Hot, it’s so hot.

Unable to utter the words that were lingering in my mouth, I raised my head with difficulty. Beyond the intense light that seemed to sting, a haze rose. Beyond that, the eyes of hundreds of people poured in.

I felt the voices that were disturbing my ears gradually becoming more distant. I struggled desperately in the ropes that were digging into my flesh, but all I found was pain.

The flames spreading fiercely to my toes were fierce. I couldn’t even scream in the terrible dull pain, and only tears as salty as seawater fell from my dead, black eyes.

A creepy eye appeared beyond the murky, ash-colored smoke. It dispersed with the smoke in less than a few seconds, but the eye had long been embedded deep in my heart. Why are you killing me, why on earth, why……. I wanted to scream until my throat burst, but the poisonous smoke choked my breathing.

The tears that ran across the wooden pillar that served as the cremation platform were splashed on the floor that shimmered with bright gold. It was as if I saw a ray of light beyond my fading consciousness.

“Gasp… gasp… … .”

Lara opened her eyes. Her eyes had been wet for a long time. The sound of the second hand moving was heard. She stared blankly at the pitch-black ceiling of the room, panting heavily, and soon the door opened wide. “Lara! What’s going on?”

Her brother Lawrence, who had been sleeping in the room next door, came running in, gasping for breath at the sound of her scream. Lara sat up and hugged her brother’s arms. “…I had a nightmare. That nightmare…….”

Lawrence’s expression also turned gloomy at the sight of his sister shedding tears silently. The boy bit his lip and then smiled. Then he gently let go of his sister and reached out to gently wipe her tears. “It’s okay. You don’t have to be scared. Nightmares aren’t real.”

“Yeah… … .”

“Shall we sleep together today?” “I’m twelve.” “But you’re still a baby to me? You’re cute.”

Lara muttered to her brother, who was stroking her hair, in a barely audible voice, “You’re fifteen years old…” However, her brother’s embrace was so warm that her heart calmed down on its own. When she went back into the blanket and lay down, Lawrence lay down next to her and patted her belly. Until Lara fell asleep.

* * *

Lara Schmold.

The youngest daughter of the Schmold family with one son and one daughter, Young-ae grew up in an ordinary but small happiness. Her brother who was always unlovable, her father who was always kind even though he didn’t express it in words, and her elegant mother.

“Please braid my hair nicely, Monica.” “Just leave it to me.”

Today was Lara’s twelfth birthday. Lara sat in front of the mirror with a face full of anticipation. She had a cute nose that wasn’t sharp but was cute, and a face that wasn’t narrow but was round and cute. Anyway, her face was cute enough.

Lara left the room with a light-colored ribbon that matched her coral hair. She walked elegantly down the hallway as she had learned a while ago and entered the family’s small banquet hall. It was the beginning of a birthday banquet that made her heart flutter.

“Happy birthday, Miss Lara.” “This is a birthday present.”

With the Young-aes who were maintaining a moderately good relationship. “Oh my, Viscount Youngae is so kind-looking.”

“Haha, just like I heard, she looks like she’ll be good at studying.” The ladies complimented her moderately.

“Youngae, can you give me the honor of being your first partner… … .”

“I’m sorry, but you promised to dance with me, your brother, first. Right, Lara?” Even her brother, who she wished she’d be a little overprotective.

It was a happy day, as if she had everything in the world. Lara held her brother’s hand, danced a ballroom dance, tasted cake, and received a cheek kiss from her parents, ending her happy birthday.

‘I’m excited! What’s the gift?’

The joy of birthdays was opening presents. Lara sat on her bed in her pink, sky blue pajamas and began to unwrap the stacked gift boxes.

The first gift was from her parents. The dress she had said she wanted last time was neatly wrapped. The next gift was from her brother, a necklace and ring from a girl’s brand that she had promised last time. Lara smiled with satisfaction and opened the next gift. ‘… What is this?’

I thought it would be something great because it was wrapped so meticulously, but it was just a book. Lara wrinkled her nose in disappointment and looked at the top and back of the box. There was no name written on it, so who gave it to her.

‘A book? It’s so trivial!’

Still, it might be an interesting romance novel, so Lara took a quick look at the book cover. The plain cover seemed suspicious, but there was another cover inside.

[Robe Gentleman X Lily]

What on earth does this mean? What does X mean? Lara flipped through the first page. It was a picture with a grid.

At first, Lara just lay down and glanced at the picture, but before she knew it, she was sitting upright and reading the lines and text in detail. This was a world she had never encountered before. Her reading speed gradually slowed down. She felt out of breath and her eyes were spinning. Yes. This was Lara’s first doujinshi in her life.

(T/L NOTE: I am new as a Korean Translator, so if there are any mistakes, do let me know.

NOTE: Young-ae – in Korea this word means daughter, lady or young lady

Doujinshi – self published printed work)

Eight years had passed, and Lara had already turned twenty. During that time, Lara’s life had been smooth and without incident. It had been an extremely ordinary and simple life, like that of a citizen.

I think it was just like any other day. Until one night, when her older brother Lawrence barged into her room.

“Hey, hey, wake up.”

Lara had to open her eyes to the insincere kick to her back. She rubbed her eyes and turned around to see someone standing in the dark bedroom, looking down at her.

“Hmm, brother?”

She thought it was a trespasser, but no matter how hard she looked, it was definitely her brother. However, the figure standing there, leaning her shoulders crookedly against the bedpost, was very unfamiliar.

“Did you drink outside?” “Drink?”

The voice that echoed behind the snickering sounded somehow nervous. He was a kind and good brother who had never shown his irritation to her, and would have accepted her complaints if she had.

This sight was definitely strange.

“… Oppa, stop joking around and why are you doing this in the middle of the night… … .” “Stop talking nonsense and come out and boil spaghetti.” “Spaghetti… … ? In the middle of the night?”

Lara looked at him in confusion.

“Not coming out? Oppa is hungry. Don’t make me say it twice.”

Lawrence quickly left the room as if he wasn’t even giving her time to think.

Lara thought that she shouldn’t have boiled spaghetti for Oppa that night. After that, his attitude toward her had completely changed.

He insisted on ordering her around instead of the servants in the family. Bring me something, turn off the lights, boil spaghetti, you know you’re doing the dishes, etc. It was like he didn’t even realize that his body had hands and feet.

Oppa, who was polite to everyone, loved his younger sister the most, and seemed to be the most perfect person in the world, suddenly became lazy human garbage overnight. He spent the whole day on the sofa, neglecting the work of a viscount that he had inherited from father.

“Hey, Lara. Cook some spaghetti.” ‘Here we go again.’

Lara was going up the stairs of the mansion when she heard a voice from her brother’s room on the second floor, so she quietly went down. She had no idea how much she had suffered from that annoying order for three days.

“Hey, Lara.”

“I guess he must have been under a lot of pressure because of the knight promotion exam. I didn’t know he would be this mentally exhausted.”

“No, that’s not it. I think he’s crazy!”

Lara, who had raised her voice without realising it, immediately covered her mouth. The startled Viscountess’s expression distorted.

“No matter how much your brother’s attitude has changed recently, it’s still like that, after all the good things he’s done for you. You shouldn’t be talking like that, you little girl … .”

It seemed as if her mother trailed off, then quickly took out a handkerchief and wiped her eyes. Lara felt sorry, but at the same time, she felt complicated toward her mother who did not believe in her.

‘I’m the one who wants to cry.’

She missed her brother from before. So desperately. As if they knew her sorrowful heart, they would inevitably shout from upstairs, “Hey, make some spaghetti!”

* * *

“You boil it and eat it!”

Lara shouted into the next room while being dressed up by the maids.

It had been a week since her brother had changed. Lara no longer called him brother. That was an insult to him.

She thought that human trash was living in this mansion pretending to be her brother. He would definitely come back. And he would punish and kick out that human trash. For now, she had no choice but to believe that and wait.

Lara, who had finished preparing to go to the ballroom, walked cautiously out of the mansion. A coral-haired young man who had been waiting for her through the second-floor window, gave her a fierce farewell.

“Why don’t you come and boil some spaghetti right now? Hey! Do you want to see your favorite romance novels go into the trash can?”

“Monica, lock my door tightly, okay?” “Yes, miss. Be careful.”

Leaving behind the greetings of her exclusive maid, Monica, Lara got into the carriage heading to the ballroom.

Not knowing what disaster awaits.

* * *

It had been about a year since the Duke of Liniot had held a grand ball. It was none other than Princess Elina’s birthday.

Chandeliers, hanging gracefully down like irises and bursting with bright gold, decorated the high ceiling, and beneath them, nobles, each adorned with splendid attire, gathered in groups of three or five.

Lara looked around to see if she knew anyone, but all she saw were unfamiliar faces.

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