Hertian, who was holding the collapsed Annette, shook her body with pity.

“Get yourself together, my lady!”

The dignified attitude he maintained even in front of the impostor completely crumbled in an instant.

It was different from the times she fainted due to exhaustion.

She was sprawled, emitting groans from her painful face. Cold sweat dripped down her forehead, and she breathed heavily, exhaling hot breath like someone tormented by a severe nightmare.

“Why was the lady here alone? Why were you alone?”

The maids and butlers who followed Hertian’s voice were stunned to see Annette collapse.

“Apologies, I brought water for the Grand Duchess, and she told me to leave as she would handle it alone…”

The maid who took care of Annette trembled as she spoke.

It wasn’t the usual sight of Hertian that they had seen.

His gaze, as if he could kill a person, was like he could do it a hundred times more.

“How was her condition before this?”

“It was the same as usual. So I couldn’t predict that the Grand Duchess would collapse. I apologize, Your Grace.”

“Quickly, call the doctor!”

At Hertian’s thunderous voice, the maid and butler hastily rushed out.

He, who had just been in a heated argument with Michael, completely collapsed.

The small embrace that had held together was about to shatter.

He couldn’t think of anything else.

He could only carefully pick her up, pushing aside the bewildered Michael.

He had a strange dream.

It felt familiar, not like a dream. Because it was a sensation he had experienced relatively recently.

When was it?

It certainly wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

It was the day I first realized this place was a novel.

In front of me, in the hospital bed, I saw myself crouched with a strange body, waiting for death while staring into the void.

Even at the moment when my breath, wheezing, was fading away, there was no one by my side.

No one was there originally.

Just because I die doesn’t mean someone cares. It was a lonely life where no one would cry for me.

Soon, the breath that had been exhaling slowly became less frequent.

It was the moment when a 20-year life ended in a mundane way.

I didn’t know at the time of death, but seeing myself in this dream made me feel terribly pathetic.

‘That person was nothing, I mean, I was nothing. Just because I die, the world won’t change, and no one will cry for me.’

The screen flipped.

It was a different scenery from the dark and hard hospital.

Two children standing under the pretty sunlight appeared.

One was the young me with long hair under the sunlight, blinking my eyes, Annette.

The other was a boy, short-haired like Annette, resembling me, Lian.

It was somewhere in the bushes. In the afternoon with the clear sunlight, under a big tree where the sound of leaves rustling could be heard, there were small Lian and Annette.

Lian observed young Annette quietly.

Shortly after Annette opened her eyes, Lian said.

“You’re not my sister. Annette is really dead.”

Lian, who was saying strange things.

It was a scene that wasn’t in my memory.

“Where did you come from?”

Little Lian asked. Then young Annette mumbled her lips.

“Can’t speak?”

Dori-dori.

The little head turned.

“Then who are you to become my sister?”

Lian, sitting on the grass, held Annette’s small hand.

Young Annette stared at that hand for a long time.

She blinked her eyes several times.

It seemed like she was telling the story of her difficult past as if waiting for the warmth of someone’s hand for the first time.

“…I was sick.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know. It was an incurable disease. I had to have surgery every year, but the doctor’s face was always unpleasant. Before I died, I couldn’t have surgery for a few years. So it hurt too much, but there was no one to tell about the pain.”

“You have family. And friends.”

Dori-dori.

“Were you alone?”

Only now did the little head nod up and down.
Lian thought carefully.

Then, suddenly, he grabbed Annette and lifted her.

“Do you want to be a family with me?”

“Really?”

Her small eyes sparkled.

“I get bored without a younger sibling. You must get bored too.”

“But is it okay?”

“Of course. However, this is a secret from others. Understand?”

“Yes. I promise.”

Young Annette responded with a cheerful laugh.

A promise made among the bushes.

Even though it happened after I came to this world, I had completely forgotten about it.

In an instant, memories tightly bound to the past resurfaced.

As if to reassure, this place was not the ceiling of a hospital room but the ceiling of this world.

And, as always, there was Hertian by my side.

It’s strange.

To say we’ve gotten close would be an understatement, considering it hasn’t been long since we met.

Yet, if seeing me collapse makes him feel this reassured, it seems we’ve become quite close.

“Hertian.”

At the sound of my voice, he raised his head abruptly.

His appearance was unexpectedly disheveled.

“If you were in pain, you should have told me. Why did you collapse alone?”

His voice sounded choked, and his black eyes were moist.

“Did you cry?”