A Starlit Night and an Unwanted Dream
Starting this story over again, I began a life I never could have imagined. I spent my days reliving the childhood I had once experienced but had forgotten under the weight of adulthood.
“You little rascals! I told you not to play with books!”
“R-run away!”
“Wait, take me with you!”
The timid and quiet personality that once defined René now existed only in my memories of the original story. I dashed around the vast mansion, pestering Arlan and Aran whenever I ran into them, and before I knew it, the day had flown by.
After enjoying a dinner of dishes that looked exquisite and tasted even better, I rubbed my pleasantly full belly and grinned from ear to ear.
Compared to my previous life, the absence of the internet, computers, and smartphones made things rather dull in some ways. Still, the basic necessities of food, clothing, and shelter were incomparably satisfying. As I was thinking that, a neatly dressed servant approached me.
Realizing immediately what it meant, I stood up from my seat. René quickly stuck close to my side.
“Hehe, shall we go then?”
At the servant’s amused chuckle, we nodded and followed her lead.
We entered one of the many bathrooms in the enormous mansion. The facilities looked almost identical to modern ones, and a tiny spark of discomfort flickered inside me.
‘I should’ve said something back then instead of letting it slide.’
Even though the story was set in a fantasy world, the strangely modern elements in this area had caused quite a stir among readers in the comments section. I regretted not joining in to harass the author along with them. Meanwhile, the servant checked the clothes we would change into and rolled up her sleeves.
Seeing that, I quickly stripped off the clothes I was wearing to save her some trouble. René followed my lead and began taking hers off too.
“Ah, it’s stuck and won’t come off!”
“Hold on a second.”
When I saw her struggling because she hadn’t unbuttoned everything before trying to yank the clothes off, I went over to help. After undoing a few buttons and assisting her, René looked up at me with a bright smile and thanked me. I couldn’t help smiling back. The servant watched us with a warm, satisfied expression and then washed both of us sisters.
“Young ladies, please close your eyes tightly.”
“Okay!”
The modern conveniences that the author had conveniently glossed over for the sake of the story—elements that had made some readers complain about realism in a fantasy setting—were incredibly comfortable once you actually experienced them.
‘Good thing I kept quiet back then.’
I brushed off the small discomfort I had felt moments ago, reminding myself that people were naturally fickle creatures, and slipped into the bathtub first. The warm water enveloped my body. I let out a long breath without thinking, feeling the fatigue of the day melt away as I slowly blinked.
Just as a pleasant drowsiness crept over me and I began to yawn, René—who had been washed with the servant’s help—jumped into the tub with a splash. Water flew into my mouth.
“Blech! What are you doing?!”
I swallowed half of it and shouted in disgust. René found that hilarious and giggled loudly.
Annoyed that she was laughing without even apologizing, I splashed water at her in retaliation. The water got into her mouth too, and she stuck her tongue out in distaste.
“How’s the water taste?”
“Ugh!”
When I smirked and lifted the corners of my mouth, René narrowed her eyes and splashed me back. Refusing to lose to a little kid, I tilted my head and splashed her in return. Soon the bathroom was filled with the sound of splashing water and our squealing laughter.
“Haaah, I’m exhausted.”
“Let’s rest for a bit and then….”
Our little water fight, which had felt quite fierce to us, ended in a draw once our stamina ran out. Breathing heavily, we slumped in the tub where the water level had dropped noticeably. When we saw the servant standing there with a troubled expression, we gave her an awkward smile.
Most of the water we had enthusiastically splashed at each other had landed on her, leaving her completely soaked. She let out a sigh and smiled wryly at us.
‘Oh…’
I figured I should apologize, so I moved closer. That was when I noticed the black bra visible through her wet white blouse. My mouth fell slightly open.
In my previous life—or even in this one if I had been born male—I would never have seen this. I felt grateful to have been reborn as a girl and stared intently without blinking.
While I was seriously pondering how her bold and mature underwear design contrasted with her neat appearance, René quietly approached and suddenly splashed water at me, ruining my small moment of satisfaction.
“Yah!”
“Ack! My eyes!”
The surprise splash got in my eyes. I screamed, slipped, and swallowed a huge mouthful of water. After a bit more genuine roughhousing, we finally finished our bath, put on the underwear and pajamas the servant had prepared, and walked together to the room we shared.
“I’ll wait quietly, so go change your clothes.”
After arriving at the room with quick steps, I watched René toddle over to the large doll. Then I turned to the servant, who was still wearing her wet clothes.
I told her to go change quickly so she wouldn’t catch a cold, and that I would behave until she returned. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she soon accepted my consideration and bowed her head politely.
“It looks like those two will be quiet for a little while…”
I glanced at René, who was hugging the giant doll our father had bought her for her birthday last year and smiling happily. As I looked around the room—which was far too spacious for two young children—I noticed pale light coming through the window where the curtains hadn’t been fully drawn.
Drawn to it, I walked over and gazed outside. Even after all these years, the night sky still moved me deeply. It was breathtakingly beautiful.
In my past life, when I had been a man serving on the front lines after enlisting, I had once looked up during guard duty and been struck by the starry sky. This view made that memory seem plain by comparison. As if to remind me that this wasn’t Earth, two glowing moons hung in the sky. I stared at them in a daze.
“René. Are you stargazing again?”
While my attention was completely captured by the view, René had come up beside me without me noticing.
I nodded a beat late and said I was looking because it was fascinating.
“Fascinating? What part?”
When she showed interest after hearing the word “fascinating,” I pointed at the two moons. The face identical to mine tilted in confusion.
“Why is that fascinating?”
Instead of giving a long-winded explanation to her puzzled expression, I pointed out a few stars and made up a constellation on the spot. René’s mouth opened slightly in wonder.
“That star just now went into the book shape.”
“No, that one was next to it.”
We kept pointing at the stars scattered across the night sky and chattering until the servant returned after changing. Then the three of us climbed onto the large bed together.
The mattress felt just as soft as modern ones. As we lay down, the servant approached with a gentle smile. She carefully checked that we were properly covered with the blanket, then brought over a chair and sat down.
“What story would you like to hear before bed?”
“Umm, a first love story!”
After hearing René’s difficult request, the servant smiled bitterly and suggested a tale about Lorelan Lake, which the Lorelei family had managed for generations, instead of such an uninteresting topic. Curious about a part that hadn’t been properly covered in the original story, and wanting to repay her for the valuable sight she had shown us in the bathroom, I nodded immediately. René copied me and nodded too.
With a smile at our response, the servant cleared her throat softly and began the story.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have much talent for storytelling. Her tale felt closer to a boring lecture than a fairy tale.
“Hwaaam.”
Still, it worked as a perfect lullaby. We soon began yawning and blinking heavily. Seeing us like that, the servant smiled with a somewhat proud expression. We didn’t have the heart to tell her it was just too boring, so we kept listening until, at some point, we fell sound asleep.
My consciousness, which had been drifting peacefully, suddenly sharpened with a click as a light turned on above my head.
“Ah.”
Then came the hazy cigarette smoke drifting lazily near a flickering fluorescent light that seemed to announce its remaining lifespan was short. On the table stood several empty liquor bottles that had been drained over several days. Using one as an ashtray, a large back was visible, chain-smoking while staring intently at a monitor where a roulette wheel was spinning.
“Haa… Nothing ever goes right.”
Hearing the irritated voice complaining about the completely off result, I realized this was a dream.
Just looking at this gloomy scene was enough to sink my mood and drain all motivation. It was my childhood—the swamp I had desperately escaped with all my strength.
“Huu… If only it had fallen away with me when I died.”
Muttering as I exhaled deeply while looking at the back that clung to me persistently even into the next life, as if it would never let go, I gauged what would happen next.
‘I really hope this ends quickly…’
As I thought that with genuine feeling, my right cheek suddenly throbbed as if it had been hit. At the same time, the pain pulled me out of the unpleasant dream. I blinked, waking up, and turned my head toward the direction of the pain. There was René, her small fist clenched tightly as she had just punched my cheek.
“Move over… mmmnya.”
Hearing her sleep-talking, I let out a helpless chuckle. Even though she hadn’t meant to, she had still helped me. I whispered a small thank you and pulled the kicked-off blanket back over her.
“Move oover!”
When another fist swung at me as I tried to go back to sleep, I barely dodged it. Deciding it would be hard to sleep close to her tonight, I moved to the edge of the bed and tried to fall asleep again.