Chapter 2

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“That’s…”

After two knocks, the door of the drawing room opened, followed by a soft voice that seemed to be somewhat troubled.

Wait, it’s too dazzling! Three men with great visuals approached me at the same time.

(t/n: great visuals = good looking)

Usually, I would be happy to the point that I couldn’t breathe. However, due to my situation now, I only secretly wiped the sweat in my clenched hands.

“Ariel! You’re beautiful today too, as expected of my sister!”

“Oh, yes… Brother.”

(t/n: FL calls her brother 오라버니, which is the formal form of 오빠/older brother)

When the handsome man approached me, in an instant, I barely managed to reply to the man who’s supposed to be my brother. He was breathtaking.

It was awkward to suddenly have an older brother. So I patted the back of my neck. Starting with my answer, the voices of the three men were tangled and penetrated into my ears in an instant.

“I heard you caught a cold recently, but are you okay now?”

“Yes, I was worried, Ariel.”

“Yes, as you can see, I’ve already recovered.”

When I answered the two men who had big smiles and worried faces, the three men who heard my answer looked at me with subtle expressions.

Why? Do I not look okay?

I reassured them again that I was really fine. Still, their subtly firm expressions did not change.

The first who spoke was black hair.

“…why use honorifics for us?”

“What?”

“You’re doing it again. It’s not like you, Ariel.”

When I blinked my eyes because I didn’t know what was going on, my brother with blond hair like mine made an enlightened face, and soon laughed happily. And he glanced at the two men and spoke.

“I noticed you were using honorifics to me earlier, but you did it to these guys too. Our Ariel finally realized the vicious reality of those two guys after 10 years! This brother is proud.”

10 years? Are they like a childhood friend?

It seems to be the case given these circumstances. Those two guys are my childhood friends of ten years, so it’s weird for me to use honorifics now. To be honest, I was embarrassed since I suddenly have two long-time childhood friends that I didn’t originally have.

But if my real identity was found out here, I thought I would be in trouble with people who didn’t even know who I was. If you look at the situation, these people know the owner of the body I’m occupying right now. They also seem to care a lot about this body’s owner.

So, I must not get caught!

I acted like nothing was wrong, while sweating profusely inside.

“…Well, I was just joking around. Why is everyone so surprised?”

At my answer, my brother came back with a dead expression, and the two men finally smiled slightly as if they were relieved.

“By the way, Ariel, I want to ask you something.”

My brother asked me with a nervous look.

“This year, isn’t it the year you turn 20?”

“Well… yes.”

I didn’t actually know that this body was 20 years old. I listened to my brother’s words, nodding as if nothing was wrong.

“And in two months, there’s a banquet for the birthday of the crown prince, right? Ariel, of course you’re invited.”

“Right. I have to…attend.”

Wait, the crown prince?

With the word “prince” that never existed where I used to live, I wiped the sweat off my hands again on the hem of my dress without the men in front of me noticing.

If I say something wrong, or if I don’t control my expression, it’s over!

I clenched my fist to get my act together. My nails dug into the flesh of my palm.

“By any chance, have you decided on a partner yet?”

“…What?”

When I blinked at the word partner, three nervous-faced men stared at me.

Oh, do they mean a partner who usually enters the party together and is next to you? It was a concept that I knew, of course, when I enjoyed reading romance fantasy novels.

But seeing my brother ask me this, my partner, it’s not decided yet. Right? Body owner……?

It was the moment I hesitated and tried to answer.

“And by the way, you remember when you were eight, right? When you turn 20, this brother promised to be your partner for every party”

What happened when I was eight? I can’t remember. I didn’t even know the age of this body.

I didn’t know what to answer, so I rolled my eyes around and slightly licked my dried and cracked lips with my tongue. And fortunately, before I could answer anything, two other men stepped into the conversation.

“That’s not even funny. You must have threatened her when she was a kid.”

“You did such a mean thing yet you’re confident.”

“What are you talking about? You don’t even know. Get out! I’ve been waiting for this day!”

The voices of the three men were tangled up. I couldn’t get into their conversation, and I wanted to leave at once.

No, this body’s partner seems so important! Someone help me!

It was then when I was swallowing tears inside. Maybe he was tired of arguing, my brother asked me with a huff.

“Ariel! What are you going to do with your partner? Did you decide already? Other than me?”

How do I answer this? I wanted to run away with embarrassment as the three passionate eyes turned to me. I wish someone would stop the conversation, but the three of them glared as if they had to hear my answer.

Eventually, after hesitating, I carefully opened my mouth.

“…No, I haven’t decided yet.”

“That’s right! Then, of course, with this brother…….”

“What are you talking about, Astin? You’re eliminated as Ariel’s partner first.”

“That’s right, you’re the one who lost the swordsmanship match that we did to decide Ariel’s partner.”

Are they talking about the swordsmanship training they’ve been doing since this morning? I kept staring at the three men in embarrassment. Well, all three of them are so handsome that it doesn’t matter who they are.

What matters to me now is where I am and why I am here. And I felt a little uncomfortable with the three people, whom I don’t know, arguing.

…somebody get me out of here!

At that time, Jane, who had prepared a lot of refreshments, came in and set it up, as if my earnest wish had come true. Then she asked the three men the tea they wanted and quickly left again.

No, don’t go, Jane! I kept looking at the closed door and sighed softly when there was no sign of it reopening. Then I moved my eyes to the table. On top of it was a pile of appetizing cookies.

Even in this embarrassing situation, I was hungry. In the end, unable to resist the cookies’ temptation, I took a bite.

Ah, I think I’m going to live. Since I am a simple person who felt better after eating delicious food, I asked the three.

“So, who won in the end?”

“……?”

“…Oh, so who won?”

“The game didn’t end today! So Ariel, your brother will be your partner!”

“You’re funny, the loser today should keep his mouth shut.”

“I didn’t know you’re like this Astin, but you’re a little mean today.”

They were the three people who started to face off again, starting with my brother’s words.

I let out a deep sigh. I shouldn’t have asked.

I glanced at their faces once again, while munching on cookies.

First of all, if I don’t know anything about them, it’ll be hard to pretend to be the owner of this body later on……. I need to memorize their names first.

I quietly began to match their faces with their names that she kept on hearing during their argument.

The black-haired man is Calix Adelio, the silver-haired man is Edwin Cliff, and my brother Astin Delis… So does that mean I am Ariel Delis? But these names seemed familiar.

As I kept mulling over the names, I opened my mouth to the great realization that seemed to hit my head.

It’s really crazy, and it’s really ridiculous.…. Suddenly, I bit my lips as I felt goosebumps in my arms.

…to my surprise, these were the same names as the characters in the romance fantasy novel ‘Everybody’s Lady’, which I read a week ago. Now that I see it, the description of the characters in the book and the appearance of these men who are living and moving in front of me are exactly the same.

No, is this possible?

I was appalled by the ridiculous realization that I transmigrated into a novel. And when I finally realized who I was, I covered my mouth.

That’s right. The heroine of the original “Everybody’s Lady” was Ariel Delis, whose body I am possessing right now.

Don’t I read this kind of story often? Stories of heroines in a romance fantasy novel.

They become very diverse characters. For example, a wicked woman or just an extra that doesn’t appear much in the novel and finally becomes the heroine of the novel.

I came in as the female lead from the beginning. I’m not sure if I should say this is a good thing or not. One might think that my starting point is better than that of an evil girl or an extra, but…….