Chapter 3

The youngest princess's favor has been monopolized, and now everyone is obsessed with me (3) (3/247)

* * *

The situation in front of me felt so dreamlike that I remained dazed and confused for a long time. It was only after hearing the director's stern voice that I realized this was real.

But the sensation of the slippery, warm blood flowing between my fingers was still vivid.

I couldn't understand why my life, which I had assumed would end in the Elard Duke's household, was continuing in this way.

Perhaps God, pitying me for never being loved by anyone, had given me another chance.

‘Even though I’ve returned to when I was 8, powerless...’

“Lia, what are you doing?”

“Huh?”

“Aren’t you going to eat the bread?”

I had been so lost in thought that I hadn't even touched the bread, and Emily, who was sitting next to me, called out to me.

Her voice was a mix of inexplicable anxiety and anticipation.

Seeing Emily, who couldn't take her eyes off the bread I was holding, I couldn't help but smile bitterly.

“Emily, do you want this?”

“Eh? No, no! Lia should eat it too.”

“I’m not really hungry today. So, Emily, you eat it.”

“Really? Can I really eat it?”

Emily's excited reaction made me feel a bit better.

“Hey! If you’re not going to eat it, give it to me. You’re short and weak, so I should eat more.”

Turning my head at the ridiculous statement, I saw Thomas, the oldest and biggest kid in the orphanage, standing there confidently.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Why should you eat what’s mine?”

“Wh-what?!”

Thomas, who had never imagined that I, usually timid and quiet, would react this way, stammered and his face turned red under the gaze of the other children.

“Who are you to talk back? If I want to eat it, I will! Do you want to get in trouble?”

He moved his arm threateningly and approached me.

He looked like he was about to hit me, but I lifted my chin instead.

No matter how big he was, he was just a kid who hadn’t eaten well.

A 10-year-old boy, not an adult, wasn’t scary at all.

“Stop causing a commotion.”

Then, a boy with dark gray hair, Jack, who was the same age as Thomas, spoke from a corner.

“Why are you butting in, you little brat?”

Thomas, who had always been jealous of the handsome Jack, immediately glared.

‘But you can’t beat Jack anyway.’

I was shaking my head, thinking that size wasn’t everything in a fight, when—

“Don’t get complacent! I’m eating this!”

Thomas, who had sneaked up, stuck out his tongue, grabbed my bread, and ran away quickly.

“That jerk!”

I tried to chase after him, but Emily grabbed me urgently.

Looking around, I realized that all the children were staring at me, probably thinking it was strange for me to stand up to Thomas.

Even Jack was looking at me.

Feeling extremely embarrassed by the sudden attention, I cleared my throat and sat down.

Little did I know that I would regret not chasing Thomas all day.

* * *

Rumble, rumble, rumble.

Squatting and cleaning the floor with my frozen hands, I clutched my stomach.

I was so hungry.

“I should have chased after him.”

Then, I heard a click of the tongue.

“So why did you try to give away the bread for no reason?”

It was Jack, who was sitting on the window frame, cleaning the glass.

“What did you say?”

I was already hungry, and now he was picking a fight?

Throwing the rag I was holding and standing up, I glared at him, and Jack hesitated before continuing.

“If you hadn’t offered the bread in the first place, none of this would have happened.”

“So it’s my fault?”

“Yeah.”

“Damn!”

Strictly speaking, Jack wasn’t wrong, but that made me even angrier.

It was embarrassing to be angry at a child, but maybe my mind had regressed along with my body, and I couldn’t control my temper.

Besides, I knew what kind of adult Jack would become, so this might be the only chance to beat him properly.

‘Should I charge at him?’

I was seriously considering it.

“Huh?”

I looked down at my hand in surprise.

Instead of the rag, half a piece of black bread from the morning was in my hand.

“Are you giving this to me...?”

“Throw it away if you don’t want it.”

“I won’t throw it away!”

Why would I throw away food? No matter how hard the black bread was, it would all be the same once it was in my stomach.

“Jack, you’re... a good kid too.”

I looked at Jack, repeating the eternal truth in my mind: ‘People who give you food are good people!’

“You... seem different today.”

Jack narrowed his eyes and said.

I was surprised.

Jack and I were from the same orphanage, but we had hardly spoken to each other.

How did he know I had changed?

Feeling a bit uncomfortable, I quickly changed the subject.

“But why are you giving this to me?”

Since we only had one meal a day, he must have saved it to eat later. I didn’t understand why he was giving it to me.

“Your stomach was so noisy, it was driving me crazy. Be quiet.”

“Eek!”

I froze, about to give him a sharp retort.

Through the window, a burly man and a little girl were entering the snow-covered front yard of the orphanage.

* * *

That’s the current situation.

After hearing the director’s introduction and Diana’s greeting, I was completely frozen.

‘...Why today of all days?’

The day I returned after dying in the Elard Duke’s household is the day the youngest princess of the Elard Duke’s household, Diana, entered the Tessar Orphanage.

‘Can this really be a coincidence?’

But thinking about it, the first turning point in my life might have been my encounter with Diana.

If Diana hadn’t appeared in the past, the Elard Duke wouldn’t have dismantled the orphanage, and I wouldn’t have suddenly become a street beggar and suffered so much.

So, maybe my return to this moment means I should start a new life from the first turning point.

Looking at the child’s blue eyes, which were holding onto my sleeve, I was lost in thought.

‘Now that I look at her, she definitely has the feel of a noble lady.’

I hadn’t noticed it when I was younger, but now I could feel her uniqueness.

Aside from her beautiful appearance, Diana’s clothes, though dirty, were made of materials and designs that the orphanage children, who wore hand-me-downs from the villagers, never saw.

“Hey.”

“...Hmm?”

“How old are you?”

“I’m 3... no, 4!”

Diana held up three chubby fingers and quickly changed to four.

It seemed she was still getting used to her age since her birthday had just passed.

This matched my memory.

It was winter now, and Diana’s birthday was in the fall.

‘So I really did come back 10 years ago.’

It felt like a dream that just a few months ago, I had attended Diana’s 14th birthday party.

Seemingly unable to bear the intense gazes around her, Diana pouted and said, “Hmph.”

Suddenly, I remembered the past.

In my previous life, I had been careful not to get close to Diana like the other children.

Diana was prone to tantrums and cried easily, and I was afraid that if I was with her, I might get in trouble with the director.

‘Actually, it’s normal for a 4-year-old to throw tantrums and cry, especially after being separated from her loved ones.’

Strangely, despite appearing indifferent to the other children, Diana often looked at me intently or hovered around me.

At the time, I found this very burdensome and avoided her.

“Mia... I won’t bother you, Diana.”

Diana, looking dejected, let go of my hand and bowed her head. She seemed to think I was rejecting her because I wasn’t speaking.

The tears welling up in her big eyes were about to fall, and my heart sank.

“No! I was just lost in thought for a moment.”

I had already turned my back on this little girl once in the past.

Even if I was afraid of the director, I shouldn’t have done that.

I quickly grabbed Diana’s hand.

Diana blinked in surprise.

‘Wow, she’s so cute!’

My heart skipped a beat for a different reason.

I calmed my racing heart and smiled gently so as not to startle her.

Unlike Diana, my plain appearance wouldn’t help much in putting her at ease.

“Let’s go wash up, okay?”

When I spoke kindly, Diana blinked a few more times and then nodded.

Despite the intense gazes from the children who were looking at me disapprovingly and Jack’s puzzled expression, my steps didn’t waver.

This was a miraculous opportunity to change the difficult future that awaited me and the orphanage children.

* * *

“Ah! No!”

When I urgently turned off the faucet, Diana tilted her head in confusion.

“There’s a water shortage here.”

The Tessar Orphanage had running water, but it was in a mountainous area, so the water supply was often unreliable.

I skillfully scooped water from a large basin in the corner of the communal bathroom, soaked a rag made from old clothes, and wrung it out.

The icy water made me feel more alert.

Although the harsh reality made me feel down, I quickly shook my head.

‘Just a few more days.’

In my previous life, about a week after Diana arrived at the orphanage, the Elard Duke and his knights had stormed in.

If I could take good care of Diana during this time and find evidence of the director’s corruption to expose him, the future would definitely change.

“Okay, let’s do it!”

I started by taking off her dirty clothes and began to clean her.

Before I could finish, the water ran out.

I fetched more water and was about to clean her hair when I paused.

As I wiped away the dirt and mud, her hair, which had looked like common gray, revealed a strikingly transparent silver.

Diana blinked her blue eyes at me.

Silver hair and blue eyes. The typical characteristics of the Elard family.

“Always calling us stupid, but the director is the stupidest. She’s obviously a noble.”

Muttering to myself, I suddenly froze.

“Could it be...”