TVBDS 02

Chapter: 02

So, to summarize the situation I was in:

I, who had been working as a department store salesperson, was involved in a traffic accident on my way home from work and ended up possessing the body of the villainess from a book I used to read.

And without even realizing it, I somehow succeeded in changing the original story to some extent.

Even though I died without ever knowing that fact.

Anyway, the proof was that in the original story, my younger brother should have cut ties with me long ago, but he still cared for me until the very last moment.

But just when I thought I had died from an unexpected accident, I regressed back into the past.

When I first realized I had regressed, I was so shocked that I almost fainted.

I had clearly been hit by a carriage, but when I opened my eyes, I had become a child wearing a silk nightgown!

At first, I thought I had gone insane.

But after pinching my cheek, I realized this was definitely reality.

I crawled down from the bed and was speechless for a while at the familiar yet longed-for scenery before my eyes.

This was the room where I had spent my childhood.

The ceiling paintings, the wallpaper—everything was exactly as I remembered.

However, unlike the final state I remembered, which was no different from ruins, the furniture was completely intact, and the windows were shining cleanly.

On the spotless glass without even a speck of dust, an unfamiliar yet nostalgic face was reflected.

When I took a deep breath, the girl in the glass also inhaled and exhaled deeply, her shoulders rising and falling.

Amethyst-like bluish-purple eyes, as if submerged in the sea, stared straight at me.

The cat-like upturned eyes, tightly pressed lips, and neatly trimmed silver bangs as if cut with a ruler.

There was no doubt.

It was my younger self.

The young Adelaide from my childhood.

“…So. Regression, huh? Fine. I possessed someone’s body, so why wouldn’t regression be possible? Hoo. Then if I die again this time, will it be reincarnation after that?”

After muttering nonsense, I narrowed my brows as a question suddenly occurred to me.

So, how old am I right now?

“Hmmm, judging by appearance, I seem to be around ten years old… Ah!”

That’s right!

I hurriedly ran over to the desk drawer and took out a square tin box.

The snack box decorated with a pink background, strawberries, lace, and ribbons was my treasure box from childhood.

“One, two, three… ten cards…”

Inside were the birthday cards my father had sent me every year.

Because my father often had to leave home for business trips, he sent me a wonderful gift along with a card every year on my birthday.

[To my beloved princess.]

[Congratulations on becoming an older sister.]

[To my precious treasure who has become a fine young lady.]

As the cards accumulated one by one, the little princess who could not even read yet grew into an older sister with a younger brother, and then into a little lady.

There were ten cards.

Which meant I had returned to the age of ten.

“Father…”

The moment I thought of my father, a dull ache spread through my chest.

My father, Viscount Charmois, was someone who was not noble-like in many ways.

For one thing, although he was a noble, he understood the importance of commerce and freely associated with merchants without any prejudice.

Although he had met my mother through a political marriage, he loved her more sincerely than anyone else, and he gave everything he could to both his son and daughter without distinction.

My mother was also someone who loved us more than anyone else, enough to risk her own life to give birth to Antoine and me.

Although her already frail body eventually collapsed completely because of the burden of childbirth.

In my memories, my mother was always lying in bed half the time.

Even so, whenever she was feeling well, she would take my younger brother and me to the garden and teach us the names of wildflowers and butterflies.

Looking back, my happiest moments always had the two of them in them.

Although the hot spring trip they took for my weak mother ended in the tragedy of a train accident…

From that moment onward, the fate of Antoine, me, and this mansion all began to fall apart.

“Uncle…”

Just thinking of that damn uncle’s spiteful face made me grit my teeth.

Come to think of it, this room had also been destroyed by my uncle.

After driving us out and taking over the mansion, when he became short on money, he sold anything he could.

The paintings, the furniture, even ripping out and selling the floor tiles.

“Just as I thought.”

When I pulled aside the curtains, I could see a large fountain through the window facing the garden.

Despite the dark night, water continued to pour endlessly from the fountain’s statue.

It was a marble fountain my father had given my mother as a wedding gift.

Every year on their wedding anniversary, my father added a small sculpture to the fountain depicting memories of our family.

Their wedding.

My birth.

My younger brother’s birth.

And all the small and big memories we shared.

Strangely, the moment I saw the fountain, tears that had not fallen even when I looked at my father’s cards began streaming down endlessly.

I really had come back.

Only then did I truly realize it.

I wanted to run to my parents’ room immediately.

I wanted to throw myself into their arms and act spoiled.

If I sniffled and complained that I had a terrible nightmare, they would pat my back and comfort me.

I wanted to confirm that they were safe.

That this was not a dream.

But at the same time, I did not want to worry them by showing them my tears.

Since I was meeting them again after such a long time, and because I had missed them so much, I wanted to face them with a smile.

The hand resting against the window was not the hand of an adult, thin and worn from hardship, with knuckles sticking out like bamboo.

It was the soft, plump hand of a child, as if it had been made by kneading flour dough.

With hands like these, it felt like I could start anything anew.

“No. I’m going to start anew. I can do it.”

I had already confirmed in my previous life that the original story could change because of my existence.

The original plot was simple.

Set in the modern era when trains and light bulbs had just appeared, it was the story of Antoine, a fallen nobleman, and Bastian, a commoner businessman, competing over the heroine Colette, against the backdrop of the first department store…

My role was the villainess who drove all three of them into unhappiness.

After my parents died and I was divorced by my husband, I clung to my younger brother for support.

I looked down on Bastian because he was a commoner…

And toward Colette, I committed such terrible acts that even a stereotypical drama’s evil sister-in-law would hesitate, eventually trying to kill her.

In the end, Antoine could no longer endure it and declared that he was cutting ties with me.

Adelaide would meet a miserable end alone in prison.

That was what was supposed to happen.

But in my previous life, Antoine called me his sister until the very end.

Bastian also treated me politely like a true gentleman until the end.

Colette also followed me like a real older sister.

Depending on how I acted, the world and everyone’s fate could change.

Then this time, I would change everything.

I remembered clearly.

Not only the events that drove Antoine and me into despair, but also what people would do in the future and how each region would change.

I remembered everything.

And that was not all.

I had gained the memories and knowledge of my life as a department store salesperson in South Korea.

If I used that, I would not merely be changing fate.

I could create a better future.

‘This way, I can repay Bastian and everyone who helped me. I can get revenge on Uncle!’

Like a tree spreading its branches, countless paths unfolded before me.

No one had ever walked those paths before.

But I knew exactly what waited at the end.

‘My parents will live out their full lives. Antoine will become happy with Colette, and Bastian will be able to experience a slightly less difficult childhood than the one he suffered through.’

And most importantly, I could stop Uncle from ruining the family.

After finishing everything I needed to do, I would leave for some sunny seaside resort where the wind was warm and the weather pleasant.

‘There’s no point interfering with the original story too much and getting dragged into the main characters’ affairs.’

What if Bastian confessed to me instead of Colette?

Or what if Uncle suddenly repented, and then the real mastermind behind everything became obsessed with me and tried to make me his daughter-in-law?

I absolutely refused.

A supporting character who possessed a body had the right to live quietly.

I searched through the desk and took out paper and a pen.

I needed to make a plan from now on.

Just as I was about to hold the pen—

“Waaaaah! Waaah, uwaaah!”

I was startled by the loud crying voice that came through the wall and quickly put down the pen.