1

When I began to be tested in the laboratory, rumors outside spoke of something like this:

A noble ruler in the south is secretly searching for his lost daughter.

As the gossip goes, Duke Aubrey, the Green ruler who loves greenery, cherishes beauty, and values fresh air, had an exceedingly high opinion of himself. 

“I’ve said it before, my daughter is just like me, incredibly smart and beautiful, with a voice like a skylark. There’s nothing she can’t do. So if you want to pretend to be my daughter, you better live up to that.”

So, the man… no, the Duke of the Aubrey family, gently set down his teacup without a sound.

‘How could her voice sound like a skylark when she wasn’t even one year old?’

I almost laughed at myself for almost saying what I wanted to.

“Oh… yes…”

How did this happen?

“Alright, I’m going to ask you a few questions, and you’ll write the answers on the answer sheet.”

As if the idle chatter had come to an end, a haughty command was issued. I, a simple orphan, had no choice but to comply.

‘Hmph…’

I only wanted to be adopted by a respectable merchant family or sponsored by nobility for a more comfortable life than before.

‘I didn’t want to get caught up in this situation again!’

Yes, the handsome man fittingly dubbed ‘arrogant’ would be the unfortunate soul whose family would meet ruin in a few years.

How did I know?

I knew too!

I didn’t want to know!

If only I didn’t have to return to this childhood!

Struggling to contain the words I wanted to say, I finally opened my mouth.

“Yes…”

“If you pass my test, you can live as my daughter, not inferior to anyone in the south, for the next five years.”

The man extended his palm.

“Five years as your daughter?”

“Do you think you’ll be able to live as an extraordinary and amazing noble’s daughter for your whole life?”

He stared at me as if to say, “You dare” I marveled at the fact that he was indeed overly confident, as I knew from memories of my past life, but seeing it firsthand was somewhat surprising.

“Oh, I thought this was just a form of support.”

“You’ll have plenty of tasks for the time being. In five years, you’ll receive support to study abroad.”

I nodded in agreement like someone attending a job interview.

“So, let’s begin the interview.”

I couldn’t understand why I had to go through such a serious interview to be adopted, but that was the reality.

“What are your hobbies?”

“Reading…?”

“Despite how you look, you’re quite educated.”

What does it mean, ‘despite how you look’?

So, do I look uneducated?

How rude!

“How old are you?”

“Maybe… ten years old?”

“My daughter is eleven. Consider it that way.”

If that’s the case, then why ask?

This egotistical man.

This man, or rather, the esteemed head of the Aubrey family, nodded and kept asking questions while scrutinizing something carefully.

‘It feels like I’m actually at an interview.’

I suddenly felt nauseous. It’s not like I’ve been through an interview like this before.

As if I were already familiar with it…

The man who nodded then spread out what looked like interview papers, and an aide next to him handed me a piece of paper and a pen.

Then, he started firing off questions rapidly.

“There’s a donut here. Cut this donut into five pieces using only two cuts.”

“There are three murderers and three priests. To restore the humanity of the murderers, the priests must take them to a temple across a river. The problem is, the murderers will kill anyone if they meet fewer people than themselves. Also, the raft can only carry two people at a time. Everyone needs to cross the river together to reach the temple. How can everyone safely get to the temple?”

“There’s a bait here that looks like a snail shell. It takes a leech 10 minutes to consume this bait. How can you measure 5 minutes?”

Where am I exactly?

I was stunned by the barrage of absurd questions.

Why do I have to answer these nonsensical questions?

My head was spinning.

‘Is this some kind of Mensa?’

Hmm?

Mensa? What is that?

Since I didn’t know the meaning of the word, I frowned.

Then I picked up the pen and stared blankly at the answer sheet. Even the format of the answers was descriptive. That’s the part I hate the most.

‘But, somehow these seem familiar.’

Even though these were new questions, they felt strangely familiar.

Under the meticulous watch of Duke Narcissism, I held back tears and started writing.

‘How did I end up in this situation?’

Ah, to explain this background, I need to recount my sad, boring, and outdated life…

In short, I used to be a test subject for a mad scientist.

Until I was twenty-four.

I had endured numerous harsh experiments believing that scientist was my father, only for him to betray me in the end.

“Out of all the orphans I bought from the orphanage, you were the only one who survived and proved to be quite a vessel…”

In other words, I was just an experiment who believed that mad scientist was my father and underwent all the experiments.

He only needed a vessel for the soul of his deceased wife.

Why did I have to believe that person was my father? Because whenever I tried to run away, the mad scientist erased all my childhood memories and forced me to recognize him as my father.

Anyway, before I died from the betrayal, I recovered my lost childhood memories.

And then I died.

Or rather, I thought I had died.

But lo and behold, when I opened my eyes, I had returned to the past. Right to the moment I had just arrived at the orphanage.

Why is my life always full of difficult and spectacular events?

I don’t know either.

I don’t like who I am…

The only good thing was that the mad scientist read the newspaper every day, and I used to pick up the discarded papers to learn about the world.

Thanks to that, I knew about major events in the future for about the next ten years.

Yes, this arrogant man was one of the names I frequently saw in the newspapers.

Duke Charcoal Aubrey.

As the ruler of the Green, he was one of the most powerful figures in the empire after the royal family.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he controlled fifty percent of the empire’s trade.

This arrogant and haughty man, according to rumors, was raised as the youngest in a family full of scheming, making him distrustful and unable to empathize with others.

If there was something he didn’t like, he would suppress it with his appearance, power, and wealth until the person could no longer lift their head.

Given that he had to drink poison every other day in his treacherous Duke family, it was only natural he became such a sensitive person.

Yet, he listened to only two people: his wife, Rosana Aubrey, and the ruler of the North, Lord Argos, one of the four Dukes in the empire, Alf Argos.

‘But why do I know so much about this man?’

Were such details in the newspaper articles? I frowned, but no specific stories came to mind.

You see, after undergoing various experiments with the mad scientist, I sometimes experienced strange things.

For instance, I’d feel like I had seen a new scene somewhere before.

Yes, information about how this man before me suddenly became the brother of the Blue ruler came to me naturally.

“I’m done…”

Lost in thought, I slowly handed over the completed answer sheet.

“Done already?”

He took the answer sheet with an expressionless face and examined it closely.

Then he frowned.

“You completed this?”

“Yes…”

“In such a short time?”

He rubbed his chin while examining the answer sheet sharply.

Was there any doubt given that he had been watching?

“Yes, I’m kind of a genius.”

As I mentioned earlier, the questions felt like something I’d seen before, so I didn’t have to think too hard. My hand moved on its own, writing down the answers fluidly.

He reviewed the answers carefully and finally nodded.

“Alright, you’re quite a genius too. Although your appearance isn’t very impressive as my daughter…”

What does he mean by my appearance?

Objectively, I’m just cute.

“Anyway, you’re accepted.”

At that moment, I suddenly thought, ‘Shouldn’t I have answered incorrectly?’

At the same time, his previously stern expression finally showed satisfaction.

“Alright, I welcome you as my daughter.”

“Ha… haha…”

My goal was to be adopted into a peaceful and harmonious family…

“Yes…”

Now I’m caught in a ticking time bomb. Who will explode first?

“I will adopt this girl.”

Duke Charcoal Aubrey declared proudly.

So, to explain why I, an orphan who had only my body left after returning to the past, had to undergo an interview to become a stand-in for the Duke’s daughter…

I need to go back to three months ago.

That was the day I died and then came back to life.