Guided by the cat, Marie found herself in front of her family home. She hadn’t returned here since her parents chased her out. After reincarnating into Alte Liebe, she’d assumed she would never see it again.
She sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves.
“What’s wrong?” Livia asked.
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The question caught Marie so off guard that she choked as she tried to exhale. “I-I’m nervous, okay?!”
Angie rolled her eyes. “This is your family home, isn’t it? Wait. Did you do something to hurt your relationship with your parents?”
Marie avoided her gaze. “Well, um… I was sort of responsible for how my brother died…and I tricked my parents into giving me money so I could travel overseas… A lot happened, let’s put it like that.”
Livia and Angie glared at her. Noelle was simply exasperated. “Rie, I’ve got to tell you, that’s pretty awful.”
“This was a long time ago, okay?! During my last life! Now, come on. Let’s go in!” She marched to the door and jabbed the bell.
A familiar voice—her mother’s—trickled through the intercom. “Yes? Who is it?”
Marie tried to say her old name, but she couldn’t remember it for some reason. Her voice got stuck in her throat. “Um, uh… I’m… Er, that is…”
As she fumbled for some way to respond, her mother asked, “Is that my idiot daughter? You go by Marie now, right? I’ll unlock the door. Come inside.” There was a hint of annoyance in her voice.
The lock released with an audible clank. Marie hesitated, then pulled the door open. A familiar sight sprawled in front of her. Everything from the decorations to the smell hanging in the air brought back fond, vivid memories of her previous life.
The other girls filed in behind her.
Livia eagerly drank in every detail of the interior. “So, this is where Mr. Leon grew up? What a lovely home.”
“I-I’ve never seen architecture like this before,” Angie stammered, unsure what else to say. She’d been raised as a high-ranking noblewoman, so this was far inferior to what she’d grown accustomed to.
“Seems homey to me,” said Noelle.
Marie peeled off her shoes and darted through the hallway to the living room. She pulled the door open and stepped inside. Next to the living room was the kitchen, and her mother was in there cooking. Her father sat at the kotatsu, reading a newspaper. He lifted his head when she entered. “So you’ve come back too? Oh—and who are these young ladies you brought with you?”
Marie stood frozen. Her parents were older than she remembered, but otherwise just as familiar.
“Huh? Have we got guests?” Leon, who’d been slumped sleeping at the kotatsu, slowly lifted himself with a yawn.
The moment they saw him, Angie and the other girls burst into tears. Before they could move, Marie shot forward. She seized her brother by his shirt collar and shook him violently. “Imbecile! It’s time to go back! Pull yourself together, and let’s go! We don’t have much time!”
She tried to drag him away from the kotatsu, but he resisted. “What? No, I don’t want to.”