Chapter 2
I suddenly dashed forward the way children often do.
Naturally, I ran toward the abandoned annex where Leonhardt would be.
“Milady! Where are you going?”
I could hear my nanny calling after me in alarm, but I ignored her.
‘Sorry, nanny.’
Startled, she tried to chase after me, abandoning proper decorum, but it was no use.
Thanks to all the times I had wandered around during my first life, I knew the hidden paths to the abandoned annex like the back of my hand.
I darted through the corridors like a rabbit scurrying through a burrow.
Huff… Huff…
At last, I arrived at Leonhardt’s room without being caught and met his gaze the moment I entered.
‘Huh? Why does he look happy to see me?’
This is our first time meeting, isn’t it?
Or… could it be?
A week had passed since I unexpectedly returned to my childhood.
Leonhardt had been practicing sword swings with a branch he had picked up in the garden, pretending it was a real blade, when he sensed footsteps approaching his room and stopped.
‘Could it be the maid bringing meals? She’s early today.’
No.
The steps were lighter and more cheerful than a maid’s.
Like a child running.
‘Who might it be?’
Leonhardt tossed the branch beneath the bed and clumsily climbed up to sit on it.
His legs were still short, so even getting onto the bed was difficult.
He sighed—a sigh far too mature for a child.
Then the door opened.
‘Miela?’
It was Miela, whom he hadn’t seen in a week.
His eyes widened in delight.
‘I thought I wouldn’t see her for at least two more years.’
His soft cheeks twitched, and the corners of his mouth lifted.
He couldn’t act familiar with her in case he startled her, but just seeing six-year-old Miela was enough to make him happy.
For Leonhardt, whose mind carried the memories of adulthood, the past week had been exhausting—so much so that it felt like receiving a gift.
But the longer their eyes remained locked, the stiffer Miela’s expression became.
As if she were utterly flustered.
‘Ah.’
Leonhardt lowered his gaze obediently.
Eight-year-old Miela had never been afraid of his eyes, but the girl before him was six.
Children tended to be more timid at six than at eight.
‘Will she get scared and leave?’
Even with an adult’s mind, now trapped in a four-year-old body, the thought of Miela fearing him and shouting in alarm made him feel terribly sad.
Just imagining it made his eyes sting.
Still, Leonhardt swallowed the rising tears, clinging to his pride as a man.
No—he tried to.
But the tears, oblivious to his resolve, welled up.
It was the limit of his young body.
‘Damn it.’
Cursing inwardly—words he rarely used—he blinked rapidly to keep the tears from falling.
That was when he heard the sound of hurried footsteps.
They grew closer and closer until a pair of Mary Jane shoes appeared in his line of sight.
“Hey!”
Miela grabbed a handful of Leonhardt’s hair and tugged gently.
As if telling him to look up.
“Ow…”
Leonhardt lifted his head, guided by Miela’s clearly irritated expression, and responded belatedly.
It hadn’t really hurt—he was just exaggerating.
He was feeling a little pitiful, after all.
Startled, Miela brushed his dull, silver hair—now dry and lacking its usual luster—with her small hands.
“Sorry.”
Seeing the guilt in her green eyes, Leonhardt smiled faintly, thinking that Miela had always been kind—even at six.
Then Miela scrutinized his face with a serious gaze, examining every corner of it.
Leonhardt blushed, imagining how shabby he must look.
He had tried his best, but without help he couldn’t properly bathe.
The abandoned annex had no one to care for him.
‘If I had known Miela would come, I would have cleaned up better.’
He worried that he might smell bad.
But those small regrets vanished the moment Miela spoke again.
“…Little bunny?”
It was the old nickname they used between just the two of them—a name he had come to despise and stopped using as an adult.
Leonhardt’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Miela’s gaze filled with certainty.
“What was the reason we fought?”
Miela asked like a final test.
“We didn’t fight…”
Hearing the question, Leonhardt murmured softly, feeling wronged.
He understood that for the imperial authority of the Empress—Miela—to remain firm, the Emperor—himself—had to respect her.
He regularly sent gifts and spent time with her.
Their wedding anniversary was one of the days he was supposed to give her a present and meet her despite his busy duties.
But on that very day, a high-ranking envoy from another country collapsed with a severe rash.
The delegation claimed the man had been poisoned.
In the end, it turned out to be an allergic reaction to a particular spice that existed in the empire but not in their homeland, but the crisis consumed the entire day—and he had forgotten it was their anniversary.
When he finally rushed to Miela, she was furious and told him she never wanted to see him.
He had loitered outside their bedroom door for a long time, but eventually returned to the office to handle the work he had abandoned.
He worked until just before dawn and fell asleep for a brief moment.
When he awoke, he found himself in this younger body.
As Leonhardt tried to explain himself belatedly, Miela’s expression sharpened.
“Is that important right now? Just answer the question.”
Startled, Leonhardt whispered in a small voice.
“I forgot our anniversary.”
And in that instant, Leonhardt realized it too.
“Miela… you did too?”
“Yeah, me too.”
As I had suspected.
A shared regression.
While I froze in surprise, the nanny’s voice came from outside.
“Milady! Where are you?”
Thinking the annex was empty, she called out loudly.
This is bad.
I shrugged.
“Anyway, Leon, I have to go. I’ll find a chance to come back soon, so hang in there.”
I couldn’t specify an exact date—if I did, I might end up grounded.
Though I was surprised by the situation, it was actually a relief that Leonhardt had also regressed.
The twenty-two-year-old Leonhardt I knew possessed a strong will.
I quickly told him what I needed to say and called out to the nanny in a childish voice.
“Nanny—! I’m here!”
Deliberately slurring my words, I heard the nanny’s hurried footsteps echo down the old corridor.
Soon the door burst open.
“Milady!”
Even though I walked to her on my own, the nanny acted as if she had barely found a lost child.
“Do you know how worried I was?”
Her voice trembled with emotion as she scolded me, but only briefly; then she pulled me into a tight hug.
“You aren’t hurt, are you?”
“No.”
I answered, feeling a twinge of guilt.
“I’m sorry, nanny.”
‘But I had to meet Leon.’
I had thought his mind and body were both four years old.
Though I had caused trouble knowing it would worry her, my apology was sincere.
Hanging my head in shame, the nanny gently patted my back.
“Next time you mustn’t run off on your own like that. Even if you were excited to explore the imperial palace, you made me so worried.”
I listened obediently and nodded.
That was when the nanny noticed Leonhardt.
“Why is a child here…?”
Surprised, she blurted the thought before catching herself.
She quickly closed her mouth and studied Leonhardt.
“I greet Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
Recognizing his identity from his distinctive red eyes, the nanny bowed respectfully and moved me behind her.
The clear sense of wariness made both me and Leonhardt flinch.
In the first timeline, the nanny had treated me kindly, so Leonhardt’s expression fell.
‘Why do you look so down? It makes me worry.’
To break the tense standoff, I tugged at the nanny’s skirt and peeked out.
“Nanny!”
