WHEN I OPENED MY EYES, the first thing I thought was:

"Ohh... I've become the villain of the novel."

My reflection in the mirror looks very familiar. The golden hair and the green eyes shining like jewels. I must have seen those somewhere but...

'Eh? You...Wait, I know her.'

I clearly knew her. The younger sister of the heroine, who was exceptionally wicked throughout the novel and the last of her kind: Cielle Valentine. She had gone all the way. Born to be the youngest daughter of the Duke of Valentine, the most prestigious family in the Gretania Empire, she monopolized the love of all the empire and, of course, of her family.

Cielle, who got her beauty from her mother, the Duchess of Valentine, also known as the "beauty of the century," swept through the social world with a charming smile. And from her father's side, she inherited magical powers.

You may ask me if I'm happy to be in the body of a character that has got it all. But there is more you should know. Once again, she's the villainess of the novel. She was an evil child. But, despite all of this, Cielel ended up executed, following the laws of karma.

Cielle used to harass her older sister Clara, the heroine of the novel. She could use any way to turn her sister's life into a hell. She was also very greedy. Every time her parents scolded her, she put all the blame on her sister, or she got her maids framed.

She did not even hesitate to do mad things, such as killing someone, as she was the culprit of a death by guillotine.

I looked at my body.

'Eh?'

"Eh!? Why is Cielle in the body of a boy!" Wait, I'm dreaming right? If I remember correctly, Cielle is a girl. I confusedly touched my body.

"Flat chest, and has..di..arrggh." I scratched my cheeks and looked again in the mirror. I have long hair, I really look like her! But why am I in the body of a boy?

Cielle should be a girl not a boy! Yes I'm quite happy because in this world I'm still a boy. But still! It will affect the plot in the original story, right? Or not?

But even though I'm a boy, I'm sure that this face is exactly like Cielle! So I'm still Cielle but boy version, am I right? Argh I have so many questions in my mind that no one will answer. 

Then...Cielle is not my name here? Am I right? Or is it still my name?

"Ciel, are you up?"

So my name now is Ciel. I wipe my imaginary tears and put my hands on my chest.

"I will protect your body and prevent you from getting killed..of course. That's my plan, Cielle thank you for lending your body to me. I will take care of it." I mumbled to myself.

"Ciel? Are you alright?" When I heard again a sweet voice again, I jumped up from my seat. My sister, who is walking with a gentle smile, is Clara, the heroine of this novel, with her fine black hair.

Clara's appearance, with a fresh plump face and deep dark-hair, was obviously very different from our family's. Clara, in fact, was not blood-related to the Dukes.

In the year of the birth of their third son, Louis, the Duke and the Duchess, who wanted to have a daughter, adopted Clara from distant relatives. However, the Duchess suddenly became pregnant later that year, and she ended up getting the daughter she was hoping for: Cielle Valentine, myself.

Since this was an exceptional event that had not happened in a hundred years, everyone was paying attention to the Duke's family and Clara, in only a year after she was adopted, ended up being known as the long-awaited daughter the Dukes were hoping for. Of course, Clara is the heroine of this novel not only because of the odds.

"Did you get a good sleep? The sun is beautiful this morning."

After Cielle was born, Clara helped the Duchess and became Cielle's mentor. A child raising a child kind of situation, but, fortunately, Cielle grew up positively following her sister, at least until eight years of age. However, just when Cielle turned eight, the problems started.

"Clara does not belong to our family. She was adopted."

Louis, the youngest brother, told Cielle that Clara was an adopted child. After that, Cielle had begun to harass her, ignoring her sister who raised her up.

"I am still a baby, so I'm afraid to sleep alone. I want to sleep with you, sister."

"Do you? Let's see. Shall we ask mother?"

I made a tender voice on purpose, hugging her. Yes. I was in the body of a five- year-old Cielle, who was far ahead of her eight-year-old birthday party. Since I woke up in this body, I have been very confused. It took some time to realize where I was.

I was awakened by a high fever. Fortunately, I realized it was much earlier than the period when the action in the novel took place. How much of a fortune is that?

"Ciel, let me brush your hair." Since I have long hair even though I am a boy.

Clara, who's taking care of her five-year-old brother, is now nine years old. In her eyes, I am just a baby. Me, an adult boy who had been falling into the routine of office work.

Luckily, I know how this novel ends. Especially, I read many times about what kind of deplorable act Cielle is about to do and I know it by heart.

Yes. I'm determined now. I do not know how to get back to reality, so I'm going to live only avoiding the death flag. This is my only way to make it out of this. So, even just for me surviving all of this, let me be good with this child.

"My sister is the best in the world."

"Yes, I think you're the best too, Ciel."

At my show of affection, Clara laughed cheerfully and hugged me. I will be on Clara's side in this deadly and filthy family, who only supports Clara just because she is an adopted child.

So let's try to make a happy ending as soon as possible. Let's make Clara meet with the hero of this novel.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.───

THE EIGHTH BIRTHDAY

Time flew by. Three years have passed since I woke up in this body, and I, Ciel Valentine, am safely about to celebrate my eighth birthday. I already cut my long hair, my sister told me not to cut it because she said that I'm so pretty with long hair. But when I showed her my hair cut, she almost kissed my cheeks because she said I was too handsome and adorable at the same time. I just sighed.

 Now, running pretty confidently, I went across the vast Valentine's House and ran to my busy mother who was preparing for the party.

"Mom!"

"Oh hello, my son."

My mom, who was touching the hem of her dress, had a wrinkle on her pretty smile. Who can imagine that this beautiful woman is a married woman who has four children? The Duchess of Valentines, Yvenis Rose, has been considered the greatest beauty of the Jata Empire since her former years as the daughter of the Count. The almond shaped, beautifully arched eyes and the nose which could make Audrey Hepburn blush made the young Duke Valentine fall for her in a matter of seconds.

Cielle(Now Ciel) inherited the appearance of the greatest beauty of the empire. Not gonna lie, I was freaking handsome. I really want to marry myself. Thank you for the genes, Mother and Cielle for giving your body to me.

The Duchess loved her son, who looked like his copy and the Duke, too, almost died when he saw his son who almost looked like her beloved wife. With such blatant favoritism, the rest of the children naturally escaped from their parents' graces. Besides Ciel, the Duchess had many children.

In the original timeline, Firstborn Theo, second son Isaac, and third son Louis. Despite everyone's expectations, the Duke and Duchess did raise Clara even after Cielle was born. At least the couple cared about Clara as much as any other of their children. The problem was that the court personnel, who were proud to work on the historic Valentine's family premises, also secretly harassed Clara.

To be exact, a group of so-called "old employees" centered on Mrs Lisbon, who was in charge of the household's internal affairs. They regarded the fact that Clara, the daughter of a baroness, was adopted as a duchess and given Valentine's name as a great honor.I don't understand how their minds work, but what's certain anyway, is that they're trying to cautiously kick Clara out of the Duke's family. Of course, they knew that I liked Clara too much and that I couldn't open my mouth on the fact that she had been adopted.

"Do you want me to pick your suit!" I happily looked at my mother.

"Clara will pick for me, Mom!"

I can't just watch it. Once I step in here, one of the original heroine's trials starts. I was the little prince of the family. As long as Il likes and follows Clara, Mrs. Lisbon cannot bother her. I followed my sister more than my mom and dad did, and the Duchess looked at Clara with a very concerned face.

"Clara, what spell did you put on him, so he's just following you all the time?"

"My sister is the best in the world!"

"No, Mother, Ciel loves you as well. Am I right, Ciel?" Clara said, smiling at me. I nodded and smiled.

"Yes. You're right!"

If Clara doesn't poke her like this, the Duchess wouldn't hear a word from her beloved favorite son. So the Duchess sighed deeply and stroked Clara's head.

"He's my son, but he's such an eccentric child. Clara, you know, I'm just saying, I'm glad that he listens to you, but you always work so hard."

"No, Mother, I'm glad I could be of help."

The more I let myself go, the more the Duchess realizes the importance of Clara. What a beautiful scene. Everytime the Duchess compliments Clara, Mrs. Lisbon also takes a graceful attitude towards her.

"The party will start in the afternoon, and I'll be up and coming soon, Mrs. Lisbon, so you can get the two children to go to the party safely."

"Yes, ma'am."

One thing that I learned once coming into this novel, is that the noble women never take care of their children personally. First of all, the Duchess was extremely busy. If you are going to have a party, you'll have a huge amount of work to be done, starting with the invitation of the guests and confirming everything that needs to be prepared.

Seeing the Duchess who is stressed out every day, and I realize once more that being a Duchess is not a thing that can be done by anyone. In the empire, my birthday is just like a national holiday. Maybe because I was their favorite son? On my birthday, even the emperor would send me a lion to personally congratulate me. I deliberately hung out on Clara's waist and pushed as hard as I could.

"Which dress do you want to wear?"

"Anything that my little brother will choose."

"Really?"

What is the reason for me asking this question? Of course, so that Mrs. Lisbon would listen. Mrs. Lisbon, who was unaware of the fact that I had noticed her, intentionally plotted to give Clara a dreadful dress on my birthday last year.

The reason is that Clara should not stand out more than me, the main character. What a childish idea. Clara is that type of person that gets prettier the more you look at her. Literally, at first glance, you wouldn't tell she is of an outstanding beauty but as soon as she laughs there's an explosion of charm.

I can not say that she is of the same kind of beauty as the Duchess, but the fact that she stands out from the perspective of common people, it's extraordinary.