* * *
[■■, did you hear me?]
[Huh? Ah…… Sorry, Hyung. I was lost in thought for a moment. But it’s okay, you don’t have to repeat it.]
“……Se…… …wake up.”
[Really?]
Hyung beamed, happy. Since he smiled, I smiled too.
[Yeah. Because even if I wake up, you won’t be there.]
What did I just say?
The words had come from my own mouth, but I didn’t quite understand their meaning.
No—more than that, I didn’t want to think about it.
Because if I did…
“Wake up, Sean Kreveta!!”
Thud.
A voice like thunder jolted me awake.
∗ ∗ ∗
The first thing that filled my vision was a pair of vividly red eyes.
Slowly, the face of the person in front of me came into focus.
“Hyung……?”
“Sei, you’re awake?”
The deep voice, both familiar and unfamiliar, brought my scattered thoughts back into place.
‘Ah……’
Memories I had forgotten came rushing back, and I finally understood the situation.
I had dozed off right before my birthday party started.
And in that brief moment, I had a dream—Hyung celebrating my birthday.
The Hyung in my dream… and the me in my dream… neither of us were quite normal.
I could dismiss Hyung’s behavior as just part of a nightmare, but me…
‘Tch.’
I clicked my tongue without realizing it.
‘I must be really exhausted. To get caught up in a dream like that.’
Shaking my head slightly, I turned to Raizen and smiled.
“Hyung, did you come to wake me up?”
“……Yeah. Mila said you wouldn’t wake up.”
I must have been sleeping pretty deeply.
I wasn’t sure why Raizen had come instead of the duke and duchess, but I supposed I should be grateful for that.
Meeting Mila’s anxious gaze behind him, I gave her a reassuring smile.
“I see…… I’m fine! I must’ve just been in a deep sleep.”
“…….”
Raizen studied me as if trying to figure something out.
‘What’s with him?’
I stared back, waiting to see if he had something to say, but he simply got up without another word.
His reaction left a strange, lingering unease, but questioning him further felt unnecessary.
‘I didn’t say anything weird, did I?’
Come to think of it, did I call Raizen ‘Hyung’ just now?
Or ‘Hyung-ah’?
I couldn’t quite remember.
‘I should be more careful.’
Once or twice could be brushed off, but if it happened repeatedly, it might start to feel off.
I’d already gotten somewhat used to calling him ‘Hyung-ah’ anyway…
‘And honestly, I don’t think he dislikes it.’
Originally, I had planned to stop once I turned thirteen, but…
‘You don’t miss a presence until it’s gone.’
If he suddenly stopped hearing the nickname he’d grown used to, he might notice.
He might wonder why. And that curiosity could turn into an interest in me.
‘I just didn’t expect my birthday to come this quickly.’
Anyway, for now, the plan would continue a little longer.
“Mila, I’m not late, right?”
As I climbed out of bed, I asked Mila.
“You’re not. If we leave now, we’ll arrive right on time.”
But it wasn’t Mila who answered—it was Raizen.
He tucked his pocket watch away and turned toward me.
Then, he held out his hand.
“……?”
Raizen… was offering me his hand? Like, to walk together?
I blinked several times, but the sight before me didn’t change.
“What are you doing?”
‘……Is it because we didn’t hold hands earlier?’
That’s when I finally understood why Raizen had come to wake me up.
I hadn’t shown up at his room when I was supposed to.
Realizing the reason settled my unease.
“Oh, right. Let’s go, Hyung-ah!”
His hand was painfully cold.
Unlike Hyung’s warmth in my dream.
∗ ∗ ∗
Back to the dining room.
“Sei, come in. Happy birthday!”
“Come on in.”
Déjà vu?
Just like this morning, the butler opened the dining room doors, and the duke and duchess greeted me.
The only difference was that this time, Raizen was with me.
‘Is it because they said ‘Happy birthday’ again?’
“Thank you!”
I smiled brightly and took my seat, casually scanning the table.
This morning, the menu had been mostly brunch-style.
Now, it was filled with dishes perfect for a party.
‘But… there’s no cake?’
Well, not that I had expected one.
I wasn’t disappointed or anything.
Just… a little surprised.
“Well then, shall we officially start Sei’s birthday party?”
The duchess, practically glowing, clapped her hands twice.
The doors connected to the kitchen swung open.
A large serving cart rolled in.
And on top of it—
A three-tiered cake.
‘You’ve got to be kidding me…!’
It was definitely a three-tiered cake.
Right in the center was a white rabbit, surrounded by two slightly larger black rabbits and one smaller black rabbit.
The rest of the decorations were made of icing in the shape of carrots and snowflakes.
My face suddenly burned.
Not knowing what kind of expression to make, I covered my face with both hands.
“Isn’t it adorable? We all put our heads together to come up with the design.”
“Yes, we tried to make it as much like you as possible.”
The duke and duchess looked genuinely pleased as they said that.
Anyone watching would think I was their own child.
Well, technically, I was—at least on paper.
But everyone here knew the truth.
‘No matter how close they were to my parents, who goes this far for someone else’s child’s birthday?’
I never even considered getting a three-tiered cake like Raizen’s.
Could they have mistaken the way I looked at his birthday cake as envy?
Without meaning to, I glanced at Raizen.
And as if he had already been watching me, our eyes met immediately.
He grinned, looking oddly smug.
“The rabbit decorations were my idea.”
‘Is that something to brag about?’
“O-oh, I see…”
Even the rabbit character he sent me at midnight… Raizen must really associate me with rabbits.
‘Does that even make sense?’
Right now, Sean’s face was my face.
Which meant that when he said that, he wasn’t referring to Sean—he was saying that I, myself, looked like a rabbit.
‘I’ve never heard that before.’
I’d received plenty of compliments about my appearance… but they never made me particularly happy.
Even with this face, my parents never loved me, and my only family—my brother—disappeared without a word.
‘Not that I lived quietly either…’
Every relationship I had was surface-level.
There was never any reason to share deep emotions.
So, no one had ever told me I resembled an animal, or asked what kind of nickname I’d like.
‘But… a rabbit? Really?’
“…Do I really… look like a rabbit?”
The moment I spoke, I regretted it.
I quickly covered my mouth with one hand and lowered my head slightly.
For some reason, I was afraid to check the duke, duchess, or Raizen’s expressions.
The decorations were probably decided by the head chef anyway, and they might have just gone along with it.
‘But here I am, getting all excited for nothing…!’
“Of course! You look just like a soft, fluffy baby rabbit!”
“Honestly… I still can’t believe that man could have a child as cute as you—”
I saw it.
The duchess jabbing the duke in the side. His face twisted in pain, but I pretended not to notice.
‘I am kind of curious what the late Marquis Kreveta looked like.’
For the duke to say something like that, was he a massive, burly man?
No way… it couldn’t be the same face as my parents from my original world.
That would be the worst.
“Of course… our Sei doesn’t just look like a rabbit. He looks like a hamster, a cat, and every other cute thing in the world!”
The duchess was showering me with compliments that didn’t even feel real, but then her gaze shifted to Raizen.
“But Raizen insisted that Sei had to be a rabbit, right?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Both of them looked oddly proud of this whole situation.
Was I imagining things?
‘They really are mother and son, aren’t they?’
It was completely different from when we visited the imperial palace last time.
Back then, the crown prince had struck a nerve, and it had caused friction between Raizen and the duke and duchess.
Still, this was unexpected.
I thought Raizen would find things like this childish and refuse to participate.
‘I seriously don’t understand what he’s thinking these days.’
One moment, he’s subtly dropping hints about Arthur Sothes’ field of study, making me doubt the duke and duchess’ goodwill.
And the next, he’s going on about how I look like a rabbit.
‘Is he trying to isolate me?’
Maybe he wants me to rely on him and only him.
That would make sense—after all, I’m a valuable tool to Raizen.
If Sean really were just a thirteen-year-old kid, it might have worked.
Unfortunately for him, I was the one inside this body, and things wouldn’t go as he planned.
I glanced at Raizen.
Aside from his complexion improving day by day, nothing about him seemed different.
Those calm red eyes, that face with its ever-present chill, and his body temperature—shockingly cold, just like before.
‘He looks exactly like my brother… but he’s definitely different.’
The memory of my brother from my dream resurfaced, and my heart ached again.
“Alright, shall we cut the cake?”
The duchess’ voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
As everyone stood up, I followed suit.
But for some reason, I found it difficult to take a step forward.
‘Do I… really deserve this?’
“Sei.”
Before I realized it, Raizen was beside me, holding out his hand.
* * *
