Standing at the top of the tower with fierce winds blowing, looking down at the dizzying depths below, my body trembled.

But there was no time to hesitate.

I needed to quickly carry out my decision before McNally returned.

I should also forget about the ancient diary written by someone from the past I didn’t even know.

But the words that man supposedly said kept circling in my mind.

The suspicious man who suddenly appeared before Clarence one day and insisted this castle belonged to him.

[‘This castle is now mine, so you need to leave.

Whether you roll around somewhere else after leaving here is none of my business.’]

And the diary abruptly ended at a very strange point.

[For some time now, death’s shadow has been secretly following me.

I think I really don’t have much time left.

The problem is…….

I don’t know which one of ‘them’ will kill me.

After all, I have more than enough enemies.]

What could that possibly mean?

Was Clarence Philoraine really unjustly murdered? Because of someone who wanted this castle?

But unlike me, Clarence would have had people who would cry for her.

A kind butler like a father and a caring maid like a friend.

If I had such people by my side, perhaps I too would have found the courage to continue living what little life I had left.

Since I have no one, this choice isn’t so bad.

Just close my eyes tightly and…….

No, no! Wait a minute!

Just before my body tilted further forward, my eyes flew open.

Maybe, just maybe…….

But unfortunately, it was too late.

I hesitated briefly, lost my balance, and fell forward, flailing.

And I fell down, down, down.

The last thing I saw was the dawn sky of Clairfield, growing faintly bright.

***

“……Miss?”

Hmm?

“Miss! Please open your eyes! Miiiiss!”

They say hearing is the last sense to remain when a person dies.

I remember reading somewhere that’s why we should only whisper kind words into the ears of someone who has stopped breathing.

So this loud noise…….

No, wait! The noise is one thing, but what about these hands shaking my body so roughly?

Do I still have a body? That would explain why my back and waist feel so stiff and painful.

If so, then…….

My eyes flew open.

Yes, at least I still had eyelids.

The first thing I saw was a white, high ceiling.

I could see a large chandelier hanging from a red velvet rope on a ceiling carved with beautiful vine patterns.

There’s no way such an antique item would be in my room.

“Oh my goodness! You’re alive! Oh, thank heavens! Miss!”

Something soft and brown flashed before my eyes, and then someone embraced me tightly.

“Ugh.”

My ribs were compressed and my body shook back and forth, leaving me completely disoriented.

“Excuse me, this is……”

Huh?

Suddenly, old-fashioned English flowed smoothly from my mouth? And this voice…….

“Ahem.”

I cleared my throat and tried speaking again.

“Hey, first let go of me and then let’s talk……”

Oh no.

This isn’t my voice.

And these frail hands moving weakly before my eyes aren’t mine either.

There’s no way…… these hands in such terrible condition could be mine.

The skinny white hands were covered in wounds, with black dirt under the fingernails.

“No…… Miss!”

A face suddenly appeared before me.

A cute face with neatly tied dark auburn hair, chestnut eyes, and freckles scattered across the bridge of her nose.

“Can you see this? Do you know how many fingers I’m holding up?”

The woman frantically waved her fingers in front of my eyes.

“……Two?”

“Oh! Your eyes seem fine.”

The woman tilted her head.

“But you don’t know who I am?”

“No.”

Of course not.

“Oh noooo! This is terrible. Terrible! I think Miss has lost her mind!”

The woman shouted at the top of her lungs.

“This won’t do! I’ll bring the butler, so stay lying down. Understand?”

The woman turned around quickly and ran out.

Her ankle-length light brown dress with an apron looked like a strange costume that only theater actors would wear.

After she left the room, I clutched my spinning head and slowly raised myself from the bed.

I was lying on a large four-poster bed. Across from it was a fireplace.

And there was a mirror hanging above it, and on the mantelpiece, a familiar marble clock…… Huh?

The clock showed 10:41. The second hand was moving busily.

Come to think of it…… before leaving the room at dawn today, I had tried to place the diary on the mantelpiece and almost dropped the marble clock that had stopped at 10:37, which startled me.

Moreover, this room…… isn’t it that gloomy room that smelled damp and dusty?

It’s clearly the same room, but it feels much fresher.

Now the curtains were drawn back, and I could see outside through the wide-open window.

It wasn’t a rainy dawn, but a clear, beautiful day with bright sunshine.

I turned around in shock, and my reflection appeared in the mirror hanging above the fireplace opposite me.

Who on earth is this……?

A pair of blue eyes with a hint of purple were staring back at me anxiously.

The hair, long enough to reach the waist, was a soft honey color and so voluminous that one hand couldn’t grasp it all.

It was the ‘thick and soft’ hair I had desperately wanted for so long, pouring money into expensive hair salons.

I frantically touched the face, hair, and body reflected in the mirror.

After touching even the blue-violet dress I was wearing, I finally knew for certain.

I mean, I am…….

“Huff, huff! Miss Clarence! Are you conscious?”

***

“Really? You’re not hurting anywhere?”

“I told you, I’m perfectly fine.”

Actually, my back and waist were a bit sore, but this level of pain was nothing.

Since being diagnosed with the illness, I had constantly lived with a heavy headache that felt like my head was splitting open, but now I couldn’t feel it at all.

So it seems that when I was reborn as ‘Clarence Philoraine,’ the young lady who lived in this castle some 130 years ago, the tumor in my head also disappeared.

This feeling of lightness and freshness!

It was also very strange how my appetite suddenly returned.

I sat at the end of an oak table that occupied the center of the spacious kitchen and scraped clean the soup Marina had given me.

I didn’t even mind that the two people in front of me kept staring at me with suspicious looks.

It was just ordinary potato soup in a chipped bowl, but I was amazed at how delicious it tasted.

“One more bowl!”

When I held out the empty bowl, Marina looked back at the bald butler with suspicion.

The ‘butler’ named Hubert appeared to be a man well over fifty.

He was dressed formally in uniform like butlers in movies, putting on airs, but his clothes looked worn, and the cuffs were terribly frayed.

“You’re really alright?”

Marina grabbed the empty bowl from my hand and shook her head as she took it away.

“You know how worried I’ve been, Mr. Butler, because Miss hasn’t had an appetite lately and hasn’t been eating properly! But two bowls in the blink of an eye? This is definitely strange! She must have hit her head!”

Marina kept looking back at me with concern as she spoke.

“That’s right, why did you go up to the tower? Huh? Why on earth!”

Then she got excited and banged her fist on the table, startling the butler and me, making us look at each other.

That’s right. After climbing all the way up there so diligently, to change my mind at the last moment…..

The moment I looked down at the dizzying depths below, I realized what I truly wanted was ‘life.’

In that one moment, I had never wanted to live more desperately.

Even with an egg-sized tumor in my head, even if I only had three months left to live.

“You didn’t have any bad thoughts, did you?”

“Ah, no, of course not.”

If I admitted it, she might hit me.

“Fortunately, you got caught on a tree and fell onto the hydrangea flower bed, otherwise, really……”

Marina suddenly buried her face in her hands and sobbed, making me feel awkward.

“Um…… I’m really fine. So……”

“No, you’re not!”

Marina suddenly raised her head.

“We need to bring Dr. Lansfield here!”

“But he……”

As Hubert hesitated with difficulty, Marina raised her voice.

“If he won’t come, we’ll beat him up and drag him here! What kind of doctor picks and chooses patients! There should be limits to hating people! What sin has our Miss committed!”

When Marina slammed the table again, water from the cup splashed everywhere.

My maid seems to have a fiery temper, so I should be careful not to provoke her.

After eating another bowl of potato soup and satisfying my hunger a bit, my mind began to work quickly.

The contents of the diary I had read all night gradually came back to me.

Yes, Clarence was being ostracized by the village.

Because her bankrupt parents had left the estate in a complete mess before they died.

“By the way, what’s today’s date?”

I asked casually, as if making small talk.

“Haa……”

Marina sighed and shook her head before briskly untying her apron.

“Something’s definitely wrong with you. You’ve been so sensitive about counting days lately because of the food shortage! I need to go to the village and bring Dr. Lansfield back, even if I have to tie him up.”

After she left, the butler nodded with a dumbfounded expression.

“Marina is right. I think you should lie down a bit more. I’ll escort you to your room.”

Hubert extended his arm as he spoke.

“No, I’m really fine.”

I’m actually amazed at how clear-headed I feel.

I never knew the world could be this bright and refreshing without a headache. This is truly……”

“Aaaaaaaaahhhhh!”

Just then, a terrible scream tore through the happy air from outside.

I jumped up in surprise, and my eyes met Hubert’s.