Chapter 03

 A Guide

I woke up as usual, washed with Mary’s help, and went downstairs for breakfast, but something felt different. The household seemed unusually busy.

“Good morning, my daughter.”

Dad approached me with a happy expression and kissed me on the cheek. Mom kissed my other cheek, and then, as if he had been waiting for his turn, my brother approached and kissed both of my cheeks.

The kisses I received every morning still made me feel a little bashful, but I had grown accustomed to kissing them back as well, so I did so before walking toward the dining room with them.

“Did someone just come by?”

At my question, Mom’s eyes widened and she became excited.

“A document came from the Imperial Family.”

“From the Imperial Family?”

Our territory was the farthest from the capital. What kind of official document could possibly have been sent all the way here?

My brother answered my question.

“You know that book I bought for you last time, Rin.”

“……The romance novel?”

“Yes. Apparently, it wasn’t actually a novel. It was a prophecy distributed by the temple.”

“……A prophecy?”

“Yes. Apparently, God left that book behind along with a message saying that He would send a Saintess. What was it……? I think it said that it was an object from the place where the Saintess resides.”

The person who answered my question wasn’t my brother, but Dad. He pulled out my chair for me before I sat down.

I couldn’t hide my confused expression as I settled into the chair.

A prophecy rather than an ordinary romance novel?

Did that mean someone from Korea was going to cross dimensions?

My brother added to my thoughts as though he had read my mind, and Mom joined in.

“My goodness, dimensional travel. Isn’t that really hard to believe?”

“I’ve never heard anything like it in my life either. To think that someone can cross dimensions. It sounds just like something out of an ancient wizard’s tale.”

“Mother, you’ve never heard of it either?”

“No, I haven’t. A Saintess has arrived. Just thinking about it is overwhelming.”

What my family was saying sounded exactly like the story of the heroine in the novel.

But if it wasn’t a novel and was actually a prophecy……

Then the world I was living in was the world where such a heroine existed.

If that was the case, did that mean Espers existed in this empire?

Then……had I possessed a character in a novel?

I was trapped in uncontrollable chaos, but Mom’s next words suddenly brought me back to my senses.

“How could such a wonderful occasion have happened? They say that, in celebration of the Saintess’s arrival, all the noble children who are supposed to have their coming-of-age ceremonies this year will be invited to the Imperial Family.”

“……What?”

“It seems the Saintess is also coming of age this year. They also said they plan to select nobles around her age who could become her friends, so that she can adapt more quickly.”

“……Really?”

“Yes. Perhaps because we’re so far from the capital, the news reached us late. That’s why a messenger carrying the Emperor’s words came by this morning. They must be very busy. The coming-of-age ceremonies aren’t far away, after all.”

I couldn’t make sense of anything.

What on earth was happening? I couldn’t follow any of it.

As I sat there unable to even pick up my spoon, David chuckled softly and handed me a glass of water.

“You must not be fully awake yet. Our Rin always needs to drink some cold water first, doesn’t she?”

It was one of my habits.

Drinking cold water whenever I woke up.

Unfortunately, this habit had been formed because of my husband in my previous life. Since he was an Esper with fire and wind abilities, my body would feel hot after I Guided him.

However, it was a habit that was somewhat out of place with the culture here.

People here usually drank hot tea, and unless you belonged to a noble family, cool ice was not something that could easily be purchased.

Our family was noble, but I knew perfectly well that bringing in expensive ice despite our limited budget was done solely because of me.

There was a glass of water with ice in it placed only at my seat at the table.

Feeling an unbearable amount of affection for my family, who always put me first, I regretted the habit I had stubbornly maintained until now.

“I’ll just drink regular water from tomorrow.”

I couldn’t keep relying solely on their affection forever.

Shouldn’t I give something back in return for all the love they had given me?

I was still confused after learning that this was the world of the novel, but perhaps that realization was also what finally brought me back to my senses.

For ten years, I had lived only thinking about leaving my past behind and putting myself back together.

Before possessing this body, I had spent twenty-five years living a harsh and gloomy life.

The reason I had been able to cast aside that darkness and live happily was entirely because of my family.

I poured more than half of the cold water from my glass into my brother’s glass and gave him a small smile.

“What sudden wind has blown into our daughter’s sails?”

“Hehe. It’s fine for you to drink cold water, Rin.”

Even such a small action of mine drew the attention of my entire family.

You’d think I would have gotten used to it by now, but I still didn’t know what to do with all the attention my family gave me.

The only thing I could do to express my gratitude for their affection was smile sheepishly.

I had always been stingy with emotional expressions, so that was the greatest gesture I could manage.

But more than simply expressing it, I had already come to think of them as my family, and I decided that from now on, I would become as honest with my expressions of affection as they were.

I didn’t want to hide anymore.

Nor did I want to hide myself.

After breakfast, I hurried upstairs to my room and took the novel back out of the desk drawer.

When I had looked at it a few days ago, I had judged it after reading only the opening. I needed to confirm whether it was really the exact same book I had read in my previous life.

I sat on the sofa and read it carefully.

Everything was the same up until the heroine wandered around a Gate and crossed dimensions, came to this world and met the main male lead and the sub-male lead, attended her coming-of-age ceremony, became caught between the two men, and began Guiding them.

The stories of the male leads falling for her were the same as well.

But the ending was different.

In the novel I had read in my previous life, the sub-male lead, who had become obsessed with the heroine, couldn’t accept it when the heroine and the main male lead, the Crown Prince, ended up together.

So he started a rebellion.

The sub-male lead possessed overwhelmingly greater abilities than the main male lead, and it seemed as though he was going to win.

But in the end, he went berserk and died.

With that, the villainous sub-male lead disappeared naturally, and the heroine and the Crown Prince lived happily ever after.

That was the ending.

However, the book I was reading now had no ending.

In other words, if the story were divided into two volumes, this felt like the first volume.

Come to think of it, when I had read this book in my previous life, it had been two volumes.

If that was the case, was I the only person who knew the ending of this novel—the book that was now being called a prophecy here?

No.

There might be a second volume corresponding to the second book in the temple.

There was a high possibility that they had deliberately spread only the first volume.

Once a group became an organization, they inevitably tended to prioritize their own interests.

The Korean Guide Association Center and Esper Association Center in my previous life had been the same.

The title of Duke belonged to one of the highest ranks among the nobility.

It would be difficult enough to accept a Duke rebelling against the Crown Prince, let alone for such a thing to be openly revealed.

I quietly stared at the point where the first volume ended, imagining everything that would happen afterward.

Then I took out some paper and began writing down everything I could remember.

Of course, I made sure to write it all in Korean so that no one who saw it would be able to understand.

Unless the dimensional-traveling heroine came here, there was no one who could read Korean.

And there was no reason for the heroine to come all the way here.

The heroine would spread Korean food and culture throughout this world.

Although she did those things out of altruism toward the people, as well as fulfilling her duties as the Saintess, there were quite a few businesses that emerged from those activities.

If I could secure those businesses in advance, wouldn’t they be able to help our family’s merchant company?

Wouldn’t I be able to give something back, at least as repayment for all the affection my family had given me until now?

I wrote down everything I could remember about the businesses the heroine would establish.

Although it had been a long time since I had read the novel, I had read it so many times that I remembered most of the important details.

“My daughter, are you busy?”

I heard Mom’s voice along with a knock.

I quickly put the book and papers into the drawer, then hurried over and opened the door.

“What’s the matter?”

“My daughter, let’s go out with Mom.”

“Go out?”

“Yes. We need to go to the dress shop and check your dress.”

I had already had a dress made for my coming-of-age ceremony.

There was still another month to go, so why were we going now?

“Check it? Why?”

At my question, Mom practically jumped.

“Why? Oh, I should have paid more attention if I’d known the Imperial Family was going to hold the coming-of-age ceremony. My daughter has to be the prettiest……”

I immediately understood the reason for Mom’s complaint.

This family really was far too generous toward me.

My heart swelled painfully once again from an emotion I had never experienced in my previous life.

“No matter how well we prepare, there will be incredibly high-ranking nobles in the capital, won’t there? We can’t even compare ourselves to them.”

“Ahh, our daughter is so sensible. But what can I do? To your mother, you’re the prettiest of all. When will Rin ever understand how much this mother wants to make you even more beautiful?”

At Mom’s urging, I quickly gathered the gloves that would cover my burn scars and a hat to protect me from the sunlight, then left the mansion with her.

Summer was just around the corner, and the air was beginning to grow slightly hot.

As we walked, I found myself recalling the past.

For a moment, the face of a man who carried the heat of the wind passed through my mind.

“A Guide……”

“Hm? What did you say?”

“Nothing, Mom.”

Muttering a word I had never expected to hear in this place, I found myself looking forward to the coming-of-age ceremony just a little.

The heroine in the novel was a Korean Guide.

Perhaps, even if only from a distance, I might get to see someone with a familiar color again after such a long time.