Chapter 1
1. Potato Farming
“Miss Brisa, I regret to bring you such news.”
The day before the Capital Academy’s graduation ceremony.
“We have received word that Marquis Sayers passed away in a carriage accident. We offer our deepest condolences.”
I was in the library, reading a book, when I heard about my father’s death.
“And we have also located the Marquis Sayers’ eldest son, who had long been reported missing.”
At the same time, news arrived of my half-brother’s return.
“And so, the Marquisate of Sayers—”
The faculty member delivering the news gently wrapped an arm around my stiffened shoulders.
“According to the will, it has been decided that the title will be inherited by that eldest son.”
My father’s death itself did not strike me all that hard. There had never been any affection between us to begin with.
During the two years I spent at the Capital Academy, I had not returned to the marquisate even once.
But the fact that a half-brother I had never seen before had become the Marquis of Sayers was a shock.
I had been educated as the heir to the marquisate since I was very young. And now I was being told that I would not inherit the title at all….
If my mother, who had passed away two years ago, were to hear this in the afterlife, she would burst out of her coffin this instant and overturn the entire Sayers estate.
“There’s no way that eldest son born of a maid would come back, right? If they couldn’t find him until now, they never will.”
My father, the Marquis of Sayers, had married twice.
His first marriage had been to a maid of the estate, whom he eloped with and secretly married at a rural shrine.
A few days later, the family discovered it, and he was forced into a divorce.
“The maid, who was pregnant with a son, disappeared.”
Ten years after that, my father married my mother as his second wife.
In truth, ever since the divorce, my father had been constantly searching for his eldest son. The only thing he knew about the child in the womb was the gender the doctor had told him when the pregnancy was confirmed.
Even so, he was determined to pass the marquisate on to that son.
Because of that, my mother lived every day in anxiety, muttering to herself.
“There’s no way that lowly thing will suddenly appear one day. With commoner blood mixed in, how could he ever become a proper Marquis of Sayers?”
My mother was the last princess of the Kingdom of Riente.
Though it had fallen after a defeat, Riente was a kingdom with a long history.
That was why she insisted, over and over again, that my bloodline was far superior to that of the eldest son.
“He must be growing melons or something among commoners. As if someone like him could ever have lived a life befitting the venerable title of Marquis Sayers.”
But every one of those expectations was wrong.
My half-brother, Alphius Sayers, was no ordinary man.
He had grown up as a mercenary among commoners, but his abilities were so outstanding that he caught the eye of the Second Prince when he went north to resolve the civil war there.
In the North, he was hailed as a war hero, and the Second Prince even promised him a title.
After concluding the northern civil war, on his way back to the capital, Alphius learned who his biological father was.
Unfortunately, my father died instantly in a carriage accident just before receiving the news.
Having heard all of this, I headed to the marquisate anyway. I had to attend my father’s funeral.
I met Alphius for the first time at the funeral held in the marquisate.
A strikingly handsome face and a solid, well-built body.
The same platinum-blond hair and sky-blue eyes as mine.
The young man, dressed in mourning clothes, strode over on long legs and greeted me carefully.
“Brisa? Are you Brisa?”
For a moment, my mind went blank.
“I’m, um, Alphius. I heard there’s a ten-year age gap between us. So that makes you twelve now, right? I don’t know if you’ve heard yet, but, um, I’m your older brother….”
After that—
I have no idea how the funeral proceeded, or how I made it back to my room.
My memory simply cuts off.
Because…
Am I going crazy?
The moment I looked at Alphius’s face, unfamiliar memories flooded into my mind.
The world I was living in was the world of a novel I had read in a past life.
The male lead is Alphius. Right now he’s kind and naïve, but he’ll soon fall into darkness.
Worse still, the future awaiting me was utterly hopeless.
After the funeral ended, I shut myself up alone in my room.
“Miss, Miss!”
“What is it? Yes? What’s wrong?”
All the loyal maids in the marquisate were at a complete loss, but I didn’t have the presence of mind to answer them.
My father’s death—someone I had barely seen.
The appearance of the half-brother my mother had feared so deeply while alive.
Neither of those mattered right now. What terrified me more than anything was the fact that I might not be sane.
That this world was a novel—what kind of nonsense was that?
I became an orphan, a half-brother I didn’t even know existed appeared out of nowhere, and on top of that I lost the marquisate. Of course I’m in shock.
Clutching a thick book, just like I always did, I gasped for breath.
I can’t let anyone find out that I’ve gone mad.
Talking about knowing the future or anything like that—I could never say such things out loud.
“Did you know? The last princess of Riente… apparently she had bouts of madness.”
“Really? Then what about her daughter? Isn’t Brisa Sayers not quite right in the head either?”
“That’s very likely. Why else would the Marquis of Sayers spend all that time wandering outside, searching for his eldest son born of a maid?”
Remembering the whispers I had overheard before, I squeezed my eyes shut.
If I started talking about past lives or reincarnation, everyone would say I had finally gone mad like my mother.
Maybe it’ll get better with time. I don’t have hallucinations or voices yet….
That was when it happened.
“Um, Brisa. It’s me—uh—Alphius.”
Along with a knock, a low voice sounded. Alphius, whom I had just met at the funeral, was knocking on my door.
“I—I mean, the one who became your family today. Um, so even though Father passed away, you’re not alone, and….”
There was a strong scent of utter gullibility in the war hero’s way of speaking.
“Um, is it okay if I come in?”
I answered immediately.
“It’s not okay.”
“Ah… would you like to talk a bit?”
“I wouldn’t.”
“Then maybe I could at least see your face for a moment…?”
“No.”
Seeing his face was what had triggered my delusions in the first place….
What if it gets even worse if I see him again?
Turning him away at the door was easy. I had never been a particularly gentle or kind person to begin with.
“Ah… are you busy right now?”
“Very busy.”
“Is it something I could help with?”
“I’m reading. It would help a lot if you went away now.”
“What are you reading? I really love literature too! If it’s something I’ve read, we could even discuss—”
“Understanding Livestock, Volume 17 – Mating and Breeding.”
“……”
The would-be literary youth outside the door finally fell silent.
A brief stillness followed.
I thought he might leave then, but a cautious voice continued.
“I’m leaving for the capital now. The imperial family—um—wants to process the war compensation as quickly as possible.”
“……”
“The marquisate’s finances don’t seem to be in very good shape. Of course! That’s absolutely, completely, not something you need to worry about at all.”
I could tell immediately.
Oh. That’s very, very much something I should be worried about.
I had only returned to the estate today after two years away, so I didn’t yet know the details of the territory’s situation. But even before, things had never been particularly good.
“I’ll be back in ten days at the latest. By then, I hope we can see each other… once you’ve had time to settle your feelings.”
I breathed in uneasily.
Just now, Alphius was saying exactly the same things as in the “future” I had come to know.
Don’t tell me the butler hasn’t been caught embezzling and kicked out already?
No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than Alphius added,
“Oh, and… I dismissed the butler. Just, um, due to certain adult circumstances. I’ll leave my adjutant here instead, so if you need anything, feel free to go to him.”
I felt utterly defeated.
So I’m not crazy? This really is the future that’s coming?
But truly mad people never think they’re mad.
My mother, too, never acknowledged her own madness until the day she died.
Still, if my delusions really are the future….
Then Alphius wouldn’t return in ten days, but only after three months—badly wounded.
And when he finally returned, there would be no one left in the territory. Everyone would be dead.
If I say that out loud, I really will become the crazy girl… no, maybe I already am….
While I was agonizing, Alphius’s footsteps began to fade away.
I was clearly out of my mind—yet everything was unfolding exactly as my delusions said it would.
At this rate… if I sent Alphius off like this, just like in the original story….
Aaaargh!
In the end, I rummaged through my bag, pulled something out, and shouted toward the door.
“Wait!”
