TPR 02

Chapter 02

In life, things rarely go according to plan.
Being born is one thing, but dying? That’s even more unpredictable.
Still, I thought I had lived without regrets, even if there were lingering attachments.

“My aunt will be back soon, and I’ll buy you a shoe store!”

I had left enough money for my family to buy hundreds of shoe shops.
I had built a magical tower that only a wizard could purchase, so no one would suffer like my mother did. I had taken in disciples and lived diligently.
I sealed the Demon God and even saved the Empire.
That should have been enough, shouldn’t it?
Of course, I had much to say about my own death, but let’s skip that for now.
The important question wasn’t how I died.
It was why I was alive.
That was the real problem.

“Why… am I alive?”

And the answer wasn’t even close to obvious.

“More importantly, where am I?”

I looked around. One thing was certain:
The air was dark, damp, and heavy. Tombstones stood at regular intervals.
A graveyard.

“Huh?”

Let me try to piece this together.
‘I definitely died sealing the Demon God.’
My body surely couldn’t have survived the magical explosion that blew everything away.
Yet, when I opened my eyes, I was lying in a graveyard—and somehow, I had woken up in the body of a girl about twelve years old.
What was unnerving was the magic circle drawn in blood nearby…

Prick!

“My senses… they’re intact.”

At least my body was fine. My skin was soft and pliable.
“So I’m really alive?”
But how? Why?
I had taken fatal injuries before death. Survival shouldn’t have been possible.

‘Could it be the Black Star Cult?’

I, Hildegarde, brushed the dirt off myself and examined the blood-drawn magic circle carefully.
‘It’s soul-gathering magic… but the pattern is different. I’ve never seen this before.’
There was no doubt: it was the work of a dark wizard.

Then, a furious voice rang out.

“Hildegarde! I’ve been looking for you all day! There you are!”

I turned my head and saw a boy standing there.
He looked around fourteen and was holding the reins of a donkey.
Silver hair and a furrowed brow.
Messy bangs and an angry face.

‘Huh?’

Seeing his face, I was stunned.
The boy looked just like Leonhardt.
“…Brother Leon?”

No. It wasn’t Leonhardt.
He was too young to be him.
But he wasn’t just a stranger—he looked like he could be family. Anyone could tell at a glance.

While I was still in shock, the boy approached without hesitation.

“What are you doing here, without fear? Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?”

“Uh…”

“‘Uh’? Stop saying that! Get on! Let’s go home.”

Get on… that donkey?
I froze, confused.

“…Are you still angry?”

Seeing me hesitate, the boy frowned even more, misunderstanding my silence.

“Fine. We’ll talk at home. It’s getting dark. You can’t be doing this at Great-Aunt’s grave.”

“Huh?”

“Stop running away and come back home!”

He lifted me up and placed me on the donkey.

“Wait! Wait—!”

“Talk at home first.”

“I’m not—angry—!”

“Yes, you are! Come on, talk at home!”

Leaving me struggling, the boy bowed toward the grave.

“Great-Aunt, sorry for the noise. She has no friends, you see. We’ll come back with my brother later.”

“Ah! Don’t treat me like a package! Put me down…!”

As I struggled, my gaze fell on the gravestone. My body stiffened.

[Hildegarde Akalaxia (412–435)]
The most noble princess, rests here.

“…!”

I quickly pieced together what was happening.
It wasn’t that I had just become younger.
No.
I had… reincarnated.

“Prince Redis, you found the young lady, right?”
“Yes. Thanks for your help.”
“No need to thank me. I’m just glad she’s safe. Go home carefully.”

Here’s the situation in summary: I hadn’t survived—I had reincarnated.
And suddenly, this boy appeared in front of me.
With the silver hair characteristic of the Akalaxia dukedom, this child must be…

“…Redis Akalaxia?”

“Calling your brother’s name already?”
Redis snarled like an angry weasel.
His eyes sparkled a bluish-purple, identical to Leonhardt’s.

I had no energy left to be shocked anymore, so I just kept my mouth shut.
Old graveyard gravestones.
Great-Aunt’s tomb.
A boy identical to Leonhardt.
All signs pointed to one truth:

‘I really have reincarnated.’

It was hard to believe, but reality didn’t lie.
‘And he called me Hildegarde?’

It was common for families to give a deceased elder’s name to a child.
In this case, the “deceased elder” meant me.
‘So… I really died? Can this even be called reincarnation? Wait, what year is it now?’

Unfortunately, the confusion didn’t stop there.

“Hildegarde, I know you’re upset, but don’t open your mouth in front of Michael. He’s giving it his all. You know that, right?”
Redis said, gently admonishing me.

“Why?”

“If we don’t help him, it’ll just make things worse.”

“Giving it his all?” I asked, confused.

“Extra income is always good. Haven’t you realized that yet?”

I frowned.

“Extra income? Why don’t we have money? We have mines!”

“Mines? Whaaat? Our family has those?!”

“What? They’re gone?!”

Both of us were enraged, but for different reasons.
Redis, calming his younger sister, shouted like an angry weasel:

“Hey, silly sister! Where do you think we have mines? Only back in Akalaxia’s glory days, eighty years ago!”

“Eighty… years?!”

I nearly fell off the donkey in shock.

I raised my voice step by step until I hit the high note.

“O-Oh… what year is it today?!”

“Are you feeling okay?”

“WHAT YEAR IS IT?!!”

Redis paused, realizing for a brief moment that maybe his little sister had hit her head and lost her memory.

“It’s the year 515. The New Year was just a couple days ago. Remember?”

I felt the blood drain from my face.
‘Eighty years have passed since I sealed the Demon God?!’

It was a relief the world hadn’t fallen apart.
Relief, yes… but…
‘Where are Leonhardt, Maeve, Michaelis?’
Countless faces flashed before my eyes.
Eighty years… my hands trembled at the thought of such distant time.

Redis, sensing my silence, said again:

“Hildegarde, I know it’s hard to accept, but you’re twelve now. You have to accept reality.”

“Accept what?”

“We need to support our brother and do whatever we can to rebuild the family.”

“Rebuild? Wait… the Duke’s family… has fallen?!”

“It’s not exactly fallen, but things can’t continue like this.”

Redis dropped a bombshell:

“Our family is poor.”

“Poor?!”

“Do you want to keep going with this?”

Redis grabbed me before I fell off the donkey and shouted.
I couldn’t believe my ears.
The Akalaxia dukedom was famous as the “Rainbow Akalaxia,” owning mines with gemstones in red, purple, and seven other colors.
Three generations of extended relatives could live off its wealth comfortably.
And now… poor?
Our family?!

‘Even the roaming stray dogs of the Akalaxia dukedom looked different, for heaven’s sake!’

Even eighty years ago, there was no family wealthy enough to rival the Akalaxia dukedom—maybe only the royal family.
Even the royal family relied on Akalaxia in times of hardship.

The poor got poorer, and the rich got richer. That’s the law of the world.
Yet somehow, the Akalaxia dukedom had escaped it.

‘Wait…’

I scanned the surroundings and regained some composure.
Night was falling, and the streets were dark.
Naturally.

Except, the Akalaxia dukedom was different.
I had personally laid down magical stones to light the streets at night.
Anyone could walk safely, day or night.
I had even installed semi-permanent lighting magic.
‘The effort to gather these expensive stones from across the Empire…!’

Yet now…

‘Who the hell took all the magical stones?!’

It wasn’t just the stones. Life itself was far worse than eighty years ago.
Old buildings everywhere.
Streets in disrepair, creaking bridges.
The hill leading to the mansion evoked nostalgia, yet the state of decay was shocking.

‘No way…’
I refused to accept reality.

Yet familiar houses and streets were still there.
Even the slope leading to the mansion was the same as I remembered.
“Almost there. Hungry?”

Rumble!

Before I could answer, my stomach growled loudly.

“So who made me skip breakfast while storming out? You were coming home anyway.”

Redis laughed, his face identical to Leonhardt’s.
“….”

I clenched my fists, trying to stop my vision from overlapping with his.

“Let’s eat first when we get home. I haven’t had anything all day looking for you either.”

When we reached the top of the hill, I tried to calm myself:
‘Yes. Let’s go home and figure this out. Slowly.’

But I was about to face the hardest reality of all since my reincarnation.

“Here we are.”

“…Here we are?”

Caw! Caw!

Rusty, broken iron bars.
Ivy vines haphazardly covering cracks in stone walls.
With a creak, the dilapidated mansion door opened.

“…You’re joking, right?”

This haunted-looking mansion… is supposed to be the Akalaxia residence?

I slowly realized that something had gone terribly wrong with this reincarnation.

And then, even more unbelievable sights began to appear before my eyes…