Chapter 110

Where Tara is flabbergasted by Aria in more ways than one and goes through an existencial crisis.

This chapter is dedicated to Nanoka! Thank you for your support!

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Episode 110. About 11 months (2)

Yes, I wasn’t 33 years old anymore. I was still a fresh 18-year-old teenager. But why did it feel like I was living the life of a commando in the Special Ops division of the Marine Corps? Even in my past life I’d never been in the Military let alone the Marine Corps before.*

While I was having these silly thoughts, I saw the headlines of today's newspaper on the table and burst out laughing.

[Inspired by a strong sense of responsibility, the eldest son of a high-ranking family left for the East after a rather tumultuous farewell at the Imperial Palace's gates. He now embraces the Ocerian sea... - Imperial Daily News, December 9th, 1815.]

"A rather tumultuous farewell... Embraces the sea? That is a very poetic way to put it. I suppose he's in the middle of the ocean by now. Should we have made some motion sickness pills for him before his departure? Anyway, the Jason quest has been cleared! Though it's been tough!"

Jason wouldn't return to Oceria for the next three years. Therefore, he would be spared in the upcoming crisis that was now a year or so away. Maybe even sooner than that.

Wow, if he does well, he'll be the sole survivor...

Quite an ironic situation, but still a relief for me.

Not knowing which of my siblings would endanger the family, it was a huge weight off my shoulders to have Jason, not only out of the Palace, but out of the Empire altogether.

Seriously, it had been a struggle just to eliminate a single person...

"You have my respect, my Lady!"

I snapped my head around toward the voice that came from beside me. Beth was giving me two thumbs up, her eyes sparkling brightly.

"... All of a sudden?"

"Hehe. Yes, Miss. You were so cool. My dream is to resemble you from now on. When you announced that you were sending Jason to Gaion, you looked so radiant. Isn't that right, Family Head...!"

“Stop! Beth. I’m feeling embarrassed. Stop.”

Self-conscious, I held my hand up to stop the constant stream of compliments. Also, I needed to get back to work.

It was also true that I had taken personal revenge under the pretext of protecting the Elias Family, so the constant praise made me feel uncomfortable.

I walked briskly to the study.

I didn't bother to go greet my father in his office because I knew he would already be on his way to the business wing.

It was rare to see each other these days, except at mealtimes, as he was in meetings everyday beginning in the early morning.

The same was true for my mother, now that she oversaw the manor.

The day Jason had left, the Countess had visited Father and had threatened to take away House Philippe's funding.

As expected, old habits die hard...

[... That’s a fair reason for my wife’s family to withdraw support. In that case, I'll start pulling our investments with House Philippe one by one this month.]

Surprised by the unexpected answer, the Countess had collapsed once again, causing a disturbance in the conference room.

My father seemed determined to regain our family's independence.

House Philippe, whom he had considered an equal partner, had used their monetary support as a weapon to interfere in his decisions, and this incident proved that their interference had crossed the line.

My heart sang at the news. And from that day on, the Countess had locked herself in her room and had been harassing her personal maids.

She had refused to pass over the management of the household’s internal affairs as she was supposed to.

My mother had no choice but to go to the business wing and check the manor's accounting ledgers one by one.

Chloe was working at the main [Chloe Beauty Shop] three times a week and Princess Margaret's Palace on the Imperial Palace's grounds the other four.

It was clear that she had coordinated her schedule with that of the Palace.

Logan also went to the business wing three days a week, taking care of Jason's distribution duties on top of his work for the Knights of Elias, and spent the other four at the Ministry of Security.

Members of the Elias family did not take a single day off.

.... How labor intensive.

I opened the door to the study and saw Aria sitting in the same spot she had been a week ago.

She was using a long desk with all kinds of books piled on top.

Ah... I really couldn't get used to it, even after seeing it again.

"... Why are you here again? I told you not to disturb me!" Aria said without looking up from her book.

"Are you sure you mean that? I'm here to check one last time."

Oh my God. To think I'd live to see the day where Aria would have her nose stuck in a book....

"Huh. It's true. I'm not interested in Prince Kyle anymore, so you don't have to come to me to give me useless information!"

‘Dear Lord! What do you mean useless information... No! How did it come to this?’

"No! Are you serious? You're going to be a historian?"

"Huh, I've already applied next semester for History and Diplomacy."

It was a real surprise. In fact, the first day I had returned to the Capital and found Aria in the study it had left me flabbergasted.

It may sound ridiculous, but all this had all started with the book I had given her before I left.

[... I read it through and found it interesting, especially the last chapter, which had the history of the princes and princesses of each country. I became intrigued and started looking it up. I had no idea books could be so interesting. Thanks, Sister!]

Oh my.... A ‘Thanks Sister’!

This wasn’t one of those ‘I became a nerd one day’ stories. No, it wasn’t. This was a <My child is different> situation.

They said that when a person changed too much, they must be close to death. I stroked my chin while observing Aria's profile.

Was it my imagination, or did she seem to have a glint of intelligence in her eyes, unlike seven months ago?

I had been pondering that ever since.

Author Kim had told me that she fell in love with books after starting to read mystery novels in her early 20's.

I also got into reading in middle school when I went to a friend's house and read a novel [My close friend takes pity on me]. **

I read it without knowing what it was about, mistaken about the innocuous title. It was very well written.

I had excitedly discovered half-way through reading it that my dastardly friend had taped over the 19+ warning on the cover… You could say I was surprised….

To be fair Aria was 17, so it wouldn’t be unusual for her to fall in love with a book. However, my preconceived notions about her were so ingrained in my mind that I kept doubting her.

Besides, it wasn't a novel but a history book.

"Then you're really not interested in information about the Second Prince."

"Yes! I said it a few times already! Now go away! Don't disturb me."

Wow. I never thought I'd hear that coming out of Aria's mouth.

"Y- yeah."

As I turned around, stuttering for the first time in a long time, I caught a glimpse of the open notebook next to Aria.

A densely written notebook.

The meticulous writing in a variety of colors appealed to my practical mind. I reached for it without realizing and asked casually, "What's this?"

"Ah... That? I thought I'd start with the history of our Empire."

"Can I look at it?"

"Sure."

She answered without even looking at me. I slowly flipped through the pages, reading quickly.

As an aspiring historian, she had recorded an account of various Ocerian historical events, chapter by chapter.

"Ohhh... It looks well organized. What's the title?"

"Really? I did it well, didn't I?"

"Yes. I think it's pretty good."

Apparently pleased with my praise, Aria smiled and explained.

"I'm not sure yet, but I'm planning to have it organized by year. So, [The Ocerian Chronicles]? Or something like..."

"......!"

Boom!

Aria's words no longer reached me. I felt like someone was beating a huge drum next to my ears.

I swallowed the hoarse ‘huh’ that nearly escaped my lips.

My pupils dilated as I brought my hands to my mouth. I was in genuine shock.

After remaining silent for a few seconds, Aria slowly turned her head toward me.

"What's wrong?"

I took an automatic step back, genuinely scared.

"You... What are you?"

"Huh? What? Huh?... What's with the look on your face?"

I took another step back as Aria jumped up in surprise.

"Don't come near me! Stop! Stop!"

Shocked by my yelling, Aria stopped dead in her tracks.

"What the....... what's wrong?"

‘Whoa!' I let out the breath I had been holding for a long time. I put my hand on my chest and tried to calm down, no, to think.

"Wait... Wait a minute..."

"What's wrong with you? Are you sick?"

I steadied my breathing, if only to get some oxygen to my brain, so I could think.

Calm down. I needed to calm down. Aria was looking at me weirdly......

"Phew... Ah... I thought I recognized the title. I saw a similar book title when I was in a bad situation... It's nothing serious. I just freaked out at the memory." I stammered.

"Ah... I thought there was a ghost behind me again. Is the title too common?... The name of the country is required in a History book title, but I'm sure the bookstore is full of them."

It made sense.

“Can I take that and read it?”

"Why?"

"Just.... It's kind of interesting. Can I?"

"Wow. I guess I have some talent after all. But I still have a lot to write down, so make sure it stays clean and give it back to me by tomorrow!"

I was relieved to hear that. I took the notebook from her.

"Uh...... okay."

I didn't know what I was thinking as I walked out of the study.

It was Beth who pulled me out of my half-dazed state, protecting me with an umbrella and putting me in the carriage headed for work.

Why was Aria writing [The Ocerian Chronicles]? Why her?

It may be a coincidence, but was that even possible?

I carefully opened the notebook Aria had lent me and quickly read through it.

‘Part 1: The Origins of the Ocerian Imperial Family. Part 2: History of the Ocerian Nobility and Imperial Family. Part 3: Emperor Louis Amure and The Princes. It's so similar!'

The parts I had previewed in my previous life were up to Part 4 Chapter 3 since Author Kim had written 60 episodes in a year and stopped at that chapter.

There were only 3 Parts here, and the last one was about Prince Kyle's arrival at the Palace five years ago. Then there was the Skandoan war, which had started 8 months ago. It also contained the attempted murder of the Imperial Family that had happened a few days ago, and this part was slightly different from what I had read.

It was quite detailed, but concise and easy to read.

My head was pounding. The sound of rain, which was usually nice to hear, sounded like a hammer pounding on an anvil in my ears.

I was confused but needed to think. Was this some kind of sign? What did it mean? Then, something occurred to me suddenly and I blinked.

"Huh...uh...I..."

I closed my mouth, realizing too late that Beth was there. But that didn't stop me from thinking.

Me... What if, instead of transmigrating, I had regressed? Had I died and come back to life after reading this book? Then what about my memories from Korea? Were they from a past life? And was Aria a transmigrator as well? Was she Author Kim?... What did this all mean?

While asking myself all these questions, I got caught in my own string of thoughts. Everything was jumbled. I squeezed my eyes shut and hoped something would come to mind.

A million thoughts raced through my mind, but nothing worthy of note....

There it was!

Editor's Note -

*This reference to the Special Ops Marine Corps could seem to be coming out of nowhere, but, in Korea, Military Service is mandatory and their Navy has a special unit called 707th Special Mission Group or 'Black Berets' which would be the equivalent of the Navy Seals.

** Here's a fun one! '내 친구는 동정' roughly translates to 'My close friend takes pity on me' and, based on the Google results, 'taking pity on someone' is a phrase commonly used in the titles for smut series refering to one person ahem servicing the other.

@Rina thank you so much for finding this! I got lost in translation on this one.

Also little fun fact, R19 novels in Korea have a litteral little red flag!

So, we can imagine that her friend covered that with black tape so she could read NSFW stuff in public, or hide it from her own parents! Cheeky!LOL

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