Chapter 1

***

The sparrows were chirping, the sun was shining.

If it was like any other day, I would have jolted awake in a panic and checked the time on the clock.

Well, if it were like any other day.

"Lili, you cutie pie! It’s really time to wake up."

A clear, gentle voice rang in my ears.

I rubbed my eyes as I opened them, gently lifting my eyelashes.

As my vision got clearer, I could see the woman I saw in front of me, flashing a bright smile, so beautiful that I could barely getting used to. Soon after, she pinched my cheek lightly and muttered, "Rise and shine, sleepyhead."

Even though I was the one being pinched, for some reason, I could feel exactly how soft my cheek was. Of course, both of my cheeks were quite soft.

"Good morning..."

‘Unbelievably beautiful today, like always.’

I looked up at her and gave a bright smile.

The woman standing in front of me went by the name Julianne Blanchet, but she was also known as Lia.

She was the only… or was supposed to be, the only daughter of an esteemed count, and the most famous, top-of-the-class graduate from the most prestigious institution in the empire- Delire Academy.

But above all, she was the protagonist of this world.

***

To put it simply, I had found myself inside a novel.

It may have sounded cliché and predictable, but that was what happened to me.

To be honest, I’d never even dreamed that such a thing would ever happen to me. I hadn’t been in any kind of accident, and I hadn’t even tried to take my own life either.

I’d just been helping my friend find errors in the novel she was writing, but dozed off for a moment as I was proofreading it during my free time between classes. That had been all there was to it.

However, when I opened my eyes, I found myself in a completely different world. The world of the very novel I had been reading before I fell asleep.

"Lilianne!"

What would you think if you woke up surrounded by a bunch of foreigners, and after such a good sleep at that? Back then, I had thought I was still dreaming.

But when I pinched my cheek, it hurt too much to be all in my head.

If it wasn't a dream, it had to be reality.

"...Who are you people?"

Everyone went completely pale as soon as I said those words.

Fortunately, the character I possessed had been bedridden for months, so everyone believed that I was suffering some kind of after-effect of being sick.

And just like that, I was able to gather information about this place while trying my best to act like I’d lost my memory.

Julianne Blanchet was the same as her character from the novel, from her name to appearance, along with the likes of Delire Academy and other lore.

Anyway, back to the point, Lilianne Blanchet, the character I possessed, was the younger sister of the protagonist, Julianne Blanchet, and more than ten years younger than her.

"You have to eat your carrots, Lili," Julianne, my new sister, said as she tried to reason with me.

It seemed that I had been picking out the carrots in my food without even knowing it.

"Okay, Lia!" I replied as I nodded, with a big smile on my face.

‘I actually eat carrots quite well though.’

Upon finishing my sentence, I scooped up the finely chopped carrots with a spoon and wolfed them down. As I did so, Julianne, or rather Lia, put on a satisfied smile looking at me.

I stopped to stare at her in the middle of chewing my food.

She was so beautiful.

Why did I have to be her younger sister…?

It would have been better if I could have possessed the male lead...

‘Come to think of it, that's a problem.’

I slightly narrowed my brows.

The genre of the novel, which starred Julianne Blanchet as the female protagonist, was a reverse harem romance fantasy.

According to the summary, it was more like a romantic comedy, but the problem was that the male lead in the original storyline was a complete bastard.

Of course, he had treated her well until they got married. He had to compete with the other outstanding male lead candidates, considering that it was a reverse harem after all.

But right after he got married to Julianne, he began to despise and neglect her because of some ridiculous misunderstanding, and it was only during the later part of the story, after the misunderstanding had been cleared up, that he professed his love for her again.

That was only after meeting up and spending time with other women.

How dare he become the male lead when he didn’t even trust his own wife!

‘I’ll never allow this marriage!’

"Lili, you have to eat your carrots, even if you don’t like them. You can’t get sick like before, right?"

Thinking that I was frowning because I was forced to eat carrots, Lia spoke up with a stern expression on her face.

"Okay!"

I relaxed my expression once more and smiled happily.

Either way, I was against the marriage.

And if things turned out that way, I was going to protect my sister myself!

***

Julianne Blanchet had four male friends, which means, four potential candidates to become the male lead.

In the five years from their days at Delire Academy to the present, they’d each managed to maintain their love for her in their own way.

Among them was the original male lead, Robain Cleoné.

Why am I bringing this up now, you ask?

"It’s been a while, Robain."

It was because the original male lead, Robain, had come to Blanchet Mansion.

The story in the novel started out like that as well.

In the original, Robain used his status as the heir to his family as an excuse to request Julianne to become his temporary fiancée.

That was the first page of the novel.

And now, we were on the very verge of that scene.

I sat on the sofa in the parlor, swinging my legs.

Of course, the original Lilianne never appeared in that scene.

Actually, Lilianne had never even appeared in the novel in the first place. She was only mentioned in Julianne's inner monologues, saying, ‘Lili would have liked this’.

That was probably because the story progressed at Robain's mansion though.

But now that I was inside the novel, it seemed only fitting to alter the original story, don't you think?

Soon enough, Robain glanced down at me and asked,

"...Is she your little sister?"

"Ah, yes, why don’t you say hello, Lili?" Julianne spoke as she lightly patted my head.

I raised my head and blinked innocently as I opened my mouth.

"Hello, old man."

"Old man..."

Robain's eyebrows furrowed slightly. I could tell that he was flustered by the look in his golden eyes.

What would he expect me to call him then? He was more than ten years older than me.

Didn’t he have any shame?

"I'm Lilianne Blanchet, and I just turned eight."

Of course, I was, actually, twelve years older than that. Or should I say ten years older since I’m not in Korea anymore?

I smiled at Robain brightly.

Upon glancing at me, he blinked a few times then opened his mouth with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"Your sister… is a lot like you."

"No way, Lili is way cuter."

"She really is. She’s mature compared to her friends, just like you, and… she’s cute. That’s right, she’s cute."

He nodded slowly as he uttered those words.

Had he suddenly fallen for my cuteness or something? I rolled my eyes indifferently and diverted my gaze away from him.

It wasn’t strange of Robain to react like that. Even I could see that Lilianne was cute and adorable.

After all, she was the sister of Julianne, the most beautiful woman in this world. Those genes weren’t exactly going anywhere.

Cotton candy pink hair and round silver eyes. Delicate facial features and adorable cheeks.

Objectively speaking, Lilianne looked cute enough to be loved wherever she went. I'd even spent a few minutes sitting in front of the mirror admiring my own face earlier.

Of course, Julianne was much more beautiful though. I glanced over at Lia, who was sitting beside me.

‘So pretty. It'd be a shame to hand her over to a scumbag like him. He doesn’t deserve her.’

"I don't remember hearing anything about you having a sister," said Robain.

"I think I’ve mentioned her a few times," Julianne replied with a slight smile.

I could tell that she seemed to be a bit disappointed in him.

‘Good, I don’t even have to interfere to make him slip up.’

Normally, they wouldn't even be talking about me in this scene, but it seemed that my presence had changed the course of the story.

‘Change. Change even more. Twist to the point where my sister can break free from you!’

"...Sorry, I must have forgotten."

"No, it's nothing. We haven't talked about it much, after all."

Julianne held up her teacup while she spoke. She looked exquisitely beautiful as she did so.

Robain stared at her, his face even more drawn than before.

“Anyway, what brings you here out of the blue? You didn’t mention anything in your letter?”

“Well, actually, I was hoping to ask you for a favor.”

For a moment, Robain’s eyes flickered toward me, but his gaze felt somewhat cold.

‘I guess he can't talk with me around, huh?’

I nonchalantly took a bite of my cookie, swinging my legs back and forth.

Soon enough, Robain let out a small sigh and spoke.

"It's a bit… difficult… to talk about in front of your sister."

"What were you going to say?"

What could it be? It was probably a sudden proposal disguised as a favor.

I chewed and swallowed the cookie.

In this wide world full of good people, why had Julianne ended up choosing Robain when he didn’t even trust her?

After considering it for a while and combining it with the characteristics that my friend had told me about, I could only think of one reason.

Julianne was obsessed with "firsts."

The way she was always at the top of the class during her years at the academy was also related to that.

Since Robain was the first among the four male leads to have revealed his feelings, that was probably why Julianne opened up to him.

But what if I, who had been always her "first," interfered?

I was her one and only sister. Especially after Lilianne had been bedridden for several months and only recently awakened, Julianne's love for her sister was unparalleled.

She even said that she would personally take care of me and put all external affairs aside. Wasn’t that already enough proof when she sent all the servants out?

In this world, women were actively involved in politics. With such a background and graduating at the top of the class at Delire Academy, Julianne would be welcomed wherever she went.

I held another cookie in my hand and blinked a few times.

Meanwhile, Robain bit his lip once and reluctantly spoke.

"Actually, it's because of my succession."

"Your succession?"

"My father declared that he won’t pass his title down to me until I get engaged. He’s a bit old-fashioned," he said, slightly frowning.

Listening to him directly, I could tell how ridiculous his tricks were.

"So, even if it was just for a little while, I wanted you to be my fiancée. Think of it as a contract with me. If you agree, I’ll do anything you want. All you have to do is stay at my mansion for a while."

‘Don't make me laugh. Engagement and marriage are already supposed to be done by contract. And what? She has to stay in your mansion?’

I chuckled inside my head, splitting the cookie I held in my hand in half.

It was finally my turn to step forward.

"Lia, Lia!"

I pulled Julianne's sleeve gently, and she soon looked down at me with a kind gaze.

"Lia, what’s an engagement?"

"Umm, Lili, that's..."

"It means that we’re promising to be together forever," Robain replied instead of Julienne as if he was being nice.

It didn’t really matter anyway, though.

I immediately widened my eyes and questioned Julienne with a shocked expression.

"Then… we won’t be living together?"

"No, Lili. This is just..."

"But that man just talked about his mansion! Does that mean I won’t see you anymore?"

"Lili..."

I didn't want to part with my sister, even for a moment...

When I looked at her like I was about to burst into tears, Julienne immediately got flustered and waved her hands.

So, I stared at her with a even more pitiful expression than before.

‘You’re still going to go? Even after this?’

‘Are you really going to accept his offer after this?’

"Are you leaving me...? I won’t be able to see you for a long time again...?"

"No, Lili!"

With that final blow, Julienne shouted in a voice sadder than my own.

It seemed like she was reminded of the time she’d left home to attend the academy.

I felt sorry for manipulating her feelings, but he really… wasn’t it.

Even if it was just a fleeting moment compared to a lifetime, I didn’t want my sister to suffer when I knew her future.

There were plenty of other good people in this wide world that weren’t him! Almost immediately, Julienne embraced me tightly and spoke.

"I'm sorry, Robain. I don’t think I can do as you said."

Robain looked at us with a helpless expression.

‘But even if you look at us like that, it won't change anything, buddy.’

“But Lia… it’ll just be for a little while…”

‘That’s enough time for her to fall for you!’

I snuggled into Julienne's embrace, making sure Robain could see, and as she tenderly stroked my hair, my sweet sister spoke up in a firm voice.

"I have to focus on my little sister now. Lili’s not feeling well, and she's not really used to strangers. If I’m gone, there's no one else to take care of her."

"If that's the case, why not hire a nanny...?"

"I only like Lia..."

"See, Robain? I know you came all this way, I’m sorry…”

She rejected him once again.

It seemed like the perfect time to make my exit, so I started whining, clinging to Julianne’s neck.

I felt so immature, but when else could I throw a tantrum like that?

"Lia, my head hurts. I want to go to my room. I feel dizzy..."

"What? That won't do. Excuse us, Robain, but we’ll be on our way first."

Julienne stood up, hugging me. Even then, Robain just stood there with a dumbfounded look on his face, staring at both me and Julienne.

‘Try all you want. I'll stop you every time.’

As I leaned on Julienne’s shoulder, I stuck my tongue out at Robain.

‘Don’t even attempt to make a move on my sister.’