Let’s Block the Ruined Route in Advance

“Dan, if you’ve washed your face, you can help me make dinner.” “Anne, go wake Mina up.” “Did you remember to help in the potato patch at 3:00 today?” 

Mornings in the orphanage are chaotic. For everyone, but especially for Eileen.

 “Eileen’s such a big girl, Gail, I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

Gene, the herbalist who had come to bring news from the village, said enviously. 

 

Gail grinned from ear to ear.

 “She’s my baby, but she’s a wild one.” 

Eileen was the town’s celebrity, rumored to be a wild child.

 

She was only nine years old, but she knew all the secrets of the town, taking in children to help out working families, then scrounging for supplies to run the orphanage.

 

Everyone praised her for her ingenuity and intelligence. But every time she heard it, Eileen would cluck her tongue.

 “So, the orphanage runs on a pittance from the temple?” 

Not normal.

 

No wonder. Because Eileen really wasn’t a normal nine-year-old.

 

She was a reincarnation. She had a 30-year-old self inside of her who had lost some of her humanity by being rolled into a service job in the modern world.

 

It was nice to be reincarnated in a fantasy world, away from this damn life…

 

* * *

 

Eileen sighed heavily as she changed Tommy, the youngest child in the orphanage.

 “Sis, what’s wrong?” “Tommy, life isn’t easy.” 

Fingers that wouldn’t hurt if they were cut off from the family. In her previous life, she’d been nothing more than an expendable human to a corporation.

 

In this life, she still didn’t have the right parents, but she was lucky to find a kind kindergarten director.

 “I just wanted to live a normal, peaceful life.” 

Despite the extraordinary events of her reincarnation, Eileen was not greedy; her simple goal in life was to live in peace, and this time not to be cut short by a stress-related illness.

 

But…

 “Hey, Eileen, what can I do?” “Cordelia.” “Huh?” 

That little hope turned into a handful of ashes when she saw the girl in front of her.

 “Forget work, let’s eat.” 

Deep, dark blue eyes. Gorgeous platinum hair. Skin so white it was almost pale.

 

A slender little girl, the very image of dawn, clutching the hem of her skirt and staring at Eileen.

 

Without realizing it, Eileen had superimposed the dying woman’s face over the child’s.

 

In the vision, the woman had been as lonely and stark as a sunset, but now the child looked so gentle and fragile.

 “This must be Cordelia’s future.” 

Eileen murmured to herself as she sat with the child at the kitchen table, sharing rye bread.

 

Ever since Cordelia arrived at the orphanage, Eileen had had to deal with unknown memories unfolding before her eyes every time she looked at her.

 

Sometimes Cordelia was trapped somewhere, sometimes she was running away in a panic, sometimes she was clutching someone who had fallen and crying.

 

There was only one common thread in these bizarre, unrelated, fragmented memories.

 “Cordelia’s abject misery.” 

All the fragments of what seemed to be her future were grotesque. As she continued to watch the semi-forced tale of misery, Eileen suddenly realized.

 

‘Have I been possessed by a romance fantasy novel or something? I’m lucky it’s just a normal Rofan, not this!’

 

#destruction

 

With a decade of experience as a Rofan (Romance Fantasy) reader in her previous life, with thousands of works under her belt, Eileen was certain that the world in which this phenomenon took place was a Romance Fantasy.

 

And according to the future she’d seen, this world wasn’t even a normal Rofan, but rather a story with a hardcore cliffhanger ending, full of crazy landmine men.

 

‘Honestly, I’ve read so many of them, I can’t even remember where or when I saw them, but there’s no other way to explain it.’

 

Told from Cordelia’s point of view, the future narrative was like a forgotten memory being reawakened.

 “Here, soup too.” “Thanks!” 

Cordelia’s wrists were skinny as she took the soup, and Eileen’s stomach sank.

 

‘This damn worldview, if you’re going to tell me the future, tell me why it’s going to happen so I can stop it!’

 

Yes, the dozens of futures she’d seen so far had been at least eight years in the future, when Cordelia, now nine, had grown up a bit.

 

‘A bunch of crazy people with pretty faces who are just plain crazy, and in the last chapter they die at the hands of the hero because of an outburst of elemental power? Just give me the <resolution> part of the story, and I’ll tell her what to do!’

 

There was no way for Eileen to know how she, now in a kindergarten, had met such a horrible end at the hands of the madmen.

 

Eileen was frustrated by the fragmented future.

 

Especially since part of the empire, including the town where the orphanage was located, was going to be blown up in a barrel during Cordelia’s rampage.

 

If the original story was true to form, there was no guarantee that the children would be safe years later.

 “You were there for me the whole time I was sick, weren’t you? Thank you.” “Huh? Oh, don’t mind me, it’s not a big deal.” 

Eileen was furious, but Cordelia’s shy voice brought her back to her senses.

 “Thanks, though. It’s the first time I’ve ever had someone keep me company.” 

She smiled brightly as she said it. It was a pleasant smile that made her eyes soften. Eileen averted her gaze slightly, feeling a little uncomfortable with a smile that was entirely directed at her.

 “…Yes.” 

Cordelia had been sick for a week after her arrival. It was fairly common for a child to get sick after a sudden change of environment, but hers was one of the worst.

 

‘The whole time I was nursing her, I thought I was going to die from seeing that horrible future.’

 

Eileen stayed by Cordelia’s side the entire time.

 

The flood of stories that unfolded every time she looked at her was painful, but the sight of the woman’s eyes gazing into the sunset over the image of a child too sick to cry out was soothing.

 

Eyes that wished for death in resignation.

 

Eileen knew that look all too well. Her own eyes had been like that in her previous life before she died.

 

“She’s sweet at first, but she’s not a child, and I don’t like her.”

 

“She has no taste for people, so she’s a ten-thousand-year-old master, pathetic.”

 

“So, I’ll take the house and the car? What’s with those eyes? They’re family, why waste them?”

 

In her naive past life she had believed that happiness would come after misery. But all she got was an empty hospital room filled with loneliness.

 

*Beep-beep-beep-beep*

 

A myriad of emotions as she stared at the white ceiling of the hospital room.

 

Eileen knew how loneliness, when added to pain, can degrade a person.

 “You shouldn’t be sick anymore, so eat a lot.” “Yes!” 

And so Eileen protected Cordelia as she had protected her in her previous life.

 

Unlike herself and the woman in the sunset, who had finally given up on everything and closed her eyes, it was refreshing to see the child’s face shining and smiling.

 

‘If you’re going to show me, show me everything. I’d rather know the whole future, so I can prevent it from ending like that.’

 

But after Cordelia had recovered from her fever, she hadn’t seen the supposedly original future again.

 

Eileen let out a sigh that had become habitual.

 

‘It’s not easy being a normal person, really.’

 

There were too many lives tied up in this to ignore. She bit her lip, feeling as though she’d been given a task she couldn’t refuse.

 

* * *

 

 “Eileen.” 

Cordelia’s eyes followed Eileen intently as she took care of the children. Short brown hair, light and soft. Bright orange eyes. The color of innate goodness.

 

In her raging fever, Cordelia saw three things.

 

The first was herself, hungry and alone in a beautiful mansion.

 

The second was a carriage rattling down the icy street.

 

And finally, the bright orange glow of a cold washcloth wiping her forehead.

 

At first she thought Eileen hated her.

 

She was right, Eileen had been in tears since the first time they met.

 

There were times when Cordelia felt uncomfortable around her, because her expression was more of a grimace than a smile.

 

But the long nights she’d spent alone for a week… Eileen had been there for her every day of those long nights, and Cordelia had melted.

 “Don’t be sick.” 

Eileen didn’t know it, but that was the first warmth Cordelia had ever felt.

 

Gail, who had brought her, hadn’t been able to be there for her because she was too busy looking after the others. She stopped by from time to time to see how they were doing, but she had a lot of kids to take care of.

 

So this was the first time in her life she’d ever felt such undivided affection.

 “Warm.” 

It was more of an impression, an animal blindly following the first person it saw.

 “Hmm? Cordelia, do you have anything to say?” 

Eileen asked, feeling the stares and pulling the two children apart. Cordelia shook her head and smiled innocently as if it was nothing.

 

I just want to be alone with Eileen a little longer…

 

Slowly, a strong desire crept into the life of a child who didn’t know what to do with herself.

 

If Eileen knew, she would be horrified.

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