Chapter 1
Blinking my eyes, I wiped away the sleepiness. As I reached out and rubbed my eyes with my hand, I stopped involuntarily.
Tiny hand.
Short arms.
An old, patchy hem that I don’t even know how many times it has been worn.
I grabbed my trembling heart at the unfamiliar things I have noticed and glanced around slowly. My appearance was reflected in the hazy mirror hanging on the wall.
‘…I’m a child?!’
A little child who looks like she is about five years old! What the hell is this…?
I blinked my eyes at the absurdity. Then, I desperately recalled the situation before I opened my eyes.
‘I was sleepy, so I laid down on my desk for a minute and closed my eyes—’
Then, when I opened my eyes, I became a child. A young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes…
I can’t wrap my head around this ridiculous situation. There were only things that I couldn’t understand, why is this happening and how did I become a child!
“Beatrice, Beatrice!”
All of a sudden, the sound of footsteps grew louder and louder, and the door opened with a bang.
“Beatrice! What the hell are you doing?”
As the old woman with a twisted face ran to me like crazy, I shrugged without realizing it. It was because she was bigger than I thought and felt rather scary.
“If you are up, come down quickly and eat! If you’re a little late, you won’t have your share of food!”
She concluded her words before stomping down the stairs.
“So, wash up and come down!”
I hastily nodded at the lady who was shouting and hurriedly moved in timid steps.
I don’t want to starve, so let’s wash up first.
* * *
Beatrice.
When I saw a note from a small pocket in my old patchy clothes, I knew just where I was possessed.
The person whom I possessed was a child in a devastating novel I wrote, titled [ The Savior Wants To Be Alone. ]
That’s who I am now.
Sighing at the fact, I sat down with a bowl of steaming soup and a spoon. The situation is so absurd and novel-like that it didn’t even feel real. It felt like a dream with my eyes open, but when I pinch my cheeks, it’s not like that at all. I let out a sigh.
…No, more than that, who put this note in my pocket? Isn’t it strange that a piece of paper that contains this kind of content was magically in a child’s pocket?
“Waahh! It’s rice!”
“Bread! This bread is mine!”
“Ahhh! He stole my bread!”
However, the surroundings were not peaceful and quiet enough to let me worry. This is like a battlefield. Thinking so, I ate the soup with a wooden spoon.
Even though it was the novel I wrote, there weren’t many descriptions of Beatrice… Well, if there are many descriptions in the first place, they wouldn’t be considered extras anyway.
That’s why she didn’t know. Beatrice grew up in an orphanage, not knowing when she’d be able to enter the monastery.
‘I can’t even get out of here.’
I didn’t even want to think about what would happen to a five-year-old without a guardian and a home.
“You all can’t be quiet!”
So, even if the director of the orphanage shouted, it meant that I had to be patient.
I ate my share of bread and soup in a hurry. Since a while ago, some children’s eyes have been aiming for my bread and soup intensely.
Since I didn’t know when I was going to be given another meal, I ate it as fast as I could and I almost swallowed it. Sadly, the amount of soup and bread given to me wasn’t much.
Perhaps that’s why the children fought each other and took whatever they could just to eat even a little more. With that in mind, I put the dishes in the designated place and hastily went out of the orphanage.
The yard was almost empty except for a few shabby-looking toys. I took a long breath as I gazed at the unmanaged lawn and pondered again.
Aside from being an extra, I wondered why it was the novel that I was writing ten to fifteen years ago I got possessed into.
‘And I didn’t even finish it…’
Although it was written ambitiously in its own way, because the readers’ reaction was not very good, it was buried without much progress. Even if I think it was good, my confidence dissipated as I saw all the insulting comments.
This is why this situation is even more unbelievable. I can’t believe what happens only in a novel would happen to me.
‘It’s also an extra, whose future is in the gutter.’
Though it wasn’t described, she was a fake, and it was obvious what would happen to a ‘child of fate’ that was kicked out.
‘What should I do?’
It would have been better if I had possessed the female lead instead.
‘…No, I don’t think so.’
A woman in a devastating novel. The thought is fun and entertaining as a novel, but it’s another matter if I’m facing it myself.
‘I’ll probably wither and die…?’
Even though I didn’t write that far, in terms of the setting, the female lead was going to suffer through a lot of obstacles, so getting possessed into such a female lead? Ugh, just the thought of it gives me goosebumps.
“But, this is also a problem…”
Puff. She took a deep breath. Tongue, short tongue?
“Hey, what is this…?!”
Again, again! I tried talking a few more times frustratedly, and without realizing it, I laughed out loud.
What, was she a slow talker? She is still making that short tongue sound…!
No, it is possible because this is still a child’s body anyway, but I still think it’s embarrassing to make a short sound of a child’s tongue with the spirit of a twenty-year-old.
Fortunately, I was lucky that no one was watching. That short tongue sound unexpectedly surprised me.
“Hey, Beatrice!”
I was startled by a voice calling from behind. It was the voice of a child, but there was clearly a sense of malice in it.
“You’re being cheeky today, aren’t you?”
A boy, who was bigger than the other children, about seven years old, was approaching me alongside two children beside him. Unknowingly, I took a step backward at his twisted lips and strangely sparkling eyes.
“Why didn’t you give me bread and eat alone?”
The child looked quite angry. No, he may be enjoying himself. Otherwise, there’s no way a smile like that would pop around his mouth like that.
“I left you alone for a while, so you are not scared anymore? Huh?”
My body trembled at the sight of the child striding towards me. This was a reflexive act, so I was surprised, too. It was as if my body reacted first.
Oh, yeah. That kid is the leader among the kids in the orphanage. He also has a poor personality.
“I told you, didn’t I? You have to give me half of the soup and bread according to the turn. Everyone else gave it to me. But you didn’t even give it to me this time, and you ate your share of it?”
The amount of food from the orphanage was not sufficient. Even more so for a young child of his growing age to eat.
I glanced at my arm. Beatrice’s arms were slender, compared to those of her age.
“Then, what will the other kids think? I have to act impartially.”
The face of the child who said, “because I am older,” was surprisingly mean and cruel. I was sickened by the words of the child with bright yellow hair.
‘No, when you’re older, you should know how to yield to younger children! You’re going to steal food from a skinny kid like this?!’
…I was eager to scream, but I held it in. I should observe the situation before acting impulsively.
I was smaller and thinner than that kid. Besides, there were children who followed him, so I was at a disadvantage in numbers. So, if I stay quiet here, I might not get hit, especially since I’m so outnumbered as well.
It wasn’t my fault, still, I didn’t want to get hit so I took a few more steps back.
“Nyaaa—”
Suddenly, a cat’s cry was heard. It sounded pretty close, too.
“Cat?”
The furious child’s eyes twinkled. The glowing eyes became ominous as if they had found an interesting toy. Seeing this, I asked worriedly, “Hey, what are you trying to do with the cat?”
“Oh, is this your favorite cat?” The child’s lips were twisted.
“I will play with it for you. Shall I pluck the cat’s whiskers first?”
One of the children next to him shouted excitedly, “Let’s play with it by hitting it with stones, Hans!”
“Oh, that’s good, too. If I hit the eye, will you give me bread?”
Revolting words continued to pour out from their mouths. Words that were too sickening for children like them to even utter.
I protested angrily.
“Don’t do that! The cat will get hurt!”
“Why does it matter? As long as we are having fun, that’s enough!”
“Find the cat!”
“The twigs and stones are here!”
It was then.
“Kyaaah!”
“Ahhhh!”
A huge cat sprang out of the jagged grass and rushed towards the face of the seven-year-old. It was so big that it was almost the size of a child.
The cat mercilessly clawed the child’s face with its claws. Then, the child screamed and struggled, and as soon as the cat fell off, he screamed and ran into the orphanage.
“Ha, Hans!”
“Come with me!”
The children standing next to him were frightened by the sight of the cat with its tail and fur upright as well as its mandibles. Eventually, they started running in haste after the first child, who had fled into the orphanage first.
As the children disappeared, the cat lowered its fur.
“Purr.”
Slowly, it leaned against my feet. It was a cute gesture that did not match its size in the slightest.
“Thank you.”
I reached out and softly stroked the cat’s back. As if satisfied, the cat rubbed its cheek against the palm of my hand before it began to wrap its tail around my wrist and pulled me gently.
“…Do you want me to follow you?”
“Nyaan.”
The cat meowed and nodded. If I go to the orphanage right now, I will be beaten by a child named Hans, right?
With that thought in mind, I hurriedly made up my mind. As long as I don’t go too far from the nursery, I will be fine. If the director of the orphanage doesn’t find out, I won’t be scolded.
And so, I briskly followed the cat. Now was the good time to avoid the angry boy who had hurt his face, anyway.
The cat didn’t even go that far. I didn’t even go outside the orphanage fence. Instead, I was guided to a corner where I could completely hide myself by bending my knees because there was a lot of grass.
When I got there, I was puzzled by the sight of the cat lying on the floor and purring as if it had done its job. What the hell is wrong with this cat…?
[ The constellation, ‘Queen of Flowers and Nymphs’ is watching you. ]
…My mouth widened at the contents of the message window in front of me.
Constellation?! There wasn’t such a setting in this novel, right? If that’s the case, why is this message window popping up!