I Tried To Be Her Loyal Sword

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Chapter 1

If the lives of ordinary people are like a so-so course menu, mine felt like a bowl of misfortune mixed with all sorts of dark things.

Born in a brothel, I didn’t know my father’s name or face. Living in a poor household, barely scraping by, I saw my younger sister when I was three.

I was born carrying all the world’s misfortunes and gloom, while my younger sister seemed like a lovely creation, as if all the sweetness of the world had been crafted into her.

I didn’t want her to live like a back-alley rat, like me. I wanted to give her a proper life.

But the God remained indifferent to humans under the shadow of darkness.

On the year I turned seven, my mother passed away, leaving only our old, cramped mansion behind, and I had to work desperately to feed Aria.

Even just making ends meet became a burden day by day.

To make matters worse, one day when I turned eight, Aria suddenly fell ill.

The cause and cure were unknown. Her condition worsened with time. Yet, I couldn’t let her go.

She was the only splash of color in my colorless life, something precious I couldn’t let go of.

I couldn’t send her away. Absolutely not.

The medicine that could temporarily alleviate Aria’s condition was incredibly rare. To afford it, I took on any job I could, and by the time I turned ten, I first picked up a sword.

From then on, my life was filled with the stench of blood.

Diving headfirst into the danger of monsters, I quickly improved my swordsmanship and soon saw the tip of my sword. I became known as the “Black Plague” in the Empire.

Then, on my eighteenth birthday.

After completing a job and returning home covered in blood, I tripped and hit my head on the ground, and in that moment of pain spreading through my head—

Yeah. I remembered my past life.

Crazy.

As I slowly opened my eyes with a pounding headache.

‘Where is this?’

It was a familiar white ceiling. After collapsing several times from exhaustion due to my mercenary work, it was now a one-person hospital room I had grown accustomed to.

•Looks like someone moved me to the hospital.’

Feeling grateful to whoever that was, I struggled to prop myself up, but a chill ran down my neck.

“Sister…”

A thin, sweet voice came from a girl, filled with moisture and a tone so melancholic it made my hair stand on end. Startled, I turned my head.

Like falling cherry blossoms, her pink hair cascaded in thick waves. Beneath the lush eyelashes casting deep shadows lay sorrowful sky-blue eyes. The girl seemed lovely, crafted from all the beauty in the world.

“Aria…?”

It was my precious younger sister, Aria.

I jumped up and examined her condition. Her skin was overly pale, her expression looked bad, but she didn’t seem to be in pain.

•Why is a sick girl out here…

I worried she might catch a cold being outside on such a cold winter day.

“Why are you out? Rest at home.”

I wrapped the blanket around Aria tightly and looked at her with concern. Aria glared at me, biting her coral-colored lips.

Her trembling fists and her distressed face radiated coldness.

“Are you worried about me now? You were the one covered in blood, passed out on the street, and you’re worried about me?”

Her thin voice was filled with boiling emotions. Afraid to meet her glaring gaze, I sheepishly lowered my eyes.

“You are sick…”

Kicking the floor with her feet, Aria shot up her gaze. The blanket I wrapped around her was torn off.

“Do you think I won’t worry about you? You think you’re the only one who worries? I worry about you too! You don’t even tell me what you’re doing! You come back always injured! It’s clear you’re overexerting yourself! Even when I tell you to take a break, you don’t listen! Please, take care of yourself! I said you don’t have to fix my illness!”

I had never told Aria that my main job was hunting monsters. It was obvious she would tell me to stop immediately, and I hoped she wouldn’t worry about me, especially since she was already sick.

Busy making money, I hadn’t taken a break in days. I suppose that caused her a lot of worry.

‘But I’m doing all this for you…’

Frowning, I glanced at Aria’s tear-filled eyes. She took a deep breath, suppressing her emotions, then finally let large teardrops fall.

“I don’t want you to suffer because of me…”

Oh dear.

Biting my lip cautiously, I pulled Aria into a gentle embrace. Watching her cry in my arms tore my heart apart.

■My lovely Aria. My sister.

Sighing softly, I gently patted Aria’s silky hair. The thin pink strands intertwined delicately between my fingers.

It seemed like we had a significant height difference when we were young, yet Aria had grown tall enough for our eye levels to be similar, but she still cried like a child.

•No matter how big she gets, she’s still a kid.

To me, she would forever be my child.

I affectionately patted Aria’s back.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve been careful not to worry you. But really, I’m fine.”

“Again! You always say you’re fine…!”

Aria sobbed, hitting my chest.

I’m sorry, but it didn’t hurt at all. I tried my best to pretend to be in pain to spare Aria from embarrassment while avoiding eye contact.

Despite Aria crying her heart out, the truth was my body was in normal condition, aside from being tired.

The blood on my clothes wasn’t my own but that of a monster. The injuries I had were only scratches.

After all, a Sword Master’s body wouldn’t be harmed easily, nor would it allow for scratches—enemy heads would fly off before that happened.

I did have a bit of a headache, but it wasn’t serious.

The most pressing issue was different.

My head was tangled like a yarn ball that a cat had played with. Cold sweat dripped down my back. My mouth felt dry, and I swallowed hard.

All my problems began when I slipped and bumped my head on the ground.

Believe it or not, at the moment my head hit the ground, I recalled my past life.

In my past life, my name was Lee Yoon. I lived on a planet called Earth in a country named South Korea, studying military science as a lonely orphan.

My previous circumstances weren’t good, just like they aren’t now, and I lived fiercely.

It intrigued me how similar I was to my former self in temperament, even in a different world and environment, and it was bittersweet that I didn’t seem happy.

In my past life, I died of a heart attack in my mid-thirties. After struggling as an orphan, I had earned a doctorate in military science and was about to become a professor at a prestigious university, only to face an unjust death.

It’s unfortunate, but the past is the past, so if it were only memories of my previous life, this would have just been an unusual experience.

However, I couldn’t dismiss this situation lightly.

‘Fairy Night.’

Tickling and romantic vibes flowed from this phrase, the title of a romance fantasy novel that I had read in my past life.

Though born in the underbelly of society, I, the lovely Countess Young Lady Aria de Freya, descended from the lineage of the Fairy King.

She was born in the dirty back alleys despite having noble blood and grew up upright despite her harsh circumstances.

However, she had a disease she suffered from since childhood.

An unknown rare illness with no cure or cause, it was life-threatening and worsened as she grew.

After suffering for a long time, on her fifteenth birthday, Aria collapsed in the street.

Just then, Count Freya happened to pass by and saw the fallen Aria. The Count took her to the Count’s Mansion.

With the many tonics she consumed at the Count’s estate, she barely managed to survive, and at the Count and Countess’s urging, she temporarily stayed at the Count’s mansion.

During that time, with her warm heart, she captured the affections of the Count and Countess, and because they had no children of their own, she became “Aria Freya.”

Then, as she entered the social circle, she had various happenings, which included flirtations with handsome male leads, and she would save the world when she found the time—a typical story.

That was “Fairy Night.”

A beautiful female protagonist of fairy blood charming attractive men in a classic romance tale.

While the clichéd story made it a bit tiresome, it gained bestseller status due to its engaging writing style and smooth narratives, and I had quite enjoyed reading “Fairy Night” in my past life.

The problem begins here.

The female protagonist of “Fairy Night” is named Aria.

‘Moreover, she shares the same past circumstances as my younger sister Aria.’

My younger sister, who I had cherished for fifteen years, was the female protagonist of this romance fantasy novel! This world was inside the novel!

‘Furthermore, “Fairy Night” was…’

While essentially a heroine story, the in-story Aria had to go through numerous trials to awaken from her flowery mindset.

‘Why does Aria have to undergo trials? Just because her head is a bit flowery, why awaken!’

The idea of putting someone else’s precious younger sister through trials to awaken her was nothing short of ludicrous.

Also, I had a role in the novel, but thinking about the “Kashmir Crisis” in the story made me only sigh.

In the story, Kashmir was one of the several trials Aria had to endure, as a villainess and a half-sister of one of the male leads.

Born from a brothel worker and the Duke of Caesar Crisis, Kashmir lived with Aria in the back alleys and discover her birth secret by chance.

Whether one is brave for being ignorant or foolish, she boldly sought out the Duke of Crisis, demanding to be acknowledged as his daughter.

She was accepted into the Duke’s family under his mercy but faced ridicule in society for being a bastard child and slowly went astray.

Kashmir encountered Aria, who became a Countess after a long absence, while being ignored in the social circle. Unlike her, who was isolated, Aria received the love of society and the male leads.

Consumed by jealousy and inferiority toward Aria, Kashmir awakens as the villainess.

A typical jealousy-driven villainess from a romance fantasy, to say the least.

I stared at Aria, feeling a mix of emotions.

Could I ever bring myself to torment my lovely sister? Whether the source is the original work or otherwise, as long as I’m sane, I would never subject Aria to any suffering.

The only thing making me anxious was that my involvement, different from the original Kashmir’s, would mess up the plot.

Kashmir had to leave Aria to seek out the Duke when she turned ten. This meant I had to be away from Aria.

Before ten, Kashmir lived with Aria and had no interest in her, so I hadn’t made any efforts to heal Aria’s illness.

Kashmir wasn’t all that critical a character, so it may not be a colossal issue that entirely alters the storyline. However, the thought of possibly causing a butterfly effect was indeed unsettling.

I slowly brushed Aria’s flowing cherry blossom-colored hair. My heart raced.

I wished for Aria to be happy. I hoped she could simply find happiness without even undergoing the minor trials in the story.

“Aria.”

I gently lifted Aria’s chin while she cried, her appearance a pitiful mess.

Her face was smudged with tears, her eyes puffy and red.

I lightly pressed my lips against her round forehead.

“I’ll make you happy.”

This was a promise I had constantly made ever since Aria fell ill. Although it was a promise I hadn’t kept until now, it felt like I could truly uphold it now.

Whether it’s the original story or what not, it didn’t matter. I would make Aria happy.

“For you, I could do anything.”

As I whispered softly in Aria’s ear, she released a breath full of moisture.

“I just want you to be safe. Living with a healthy sister is my happiness.”

With a smile, I playfully tousled Aria’s hair.

My lovely younger sister not only had a beautiful face but also a lovely heart.