Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

I was ten years old when I first realized I had transmigrated.

It was at that time that I met Kylian Cypnos, the male protagonist of 〈 Beneath the Water’s Shadow 〉, who was the same age as me. It was exactly the day before I met him that I was transmigrated.

“This is your fiance, Kylian.”

So, I transmigrated into the book that I read and cried about until I died. And, of all things, I possessed the body of the wife of the male lead, my bias. She’s the villain who would eventually die by the male lead’s hand.

“Hi?”

He was small and short when he greeted me. The reason he was engaged to a duke’s daughter, Anais, was because he’s a member of the imperial family.

As the illegitimate son of the emperor, he was a child with no backing.

Duke Percival, who was also planning to ascend to the throne in the future, simply needed the blood of the emperor. Until Duke Percival became emperor, Kylian was a good card to play.

“Hi.”

That was the first thing he said to me

Black hair, shining gold eyes like the twinkling stars, and a childish figure who tried to stay calm even though he couldn’t understand the situation.

I knew he was ten years old like me, but Kylian’s attitude was very different from that of a normal ten-year-old.

What I saw at that time was truly a rare sight. It was like seeing the star-like existence that I never thought I would ever meet in my life.

“Hi!”

“…Hi.”

Kylian was really nice. Because he said hello twice when I said hello to him twice like a fool.

However, it was a bit disappointing to see him avoiding my gaze by looking straight to my toes without looking directly to my eyes. It took a long time for those eyes to look straight at me.

“His Majesty, Emperor Kylian Cypnos— he’s gone completely crazy!”

“I beg your pardon?”

After a brief reminiscence, I was awakened as if I had been pulled out of the water. Of course, Lewarren was a hard-hearted person who wouldn’t take me out of the water.

It was Kylian who hated me but tried to be nice to me. Since he was bound by an arranged marriage since childhood, Kylian endured the marriage even though he didn’t love me.

How kind of Kylian who endured even my father’s abuse!

Kylian, who cried because he couldn’t kill any bugs!

“You said he became the emperor?! And what do you mean, crazy?”

I didn’t want to deal with Lewarren, so I asked Zisis. Then Zisis said, rolling his eyes back and forth as if he had seen Kylian for the first time, then shifting his gaze to the top of his feet.

“Is it because of the death of a loved one?”

“You’re right. I’m Lilith now!”

“…….”

“Is Lilith dead too?”

When I heard that Lilith was dead, I got serious without realizing it, so I asked the two of them. However, they did not give me the answer I was hoping for and were looking at me with a strange expression.

“Huuu…! Please save us!”

Zisis condition was acting very strange for some reason.

Lewarren’s expression, seen through the mirror, was still cold. I found it frightening in the past whenever he made such an expression. But now I’m pretty used to it.

“Well, what is the situation… You need to explain it to me…”

“Huu…”

Lewarren’s personality wasn’t that good. I had never won a verbal fight, and I couldn’t even win a physical fight.

“I think I just told you everything.”

“No… I understood the part about me becoming Lilith. But you never explained why I became Lilith and why Kylian became crazy.”

“You said it.”

“Because Lilith died?”

“…….”

Unknowingly when I mentioned if Lilith was dead, I traced the body that was only wearing a cloak. No matter how I look at it, the hands were really awkward. In my former body, like a daughter of a duke, I had pretty hands and pretty legs. Besides, it was strong enough to hold the sword like that, but the back of my hand was fantastically beautiful. Unless you look at the calluses on my palms.

“Anais.”

“Yes.”

“Why do you think we called you in Lilith’s body?”

“You called me in Lilith’s body? Isn’t that impossible? Even Goddess Roseraine is the God of Destruction.”

“…….”

“Is it because you failed to save Lilith by any chance?

Lewarren clasped his forehead and looked at me like he was struggling. In the past, if he made a face like that, I would wonder what I did wrong. But it was me who was frustrated because I didn’t know anything now.

“Lilith sacrificed her body. Because your body is gone.”

“What happened to my body?”

“Your body…”

The hand on his forehead came down to the mouth. Then, somehow, he was trying to talk as if it was frustrating and difficult. Perhaps because of his attitude, I got nervous and out of breath as well.

“Your body was taken by Kylian.”

“No, why? So what did Lilith sacrifice? Did she disappear?”

“No. Lilith fell asleep for a while. She will come back when you leave the body.”

“I see.”

I thought it was my third reincarnation, but I was living in someone else’s body for a while. It was as if I had returned to my second life, yet it felt as if it had belonged to someone else’s life.

“Why did you save me?”

“Killian is looking for you.”

“I’m dead.”

“He took your body with him to resurrect you.”

“Why does he want to do that?”

“Because he owes you.”

Maybe it was because I got shot instead of him?

At one point, I wondered what happened to the fight and what happened to my father, and how Kylian lived.

“Oh God…”

It was clear that I was being too easy. Otherwise, there would be no way he would have taken my body and went to save me.

“Why did you save me?”

“Actually, your soul was temporarily transferred to Lilith’s body, but it hasn’t been completely saved. It’s just a possession.”

“Ah…”

Because he owed me, he tried to pay back with life. But I tried so hard to make him hate me.

Shouldn’t he be happy because I died?

“Don’t, don’t do it!”

“Then, Anais, the prettiest Older Sis in the world. Say it.”

[ note: they’re not blood-related, ‘Older Sis’ is just a term of endearment ]

“No….”

“Then I’ll leave this on your head all day.”

Killian was afraid of bugs. It had many legs and a shell, and it was even more frightening when it was small and black. The thing he feared the most was the spider. In particular, he hated and hated the hairs on a spider’s legs the most.

“Ugh… The, the prettiest Older Sis in the world… An, Anais…”

At that time, I felt a great sense of remorse, perhaps because of his face, which was dyed red with shame, and his voice, which was wet with tears, was trembling.

Most of my villainous behavior was like this. Find and bully Kylian, who was either studying hard or struggling with what his father told him to do.

Sometimes he is harassed with bugs, sometimes he recites books he doesn’t like, or I fall asleep in his bed so he can’t sleep.

Things like that.

“So when I’m done with my business here, will I disappear again?”

“…Maybe.”

“I see.”

Perhaps because I had died twice, my third death didn’t seem so terrifying. If I was afraid of death, I wouldn’t have let myself get shot for his sake.

Of course, I was afraid of getting hurt. I used to be an over-the-top kid who would stay bedridden all day if I hit my little toe in the doorway while passing by. It was embarrassing, but I’ve admitted it to myself. It was because my body was so sensitive that I used to feel even the slightest pain a lot.

“What do I have to do?”

“Meet Killian and convince him. Get a hold of himself. And forget you.”

“Then why didn’t you bring me back to my body?”

“How can I summon you to a body that is already dead?”

“Ah…”

Right, that doesn’t change the fact that I’m dead.

But debt.

I never thought of it as debt. Rather, if it is debt, it is the things I received from him.

“If I take you, even the madman will come to his senses.”

“Are you sure?”

“…Maybe.”

Kylian was a delicate person. Still, he was a pitiful person who tried hard to fulfill his duty. Maybe he was hurt by the fact that the person who had been bullying him since childhood got shot for him.

If that’s the case, I can explain it well so he can calm down.

“But what do you mean, crazy?”

“After taking your dead body, he has definitely gotten weirder. Before that, he could at least still be called human, but he picked up strange words from somewhere and went completely crazy. And your father is imprisoned in the basement of the Imperial Palace. He’ll need blood from your immediate lineage to save you.”

“You said I couldn’t live because I was dead.”

“That’s something common priests can’t do. The death priests are different.”

“If they save me, will I turn into a zombie?”

“…Yes.”

“That’s crazy! No matter how much he feels indebted, that’s too much!”

“…Yes. Just think of it that way for now.”

I died for him, so somehow he was bringing me back to life like this?

No matter how much bullying I did when I was young, isn’t this not right?

Moreover, when you become a zombie, your body moves by its own accord, but your rationality disappears and only your blind instinct as a zombie remains. There’s nothing I can do even if my ruthless body infects and devours the people I care for.

“Besides, after you died, he killed all the ministers who opposed him. And all the neighboring countries were subdued by force and made into vassal states. Opinions differ on this point.”

“What. The emperor who conquered the continent?”

“That’s right.”

“Look at that, I told you Kylian would be emperor.”

“You were talking about a puppet emperor, not such a mad tyrant.”

I thought he would live happily when I died. Why did this happen?

Obviously, he never thought of me as his wife, nor did we do our marital duties.

On the contrary, Kylian hated me so much that by the time we had to do our duties, he wouldn’t return to the grand duchy and spouted some excuses.

Anyway, from Father’s point of view, Kylian was the son-in-law who he could change at any time. Duke Percival was cruel to Kylian, and yet, he was a terribly kind and caring father to me.

“Since he became the emperor, the number of massacres is the highest in the history of this empire. But that’s not why he’s considered crazy.”

“Then what?”

“…You will find out when you go there.”

Perhaps because of Lewarren’s words, the words came out without me knowing.

“Can, can I just not go?”



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