Subliminal Wayfarer

 

I.

The Very, Truly, Excruciatingly Exhausting Reality of Novel Transmigration

 

‘Ugh, my head. What in the world is this…’

…Where am I?

Gripping my throbbing head, I couldn’t believe my eyes as I came to.

An unfamiliar ceiling.

Unfamiliar walls.

An unfamiliar bed.

Everything surrounding me was unfamiliar. Yet, in a way, this situation felt oddly familiar.

There was just one reason for that.

I had experienced a similar situation four times before.

‘It can’t be… another transmigration?’

No, this wasn’t just a possibility. Based on my previous experiences, there was a 110% chance this was transmigration yet again.

Ugh, good grief.

“I transmigrated again? But why?”

Mumbling in disbelief, I was startled by the voice that came from my mouth.

It was my voice.

Not someone else’s, but Rosetta Valentine’s. My own voice.

Usually, if I transmigrated into someone else’s body, the voice would change, so this was strange.

For now, I jumped out of bed and headed towards the mirror I saw.

The reflection in the mirror showed—

“…What the. Is it really me?”

It’s me.

No, what’s this? So, I didn’t transmigrate? Or was I kidnapped?

‘That can’t be. Who would kidnap me?’

Could there really be someone with the talent to kidnap me? It was unbelievable.

But the surprises didn’t stop there.

“…Where the hell is this place…”

A familiar voice came from outside the door. I hurriedly opened the door.

“Kyaah! S-Sister?”

“Alicia?”

As expected, the owner of the voice was Alicia.

“Why are you here too?”

“Huh? I woke up and was here. S-Sister, do you know where we are?”

She asked, her eyes wide and questioning, to which I shook my head.

‘Oh my goodness. Alicia’s here too.’

Although I couldn’t understand what was happening, it was clear the situation was not good. To be in an unfamiliar place with just Alicia.

“But that’s a relief.”

“Hm? A relief?”

Contrary to my seriousness, Alicia replied with a relaxed face.

“Yes. I was so scared of being dropped in a strange place by myself. But with you by my side, I feel a bit relieved. Ah!”

Her chatter with a smiling face turned pale in the next moment.

“Never mind. I thought wrong.”

“What?”

Surely, it couldn’t be that she doesn’t trust me much—

“It would have been better if I was alone. Now that you’re in this unknown place too, we both could be in danger.”

That figures.

As expected, it was a warmly absurd reason. I smiled at her and took her hand.

“Being in danger together is better than being in danger alone. Danger halves when shared, right?”

“Huh? Is there such a saying?”

“Of course there is.”

Originally, the saying goes that sharing sorrow halves it, but well. Isn’t danger a kind of sorrow, after all?

Alicia, looking up in thought, soon smiled again.

“If you say so, Sister, then it must be true. Anyway, I feel relieved because you’re here!”

We held hands and carefully moved forward, our eyes busily scanning the surroundings.

‘It seems like a noble’s house.’

The house was somewhat old but well-maintained. It wasn’t a huge mansion, but it had a certain dignity.

From various clues, it was clear that this place was indeed a noble’s mansion.

One strange thing was that we hadn’t encountered any servants so far.

‘A noble’s house without a single servant?’

Even wealthy merchants had servants, so this was odd.

Ah, could this be the home of a fallen noble?

Thinking this was a reasonable guess, we continued, but then felt someone’s presence from afar.

“Sister? Why did you suddenly stop—”

“Shh.”

“Shh? Shh.”

Alicia quickly clamped her mouth shut, understanding the cue. The faint sounds of someone approaching gradually got closer.

I clenched my fist and glared, ready to knock them down with a single punch if necessary.

Thud, thud, thud.

The heavy steps rapidly approached. And then, as the source of the sound turned the corner.

“…Huh?”

“Oh?”

Upon seeing who it was, Alicia and I simultaneously let out a sigh of relief.

The person was none other than—

“Rosetta?”

—Our older brother Damian.

 

* * *

 

‘Where in the world are we anyway?’

Not long after meeting our brother Damian, Alicia and I realized something was off.

“Something’s… weird, right?”

“Yeah, it’s strange.”

We were being led by our brother to the kitchen.

He sat Alicia and me at the dining table and then started bustling around the kitchen.

“…Brother and the kitchen? That’s a bit of a mismatch.”

“Exactly. And why does he keep calling me—”

“What are you two whispering about, Rosetta? You too, Cinderella?”

“…Why is he calling me by that strange name?”

Right. I’m dying of curiosity here.

‘Why is the name Cinderella coming up here?’

It seems Alicia is Cinderella. Then who am I?

Could it be, I’m Cinderella’s older sister?

Is our brother Cinderella’s older brother?

What kind of messed-up, pseudo-transmigration-like, chaotic plot twist is this?

‘Wait a minute. Now that I think about it-.’

Wasn’t the fairy tale book I read yesterday Cinderella? It suddenly dawned on me what happened yesterday.

 

“What kind of fairy tale book is this?”

“I received it as a gift. It’s said to be the only one of its kind in the world?”

“The only one in the world?”

 

The book was a gift from Blanca. She added that it was a rare book, the only one of its kind in the world.

‘A rare book?’

How impressive must it be.

Alicia and I started reading the book together on the bed.

Not long after…

 

“Huh?”

“What’s wrong, Sister?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

 

I couldn’t help but question why this book was in this world.

It was the fairy tale ‘Cinderella’, which I had read back when I lived on Earth.

The idea that an item from Earth had made its way here was baffling, yet it also felt oddly comforting.

Cinderella was essentially a worldwide fairy tale known by everyone.

With a somewhat nostalgic feeling, we began reading the book…

‘And we fell asleep just like that.’

I drifted off to sleep so smoothly, it was hard to tell when it happened.

Oh, good grief.

As the pieces of the puzzle started to fit together, the situation was still full of questions.

“Rosetta?”

“Yes?”

“Why are you silent— No, never mind. Both of you, go ahead and eat first.”

He pushed plates towards us with a flick of his eyebrows. The menu was a clumsy, rustic potato salad and a stew with meat.

“Did you make this, Brother?”

“Why are you asking such obvious things now?”

“Just, um, suddenly curious.”

He nodded casually in response.

“Yeah. I made it, not so suddenly.”

“Aha. Your cooking skills are impressive, aren’t they?”

“…What are you trying to say? Never mind, Cinderella.”

Somewhat embarrassed, he suddenly shifted the focus to Alicia.

Alicia, blinking slowly, reacted a beat later.

“…Me?”

“Who else would be Cinderella here?”

Rolling her eyes round, Alicia nodded reluctantly.

“…R-Right, that’s me. I’m Cinderella.”

“It seems both of you are out of it today. Well, considering the day, perhaps you’re just excited?”

Muttering to himself and shrugging, Brother placed a plate on the empty spot.

It appeared to be the seat of honor.

“Cinderella, go and call father.”

“Father?”

“Yes.”

Alicia hesitated to get up, glancing back, then looked at me with pleading eyes, mouthing silently.

—I don’t even know the layout of this house, what do I do?

“Um, Brother.”

“What is it, Rosetta?”

“Could you go instead?”

“…What?”

Brother looked at me as if I’d said something absurd.

“I’ve already woken you up, prepared the meal. Now you want me to call father too?”

Well, he had a point.

But we had no choice.

“Ali— I mean, Cinderella, isn’t feeling well. Right, Cinderella?”

“Oh… Yes. That’s right. Cough. Cough.”

Alicia added to the act with an impressively shameless imitation of coughing.

“You caught a cold?”

“Seems like it. Sorry, but could you please go this time?”

“Ha, can’t be helped.”

He sighed and stood up.

“I’ll be back soon, so wait here.”

“Yes.”

“Take care, Brother.”

As Damian disappeared down the corridor, Alicia and I quickly whispered to each other.

“What in the world is going on, Sister? Something’s off about Brother… he seems like our older brother, but also not. And Cinderella? Why does he keep calling me by that name? Isn’t that the protagonist from the fairy tale book we read yesterday?”

Alicia’s confusion poured out in a rush, and I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Alicia, don’t be scared, but listen.”

“Yes?”

“It seems like we’ve entered the world of that book. You’re Cinderella, and I’m Cinderella’s older sister.”

Alicia blinked blankly at me, her gaze full of disbelief.