Irene wondered about how to protect her mother without end. From the day she was born the woman had been yearning to see her daughter all the time, and would gaze at her lovingly with the eyes of a true mother. In her previous life, Hanna could hardly remember her mother - other than how busy she always was. It made her want to save this woman even more.

It would be nice to experience a life with parents.

A while later, Irene was left to take a nap alone in her nursery. The silence was comforting, compared to the hustle of the maids and constant rush to complete their tasks. Nothing but the subdued, mellifluous chime of the music box could be heard. This relaxing ambience was one she never thought she would experience.

Irene could feel the exhaustion in her tiny newborn body, and decided to sleep. It was the only thing she felt like she could do these days, since babies had rather mundane lives without control of their limbs and too little energy.

Just as she closed her eyes, the faint sound of the door clicking open suddenly resounded from the room, capturing her attention. Who could that be? I'm sure all the maids will be leaving me alone for a while...

The sound of the door pressed gently shut, and a few light footsteps seemed to approach her little bed. However, due to the walls of her cot, Irene couldn't see the person that was coming nearer.

"Blahh!" She called out, in attempt to say "who's there?" But there was no response.

At least, until with a small clamour and rustle, a little boy suddenly peeped his head over the wall of the cot. A boy who's eyes were a gentle blue, like her mother's, and hair was silver - like her father's.

Could this be... Irene's eyes widened as the little boy examined her keenly. His large, round eyes watched her with curiosity, as she stared back in awe. That's Rayvis!

Rayvis Arvel Cherliann. Irene's elder brother by four years. He was a character in the story who greatly resembled his father in silent and imposing demeanour. But right now, he was a tiny child no older than five.

He's so cute! Irene couldn't help but smile, which elicited a slight look of surprise from the young boy. She could tell that he was curious about his new little sister, who he was only meeting for the first time today.

Irene giggled and babbled in attempt to talk to him, but of course, he didn't understand a thing. The young boy smiled back, reaching an arm out toward her. And Irene soon wrapped her entire hand around his little finger, as he tried to poke her cheek.

"You're so tiny," he whispered to her. "Are you really my sister?"

"Bah!" Irene exclaimed, which caused him to giggle softly.

"You're so wrinkly, like an alien." He laughed.

Did he just call me an alien??

This kid!!

Irene attempted to bite the boy's finger with her gums to reprimand him, but he only laughed further. "I'm not food, you know," he smiled. "You can't eat your big brother."

Seeing such a cute child laughing like this made Irene's day. She remembered writing somewhere that Rayvis used to be a shy and timid child, but around his mother, he was always open and able to smile freely. It was only after her death, he had lost that part of himself, turning into a man who lacked feelings.

Meanwhile, Irene never remembered her mother. She was far too young to understand what had happened, but grew up without the love of her brother or father. Perhaps it was understandable why she ended up the way she did - a woman who became obsessed and hungry for the love of prince Daniel. Even though she had written the story herself, Irene could only guess that if her mother had lived, she might have had a better relationship with her brother as well.

"Alright, I'm going to go now before I get caught," Rayvis whispered to her. "Don't grow up too fast, Alien!"

He soon pulled his little hand away, and Irene smiled to herself as she listened to the sound of him leaving. Her brother wasn't someone who was that much of a villain compared to the other characters, but he did dislike Mikael in the story. Daniel was the one he chose to serve, after all.

She could only hope that, her brother wouldn't grow up to become a cold-hearted knight like Rudien this time around. As long as she could save her mother from falling into despair, it would guarantee the healthy upbringing of both Irene and Rayvis.

Now that I think about it, why did Sarah kill herself in the story? I can't seem to remember... Irene sighed to herself, closing her eyes. No... Now that I think about it, I never actually decided on that.

As she continued to contemplate everything, a few more unanswered questions began to flow through her mind. If it was an area of the story she hadn't written about in much detail, what would fill in the blank? As the author of this world, did she have any power here?

Would she simply have to live as a regular human in a world of her own imagination?

In a way, this wasn't a bad lifestyle. She was the daughter of a duke. So long as she didn't get herself into any trouble, Irene was sure she could live peacefully here. All that she needed to focus on now, was growing up and learning as quickly as she could about the world. That, and finding the root of Sarah, her mother's problems.

It was almost sardonic, how things turned out like this. Hanna couldn't help but wonder how she ended up in this bizarre situation. While she was writing her story, she thought little of the antagonist's pains. They were all simply explanations for the behaviour her characters showed.

But now, they were real events waiting to happen to the characters she previously brought pain to. Whether it was for her own survival, or out of guilt for putting the characters through pain in the first place, Irene knew she had to stray from her original plot.

I can't let the Cherlianns be antagonists. And I can't allow for Mikael to turn evil either.

And in order to ensure that, Irene would have to prevent any misfortunes from happening to her mother before she turned three. For now, this was her first mission. And that sure does sound impossible... After all, there wasn't much she could do in this tiny, difficult vessel. She couldn't even hold in her bowel movements.

But! I still have hope! Irene remembered that in a lot of the stories she read as Hanna, a lot of the reincarnated protagonists could develop very quickly as babies because they had their previous memories intact. As long as she could get a hold of her body over time and kept practising, Irene was sure she would be able to grow fast.

I'll just make sure I don't get labelled a genius at a young age... I have to act like an ordinary kid or I might get unwanted attention.

And so, over the course of the next few weeks, Irene continuously tried to practise her talking and movement, although it was still difficult even after she had finally turned 3 months old. But she could tell that progressively, there were tiny improvements in her attempts.

In all of that time, she hadn't seen her father even once. He was a man who must have been swarmed with work right now - after all, Laydel was in a mess after the emperor's death prior to her birth.

Meanwhile, Irene had occasionally met with her older brother - Rayvis, whenever she was under the care of her mother. He had taken a liking to his younger sister, even nicknaming her "rene" after her face became less of a newborn alien.

Soon enough, four months had passed by. Irene had grown accustomed to her daily life as a baby, spending most of her time with her maids, mother and cute brother. And as Sarah gradually recovered her strength after giving birth, she was able to host a tea party in order to introduce Irene, the second child of House Cherliann.

"She's so precious! Such an adorable child!" One of the noblewomen cooed, as she gazed at the baby in Sarah's arms. There were quite a few important-looking people here, so Irene decided it would be a good idea to show them a side they would adore. She laughed and babbled in attempt to talk to them, and instantly all of the women had fallen for her.

Meanwhile, Rayvis had climbed onto a chair seated beside his mother's after returning from his sword practise lessons. Irene found it odd that he was only four and started taking such classes, but then again he was the son of the most powerful soldier in the empire. Rudien Cherliann wasn't nicknamed "the silver angel of death" for nothing.

"Rene! Look here," Rayvis giggled, his soft silver bangs falling to the side as he tilted his head and produced a small handheld mirror. "Aren't you super tiny?" He giggled jokingly.

Irene blinked at her reflection, noticing that he had placed a flower behind her ear. It was rather big for her little head, but that wasn't what the most noticeable thing was.

Irene was amazed by how adorable she was. The baby in the mirror was so cute she wanted to smother herself with kisses. Soft little tufts of silvery-white hair, a mix of her mother's and fathers. Pale white skin, with chubby little smooth cheeks flushed slightly in red. A tiny button nose and small red lips. Long lashes, and big, golden eyes that reminded her of honey.

Wait... Golden eyes...?

Irene blinked - suddenly startled.

My eyes are gold?!

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