Before heading to Julian’s room, Heidi took the time to prepare me.

“This is the hairpin Lord Julian gave you for your last birthday.”

From a drawer full of ornaments, Heidi selected a hairpin adorned with a large emerald. It was a precious item that I usually kept safe and rarely wore.

“If he sees this, maybe Lord Julian will suddenly remember you.”

“…Do you really think so?”

“Of course. Lord Julian always put a lot of thought into any gift he chose for you.”

“Then let’s also pick an outfit from the ones he bought for me.”

Once I had finished dressing, I requested parchment and a pen and prepared a document. It was something I would need to protect Julian from the dangers ahead.

“My dear treasure, my little Rosie. I hope you grow up bright and confident.”

Julian’s words from the past echoed in my ears.

Brother.

If I included the years before my regression, it had been far too long since I last saw him.

I will live confidently, just like you wished for me.

I gathered the document, took a deep breath, and stood up.

And of course, I will stand confidently before you too.

With that resolve, I headed to Julian’s room.

Julian was indeed awake. He looked just as I remembered from the last time I saw him before my regression.

Though his body was wrapped in bandages, his striking features remained unmistakable.

His sharp green eyes scanned me with deep suspicion.

“…Who’s this little brat?”

He had already received a brief explanation from his closest friend and lieutenant, Shulva. But judging by his expression, he was still incredibly skeptical about my existence.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. This kid is my sister? Ha…”

His rough, delinquent-like demeanor only made his already hostile aura feel even more intense.

Before my regression, I had turned around and run away at this very moment. Seeing Julian look at me with such cold, unfamiliar eyes had been too much to bear.

And after that, I never saw him again…

I closed my eyes for a moment before opening them again.

During the ten years I spent imprisoned in the temple’s underground prison, I had replayed this moment over and over, drowning in regret.

If I want to change the future, I have to act differently here.

So instead of backing away, I calmly sat beside Julian’s bed and nodded.

“Nice to meet you, brother. We have different fathers, but I’m still your sister.”

Julian narrowed his eyes and asked,

“…How old are you?”

I responded kindly.

“Oh. Remember when you were twelve, and Mom left? That was because she had an affair and got pregnant with me.”

“Holy shit!”

Julian bolted upright, only to clutch his waist and collapse back down in pain.

“What the hell kind of person is our mom? Running away not once, but twice?”

For seventeen-year-old Julian, this was the first time he was hearing about the real reason behind his mother’s disappearance.

He scowled, his face twitching in disbelief.

“And for fuck’s sake, which loose-lipped bastard went and told you all this? A kid your age shouldn’t have to know about this kind of messed-up family drama!”

I looked at him for a moment before answering kindly again.

“The day we first met, you told me yourself.”

“…What?”

Julian, who had just called someone else a loose-lipped idiot, now wore a completely dumbfounded expression.

I continued matter-of-factly.

“Mom left me at an orphanage and passed away soon after. You were the one who brought me here.”

Julian’s face twisted in shock.

I patted my chest and said,

“You cared for me a lot, you know. You told me you would take responsibility for me.”

Julian clutched his head with a complicated expression and let out a deep sigh.

“Hah…”

“Anyway, that makes me twelve years younger than you. I thought it’d be easier to remember that way. I hope it helps.”

Julian didn’t respond. He groaned slightly and muttered under his breath like he was developing a migraine.

“Damn it, I can’t even take care of myself right now… and now I suddenly have a kid to be responsible for?”

At that moment, Shulva, Julian’s lieutenant, jumped in shock and clamped a hand over his mouth.

“Mmph!”

“Lady Rosie, please don’t take it to heart!”

Shulva hastily blurted out, looking flustered.

“He doesn’t even know what kind of nonsense he’s spouting right now… Seriously, this bastard—no, I mean, Lord Julian—is not in his right mind…”

I had never seen Shulva this panicked before.

Amused, I smiled and teased,

“Oh? Shulva, are you really allowed to just shut my brother up like that? I don’t think he’s the type to sit back and let that slide.”

Shulva sighed and responded flatly,

“He isn’t the type, which is exactly why I have to do this.”

Shulva let out a deep sigh.

“When he eventually regains his memory, he’s going to throw an absolute fit, demanding to know why I didn’t cut off his own tongue for saying something so hurtful to our precious baby Rosie.”

Then, without a single change in expression, he continued in complete seriousness.

“And once he remembers, that idiot of a sister-obsessed fool will cry and starve himself for an entire month, wailing through the nights about how sorry he is for saying such cruel things to our little Rosie.”

“…What?”

Julian blinked, looking utterly bewildered. Then, as if refusing to be outdone, he shouted defiantly.

“Oh, and what the hell am I supposed to do about this? That I’m a noble? That I was supposedly one of the strongest in the world? How does any of this make sense? Huh?”

“Hmm… I mean, there’s nothing that unbelievable about it…”

I mumbled, but Julian only yelled louder.

“I don’t know anything about noble life! It’s terrifying! Forget all of this—I’m just going back to the butcher shop!”

His sharp green eyes flashed as he jabbed a finger at me.

“I’ve got nothing in my head, I have no clue what I’m supposed to do, and now you’re telling me I’ve even got a little brat to take care of?! Of course, I feel completely lost! Isn’t that normal?!”

Silence filled the room.

Shulva sighed deeply and shook his head.

Julian, losing his temper and throwing a fit right in front of me.

Julian, whining that noble life was scary and that he wanted to go back to the butcher shop.

…This was truly a sight I never could have imagined before.

A memory of Julian’s own words surfaced in my mind.

“If you ever saw how I was back then, you’d be horrified. You’d think, ‘God, what a reckless, cringeworthy black-dragon-obsessed brat with no hope whatsoever…’”

I had fully come to terms with it now.

The Julian Noart who once ruled over the brutal and merciless Noart estate, crushing his scheming relatives with ease and standing against the temple… no longer existed.

A heavy silence settled over the room like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on us.

Julian, who had just been yelling, flinched slightly and stole a glance at me.

“Ahem! Uh, um… well… I mean… I, I just…”

And then, when Julian finally started shifting nervously, his expression growing apologetic—

“You’re right.”

I spoke slowly, my voice calm but grave.

“There really is nothing in your head right now. You’re a hopeless idiot. Seeing it in person only confirms it.”

Julian, and even Shulva, completely froze.

“But the Noart estate isn’t the kind of place where a hopeless idiot can survive… And right now, even Grandfather is absent.”

“…W-What?”

“It can’t be helped.”

I pulled out a document from my sleeve. The one I had prepared earlier in my room.

Julian’s mouth fell open as he read its contents.

The large, clumsy letters scrawled across the parchment were simple but clear.

“Brother.”

While Julian was still processing the document, I smoothly reached into his desk drawer and pulled out his seal, dipping it into ink.

Then, placing the seal directly into his hand, I put on my most heartbroken expression and said,

“Stamp it. Right now.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep