Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Inside the mansion, Aiden was heading towards his quarters. A few footsteps of the busy servants in the quiet mansion echoed.

Yeah, this was his world.

“I think my ears will bleed now.”

But the corners of his lips did not stop rising.

‘My ears will bleed… Where did you learn such an original expression?’

Aiden coughed a couple of times, trying to suppress the smile that attempted to slip out. Fortunately, he was able to hide his smile, but he couldn’t stop the thoughts that filled his mind.

‘Why did my wild master take my side…? Maybe, did she really change? No, no. With just this… Think back to that day when you were 17. Think of the young lady who swore at you or threw objects. Don’t be fooled by the sudden change.’

But it was in vain. What came to mind wasn’t that day when he was 17, but the backs of a noble man and woman walking side by side in the garden.

Aiden’s eyes calmly sank.

I faithfully carried out my plans of lying down for three days. Lucas interrupted me several times to go for a walk in the middle, but I firmly shook my head. No one could interfere with my plans.

Again, I ate in bed. Lying down and rolling around. Snack time had already passed. It wasn’t that I enjoyed it, it was more about keeping the routine of snack time. Aiden would be a little upset if we cut snack time.

Click.

Speaking of the devil, Aiden opened the door and swapped seats with the maid in my room. Occasionally, if she had to go outside my room, she would always call another maid and leave like that.

“Aiden, how long will you be here?”

“Yes? Until the Duke or Madam tells me to stop.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

It wasn’t what I was expecting, but I just asked it out of curiosity, and in response, I rolled over on the bed once.

“Ah, rather, today the Duke, Madam, and young master said that you should have a meal together.”

“What?”

“It seems the lady’s body is better now, so they asked if it would be okay if you came down to the dining room and ate.”

Meal… It may have sounded unbelievable, but since I had entered this body I hadn’t had any meals together with Selena’s family. I did share cake during snack time with Aiden, but aside from that, I always ate alone. For some reason, it was… uncomfortable.

In the past, at mealtimes, I ate mostly alone or with my brother. I always ate alone at school, and at work, I was mostly alone all the time, except for when I had to be stuck in meetings almost as if I was forced to be.

When I was young, I used to eat with my little brother and my parents at times, but after a while, that was no longer the case. At first, it was fine, but as time passed, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was like a stranger intervening in the family’s cozy time. So, if my younger brother and parents had time to eat together, it meant that I had to sneak outside as quickly as possible.

No matter how much they treated me like an invisible person, a sharp and contemptuous gaze flew at me whenever my sibling called me “Sister!”*

‘Why are you stuck here?’

I couldn’t stand the meaning behind that gaze. It felt like I was forced to eat while being crushed by a large stone. It was better to eat alone. That was why I insisted on eating alone since I came here.

However… This body belonged to Selena. As long as I could keep clear the boundaries between me and Selena, then I had to do whatever I was supposed to in her body.

In short, I must have made Selena’s family have a last happy family meal experience.

“Okay. Tell them I’ll join them for dinner.”

I answered and buried my face into the pillow.

“Selena, you came.”

“I think I came on time, did you wait for me?”

Obviously, the scheduled meal time was 6 o’clock. And it was 5:50… Such diligent people.

‘If not, were you excited in advance that I was coming out?’

“It’s not like that. We’ve just arrived too. Aside from that, come on, sit down!”

“Yes, Mother.”

Seeing Selena’s mother trying to change the subject and avoiding my gaze… the latter seemed to be correct. Everyone was excited and came early to the dining room. I scanned everyone’s faces. Anyone would think that round, sparkling eyes were hereditary in this family.

TL/N: She means that everyone is looking at her with excitement. She’s being sarcastic lol

‘Was the dinner table with my parents and little sibling like this, too?’

A scenario where you could clearly see a family that was related by blood…

TL/N: Meaning they love each other.

I took a small deep breath and sat down.

‘May today’s meal be a pleasant memory for them,’

I gave a small blessing.

“Selina, how are you feeling? Are you still dizzy?”

“No. That day, I must have been a little tired because I had to deal with a lot of people I didn’t know. I’m really fine now.”

It was difficult to chew food in one mouthful. After one person asked a question and I answered, I put food in my mouth and chewed it, and the person waiting for their turn brightly looked at me, waiting for me to swallow. Then, as soon as they perceived I had swallowed, a new question flew in my direction.

‘If this is the case, wouldn’t it be better to ask for tea time instead of dinner? At least I would be able to sip the tea…’

Apparently, the next round was about to start, and my brother was fully focused on the movements of my mouth.

“Wait, Brother.”

“Oh…ah?”

“It’s a little uncomfortable.”

“Uh? What is?”

My eldest brother blinked as if confused. He must have been doing it unconsciously.

“Waiting for me to chew the food. I’d rather swallow the food and raise my hand.”

“What?”

“I’ll chew it all up and raise my hand, so talk to me then. My family just stares at my mouth and I can’t even eat properly.”

‘What a wise suggestion.’

They won’t have to keep looking at my throat every time it moves and I would be able to eat comfortably.

If I could have a say, I would rather hear the questions later, but I compromised to this level because I had an obligation to leave Selena’s family with a good memory of mealtime.

But to the others, this suggestion didn’t seem very wise, and they were all looking at me with a strange look.

‘What is it? Did you find out I’m not the real Selena? Is it because of the mealtime question problem? Is it because I said I’ll raise my hand?’

By the time I was feeling as if I shouldn’t have said anything, Selena’s father coughed awkwardly.

“That… It’s good to have a conversation at mealtime, but it’s important to eat comfortably. Let’s talk while we have tea time, and for now, let’s focus on eating.”

Both her brother and Selena’s mother smiled in agreement, nodded, and immediately focused on the meal.

‘Father…? If you make such an offer here, what will I do?’

Well, I ended up having a comfortable meal, so I shrugged and immersed myself in the food.

‘No matter which way you go, you just have to get to your destination.’

By the way, the food eaten in Selena’s room and the food in the dining room felt different. Maybe it was because the restaurant and kitchen were close, so you could eat fresher food. Although it was a little burdensome of a mealtime, the food felt more delicious today. It was really weird.

“You said that the Crown Princess invited you to the Palace?”

“Yes, we’re going to have lunch together the day after tomorrow. Um… Selena, if you don’t mind, how about… going with me?”

During mealtime, they looked quite flustered when I said I would raise my hand earlier, but now, my family talked to me from time to time and the conversation flowed naturally.

“I’m sorry, the Imperial Capital still feels a bit bothersome.”

Shaaa~

I thought the tea I was drinking was cold water. Everyone looked at me and stiffened altogether at my explanation. Whether it was because they were concerned about their daughter’s condition or… because they were just upset by it. As things came, the probability of being the former was very high.

“I’ll get used to people a bit more, and when the memories come back a little more, I’ll go there. We’re going to be family soon, so we have a lot of time…”

I added a white lie to soothe my family who looked at me like withered flowers.

I was wondering if dinner was really going to be a positive memory, so I wanted to at least make tea time the perfect ‘happy time’.

“Right, that’s right. We’re going to be a family soon, so what’s the hurry? Our Selena’s body is always the top priority.”

‘Selena, your body is the top priority.’

I shut my mouth. I quickly smiled and slightly nodded at the three people looking at me.

That was for the best. I was about to die soon but I didn’t dare to hide my true emotions and open my mouth to answer.

Important political subjects followed, but based on the information I had read in the novel (there wasn’t much information about politics or worldview because it was a third-class novel) I couldn’t fully understand this world’s system, so I just stared into space and worked hard to play the amnesic patient.

If it was this kind of emotional acting, I could go right now to the room, see Aiden’s face and say, ‘…Who are you?’

I was able to calmly trick them with such lines. It wasn’t a complete memory loss… it was more like I didn’t remember. Well, it was just an acting method.

Finally, the tedious story ended and everyone sipped their tea as if to catch their breath.

I was going to spend the rest of tea time playing the amnesiac role, which was perfect for my aptitude, but I blinked a few times as I remembered what I had to say and regained strength in my eyes.

“Mother, father. I have a favor to ask you.”

Their eyes sparkled as they heard me say the word ‘favor.’

I opened my mouth, hiding my sense of betrayal in front of those shining eyes.

The carriage rattled much more than I thought it would. Really, truthfully.

‘My butt hurts a lot. Are the buttocks of those who straighten their posture subject to this kind of rattling, steel?’

I looked at Lucas on the opposite side. He was the graphic description of a person sitting upright inside a rattling wagon. Without realizing it, my eyes almost turned to his ass, but fortunately, I endured it well and turned my eyes out of the window.

“Are you okay?”

“Sir Lucas always asks me if I’m okay.”

“You always look bad whenever you meet me.”

I turned my head to look at Lucas who said something that was correct. He was staring at me with a smile.

‘How can you look so relaxed in this rattling? His butt must be made of steel.’

“Looks like a bad relationship.”

After answering, I looked out the window again.

‘I just wish I could get to the Square quickly.’

As we passed through the forest connecting the outside of the Duchy, buildings gradually appeared. With my back leaning against the backseat, I looked out the window at the exotic and different scenery. As we headed towards Central Square, the number of buildings and people gradually increased.

“It’s the first time you’ve come out of the mansion since you collapsed.”

“Yeah, thanks to someone.”

“That’s right. It’s because of someone who tried to jump from somewhere.”

‘You keep making me speechless…’

“My lady, we’re going to the carriage storage soon.”

Just in time, I heard the voice of a horseman outside.

Today, I decided to visit the Square, which was the most lively place in the estate. Yesterday, I asked Selena’s parents for this.

To be honest, visiting the Square was just an excuse, and the original purpose was to look for a place to die.

‘Looking for a place to die…’

It sounded so serious, but I couldn’t help but find it funny.

‘Either way, it is what it is.’

The number of people around the Duke’s mansion was very high, security was very tight as well. So, I said I would go outside for now… Unfortunately, I was stuck with Lucas as the only option to go out with.

However, once we were out…

——

*: I realized that Selena’s younger sibling in her past life wasn’t a boy but a girl. There, her younger sibling called her ‘Unnie’, and as you may know, that’s how girls call their older sisters or older women who are close to them. So~ yeah, I just wanted to bring this up. It doesn’t change anything actually, but I wanted to make this clear lol