01. Seven-Year-Old Friends
The night she drowned for the first time in her life at seven years old.
Rellia realized she had been reincarnated into a novel.
When she fell into the water, she truly thought she was going to die.
Fortunately, a child nearby saved her, and the priests frantically infused her with divine power.
She woke up spewing water like a whale.
The priests tried to take her to the infirmary, but Rellia desperately insisted she was fine and returned to her room.
After hurriedly washing with warm water and changing clothes, she shivered uncontrollably.
She hadn't died from drowning, and her secret hadn't been discovered. Relief washed over her at this miraculous fact, but her body kept trembling.
Barely managing to crawl under the blankets, she curled up like a rock and fell asleep.
And the next day.
The priests came to her room again.
They were at a loss in front of her, having just woken up, fearing this incident might become known to her home country.
"……."
Rellia stared blankly at the priests and recalled the dream she had last night.
In the dream, her past life appeared.
In her past life, she was a patient. A terminally ill person lying in a hospital bed, just waiting for the day she would die.
For such a patient, there wasn't much to do while lying down all day.
'Reading novels and playing games were all I had.'
She repeated the tedious cycle of reading romance novels all day and playing games.
Then one day. The death she had been waiting for finally came.
At the moment of death, she felt a trace of freedom along with fear. And she prayed.
If she could be reincarnated, she asked to be reborn into the alchemy game she played called 'Alchemy Lottery.' She begged earnestly.
It was a nonsensical prayer, but her wish to be reincarnated was essentially granted.
'But why into a novel?'
If they were going to grant her prayer, they should have done it properly...!
Instead of the game protagonist, she was reincarnated as a character in a novel.
From the moment of birth until now, the life she lived was no different from the original story's flow.
The reason this is speculation is that not all the days she lived were recorded in the novel.
Her role was a supporting character, not a major one. She was even supposed to die midway through.
Even if she didn't think her life was special, she never imagined she was a supporting character in someone else's novel.... She felt betrayed by life.
Displeasure came first, but the next emotion she felt was relief.
'Is it fortunate that I found out in advance?'
She was seven now, so she still had quite some time before her death.
"Um, Crown Prince Leo. Are you really alright?"
"…Ah."
She, who had been dazed, turned her gaze to the priests who were still hesitating.
The priests were terrified. The crown prince was already rumored to be frail. For such a crown prince to nearly die.
If this fact became known to the high-ranking priests, they would be as good as dead.
Rellia cleared her throat and spoke.
"I'm fine, so please leave."
"Ah, understood. But if you need us, please call us anytime."
The priests glanced at her, bowed their heads slightly, and left.
Left alone, Rellia looked around the splendid room interior.
Until yesterday, it was a familiar place... but perhaps because she realized her past life, it felt strangely new.
'Still, reincarnating into a novel.'
Remembering her future in the novel, her mood turned unpleasant again.
Someone arbitrarily decided my future! And in such a trivial manner at that.
'I don't want to die again.'
She lived and died as an incurably ill patient, and now she's supposed to die at a young age? She absolutely couldn't die!
Anyway, avoiding death wasn't difficult. In the novel, she died after slipping and falling into the imperial pond.
If she just doesn't go near the pond, that's that.
Yes, it will be fine!
'But....'
If there was one problem.
Currently, she was here in this divine neutral zone under the identity of the crown prince.
Pretending to be a man, deceiving everyone.