Reborn As a Character That Never Existed

[Chapter 1 – The Protagonist is Born]

“Talayia, your younger sister is Loina Randa.”

 

The moment I heard the name of the little baby in Roxana’s arms, I could only despair.

 

It was Loina Lemetio, the heroine of my novel that I had never wanted to be born.

 

“Darn it.”

 

“Tilly?”

 

My body, still only four years old, honestly reacted to the emotions.

 

As tears blurred her vision, Roxana put Loina back in the crib.

 

Julian, who was watching the baby with me, hugged me and patted my back.

 

The rabbit doll that had been clinging to one of his arms fell to the ground.

 

“Yeah, yeah.
You were jealous because mom was holding the baby, right? Mom is our Tilly.”

 

Julian comforted me as if he had expected it.

 

I wanted to say that was not it, but I couldn’t speak, so I just buried my face in his shoulder.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

“Come here, Tilly.”

 

As Roksana held me in her arms, she wiped away my tears.
Her eyes were filled with a loving emotion.

 

Suddenly, I remembered that some first-borns become jealous when a second child is born and takes attention away from them.
Maybe they thought I was crying because of that.

 

“Well, in some ways, that’s true, but…”

 

I hesitated when I heard my parents’ names, but I was sure of my family and country of birth.

 

This world was the novel I created.

 

I knew it all along, but I still hoped until the last moment.

 

I wished that Roksana’s child would not be a daughter and that her name would not be Loina.

 

But the settings I created acted like fate, giving her the name Loina and making her the protagonist of this world from the moment she was born.

 

“Tilly, look at this.”

 

As I swallowed back my runny nose and turned my head, Yurian pulled a funny face while grabbing her own cheeks.

 

It wasn’t a face that would normally make me laugh.

 

When I didn’t react, she looked noticeably crestfallen.
Usually, I would have smiled at her, but I wasn’t in the mood.

 

“Daddy, you’re ugly! Go away!”

After hearing my honest words, he removed his hand from his face as if in shock, and Roksa-na burst out laughing.
I buried my head in Roksa-na’s shoulder again and cried.

 

Being inside the novel I wrote was a more unpleasant experience than I had imagined.
Perhaps it was only true for me, but the tears streaming down my cheeks, the heat in my eyes, the arms holding me, and the voice whispering in my ear all felt vivid and real.

 

Those sensations whispered that this was an inescapable reality.

 

For the past four years, I had been living here pretending to be a child.

 

The last thing I remember from my past life was two bright lights rushing toward me.
It was a car, and the conclusion was that I was in a traffic accident last year.
And, oddly enough, Roksa-na became pregnant right on cue.

 

Did I die and be reborn? Or am I just having a long and endless dream in a coma?

 

Either way, it was dreadful.

 

“Tilly, does Mommy love you?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“And Daddy too?”

 

“… Yeah.”

 

Unlike the past, Yurian made a slightly sad expression after a moment of silence following the answer.

 

“Having Royna doesn’t mean Mommy and Daddy will take you away.
Tilly, it just means you have more people to love you unconditionally.
Mommy, Daddy, and Royna will love you, too.”

 

“…….”

 

“Still hate Royina?”

 

“No, I like her.”

 

“Then should we say hello to our Royina? We greeted her a lot when she was in mommy’s belly, but this is the first time we’re seeing her face.
She must be so pretty, just like when Tilly was a baby.”

 

The familiar scent, the low voice for a woman, and the short platinum hair made me feel at ease.
When I looked calmer, Rokssana sat me down by the crib.
The plump cheeks and beautiful purplish eyes made me look a little younger.

 

“Let’s say hi to the baby.”

 

“Hello.”

 

As Royina looked at me with her lips parted and drool running down her cheek, I couldn’t help but smile.

 

No matter how much I disliked this place, this baby was my perfect heroine whom I loved.

 

“Yes, my heroine.”

 

This newborn baby, as well as Roksana and Julian, her parents, were all characters I carefully crafted for the story, but I was the heroine’s sister who wasn’t in the original.
I loved them, but they were not my real family.

 

As I wiped Royina’s drool with a handkerchief, I met her gaze with my own amethyst-colored eyes.

 

I also drooled a lot during this stage, and someone always wiped it away with a gentle touch.
Although I couldn’t see properly at that time, so I couldn’t tell who it was, it was probably my mother.

 

“You’re lucky to have one more person to wipe your drool, aren’t you?”

 

*****

I grabbed the ears of the rabbit doll while watching Royina struggling to turn over by flailing her arms and legs.

 

At first, I waited for Royina to turn over and then helped her back, but after ten minutes of trying without success, I started to get bored.
As I let out a yawn, Royina stopped trying to turn over and stared at me.

 

“Are you giving up?”

 

Tears began to well up in her large purple eyes and soon Royina burst into tears.