#1
Noah blinked his eyes open and slowly looked around, feeling strange.
“Darn it. Again?”
As Noah stared blankly at the ceiling adorned with elaborate paintings, he had a rough idea of the situation and grumbled, then blinked at the strange sound of his voice.
“What is thith, what ith…”
Somehow his mouth was producing unclear, babbling sounds as though half his tongue had been cut off.
Since this repetition of circumstances seemed odd, he stretched his arm out in front of him.
Did your tongue get cut in half and your hands shrink to 1/4 size?
He saw a cute maple leaf-like hand.
He stared blankly at the short fingers that sparkled and moved according to his thoughts, and the chubby palm.
Why are my hands and fingers like this again?
Even removing the thick blanket was a struggle. As he flailed about, he noticed a white nightgown adorned with fluttering lace.
“Tho weird…”
If the world hadn’t suddenly grown larger, then he had definitely become smaller.
As Noah tapped his equally short legs with his small hands, a mirror on one side of the room caught his eye.
“Thith. Thith…”
Even though he wanted to move silently, nothing—not his body, not his voice—worked properly.
After great effort, Noah crawled across the wide, soft, and bouncy bed and looked down, his small mouth falling wide open.
Had the bed always been this high?
Eventually, Noah turned his body around, firmly gripped the sheet, and while lying on his stomach, slowly lowered his legs first.
“Owie…”
Despite being extremely careful, the moment he lowered both legs, Noah’s small body flopped backward.
“Aiyoo…”
Moving with such difficulty made him realize one thing: he was definitely not in his nineteen-year-old body anymore.
Sighing deeply, Noah smacked his knees with both hands and stood up.
After walking across the spacious room for a while, Noah stood in front of the elegant, large mirror and came face to face with a small, cute boy.
“How old am I… thwee yearth… four yearth…”
A deep sigh escaped from the lips of the three-head-high boy with lush, curly platinum blonde hair, sparkling emerald eyes, and plump, rosy cheeks.
* * *
Being the omega only son of the Grand Duke who ruled the perpetually wintery northern Austen region, the nineteen-year-old Noah Schwein—these were the words that could describe the current Noah.
Jihun, who had enjoyed traveling and winter sports, suddenly found himself transmigrated into a character from the fantasy novel he’d been reading.
Everyone has their preferences, right?
Jihun enjoyed fantasy novels featuring the Grand Duke of the North. Sometimes they were romance fantasies, sometimes BL fantasies.
Stories about the wild wolf-like Grand Duke of the North, living alone in a world filled with howling northerly winds and white snow, were truly entertaining.
The tales of him opposing the Emperor and experiencing tender misunderstandings and conflicts mixed with romance with other characters were quite good.
But that was just reading novels.
Suddenly becoming the son of the protagonists who had a love story like something out of a movie was an entirely different matter.
One moment he was happily skiing at a ski resort, the next he opened his eyes to find himself as the son of his favorite romantic fantasy protagonists.
Before he could adapt to this bewildering situation, he was unexpectedly dragged to various balls.
Find an alpha to succeed the Grand Duke of the North and lead the harsh territory!
Without fully grasping the situation or knowing what to do, he danced until his feet were blistered and mercilessly stepped on the feet of countless men.
They should have asked him to dance at a club instead. He could have partied excitedly all night long.
The only waltz he knew was from middle school dance class where he learned the “one-two-three” rhythm once.
After stomping on alpha’s feet and smiling as instructed by lifting the corners of his mouth, he eventually married a decent-looking alpha, the second son of a duke’s family.
It was a mistake made when he couldn’t properly determine if this was a dream, reality, or if he had truly transmigrated into a character in a novel.
Then on the first day in their territory.
That guy, hardly deserving to be called a husband, ran away because it was too cold.
But then he woke up to find everything reset. They said he had just passed his nineteenth birthday and had to start attending balls again from today.
While wondering what was happening and stepping on people’s feet again, this time he married the eldest son of a merchant guild master who seemed more obedient.
The marriage between the duke’s only omega son and the merchant guild master’s eldest beta son caused quite a stir.
It was portrayed as the love of the century, a groundbreaking decision transcending social status and traits, but what could he do? The guy seemed better than the one who ran away because it was cold.
But then this one lived with him for a few days before robbing the safe and fleeing!
What kind of ridiculous situation was this, happening not once but twice?
And now, instead of being nineteen again, he had regressed to a child.
Noah tried to rest his chin on his short arms, and when that didn’t work, he flopped down right where he was.
At least it seemed good that he wouldn’t be dragged to the ballroom to dance the “one-two-three” waltz right away, but what should he do now?
He heard the door opening carefully and looked at it while lying down.
“Oh my, young master. Why are you on the floor…”
A woman in a maid’s uniform rushed over in surprise, picked him up, and Noah rested his heavy head on her shoulder.
Even though all he’d done was get down from the bed and sit in front of the mirror, why did he feel so tired and sleepy?
He wanted to think a bit more, but his heavy eyelids languidly closed.
A moment later.
Having failed to consummate either of his two marriages and essentially being abandoned on the first night, the now three-year-old Noah was drinking warm milk.
“Young master, try this too.”
Even after a good nap in the maid’s arms, the situation remained unchanged.
It seems I have to start from age three this time.
Noah took a cookie as big as his palm with both hands, took a big bite, and watched a fluttering yellow butterfly while chewing the sweet, crispy cookie.
“Look at the flower butterfly. I think summer is coming.”
“Summer?”
As he recalled, there was no summer in Austen. It was covered in eternal snow, and even during the warmest season, it maintained chilly autumn weather.
But in the beautiful green garden, instead of a white snowfield, colorful butterflies flew around and vibrant flowers bloomed everywhere.
Living as a nineteen-year-old in an unfamiliar place was not easy. Just when he started to adapt, he regressed, which was confusing, but his second life was a little easier thanks to some prior knowledge.
But now he was a child. The ages of the people he knew would have changed too, so the first thing he needed to do was quietly gather as much information as possible.
If this wasn’t Austen, where was it? While lost in these thoughts, Noah quickly looked towards the door at the sound of a knock.
“Elisa, the Grand Duke has arrived. Quickly prepare the young master.”
Following the knock, another woman in a maid’s uniform entered and suddenly everything became busy.
So the person who just gave me snacks and milk is Elisa.
Noah alternately looked at the refreshment table and the woman greeting the people coming in. Judging by her clothes, atmosphere, and how she treated him, she seemed to be a nanny.
Good. Elisa is the nanny. Noah nodded and watched the women who entered while chatting.
The cookie in his hand disappeared, and his white nightgown was changed to neat black pants and a white shirt.
“Papa?”
Noah, who had been still while someone gently brushed his curly hair and even put on a dainty bowtie, carefully opened his mouth.
The person who could be called the Grand Duke here would be Noah’s father, Lucas, the male protagonist of the northern territories in the novel he loved most.
“Yes.”
“Where’s Mama?”
“The Duchess has already gone to the dining room.”
As it seemed the grooming was complete, Noah swallowed the saliva pooled in his mouth as Elisa wiped his hands once more with a wet towel.
Lucas was quite unkind to everyone except Loren, the female protagonist of the novel and now Noah’s mother. And while the novel ended with their love in a happy ending, there was no mention of a second generation.
Anyway, Lucas was Noah’s favorite male protagonist.
‘Get married.’
‘Pardon?’
‘You’ve already had your nineteenth birthday, so you should get married and continue this territory.’
‘…’
‘Otherwise, what will become of this territory?’
The only reason he didn’t blurt out “This is your territory, not mine, isn’t it?” was because of Loren coughing next to him.
The harsh winter life in Austen was difficult for Loren, who had a weak constitution, so during Austen’s long winters, Loren mostly moved to warmer regions.
Lucas, who had lived apart from her for more than half the year, now wanted to entrust this place to the adult Noah and go south with his beloved wife.
If Noah had been an ordinary beta or alpha, there would have been no difficulty in inheriting the territory, but what was holding him back now was his trait.
Although they said the balance between alphas and omegas had been established and their relationship had become equal, the alpha and beta-centered world that had continued from the past did not change so easily.
In a situation where an omega could not become the head of the family, but the territory could not be abandoned, the only option was for Noah to marry an alpha or beta.
So he had married twice, but regressed like this when he found out his husbands had run away.
What should I do? Walking down the corridor toward the dining room, Noah quickly wracked his brain.
Having read many novels, he wasn’t in a position to feel aversion to traits like alpha or omega. He needed a way to escape from Lucas, who had been forcefully demanding marriage.
From the brief conversation, it was clear that Lucas was exclusive to everyone except Loren.
From the gossip he had picked up here and there, it was evident that Loren’s health had deteriorated after giving birth to Noah, which meant he had definitely fallen out of favor with Lucas.
So his child probably didn’t look very pretty to him either.
Expressionless face. Commanding tone. Conversations that didn’t last long.
He didn’t want to be sold off to the marriage market as soon as he turned nineteen again.
Standing in front of the large door engraved with elaborate dragon decorations, Noah clenched his fists.
First, from now on, what he needed to do was make Lucas his ally. And by his nineteenth birthday, he needed to find a way to properly inherit the territory or become independent by any means.
At the very least, in this life, he shouldn’t hear Lucas say, “Get married right now.”
He could think about the next steps slowly. He was three years old, after all.
Being a child meant he could get away with certain things.
Looking in the mirror earlier, his face was quite cute and adorable.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
