The Inauspicious Route to my Happy Ending

'I know it sounds weird that I'm writing that, but I truly am doing well.' And Adrien was, minus the abusive Count that was now his father. 'I found myself in a situation straight out of a book. Seo-ah would love it. I have a new name and new body, and honestly, it's strange though not as strange as I thought it would be. Not that I ever expected for a situation like this to occur.'

Adrien felt strange that he was writing all of this down, but he felt like he had to. He missed his siblings, the only family that he had ever known, and writing down his thoughts and experiences helped make him feel closer to them.

'Seo-yeon would hate it here. Seo-ah would love it, though she would probably miss her cellphone. Ah. . .now that I think about it, this is the first time I'm even thinking about cellphones or the internet. I guess at least having running water and magic will make up for it. . .probably.'

The tip of the ink pen glided across the pages as the words seemed to appear as if by magic. He wrote about everything, shortening it so that it wouldn't take up too much space. He did leave out the part about the Count beating the original owner of the body he currently occupied and the hostility of his new siblings. Well, Brayden seemed to be the only one hostile toward him while Cedric seemed more indifferent.

He even wrote down some of the random thoughts that he had. In all honesty, writing in the diary seemed to be very therapeutic.

Adrien had just finished describing everything, not forgetting to write everything in Korean so that no one in this world could read it, when Nadeline knocked on the door. "Young Master, it's Nadeline."

"Come in, Nadeline." He closed the diary and placed it in the drawer of the writing desk.

Nadeline came in and shut the door behind her. Perched in one arm was a basket with scissors, a comb, hair clips, and a towel.

Adrien stayed sitting in his seat, trying to come across as more noble-like rather than acting on his instincts to help her. "Thank you for doing this." He spoke as a way to distract himself. Being raised by two sisters, it was hard for him not to help someone when he saw that they were struggling, but he remembered that he was a noble in this life. And acting like a noble was the only way to survive in this world, especially in this household.

Nadeline placed the basket down on the writing desk. "There is no need to thank me, Young Master. I am only doing my job." She pulled out the comb and began running it through his hair, careful to avoid his stitches, which could hopefully be removed in a day's time. After she was satisfied, she used the clips to put a portion of his hair up. "How short shall I take it, Young Master?"

"How about up to my ears. I don't want it too short like Brayden's but I wouldn't mind having it look neater." His hair wasn't that bad to began with, but Adrien wanted a fresh start with his new life, and the hair was the easiest to start with. And it was a shame that his pretty eyes were partially hidden by the longer bangs.

With a nod, Nadeline began working, not forgetting to place the towel around his shoulders to catch the falling hair. The snipping sound of scissors soon filled the air. Adrien found himself growing sleepy under Nadeline's gentle ministrations.

"All done."

Adrien stood up, careful not to knock the loose hair all over the floor. He didn't want to make Nadeline's job harder by scattering the hair all over the place. After wrapping up the hair-covered towel, he made his way to the bathroom where the full-length mirror was. Suppressing a whistle, he admired his new look. The shorter hair showed off Adrien's heart-shaped face and large, cat-like eyes perfectly. He was a little disappointed to see that the blue tips in his hair seemed to have moved up, keeping their place in his pale-blonde hair, instead of disappearing like he thought they would.

The blue in my hair is a physical representation of the elemental ability that I possess, so I suppose it was silly of me to think that it would disappear just by cutting it off.

"Thank you, Nadeline. It looks good."

Nadeline's smile brightened her whole face while making her chubby cheeks even more pronounced. "I'm glad you like it, Young Master. This new hairstyle suits you just as well as the long hair."

Is she implying that I still look like a girl? I'm not going to complain since I look like the male version of the Countess, but this body really did not receive any of the Count's DNA. But can I even really complain about that? The Count is as much of an asshole as he is handsome, so it's nice to not resemble like the twins do.

While Nadeline cleaned up, Adrien sat down on the bed and began reading the history book that he was unable to finish before dinner. After a while, he stood up and decided to go for that walk that he couldn't go on before.

The sun was low and the world was bathed in an orange glow. Adrien stepped outside and took a deep breath of fresh air. The air in this world was much cleaner than in his previous world, if you don't include the smell of manure that seems to permeate from everywhere.

He found a bench to sit on, admiring the setting sun.

"You cut your hair," came a quiet, rumbling voice.

Adrien turned around, startled because he hadn't heard anyone approaching. Standing not too far away was Cedric, and he was surprisingly alone.

"Yeah. I thought I could use a change," Adrien answered honestly, unsure of how this conversation was going to play out. It was always hard to tell when it came to Cedric.

Cedric's ocean-blue eyes stared at him for a second longer before turning away, a scowl marring his handsome face. "Stop being so stubborn and listen to father this time," Cedric muttered before walking off.

Adrien stared at his eldest brother's departing back, unsure of what had just transpired. Did he just give me a warning, or was that some form of advice?

Shaking his head, Adrien stood up and made his way back inside the manor.

* * * *

Seo-yeon stood in front of the glass case with her daughter tucked tightly in her arms. Standing beside her were Ha-joon, Seo-ah, and a few of Seo-jun's friends from school.

It was her baby brother's funeral today. His ashes had been placed in a beautifully painted urn that had been placed behind a glass wall. Inside the small cubby-hole that had been reserved for Seo-jun, were a few pictures of him and a couple of sketches that he had been the most proud of.

Seo-ah dabbed her eyes with the back of her hand, tears pricking at them even after she had dried them.

Ha-joon was staring at the various pictures with a forlorn expression. He had been with Seo-yeon for eight years before they had decided to get married three years ago. He had practically helped raise Seo-jun and felt a great blow to his soul at the loss of his young brother-in-law.

Seo-yeon hugged her daughter closer to her, the child too young to understand what was happening.

Her heart ached. Seo-jun had been the precious baby brother that she had meticulously raised. He had felt more like a son to her than a brother.

The people around them slowly left one by one. Seo-yeon was just getting ready to suggest that they leave too when she spotted a vaguely familiar figure in the entryway.

"Mother?" She mumbled. Had their mother finally decided to show her face? Shouldn't she have come sooner?

No. Wouldn't it have been better if she had never showed up at all?