afraid he’d accidentally hurt me.
But I was already seven years old!
I wasn’t a baby anymore!
My second sister gently patted my head.
“Don’t fight with Edgar today, okay?”
“Edgar is an idiot.”
“Lily. Friends should get along.”
Edgar was my second brother-in-law’s cousin.
He had lost his parents at a young age.
Because of that, Leopold had raised him as his guardian, and now Edgar lived with us.
“He’s not my friend. He’s my subordinate. He follows me around every single day.”
Thinking my sister was about to lecture me, I quickly ran toward the kitchen.
As soon as I entered the dining room, I saw my eldest sister and my eldest brother-in-law, the Emperor, who had just arrived from the Imperial Palace.
“Big Sister!”
I immediately ran into her arms.
Since it had been a whole week since we’d seen each other, she hugged me as tightly as she could.
Then she spun me around in the air.
“Have you been doing well?”
“Yep! I ate delicious food every day, studied, and slept well!”
“Really? Then you must have grown a lot.”
Before I could answer, my eldest brother-in-law teased me.
“I don’t think she’s grown at all. She’s still such a tiny shrimp.”
“I’m not tiny!”
“Oh? Aren’t you? You’re only this tall.”
He waved his hand around his waist to show my height.
My face immediately turned red.
“Y-You’re mean! I hate you, Eldest Brother-in-law!”
“You shouldn’t hate me.”
“I will! Bleh!”
I stuck out my tongue.
My eldest sister laughed softly.
My eldest brother-in-law burst into loud laughter.
“Since you stuck your tongue out at me, you’re banned from entering the Imperial Palace for a whole month!”
“Huh?!”
If I couldn’t go to the Imperial Palace…
That meant I couldn’t see my eldest sister.
I quickly covered my mouth in shock.
Seeing my reaction, he laughed even harder.
“If you admit you’re tiny, I’ll cancel the punishment.”
“U-Umm…”
I looked back and forth between him and my eldest sister.
Even though he was the Emperor, there wasn’t a single dignified thing about him.
He joked around like a carefree troublemaker.
In the original novel, he had been a terrifying Emperor driven by obsessive madness.
Now, every time he saw me, he just called me a tiny shrimp.
If he weren’t the Emperor…
I would have stepped on his foot.
But the woman standing beside him…
She was the kindest, coolest, and most beautiful person in the world.
My eldest sister.
Not seeing her for an entire month…
“I-I admit it… I’m tiny…”
As soon as I surrendered, my eldest brother-in-law smiled proudly before speaking in a solemn voice.
“Since you’ve honestly admitted it, I’ll issue an Imperial Order for my youngest sister-in-law.”
“Huh? An Imperial Order?”
“From today onward, my youngest sister-in-law will live in the Imperial Palace and be treated like a princess.”
“H-Huh? Me?”
“You’ll start living in the Imperial Palace today.”
I looked at my eldest sister in complete shock.
She simply smiled gently and nodded.
She already knew.
I was just about to jump for joy because I’d get to see my eldest sister every day—
Crash!
The sharp sound of breaking glass echoed through the dining room.
Edgar had dropped the cup he was drinking from.
“Y-You… You…”
His face turned completely pale as he ran toward me.
Instead of stopping, Edgar charged straight into my eldest brother-in-law and slammed his head into the Emperor’s stomach.
“Ugh!”
As the Emperor groaned, Edgar shouted,
“She’s my subordinate! If you’re taking her away, then you have to take me too! I’m her captain!”
“I’m not going with you! Idiot Edgar! Bleh!”
“Brother! I want to live in the Imperial Palace too! If you don’t take me… I’ll never see you again!”
Edgar was also the cousin of my eldest brother-in-law—
Marius von Chemelhoffen, the Emperor.
Since his parents belonged to both the Imperial Family and the Duke’s family, Edgar was related to both of my brothers-in-law.
Hearing Edgar’s desperate shout, the playful Emperor’s eyes sparkled.
He rubbed his chin.
“Hmm… Should I?”
“Nooo!”
I quickly crossed my arms into an X to object.
Edgar immediately wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
“We’re soulmates! If I go, she goes. If she goes, I go too!”
What nonsense was he saying?!
I was about to yell at him when the Emperor laughed brightly.
“Very well! Soulmates shouldn’t be separated.”
“N-No…”
Not knowing what else to do…
I decided to use my secret weapon.
I threw myself onto the marble floor.
Burying my face against it, I kicked and waved my arms.
“I don’t want to!”
It had already been a year since I came to this Empire.
Somehow, I had gained three brothers-in-law.
Edgar, my so-called friend and subordinate, followed me around every single day.
My eldest brother-in-law, who had once been the obsessive male lead, teased me every time we met, calling me a tiny squirrel or a little shrimp.
My second brother-in-law, who had once devoted himself to a single love, secretly insisted with his expressionless face that he was my favorite brother-in-law.
And my future youngest brother-in-law, who had once been nothing more than a mad villain, tried his hardest to win my affection whenever he saw me.
‘The days when it was just my sisters and me living together were the best.’
Back then, life hadn’t been this chaotic every single day.
Who could have imagined it?
The three male leads who had been obsessed with the original heroine…
Had ended up marrying my sisters instead.
Thankfully…
My sisters were more than capable of handling men like them.
‘How did everything end up like this?’
I had wished for the original story to change…
But I hadn’t done anything.
The original heroine had simply died one day.
Right in front of me.
