That night, I heard the ruffling leaves touched by the cold breeze—gently tapping against the window—shushing me. No, this can't be right. This can't be. Breathe, Kang Hae-In, get it together.
Chapter 1
I am, or was, a graduating senior high school student. You could say that I was a woman of many talents, a jack-of-all-trades but a master of none. I could draw and paint and manage to amaze a few individuals, yet I understood there were always those who would be more skilled. Singing, dancing, playing instruments—I adorned each skill with my touch, though I never claimed flawlessness in any. No one can truly achieve perfection.
I never quite had any friends, or perhaps I did, but never truly considered them as one. I was always the extra friend in a group, the one that gets called on when one of the favored ones are away. To my family, I was the shadow of my older sister, who excelled in many things.
The only thing I found pleasure in, was reading these reincarnation novels. As silly as it may sound, I have always had this childish desire to just randomly be reincarnated and have a great life, even if I ought to be a villainess on death row. Because, let's face it, these reincarnated women tend to get a better storyline than the original female lead despite their rolw whether a side character or a villainous wrench.
Out of all the novels I've read, the one that touched my heart the most was entitled La Belle Fleur. Like most of the stories I've read, this was also a reincarnation plot. Kang Hae-In—a 34 year old retired, crippled army veteran—loses her life from a midnight break-in in her home, and wakes up as surprisingly the female lead of a tragic novel she picked up from the ground zero of war.
As you may have guessed, the novel was tragic enough for the female lead herself that it didn't need the element of Kang Hae-In being sentenced as the villainess.
The only reason I favored this novel wasn't because of the male lead or the plot for the quest to survival—what piqued my interest was how the novel not only showed Hae-In's point of view, but also the female lead's—who ended up in Hae-In's body in the real world.
Kang Hae-In ended up reincarnating in Rubelica von Därtsch's body, and vice versa, and the two of them even gain the ability to communicate with each other between their new worlds.
Rubelica was a knight rather than a damsel, and the male lead was no cold Duke of the North nor a Prince— he was a man placed in the lower ranks of their troop and an enemy informant who despised her, loved her, and died for her—Kiridian Eüclyffe.
Unfortunately for them, they started where their lives last left off, and that meant that when Kang Hae-In awoke as Rubelica, Kiridian was no longer even there to meet her, and thus with progress, she ends the war and is blessed with the happy ending. Rubelica on the other hand, manages to solve Hae-In's murder—which was some sick government wipeout in an attempt to clean traces of evidence against their moral injustices—and achieves justice.
I remember reading the last chapter for the nth time on New Years eve, but the next thing that happened almost made me think my neighbor's fireworks blew me and my house down.
Why?
Because that night, I heard the ruffling leaves touched by the cold breeze—gently tapping against the window—shushing me. No, this can't be right. This can't be. Breathe, Kang Hae-In, get it together.
I gasp, a hand on my cheek as my eyes widen, Kang Hae-In? I wonder. That's not me. That's not my name. This isn't right. That woman, the reflection I see through the mirror... I'm tongue-tied.
My name isn't Kang Hae-In...
... Who am I?