The Author's Will

02 | Newborn

　　 A stream of sunlight filtered into the room and right into her face, bringing Hanna - or rather, Irene, to wake up with a start. It had been a few days now since she was born, and there had been unfamiliar maids all over her the whole time.

Of her family, she had only seen her mother during that time, taking naps in her arms or being breastfed, which took a while of getting used to. This situation was far too confusing, but after all the time she spent here, living as a newborn baby, she knew this wasn't a dream.

Hanna had somehow, as though by miracle, been reborn into the world of the story she was writing during her dying breath. But instead of the main character, who she created to mirror her real self, Hanna had become the daughter of a war-crazed duke, as well as a character who was notorious for her obsession over the crown Prince.

Oh no... This is really bad... she thought to herself. Am I going to end up dying like Irene did in my story?!

In Hanna's story, Irene was someone who tried to manipulate one of the princes, Mikael, in order to have Isabella and Daniel split up. She used Mikael's jealousy toward his brother, as well as his love for Isabella to her advantage — and deceived him in attempt to assassinate the female lead. To put it simply, she was a calculative green tea b*tch.

However, Mikael and Daniel both came to realise her schemes, and killed Irene brutally during her attempt to kill Isabella, before any harm could come to the female lead. This was the only time in the novel the two men actually worked together to put an end to someone. Although, in the end, it was Daniel who Isabella loved, leaving Mikael in despair and fury.

Mikael later resorted to taking his own life, after failing to murder Daniel with his own hands. But in the end, there was no one who mourned the second Prince - hated by the empire he was born into since his first breath. Only Isabella would feel remorse toward this loss.

Irene was just made for the plot to get interesting... I never imagined I'd end up becoming her!

What do I do?! Will I end up dying at the hands of those princes later? It's not just the male lead, but even the main villain will be after my neck!

She wailed, her tiny arms flailing about in protest. No! I was just reborn I don't want to die again!

Just then, she realised something, and gazed out toward the window nearby. Outside, the winter sky was blanketed by clouds, as tiny snowflakes descended slowly like dancing sequins to the ground.

I'm a baby right now... The events of the story haven't happened. She thought. If I live my life well, instead of living the way Irene did in my story... I'll be fine, right?

Not to mention, I'm the author of this story. I know everything that happens, all the hidden secrets that will come to reveal themselves later.

I have an advantage in this world.

Hanna sighed. Regardless of her fate, there was a long time to go until the main story would actually begin. After all, she was nothing but a newborn right now. She realised that instead of thinking and worrying too much, she should wait out the days and try to grow quickly. After deciding on this, Hanna tried to recall every little detail of the story she had written.

The empire she was born into was called Laydel - a vast and prosperous country, currently operating without a monarch. This was because the Emperor and his queens had passed away, around this point of the novel. The late Emperor — Theodore Jeramius Laydel — had two queens, one - whom he wedded with love, and the other, he wedded for power.

The emperor's lover, Giselle, was a promiscuous woman who started off as his concubine - originally a lowly prostitute rejected by the aristocracy. She was young and beautiful, like a vixen who had manipulated the king into marrying her. With cascading golden hair and green eyes like emeralds, no man could turn away from the beauty of this woman.