When I opened my eyes, the first thing I thought was:
"d.a.m.n. I"ve become the villain of the novel."
My reflection in the mirror looks very familiar. The golden hair and the green eyes shining like jewels. I must have seen those somewhere but…
"Why her?"
I clearly knew her. The younger sister of the heroine, who was exceptionally wicked throughout the novel and the last of her kind: Siel Valentine. She had gone all the way. Born to be the youngest daughter of the Duke of Valentine, the most prestigious family in the Gretania Empire, she monopolized the love of all the empire and, of course, of her family. Siel. who got her beauty from her mother, the d.u.c.h.ess of Valentine, also known as the "beauty of the century," swept through the social world with a charming smile. And from her father side, she inherited magical powers.
You may ask me if I"m happy to be in the body of a character that has got it all. But there is more you should know. Once again, she"s the villainess of the novel. She was an evil child. But, despite all of this, Siel ended up executed, following the laws of karma. Siel used to hara.s.s her older sister Clara, the heroine of the novel. She could use any way to turn her sister"s life into a h.e.l.l. She was also very greedy. Every time her parents scolded her, she put all the blame on her sister, or she got her maids framed. She did not even hesitate to do mad things, such as killing someone, as she was the culprit of a dead by guillotine.
"Siel, are you up?"
When I heard a sweet voice, I jumped up from my seat. My sister, who is walking with a gentle smile, is Clara, the heroine of this novel, with her fine black hair. Clara"s appearance, with a fresh plump face and deep dark-hair, was obviously very different from our family"s. Clara, in fact, was not blood-related to the Dukes.
In the year of the birth of their third son, Louis, the Duke and the d.u.c.h.ess, who wanted to have a daughter, adopted Clara from distant relatives. However, the d.u.c.h.ess suddenly became pregnant later that year, and she ended up getting the daughter she was hoping for: Siel Valentine, myself. Since this was an exceptional event that had not happened in a hundred years, everyone was paying attention to the Duke"s family and Clara, in only a year after she was adopted, ended up being known as the long-awaited daughter the Dukes were hoping for. Of course, Clara is the heroine of this novel not only because of the odds.
"Did you get a good sleep? The sun is beautiful this morning."
After Siel was born, Clara helped the d.u.c.h.ess and became Siel"s mentor. A child rising a child kind of situation, but, fortunately, Siel grew up positively following her sister, at least until eight years of age. However, just when Siel turned eight, the problems started.
"Clara does not belong to our family. She was adopted."
Louis, the youngest brother, told Siel that Clara was an adopted child. After that, Siel had begun to hara.s.s her, ignoring her sister who raised her up.
"I am still a baby, so I"m afraid to sleep alone. I want to sleep with you, sister."
"Do you? Let"s see. Shall we ask mother?"
I made a tender voice on purpose, hugging her. Yes. I was in the body of a five- year-old Siel, who was far ahead of her eight-year-old birthday party. Since I woke up in this body, I have been very confused. It took some time to realize where I was. I was awakened by a high fever. Fortunately, I realized it was much earlier than the period when the action in the novel took place. How much of a fortune is that?
"Siel, let me brush your hair."
Clara, who"s taking care of her five-year-old sister, is now nine years old. In her eyes, I am just a baby. Me, an adult woman who had been falling in the routine of office work. Luckily, I know how this novel ends. Especially, I read many times what kind of deplorable act Siel is about to do and I know it by heart. Yes. I"m determined now. I do not know how to get back to reality, so I"m going to live only avoiding the death flag. This is my only way to make it out of this. So, even just for me surviving all of this, let me be good with this child.
"My sister is the best in the world. When I grow up I will marry you!"
"Yes, I think you"re the best too, Siel."
At my show of affection, Clara laughed cheerfully and hugged me. I will be on Clara"s side in this deadly and filthy family, who only supports Clara just because she is an adopted child. So let"s try to make a happy ending as soon as possible. Let"s make Clara meet with the hero of this novel.
The Eighth Birthday
Time flew by. Three years have pa.s.sed since I woke up in this body, and I, Siel Valentine, am safely about to celebrate my eighth birthday. Now, running pretty confidently, I went across the vast Valentine"s House and ran to my busy mother who was preparing for the party.
"Mom! This year I"ll wear the same dress as my sister."
"Again? You were supposed to wear the same dress as your mom this year."
My mom, who was touching the hem of her dress, had a wrinkle on her pretty smile. Who can imagine that this beautiful woman is a married woman who has four children? The d.u.c.h.ess of Valentines, Yvenis Rose, has been considered the greatest beauty of the Jata Empire since her former years as a the daughter of the Count. The almond shaped, beautifully arched eyes and the nose which could make Audrey Hepburn blush made the young Duke Valentine fall for her in a matter of seconds.
Siel inherited the appearance of the greatest beauty of the empire. The d.u.c.h.ess loved her daughter, who looked like her copy, as if she were her own alter ego, and the Duke, too, almost died when he saw his only daughter who looked like her beloved wife. With such blatant favoritism, the rest of the children naturally escaped from their parents" graces. Besides Siel, the d.u.c.h.ess had many children. Firstborn Theo, second son Isaac, and third son Louis. Despite everyone"s expectations, the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess did raise Clara even after Siel was born. At least the couple cared about Clara as much as any other of their children. The problem was that the court personnel, who were proud to work on the historic Valentine"s family premises, also secretly hara.s.sed Clara.
To be exact, a group of so-called "old employees" centered on Mrs Lisbon, who was in charge of the household"s internal affairs. They regarded the fact that Clara, the daughter of a baroness, was adopted as a d.u.c.h.ess and given Valentine"s name as a great honor.I don"t understand how their minds work, but what"s certain anyway, is that they"re trying to cautiously kick Clara out of the Duke"s family. Of course, they knew that I liked Clara too much and that I couldn"t open my mouth on the fact that she had been adopted.
"Then I"ll pick out your dress!"
I can"t just watch it. Once I step in here, one of the original heroine"s trials starts. Siel was the little queen of the family. As long as Siel likes and follows Clara, Mrs. Lisbon cannot bother her. I followed my sister more than my mom and dad did, and the d.u.c.h.ess looked at Clara with a very concerned face.
"Clara, what spell did you put on her, so she"s just following you all the time?"
"My sister is the best in the world!"
"No, Mother, Siel loves you as well. Am I right Siel?"
"Yes. You"re right!"
If Clara doesn"t poke her like this, the d.u.c.h.ess wouldn"t hear a word from her beloved daughter. So the d.u.c.h.ess sighed deeply and stroked Clara"s head.
"She"s my daughter, but she"s such an eccentric child. Clara, you know, I"m just saying, I"m glad that she listens to you, but you always work so hard."
"No, Mother, I"m glad I could be of help."
The more I let myself go, the more the d.u.c.h.ess realizes the importance of Clara. What a beautiful scene. Everytime the d.u.c.h.ess compliments Clara, Mrs. Lisbon also takes a graceful att.i.tude towards her.
"The party will start in the afternoon, and I"ll be up and coming soon, Mrs. Lisbon, so you can get the two children to go to the party safely."
"Yes, ma"am."
One thing that I learned once coming into this novel, is that the n.o.ble women never take care of their children personally. First of all, the d.u.c.h.ess was extremely busy. If you are going to have a party, you"ll have a huge amount of work to be done, starting with the invitation of the guests and confirming everything that needs to be prepared. Seeing the d.u.c.h.ess who is stressing out every day, and I realize once more that being a d.u.c.h.ess is not a thing that can be done by anyone. In the empire, my birthday is just like a national holiday. Maybe because I was the first daughter born in a hundred years, but on my birthday, even the emperor would send me a lion to personally congratulate me. I deliberately hung out on Clara"s waist and pushed as hard as I could.
"Which dress do you want to wear?"
"Anything that my little sister will choose."
"Really?"
What is the reason for me asking this question? Of course, so that Mrs. Lisbon would listen. Mrs. Lisbon, who is unaware of the fact that I had noticed her, intentionally plotted to give Clara a dreadful dress on my birthday last year. The reason is that Clara should not stand out more than me, the main character. What a childish idea. Clara is that type of person that gets prettier the more you look at her. Literally, at first glance, you wouldn"t tell she is of an outstanding beauty but as soon as she laughs there"s an explosion of charm. I can not say that she is of the same kind of beauty of Siel or the d.u.c.h.ess, but the fact itself that she stands out from the perspective of common people, it"s extraordinary.
Notes: This is just a teaser novel first chapter for "The Hero Proposed to Me." First translation I did with the hired translator as just a test run before this become an on-going job. Hope you guys enjoyed it! You can view the promo web toon at . I hope someone takes up this translation someday. It seems like it"ll be a very cute novel!
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