“How… are you feeling?”

“Fine.”

“Yes… that’s a relief.”

Aaron was restless in front of me, as if he had something more to say.

He was probably worried about his beloved sister, but it was clear that he couldn’t even talk to me because he knew of my personality.

Aaron only came every five days to ensure Selena’s recovery.

‘Look at how worried your brother was, Selena! Reflect on it!’

“Would you like to go on a walk with me? Brother?”

I wasn’t brazen enough to think of Selena’s family as my own, but I decided to call him brother because I was currently in Selena’s body.

‘Selena, if you don’t want that person to be miserable, you need to reflect and apologize. Otherwise, at the end of the day, you will be left with regret. You’ve been there, haven’t you?’

“Huh?”

Aaron looked at the two people behind me, asking back dazedly. I could imagine what everyone’s expression would be like. They were probably shaking their heads because they had no idea as well.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to.”

“No, no, it’s not that, Selena. Yes, let’s take a walk together.”

I turned back at Aaron’s satisfactory reply. But what was up with their faces? The two men blinked in confusion without saying a word.

A dumbfounded expression was visible on their faces.

“You guys heard that, right? Goodbye. I’m going for a walk with my brother.”

The two hesitated as if they were worried. I turned my head and looked at Selena’s brother, who looked at the two men behind me as well.

‘Didn’t he want us to walk together? Is he going to miss this special chance to walk together with me? Really?’

“Yes, I’ll take care of Selena, so go ahead.”

As expected, he was the male lead. He was very good at giving the right answer.

Aaron, who was walking side by side next to me, only looked at me. Did he want me to talk? But I felt like he was itching to say something to me.

The young master, who was famous for his intellect and beauty, looked restless in front of me.

‘Selena, about this. Why did you hate your brother? Did you think that there were many people who were nice to you like this?’

The unanswered question rang inside my head while the both of us were still walking in silence.

“How are you feeling?”

“Huh?”

‘Look, the important sub-male lead is making that face in front of me.’

I repeated the words, as he was taken aback by my sudden question,

“Your body, are you okay? You look tired.”

“Ah, it’s alright. Thank you for your concern, Selena.”

“It’s nothing.”

Aaron widened his eyes after hearing my response. It was interesting to see his eyes become much bigger than before, but I kept my mouth shut.

“Hey… has your memory come back?”

It was funny how he spoke carefully and was frightened before I even answered. It wasn’t funny in the bad sense, but this feeling… Well, I didn’t understand it, but it didn’t bother me too much.

“No, it’s still not intact. But I remember a few things.”

“You remembered something?”

“Yes, but it’s not clear. For example…”

I stopped in front of a pink flower tree in the garden. I didn’t know the name of this tree.

But it didn’t matter, as long as it was pretty. I thought that this kind of scenery would reduce the impact of my next words.

When I looked up at the tree, Aaron also looked up.

“I know that I hated you before.”

Aaron, who had a shocked expression that didn’t match the beautiful scenery, stepped back.

‘Don’t worry, Aaron. I’m not going to bite you.’

I took a step closer to Aaron, who stepped back again. But then, Aaron stopped and looked down at me.

There was a huge height difference between us.

Aaron’s eyes, which looked down at me, were shaking. It seemed like he was afraid that I would do something again.

No way.

I was well aware that Selena’s feelings wouldn’t become mine. If her feelings were affection for him, I wasn’t sure if I could do that, as the only thing inside me was emptiness and bitterness.

Oh, and also the feeling of giving up, a feeling which Aaron had never experienced from Selena.

‘Maybe that’s why, Selena, I’m better than you.’

“I’m sorry I hated you before, Brother.”

Aaron came closer to me.

Aaron’s expression was noticeably stiff. It was frozen.

‘This is nothing more than an apology. Are you thinking too much about it, Brother?’

“Sel… Selena. What are you saying…”

“I’m sorry I’ve been mean to you, Brother..”

***

Aaron felt his body stiffen. He should’ve been happy that his sister apologized, but it wasn’t like her to do something with a calm face.

“Selena, do you happen to…”

Aaron couldn’t complete his sentence.

‘Selena, you’re not about to try and die again, are you?’

He tried to think about what to do, because he was afraid to ask about it.

So what if he graduated at the top of his class in a prestigious academy? He couldn’t even decipher his sister’s words.

“Brother. I mean it.”

However, he was not sure about Selena’s intention.

“Yes, that’s nice…”

Aaron had no choice but to respond and smile.

He buried deep in his heart a question he could never bring up.

***

“Brother, how long are you going to follow me?”

As I kept calling to him, the word ‘brother’ didn’t feel awkward to use like before.

I only had my younger brother before. I wondered if a human being was adaptable, or if it was because I felt familiar with Aaron rather than other characters.

‘So that’s why, brother. Please go away, it’s annoying.’

“Well, since your body hasn’t fully recovered yet, wouldn’t it be better to lay down even if it’s uncomfortable for a while?”

He looked at me with eyes full of expectations. He had always looked at me like he was a puppy looking at its master.

It was strange because Aaron didn’t act like this to other characters.

His behaviour was weird, like he didn’t want to be abandoned and wanted to be loved by me. It was something I could see because I was once like him too.

His big back reminded me of my own self as a child.

If I could go back and meet my young self, I’d hold my little hand and tell her.

‘Don’t look forward to such a thing, because they won’t love you until the end.’

If I held Aaron’s hand and told that to him instead, how would he react?

The real Selena was also pitiful like that…

Wait, no, she was better off than me. Aaron and her family sincerely loved her.

Aaron glanced nervously at me as I walked ahead for quite a long time without answering.

“Come to think of it. I have a favor to ask of you.”

***

What Selena asked Aaron was a meeting with ‘Princess Ariel’. The reason was that she wanted to apologize for her mistakes.

The happy Aaron nodded and promised to do me a favor. He also told the duke and duchess.

Unlike the positive Aaron, the duke and duchess agonized over this.

Before losing her memory, Selena also hated Ariel, who would be his brother’s partner.

She had only hurt her with words, but it was an unforgivable insult to the royal family.

If the White Duchy had not been a great and loyal family, Selena’s neck would have already fallen.

Besides, everyone knew how badly she acted before.

Her memory was not intact, and she didn’t even want to think about that.

So, was it really the right thing to let such a child and the princess meet…?

Aaron smiled to reassure them as they kept agonizing.

“She’ll be fine, father. The child even apologized to me. Her memory wasn’t intact but some have returned. Maybe that’s the only reason she wanted to meet Ariel… no, the princess.”

The duke nodded at Aaron’s words, but his face didn’t relax.

Did his daughter truly apologize to his son? Was she plotting something again?

He was worried about his daughter and doubted her. It was sad.

“But you must accompany her,”

The duchess said, and Aaron still nodded with a smile.

“Yes, mother.”

***

“Princess, we wanted to meet you.”

Ariel Franklin, a girl with blond hair and golden eyes, turned her head.

“Yes, Princess Ariel.”

Seeing the girl in person, she really looked like a heroine.

The boy and girl sitting side by side were a match.

Ah, they looked good. It was a match made in heaven. But I couldn’t believe that she made Selena’s brother into a sub-male lead instead.

‘They’re like a Hollywood couple.’

While admiring their visage that was too good to be true, I suddenly thought that Selena’s real name might’ve been Medusa.

Both of them were frozen and stiff from looking at me.

I hadn’t even greeted them.

‘Should I knock on the table? I think they’ll be very surprised.’

But my unnecessary curiosity had to be put aside.

Instead, I slowly got up from my seat as the two looked at me.

I didn’t care and slowly bowed to them.

“I sincerely apologize for my rudeness, Princess Ariel.”

‘I should always greet and apologize politely.’ It was one of the lessons I learned in my past life in order to live quietly.