Episode 1: I Was Born as the Runaway Heroine’s Daughter
“Jizelle… Mommy might not be able to cook delicious food for you anymore.”
“Mommy got sick… Jizelle…”
Ten-year-old Jizelle loved her mom more than anything. Her whole world was her mom, and it was the same for Yulita.
So hearing these words felt like the sky was falling. Jizelle could not say anything.
Mom might die and leave her. Her vision turned blurry.
“Mom…”
Suddenly, sharp pain stabbed through that blurry vision.
Jizelle grabbed her right eye, the silver eye her mom sometimes looked at with sadness.
It was glowing, shining like a silver star in the night sky.
As Mom called her name, strange memories she never lived rushed into Jizelle’s head.
Jizelle was Jizelle… but she was also Gwak Chaerin, a woman from South Korea.
“…Yulita…?”
“Jizelle? Why are you saying Mommy’s name…?”
Jizelle spoke the name that flashed in her mind.
Yes, her mom’s name was Yulita.
And she was the heroine of a dark romance novel titled It Can Grow or It Can Shrink, the book Chaerin once read.
In that story, Yulita ran away from the male lead, Mertz, after he committed treason, stole the throne, and brought home an illegitimate child.
At that time, she was pregnant with Jizelle.
“M… Mom, Mom…!”
Jizelle rolled on the floor in pain.
Yulita, coughing blood, hugged her tightly.
“Jizelle, it is okay. Mommy is here.”
But it was not okay.
The memories kept pouring into her.
Chaerin had been a successful celebrity. One day, a fan gave her a mysterious novel. She tried to search the title but could not find anything. She still read it because a fan gave it to her.
The content shocked her.
In the novel, Mertz, full of obsession and revenge, killed Jizelle.
He did not even know she was his daughter.
“What kind of crazy guy kills a child even if he did not know it was his own? This maniac.”
Chaerin cursed while reading, but the messy story was strangely addictive.
After losing her daughter, Yulita went insane.
Mertz dragged her back to the palace.
There, while suffering under him, she saw the illegitimate child who looked exactly like Mertz.
In the end, she killed herself.
“What kind of awful book is this…?”
Chaerin was speechless.
She even felt sorry for the trees used to print the novel.
“So stupid.”
Later, Chaerin died in an accident and was reborn as Jizelle.
So Chaerin was Jizelle’s past life, and the story of the novel was Jizelle’s future.
“Mom… We need to run away!”
“Jizelle, are you feeling better?”
Now understanding everything, Jizelle shouted urgently.
Her shining eye had already turned normal again.
Yulita looked confused.
“Run away? What are you talking about…?”
Jizelle closed her mouth.
In the book, Yulita still loved Mertz.
How could she tell her mom that her father would soon come and kill her?
Everyone would think she was crazy.
“Ah… um… I was playing hide-and-seek with Olivia next door.”
“Hide-and-seek? You were with Mommy the whole time.”
“No, um, we planned it in the morning.”
Jizelle walked into her room on shaking legs.
Her eye did not hurt now, but she was still scared.
In her room, she tried to sort out her thoughts.
“So I was born as Jizelle…?”
Her memories as Gwak Chaerin and Jizelle clashed in her mind.
“…I really reincarnated? Like in a novel? As the emperor’s daughter?”
She was supposed to die by his hand.
She covered her mouth to stop herself from screaming.
“So I die… by my dad…?”
She forced herself to think calmly.
Her mom had a deadly illness.
She herself was supposed to be killed.
What a mess.
“But he killed me only because he did not know I was his daughter. If he finds out, he will not kill me…”
In the book, Mertz never saw her silver eyes.
He assumed she was someone else’s child.
Honestly, it was ridiculous.
“He had an illegitimate kid himself but gets angry about this? Please.”
Having a father like that was scary…
but also a little exciting.
Jizelle never wanted an ordinary life.
Even as Chaerin, she chased attention and fame and became a celebrity.
“But now…”
She felt sad losing her glamorous life. And nothing here would be easy.
She threw herself on the bed and looked outside at the falling snow.
“When does Mertz come again…?”
She remembered.
He would arrive after the first snow ended, during the heavy blizzard.
“And then he sees Mom with the neighbor guy and cuts off my head.”
She shivered.
Not only because dying was scary, but because her mom would see it.
Still, Jizelle was always positive.
“We can fix the misunderstanding. I can impress him again. He will change when he sees my eyes. I look just like him.”
She wondered if Mom looked sad at her eye because it resembled her father’s.
A knock came at the door.
“Mom?”
“Yes, it is Mommy. Olivia came to see you.”
“Tell her to go home. I want to stay with you.”
Yulita entered, still confused.
“I thought you were playing with Olivia.”
“We played too much. I want to be with you now.”
Olivia shouted from outside, but Jizelle ignored her.
She wanted to stay with her mom.
She knew how hard Yulita’s life had been.
“Jizelle! Let’s play!”
“Sorry Olivia, I am not feeling well today!”
Her voice was too loud for a sick kid, but Olivia left.
Jizelle held her mom’s hand.
“Is it because of what Mommy said earlier…?”
“That too. But also, Mommy worked so hard to raise me. And your birthday is coming. Let’s make a cake.”
Yulita stroked her hair gently.
They looked very alike except for their eyes.
“I wish I had your eyes. Blue is prettier.”
“Hm? Why talk about eyes suddenly?”
“My eyes are not blue like yours. I took after my dad, right?”
“Jizelle, you do not have a father. You are Mommy’s daughter. Mommy raised you alone.”
Yulita froze and began making excuses.
Jizelle almost felt bad.
“Mom, I am not a baby. No kid is born without a dad.”
Yulita shook her head sadly.
“No. Mommy gave birth to you alone.”
“Hm… okay Mom.”
Jizelle hugged her tightly.
“Mom, since it is your birthday, you should dress nicely.”
“As long as you are healthy, I am happy.”
“I am healthy. So let’s dress up. And do not worry. You will live for a long time.”
Her designer instincts woke up.
She had a plan.
“I will dress like young Mommy on the day Mertz comes and meet him first.”
She clung to her mom.
“Please, Mommy?”
“…Alright.”
Yulita nodded.
Her skin was pale and sickly.
Jizelle made her drink soup.
Since her mom was the heroine, there should be a cure.
Mertz was the emperor. He would have a way.
She needed to send her mom back to him.
If only to save her own life.
“Happy birthday, Mom.”
Yulita smiled, and Jizelle felt her heart ache.
That night.
“Teo! Teo, open the door!”
Jizelle stood in front of Teo’s house, the source of the misunderstanding that led to her death in the book.
“Jizelle? What are you doing here at this hour?”
Even before her memories returned, she knew Teo liked her mom.
That was why he treated her well.
Chaerin’s memories came back.
“I like you, Lady Yulita.”
“If it is okay… I can be Jizelle’s father.”
“Alright.”
Yulita accepted his confession to forget Mertz.
Teo was a good man and Jizelle liked him too.
“Yes. Then I love you, Yulita.”
“I love you too.”
But the timing was terrible.
Mertz came back exactly then.
“I love you too.”
He heard it and lost control.
He forgot that Yulita had brown hair.
He saw only the matching hair color between Teo and Jizelle and misunderstood everything.
Teo tapped Jizelle’s forehead.
“Jizelle, what is wrong? Why call me so late?”
“Teo, you like my mom, right?”
Teo’s face flushed bright red.
“W… why would you say that?”
“You like her. Your face becomes stupid when you see her. You think I do not know?”
“…Does Lady Yulita know?”
Teo was too pure.
He believed everything she said.
“No. She does not know.”
“T… then can you tell me how she feels about me…?”
“Sorry, Teo.
Mom does not like you.
So you should give up.”
