It was just an ordinary life.

Death came so suddenly that there was no time to feel fear before everything was swallowed by darkness. And the last thought that surfaced was the bitter realization that it had been just an ordinary life.

– If I had known I would die so meaninglessly…

Regret came simultaneously.

Though it had been an utterly average life, now that it was ending, the unfulfilled dreams seemed to shine even brighter. The life I had always lived curled up in fear now felt so pitiful.

– Yes, it was all my fault.

The world had not oppressed or trampled my life. Only now did I realize that my timid and fearful self had set its own boundaries and crumpled all possibilities within them.

– If only I had one more chance… I wouldn’t hide and trample myself again… I would live with my head held high… Why did I foolishly just curl up in fear?

Before the regret could even finish, the darkness enveloping me rippled. I could instinctively feel that if this consciousness was also swallowed by the darkness, it would be true death.

– What if I gave you one chance?

A mysterious voice echoed from the edge of the darkness. Was this also a hallucination that comes before death?

– Could I really change?

– You could, if given the chance.

Whatever that voice was, I felt I had to cling to it or everything would end.

– The human soul does not change easily.

Was this a dream I had created myself from reading too many novels? Like a cliché story where one suddenly dies and becomes a beautiful young lady in a novel, grasping all happiness.

– You might think so. In the end, only you can save your own soul.

The voice that returned, as if reading my mind, was quite clear.

– Fortunately, there’s a place that perfectly fits your soul right now. Of course, it’s a place you know.

The darkness grew deeper. If this continued for much longer, I wouldn’t even be able to answer that voice.

– Alright, anywhere is fine!

As expected, just as I barely managed to answer, all senses were covered in darkness.

– Well then, do your best. It’s the 99th bet, so I won’t go easy if you lose.

There was no time to think about the meaning of those words.

After that, I didn’t know how long I was buried in darkness. Only when I opened my eyes did I realize that, as the mysterious voice had said, I had been given a chance.

“A place that perfectly fits my soul?”

The muttered words from my parched lips felt unfamiliar. So did the luxurious platinum blonde hair cascading over my shoulders and the opulent nightgown I was wearing.

“…This doesn’t seem right.”

While I had forgotten what my original name was, I was certain that my life had been far from noble or dignified.

“If that voice wasn’t a hallusion, this is a world I know.”

I let out a thin sigh and raised my upper body, but just that action left me completely drained of strength.

“Am I a pure and pitiful young lady? Probably sickly… But there are too many protagonists like that.”

In my past life, I had always envied my delicate and fragile friends, but I never knew there were hardships like this.

Though my name was blurred, memories of my past life were vaguely coming back.

“Still, I’ll be able to wear pretty clothes to my heart’s content. No one will say they don’t suit my build anymore.”

Though it had been just an ordinary life, the bitterness of being teased for my quickly growing limbs and large frame was deeply embedded in my heart.

“At least the genre is a romance fantasy.”

My reading preferences in my past life were firm. Always reading romance fantasy day and night with hands calloused from harsh training was probably a form of compensation.

The protagonist in every story lived a difficult life, but I was confident I could overcome that much with an athlete’s perseverance.

And then, knock knock, the awaited sound came.

‘Miss, I’m coming in.’

My heart pounded fiercely at the word “miss”. Soon, I would know who I was.

“Miss! You’ve finally woken up!”

Was this a setting where I had just woken up after being ill with a high fever for days?

“Mmm…”

As I awkwardly responded, the bed curtains were quickly drawn back and a kind-looking woman with brown hair looked at me with tears in her eyes.

Now, what would be the name of this sickly and pitiful young lady?

“How could you… push yourself to the point of losing consciousness? You don’t know how worried everyone was.”

Usually, when a protagonist who had been ill woke up after fainting, they would lose their memories. In other words, this was a very natural development.

“My head is dizzy, so I don’t remember well…”

“Hah.”

But the middle-aged woman who hugged the protagonist while shedding tears was very warm. Even though it seemed I hadn’t seen her much, could she perhaps be the head maid that appears in every romance fantasy?

“Why did you do something like dieting, really!”

Huh? Who did what?

“You get dizzy if you skip even one meal, but you only drank water and ate grass for three days, and then ran around exercising in the mansion until you hit your head on a pillar!”

“Why…”

“That’s what I’m saying! You are already beautiful enough… and stately, Miss!”

Oh, the head maid clearly hesitated in the middle there. Moreover, a stately young lady? Was there ever such a protagonist?

“No matter how anxious you are about the engagement ceremony, you should never skip meals again.”

“I’m… engaged?”

The brown-haired woman finally wore a serious expression.

“Do you really not remember?”

At this point, I could only nod.

“Oh my, the pillar’s stucco decoration was shattered, but you used to handle that much easily even when you were young…”

I couldn’t remember a young lady who went around smashing stucco decorations with her head since childhood. If the protagonist had been that unique, I would have recalled immediately.

“For you to be like this over such a trivial matter… It was just a small bump. Ah, this isn’t the time. I’ll bring the physician.”

The woman who had been muttering as if in a daze quickly left the room.

“Just what kind of woman was I…”

Dizziness washed over me before the shock of death had even faded.

* * *

Three days later, the secret commotion in the Astel ducal residence had subsided. It was thanks to belatedly accepting the fact that not only the protagonist appears in novels.

“I’m glad some of your memories have returned. We were so shocked when you fainted, Young Lady…”

The head maid Anna was a kind woman who had raised Serena in place of the duchess who had passed away early. At this point it was obvious, but in this world, my name was Serena Astel.

“But I’ve forgotten everything I’ve learned, so the engagement seems difficult. Is there no news from Father?”

“We sent a messenger bird, but we don’t know yet.”

For better or worse, Serena’s father, Duke Astel, was an adventurer with wanderlust. And Serena’s fiancé also seemed to have no interest in her whatsoever.

“The engagement is impossible. I don’t know anything and my memories are still confused.”

From the beginning, the protagonist of this story was elsewhere. And Serena was in the pitiful position of not being treated as a lady, let alone a wife, both now and in the future.

“Don’t worry. You were just starting to learn etiquette anew, so we can begin from now.”

This was something I didn’t know.

Well, who would have thought that a woman who would later ascend to become the empire’s empress would foolishly diet and collapse alone after hitting her head on a pillar?

“A month is enough. If we start dress fittings right away, it won’t be too late.”

After three days and nights of constant worry, I realized who Serena Astel was. And at the same time, I understood why this place was said to suit my soul.

“I don’t want clothes like that…”

Glancing at the mirror beside the bed, there was a beautiful woman with platinum blonde hair flowing to her waist. Just a bit tall and sturdy.

“You don’t know how beautiful the imperial engagement dress is. You even marveled at it before you lost your memory.”

“I did?”

“Of course.”

The woman with blue eyes in the mirror had the freshness of eighteen years and beauty that would clearly blossom beautifully. Her long limbs and tall stature even reminded one of a runway model at a glance.

“So you pushed yourself, skipping meals…”

Anna stopped speaking abruptly, startled, and closed her mouth.

Indeed, if Serena had one flaw, it was that her back and neck were slightly hunched, giving a gloomy impression. I could understand the reason without asking. In my past life, I had always lived with a hunched posture.

“So the dress didn’t fit my body.”

At some point, fluttery and pretty clothes no longer fit or suited my body. With a childish heart, I had worn ill-fitting clothes and walked around with my back and neck hunched, wanting to look even a little smaller. Probably Serena felt the same way.

“Do you remember? Don’t worry about it. It’s because the previous empress who wore the dress was quite small in stature.”

Do we have the same worries even in different worlds? How cruel that the parts that hurt throughout my past life don’t fall away even when fate changes.

“It wasn’t my dress from the beginning.”

“That’s right, the dress will be perfectly fitted to your body, so it will be magnificent.”

Anna answered Serena’s muttering without understanding. In reality, it was customary to alter and refit the imperial dress for each new wearer.

“Fitted to my body?”

However, to Serena who had come from a completely different world, those words tugged at her heart painfully.

“Of course.”

It was a thought I had never had in my past life. At the same time, the intense regret that came at the moment of death surfaced.

“Without bowing my head, without hunching my shoulders…”

Muttering to herself, Serena got up from the bed and stood straight in front of the mirror. When she straightened her back and neck and looked in the mirror, she saw a tall and slender beauty.

If given another chance… That wish had already been granted. Now it was time for me to change. The harsh mold I had set for myself had no meaning. As I threw everything away and faced myself in the mirror, the answer became clear.

With a grin, the confident and slender Serena in the mirror smiled. Though she could never be called delicate or fragile even as a white lie, she was beautiful and radiant with vitality.