She grabbed the hand that was outstretched towards her, and in that moment, lights appeared before her eyes and she began to feel dizzy.

Calliope1 had a hunch that she was going to die.

Flickering lights waved around back and forth, revolving in front of her like a kaleidoscope. 

—

The sudden passing of my father was only the start of it all. 

[This is a closed case! Count Rustichel died from an accident that occurred due to his own fault! If you keep trying to investigate, it will make us think that you have underlying motives!]

The investigation of the case had been completed with more haste than caution, and only left our family with more questions than answers. Of course, we couldn’t accept the verdict. 

However.

[It seems that the Rustichel House is trying to use the count’s death as a means to rig the system to gain compensatory payment.]

[They had tried to keep up a reputation of innocence, but they’ve finally shown their true colors.]

The more we tried to find out the truth, the more we were scorned and condemned by society. Though we tried to explain our situation, the public sentiment towards us only worsened. They spat at us, telling us that the head of our household had become nothing more than a bloody body, and that we should just stay still and not look for trouble. 

[I will find and reveal Father’s murderer. All you have to do is eat and sleep well. When the sun goes down, go to sleep, and when the birds chirp, wake up and eat. You have to make sure you eat three times everyday. That’s all you need to do. Promise me you will.]

To maintain my daily life. To continue to truly live, not to live like I was dead. That was my eldest brother’s only plea to me as he left.

But he never returned. 

[Lippe,2 you must survive and live on. Just think about that. Don’t think about our family members’ deaths…Just, forget it all. Don’t think about anything else or anyone else except your own survival.]

My second oldest brother’s face that was always smiling mischievously was now serious and hardened like stone. The next day he left, and didn’t return.

And when he did return……

[Ah. Ah. Robert! Robel! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh—-!]

That morning.

My mother, who had previously accepted the news of my father’s death and my eldest brother’s disappearance in the most dignified manner she could muster, was now beating her chest and screaming as if her heart was being ripped out. As I approached her, she desperately covered my line of sight. 

[Don’t, don’t look, Lippe.]

[……!]

What had my second brother gone through that his entire skin was charred black? His bones were bent and twisted, and his body wasn’t even left intact. 

From that day, my mother knew that our family had fallen.

Though she acted strong in front of me, she would always secretly throw up what she ate. Even if there was nothing to eat, she would throw up, and blood would rise up her throat and drip onto her clothes. 

When the sound of war spread to our ears, I continued to stay by my mother’s side. And eventually, she passed away.

[Lippe, my child…….You must live happily.]

I couldn’t be happy anymore, no, I couldn’t become happy ever again, but she left me with these words that egged me to live on. 

Perhaps that was why I couldn’t just walk by a parentless child I saw on the streets. But even though I tried to help, I still couldn’t save them. So I erected a tomb for them and sang a song, one that wasn’t religious. 

At the sound of rainfall, the world was silent like a tomb, and I sang, my voice faintly flowed this way and that, gradually ceasing, accompanying the world in its silence. I thought that no one was listening. Not even the one who had been buried. 

[What a beautiful song.]

Until a woman’s voice broke through the somber sound of rain. 

—

Calliope carried painful memories that she couldn’t ever forget. 

She turned to look behind her at her carriage driver. She could see him through the bright lights that flickered between them as she began to faint. He seemed to reach out to Calliope, but for some reason, he couldn’t touch her, and she couldn’t see his face clearly. Did he regret that he had continued to serve her?

Earlier when she had tried to save the child, this servant had tried to stop her. 

[You can’t, Milady!]

Perhaps if she listened to him as he tried to stop her from trying to help the child, she would be safe from any chances of dying. But she was prepared to face her death if it meant she could help someone else. 

[There is something that is worse than pain, even worse than death.]

These were her sincere words. Because it was the Rustichel Family’s conviction. 

[It is when I am not myself anymore.]

Even though she might die, her conviction wouldn’t change. 

[I have lived following the noblesse oblige3 my entire life. So if I am able to help this child, even at the expense of my death.]

She would not regret it. 

[……If Milady’s conviction is to help and protect others, then my conviction is to protect you.]

He had said those words, and now, as she was surrounded by these lights, leaving this world, did he not regret that he had continued to serve her? That he had tried to protect her in vain?

The woman in front of her smiled, and the pattern of light on the ground beneath her only glowed brighter than before. The light covered them both until Calliope could barely see anything else outside. As she looked out through her now fragmented view amongst the flickering lights, she thought back to her regrets. 

There had been people who had shown their true colors, and also people who had betrayed her and her family, but there were also people who had died protecting her until the very end. And after they had all died, the servant behind her had been the only one left. She should have let the servant live, but she had instead gotten him tangled up in this difficult situation. 

If, if there was one, just one more chance given to her-

“I’ll give you a present, so in the future, let me hear your voice a little more.”

The woman’s voice resounded in her head. The voice only continued to get sharper and clearer, and Calliope finished voicing her greatest wish. 

-I won’t let any of those people die. 

“Then try to change it.”

That was the last thing she heard. The lights disappeared, and she drifted off into darkness.

***

It was dark, with not even a speck of light. But it was also warm, and she had no thoughts of trying to leave this place. 

Calliope curled up into a ball. She felt a sense of peace that she hadn’t had for years. It was as if she were back in her mother’s arms. She felt like she could stay like this forever, in this motherly warmth, since she would never see her mother again. She wanted to keep staying here. Calliope complained like this, which was very unlike her usual self. 

But at that moment, an unstoppable pressure began to push her out. No matter how much she struggled, it was useless. 

I just want to stay here! I don’t want to leave! I don’t want to go through any more pain anymore!

“Waaaaaaaah!”

Waa..aaah?!

Did…did she just cry ‘waah waah’ like a baby? 

***

“Waah?”

Calliope was surprised and let out a cry. But no matter how she tried to speak, all that came out of her mouth was a baby’s “waah waah” sounds. 

Flustered, she tried to turn her head and look around her, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t even tell if her eyes were or weren’t open. A maid who had been bringing in hot water commented. 

“Oh my, the baby must be very healthy. Just look at how she cried out the moment she was born. This is a very rare case.”

Usually, infants had to be patted on the butt a couple of times before they began to cry out. 

“It’s a beautiful miss!”

“Congratulations, Countess Rustichel!”

The midwife who had been carrying Calliope turned to the mother of the child

“How is the baby?”

As soon as she could speak, she asked about her child. 

“She’s a healthy one.”

The midwife looked at infant’s fingers, toes, checking if she had ten of each, and after an inspection of the overall body, responded as such. At the countess’s beckoning, the midwife placed the child into her arms. The mother’s tired face brighten up like a ray of sunshine upon seeing the babe.

“My baby……”

The countess’s smiled and cried. With a trembling hand, she stroked the baby’s nose. 

“Oh my, Sir Count, you cannot enter yet….!”

The door was thrown open, and a man hurriedly entered the room. A man that seemed as large as a water buffalo seemed to fill up the room as soon as he appeared. As he turned and looked at the woman holding the child, his eyes brightened. No matter how many times his wife had given birth, this sight always brought tears to his eyes.

After having gotten his fill of looking at his wife, the father seemed to hold in his desire to touch the baby and stared at it instead. 

“You’ve suffered, my dear. How is the child?”

“She’s a healthy baby girl.”

“A daughter……!”

Their family already had two sons. Finally, to their household that seemed to only be son-rich, they had been given a daughter. And the count had wanted a daughter from the start. 

“Thank you, thank you.”

The deeply moved count dropped consecutive kisses onto his wife’s cheek. 

“Waaah!”

The infant cried out, and the two parents’ eyes became wet at the sight. No matter how many times they saw it, the birth of their children was so very touching. The servants surrounding the happy couple looked at them with soft smiles. 

“The infant’s cries are clear and refreshing to the ears. I’ve never heard such a beautiful cry from a baby.”

At the count’s words, no one thought in contempt that a baby’s cry wouldn’t sound good. On the other hand, they nodded in agreement. Because this noble family cherished its servants and treated them well. 

And it wasn’t just the pretty voice, the small and cute face, fingers, toes, and eyes that had yet to open, all of this combined formed a beautiful babe. 

“Hmm, then let’s have your name be Calliope.”

“Calliope. It’s a good name.”

Laughter and smiles filled up the room. 

Calliope had returned to the day she had been born. 

...***...

One month after she had returned to the past, she was able to realize her situation.

‘I traveled back in time.’

But how? She remembered the woman she had met in her last moments. 

[I’ll give you a present–]

Was this life the present that woman had given her? Was that even possible? Well no, it was possible because she was now lying down in a cradle. 

‘Just how…I guess she wasn’t a person? A goddess maybe? A demon?’

[–so in the future, let me hear your voice a little more.]

She had given her a new life just because she wanted to hear more of Calliope’s voice. It didn’t make sense. After all, Calliope had never been praised for her singing in her past life. 

‘Though it’s not like I ever sang in front of anyone’

Of course she didn’t, because the songs she knew of were the hymns that she learned through her general education as a noble. Unlike the religious standards of society, Calliope wasn’t a deep believer, and she definitely didn’t have a personality for performing in front of others. 

‘But unlike my past life, I probably won’t be able to stay single.’ Calliope thought pessimistically. 

Her two, round eyes drooped, and everytime her mouth twitched, her cheeks would cutely shake a little. 

“Oh my, our miss must be getting sleepy.”

“…”

She was having blasphemous thoughts about religion and marriage, and now she was sleepy. She didn’t know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

“Rock-a-bye baby on the tree top…”

Her nanny rocked her cradle as she sang a lullaby. Calliope needed time to think about her situation but her surroundings were clearly making that impossible at the moment. 

‘Sigh, babies don’t have any privacy, seriously.’

She didn’t give in to her nanny’s soothing touch and tried to think. That woman who had been able to send her to the past. She was important. 

Calliope looked up at the ceiling in deep thought. The mobile that hung above her had birds and clouds that shook and rose up and down. No matter how much she pondered over this, she would not be able to come to a definite answer. She had been given a new lease on life. So. 

‘I have to be prepared for what lies ahead.’

As she continued to think, she grew tired. Her eyelids began to close by themselves. 

Calliope began her 73rd fight against her sleepiness.

The results were pretty obvious. She lost to her sleep for the 73rd time in a row. A new record. 

...***...

“Wow, small. Really small. Look at that hand.”

“……..It’s small.”

“Right? Even though the hands are that small, there are tiny little fingernails too, I can’t believe it.”

– Murmur murmur.

She woke up to the faint sound of voices. Without thinking, Calliope let out a whine, peevishly fretting as she woke up from her sleep.

The whispering voices ceased with a “hap” sound, as if the ones speaking had covered their mouths, and her surroundings became peaceful and quiet once more.

Calliope’s slight wrinkle on her forehead slowly loosened as she fell asleep again.

And then.

3, 2, 1.

“I guess she fell back to sleep. She’s sooo cute! Probably because she looks like me.”

“Look at the mirror before you say that.”

“What do you mean? I have one-of-a-kind looks!..Aha! Are you jealous? Are you jealous~that Lippe and I have the same eyes~?”

“There’s no need for an argument over who she looks like…”

A boy with hair of blue-violet like the night sky turned up his head in contempt, and continued to speak in a small voice. 

“…because Lippe and I have the same hair color.”

At those words, the other boy’s eyes widened in surprise. His always cold-hearted older brother had said such a childish thing?!

“Waaaah!”

At the neverending stream of voices, Calliope finally began to cry as she woke up. The two brothers didn’t know what to do upon her wailing. 

“Aw man, she woke up because of you, Lucius Hyung!”2

“No, it’s because you were too loud.”

Lucius helplessly looked at Calliope.

He knew that he wasn’t well-liked, much less popular, with little children and babies. For some reason, whenever he approached them their faces would go beet red, and then they would erupt into wails, apparently scared.

But he didn’t want to leave the baby in his younger brother Robert’s hands for that reason. With that mischievous personality of his, he would just make the baby cry harder instead of helping its cries stop. 

Without any other choice, he awkwardly reached out for Calliope’s hand. Though he was worried about how he would get the crying to stop, his blank face showed none of this inner turmoil. 

Since he didn’t know what to do, he just awkwardly patted the baby’s stomach. But then a surprisingly wonderful thing occurred. 

“Au-aauuuuu…”

As if she had been comforted by her brother’s consoling, Calliope’s cries ceased almost immediately. Lucius’s eyes slightly widened. His hand paused for a moment before he continued to pat his younger sister. 

– Pat, pat, pat. 

Less awkward than before, his hands found a rhythm to pat to. Calliope looked at Lucius and smiled, showing no traces of her earlier crying appearance. Her chubby cheeks looked like sweet, steamed buns. 

‘Cute.’

Lucius’s eyes warmed up. His usually chilly face seemed to thaw a bit, and he looked more like a child of his age. 

Calliope looked at this version of Lucius with an interested look on her face. She had been longing to see this brother of hers, whose nickname was “The Ice Knight” in her past life. 

As soon as she realized that she had been crying, she stopped her wailing, only to be surprised at the sight of Lucius standing in front of her. She smiled, happy to see him. 

Up until a few weeks ago, she would shed tears upon seeing her family members. She had longed to see them and was happy to see them again, their faces from her past life had overlapped, and she couldn’t cold back her tears. 

She had lived thinking she would never be able to see her family again. When she lost her family, she felt as if her stomach had been blown up, and no matter how much time passed, that hole in her stomach couldn’t ever be filled. No one could replace them as her family.

She had lived without being able to bury her family, to let go of them, in her heart. 

So after she had been reborn, she would cry with joy and sadness every time she saw her family members, but she had worked hard to stop doing that after seeing her family’s worried expressions. She had been reunited with her family, and didn’t want to make any unnecessarily bad memories with them.

There wasn’t even enough time to make good memories. 

“Lippe! Look this way, look at me! It’s your oppa who is the coolest and handsomest in the world! Your oppa who loves you the most, right here!”

Robert waved his hand to grab her attention, and then covered his face to play peekaboo on Calliope, showing and hiding his face repeatedly. Calliope smiled at the sight.

The satisfied Robert had no idea that his baby sister was smiling because she thought he was cute. 

“She’s looking at me!”

“That’s what you think.”

...***...

“No! She smiled after looking at me!” 

Lucius ignored Robert’s insistence and continued to look at Calliope. When their eyes met, she smiled at him. At her smile, his lips also curled up. 

“Young Masters, if you yell in that way, the miss will be frightened.”

Calliope’s nanny spoke as she entered the room. Robert covered his mouth with his hands and looked over at the baby. At his actions, her nanny secretly laughed. To see the usually rambunctious and disobedient second younger master quieting down to quickly, what a sight. 

“Let’s go have some numnum, Miss.” 

The nanny picked up Calliope and left the room. 

The countess had wished to breastfeed the baby herself. This was an extremely rare case amongst aristocratic families. The two brothers closely followed the nanny as she walked to the countess’s office. Afraid that they might upset the infant, they carefully watched their footsteps as they walked quietly. 

Nevermind the always quiet firstborn, the change in the second son was astonishing. The servants widened their eyes as they saw the two silently walk by, amazed at the lack of noise and mischief. Their youngest master was usually unstoppable in his antics, no matter how much the count scolded his second son. 

“Ah, our Lippe’s here. Your brothers came with you too?”

The countess looked up from her documents, and stood up from her seat to carry Calliope. She worried about her daughter, who didn’t make a peep about being hungry, but it was a relief that she ate well.

After breastfeeding her, the countess began to pat Calliope on the back. But Calliope tried to hold it in. 

‘No! Don’t wanna, don’t wanna.’

But a response was already beginning to form. Her eyes started to tear up. 

“It always takes awhile to come out.”

“Yes, it is worrisome that it takes a while, since it might indicate a weak digestive system,” her nanny chimed in. 

‘No no, not like this.’

Calliope shook her head. But even though she did, all it did was press her cute, chubby cheeks against her mother’s shoulder. Calliope tried to hold it back once more, but her mother’s embrace was warm, and the sensation was spreading throughout her body thanks to her mother’s touch. 

In the end, surrendered.

“She burped!” Robert shouted loudly, and Calliope’s face burned with embarrassment. 

“She smells like milk! It’s sooo cute!”

He continued to comment on the side “cute, cute, cute, cute,” and Calliope only felt further ashamed. She had disgracefully burped, but to then be praised for it as “cute.” It was worth a lifetime of embarrassment. 

Unaware of her inner thoughts, her mother smiled and looked at her second son with a pleased expression. 

“Do you really like Calliope that much Robel?”

“I love her more than anything else in the world!”

– Huhuhu. 

Seeing her seven-year-old son declaring his love for his sister, extending his short arms and drawing them into his chest to express his affection, she chuckled. 

“Mom, can I also try holding Lippe?”

“No.”

“Awww why not! I want to hold her too! I wanna!”

“Lippe might get hurt.”

At those words, Robert quieted down. What in the world. Usually, once her second son started whining for something, he wouldn’t stop until his father disciplined him by spanking his butt. Robert didn’t complain any longer, but his lower lip stuck out like a duck as he pouted. 

The countess saw this and let out a wry smile. 

“If our Robel eats properly and grows bigger…..Come to think of it, haven’t you been learning the upper strike move recently? Once you master the lower strike move as well, I’ll let you hold Lippe. Our second son is strong and sturdy, so I know that you’ll be able to hold her soon.”

“Really? Then I’m going to work reeaally hard and learn it reeaally soon! I can’t wait to carry Lippe!”

– Ehem, mm.

At that moment, her eldest son, who had originally been quietly watching this all unfold, cleared his throat. 

“Mother, I have already mastered the lower strike move. The continuous strike and the changeover strike moves as well.”

She blinked her eyes, stunned upon hearing such words from her always cool-headed and reserved firstborn son. 

“Uh, uhhh. Right, that’s right. …….Would you like to try carrying Lippe?”

She asked while trying to hold back her laughter as she saw Lucius nod with a serious facial expression. 

“Okay, be careful. Good, there we go.”

“No fair, just hyung..!”

Robert stomped his feet. His lower lip popped right back out. Lucius smirked as he saw his brother’s pouting face, and he held a triumphant look as he carried Calliope. 

“Grrr…grrr! You just watch me, I’ll definitely master the lower slash in a month!”

“If you keep slacking around like usual, that’s not going to happen.”

Robert held great talent in the Rustichel Family’s swordsmanship. And so the fact that he was still learning the upper cut like other kids his age could only mean that he was practicing lazily. 

“Hey when did I!”

“You’ll scare Lippe. Don’t yell.”

Robert held his lips shut tight, trembling with frustration at Lucius’s words. 

“Our second is such a cool older brother to his younger sister.”

The countess stroked her son’s head. What a shock that this troublemaker had become this obedient just because he now had a younger sibling. He had been the walking disaster of the Rustichel house. Even though she was witnessing it with her own eyes, she still couldn’t believe it. Afraid that Lucius’s arms were getting tired from holding Calliope, the countess reached out her hands towards him. 

“Isn’t she heavy? You can now give her to me.”

“She isn’t heavy.”

Bluntly responding like so but still afraid his mother would take Calliope away, Lucius even quickly turned his back to her. 

‘What? That’s my son, you little…!’

For a moment, the countess faced her son, sparks flying between them. 

“Ah, all of you have gathered in the same place.”

The door opened and a man as large as a buffalo entered the room. Count Rustichel.

“You’re here.”

The count then noticed Calliope, and froze in place. Upon seeing her father who didn’t dare come any closer, Calliope chewed her gums in thought. Now that she thought about it, her father had similarly stood a couple of steps away from her in her past life as well. 

In her previous life, her father was neither an affectionate nor a sensitive person. Though he was very respectful to his wife, he was a strict and immovable figure to his children. He also never bent his principles even to his wife. 

‘I don’t have any memories of him hugging me when I was young in my previous life, but right now, I’m an infant.’

Calliope picked up her courage and reached out her hands to her father. She had never tried to ask for a hug in her previous life, so she felt awkward and unsure as she tried for the very first time. 

‘But still, because I missed him a lot…”

After her father had passed away, she regretted countless times. She should have been a better daughter, she should have told him she loved him, she should have spent time with him more. 

Calliope didn’t want to have the same thing happen again, to regret that she was too late upon her parents’ passing. 

“Ang-uh.” (father)

At Calliope’s call, the count flinched and his body froze once more. A small hand reached out towards him like a maple leaf reaching out towards the sun. 

The count’s eyes shook. Because of his imposing appearance, infants would cry at the sight of his face until their face became red due to lack of air. His cold firstborn and his mischievous second were the same. So, without any other option, he had kept his distance from his children. 

But. 

“Ang-aa!” (papa)

Calliope was even calling out to her father. 

The count approached the child, step by step, taking a step and then stopping before continuing. Though he had a huge frame, his fearless nickname of “The Red Bull” was nothing like his appearance at the moment. Seeing her husband taking so much caution, the countess snickered. 

“Lippe must have missed her father. Hurry and hold her Dear.”

The count eventually reached his daughter after much hesitation. He was intrigued by the babe that didn’t cry and only cheerfully smiled, even at a short distance away from him. 

He carefully reached out his hand, and the baby grabbed onto his index finger, her eyes rolling about with interest and without any sort of fear.  

“Then, shall Daddy hold our Lippe for a bit?”

Without thinking, the coaxing words spilled out of his mouth. He’d never heard himself say such words in his entire life. Calliope was ready to be held by her father and reached out, but then Lucius walked backwards and turned away from his father. 

“Lucius?”

The count’s softened expression instantly hardened.

“You must be tired from work, so I will hold her instead.”

“I’m not tired.”

“You look tired. Did you not tell me that inspecting one’s body objectively was an important principle for a knight.”

Lucius answered steadily. Electricity sparked between the two of them. 

***

Calliope etched this sight of her harmonious (?)1 family. Just the fact that they were by her side made her heart warm like a loaf of just-baked bread.

‘My family loved me this much. Treasured me this much.’

Calliope felt a sense of renewal. 

She realized that her family members were different from what she had of them in her memories. Her second brother had a sly personality, but she would never have thought that he was always losing to his elder brother. Her oldest brother was actually more childish than she could have ever imagined. The younger appearance of her two brothers was enough to make her laugh out loud. Her father, who was always strict and headstrong, was actually just unsure of how to interact with his children. And her mother…

Her mother was really just the same. 

She guessed that they were like this when she was a baby, and she was now witnessing their appearances at that time. Calliope took this memory of the current present and stored it deep down in her heart. This was all the more precious, even amongst the memories of her past life, because there weren’t such familial moments like this when she had grown up. Calliope didn’t have a cute or winning personality, and more than that–

‘Since they all died early on.’

And it wasn’t because of an accident of an incurable disease. They had all been killed. She still didn’t know who the perpetrator was. So of course the killer hadn’t paid for their crimes. Not that it would lessen her sense of loss in any way. 

‘And this time, I won’t let them have their way.’

Calliope’s eyes let out a sharp glint. 

‘I will definitely protect them.’

As she made this decision, she began to doze off. Calliope widened her eyes to try to spend more of this happy time with her family. 

But she ended up losing to her sleep for the 846th time. 

***

‘Sigh…..No way. It’s too strong.’

In her 4th month, Calliope was locked in a desperate struggle against the laws of the universe. She stretched out her arms. 

After her body rocked from side to side for a bit, she immediately felt herself losing strength. Calliope felt out of breath. 

‘It’s not working.’

Everything became so difficult because her arms and legs wouldn’t move according to her will. But there was an even larger problem than that. 

‘My head is too heavy…..’

She was currently fighting what every human, no, every living thing that has walked on the earth, had to fight against in their lifetimes. 

Calliope was fighting against gravity. 

She…was trying to flip her body over. 

***