(1) Ophelia Windrose

“I, I’d rather die than get sick.”

She had long eyelashes and was pretty like the heroine. In addition, she had a time limit.

I swept her hair instead of answering. It’s more like touching silk than hair.

“You know, I don’t want much. I don’t want to live long and die, but I don’t want to be sick.”

Her voice was calm. I combed her hair instead of answering.

There was a rattling sound. Even as her whole body dried up, her hair was glossy.

“By the way, neither my parents nor other people tell me to say that. Even if it hurts, ask me to stay with you a little more. You’re so selfish.”

I looked at her dry lips.

“You’re not going to say that to me, are you?”

Her eyes were black and blue eyes. I answered.

“You won’t be mad at me for saying bad things, will you?”

“Eung.”

“What would you say if I asked you to kill me?”

I was silent for a moment. Her eyes were on me like an awl.
(P/R: She meant that the sick girl’s eyes were staring and piercing at her like a sharp tool, such as an awl that is used to pierce holes.)

“I’ll ask you to wait until we find out which method hurts the least.”

Her eyes shook.

“…. Really?”

“Eung.”

“You would go to jail for me and get blamed and cursed by others?”

“You’re more important than those people.”

She twisted her face like she was crying, and finally laughed. Then, she took my hand.

Even though it looked like a dried wood stick, she had beautiful and pretty hands, hands that were different from mine.

“Don’t forget me even if others forget everything. Don’t forget to put flowers on my grave every spring.”

“Eung.”

“Don’t make friends who are closer than me.”

My tightly gripped hand hurt, but I didn’t show it. The child smiled faintly.

It was always when I looked at her that her pale face smiled like a spring flower. So others were jealous of me. It was funny.

Ophelia Windrose, the Marquis’ only daughter, was time-limited and had a tough personality.

A maid or a servant couldn’t be placed beside his precious only daughter. It was impossible to have a friend of similar age next to her because of her personality.

Because of this, her Marquis couple brought a torn-poor girl of her distant relatives as her guardian. That was me.

Ophelia Windrose’s friend, toy, and family.

If I was kicked out of the Marquis, I had to go back to the days when I was hungry because I couldn’t even eat moldy bread, so I desperately faced Ophelia.

Ophelia was jealous, irritated, and annoyed me for being healthy, but she was a sick child anyway.

Even though she’s the only daughter of the noble Marquis, there were few friends of her age who could match up with her temperamental and harsh personality.

Marquis and his wife were so busy, that they couldn’t kiss their beloved only daughter good night every day.

I was her friend, her world, her family.

At this point, it didn’t matter that the world was in a game that I had played at some point in my previous life.

She rubbed her feverish forehead against my hand. I stroked her head.

“I don’t want to die…..”

It was a sad voice. Ophelia sounded weak only to me. That was her pride.

“I’m scared….”

It was a weak voice like a frightened animal.

I felt sorry for the child. I felt sorry for her. A beautiful, noble and rich life like a fresh lily was promised, but it was destined to wither too early.

In a very faintly remembered ‘game,’ she always died early at the beginning of any route. No male protagonist could bring her back to life.

She died in vain, and the male protagonists who missed her would one day fall in love with a Baron Young Lady, who resembled her, in the countryside

.

That was the real beginning. Rather, all the greed and desire that they could not give to the dead lady were poured into the Baron Young Lady.

But in ‘no ending’, there was no end to forget Ophelia and truly love the Baron Young Lady.

So she was the heroine. Like a leaf that would soon wither away, it is beautiful even if it is blue and is as breathtaking as a drowned flower. Everyone’s first love.

Everyone’s hearts were sore. It was all a daydream. It was funny.

I sympathized with Ophelia, but even though I was struggling all my life, I couldn’t get any of the things she had right before her death.

After she dies, I’ll probably be kicked out of the Marquis’ manor, so I need to look for a suitable future.

“Do you want me to die?”

Ophelia opened her eyes round.

“If you’re scared, do you want me to die with you?”

The child fell silent.

“….Are you serious?”

“Eung.”

The Marquis were not philanthropists. When Ophelia dies, I will probably be kicked out of the manor.

My parents sold me for money. Not all aristocrats were of the same kind. An aristocrat like me, who barely kept my last name, was not even a wealthy commoner.

P/R: she is saying that her status/appearance only amounts to what is described – uneducated and only worth as a companion.

She was also my childhood friend and family. I really thought it wouldn’t be so bad. Ophelia shook her head.

“I don’t like that.”

“Why.”

“It’s a waste. You do everything for me. You wear a lot of pretty clothes…”

Ophelia trailed off the end of her sentence.

“I go out a lot, eat a lot of delicious things…….. Go horseback riding…..”

Ophelia pinched her fingers one by one.

P/R: It meant that Ophelia is counting off things on her hand.

“I also wish to have a relationship.”

I looked down at the fingers. She laughed faintly.

“If you bring a weird bastard instead, I will jump up from my grave.”

“I can’t date because I’m scared.”

“You must wear a wedding dress, too. I like it. It must be as gorgeous as if you are wearing a skirt full of flowers that bloom in spring.”

Such a gorgeous dress would not go well with a flat face like me. But I said yes. She laughed red with her heated face.

“You have to live happily.”

Ha-Happiness.. I couldn’t answer.

And before the summer of that year, Ophelia died.