No one in her neighborhood dressed as shabbily as she did.
On the rare occasions when she had the chance to wear something nice, it was generously thrown to her by a neighbor who felt sorry for her.
Her mother was overjoyed to receive the clothes, saying that her daughter had outgrown them and they no longer fit.
The girl couldnât understand.
What do you like about wearing clothes that others throw away!
âWhy was I born as my motherâs daughter?â
If not, I could have enjoyed life a little more.
The girl wanted to be born as a noble girl of a wealthy family.
She saw noble women passing by in pretty dresses on the street.
âBeautiful.â
The girl also wished to wear a dress like that one day.
That day, Rosie went to the fountain where they say that if you make a wish, it will come true, and she prayed earnestly.
Please make me rich too.
It was a common wish, nothing special, just like any other child her age.
*****
â⊠You are Rosie.â
The original Rosie before I possessed the body.
âIs that so?â
The smile was erased from Rosieâs face, leaving only a chill.
âI stole your body⊠Is it because you canât enjoy what you were supposed to enjoy?â
She looked at me with an extremely expressionless face.
âAnd I think youâre misunderstanding something, but Iâm not Rose. I possessedâŠâ
âWhatâs the point of talking to a girl who canât even remember it?â
She mumbled in despair, but then her eyes lit up.
âNo, no, no. Iâve got a good one, Iâll help you remember it.â
âWhat?â
âI cast a spell. That spell, Iâm going to break it.â
Before I could agree, she pulled me to her feet.
I tried to pull away in anger, but a force held me down.
âWhat powerâŠâ
I had felt it before, but she was strong as a man.
âWhat is it?â
âWhyâŠâ
Then, suddenly, there was excitement in her voice.
âThe spell has been broken.â
â⊠The spell was broken?â
I thought that Roseâs memories would come to mind one by one, but did Countess Millard cast the spells at that time?
However, all the memories didnât come to my mind.
âThen why canât you remember? The spell was broken, but whyâŠ!â
âUghâŠ.â
Her hand on my shoulder tightened.
As I frowned at the pain, the woman burst into laughter.
Suddenly, Rosieâs pink eyes flashed with red anger.
â⊠Yes. You donât want to remember, do you?â
ââŠâŠ.â
âThe memories should come back once the spell was broken, but I guess you didnât want to recall them enough to lock them in on your own?â
â⊠What are you talking about?â
âThen Iâll have to force you to remember it.â
Before I could even ponder Rosieâs words, a hand reached my neck.
âUh-huh!â
Her hand gripped the nape of my neck and forced me to move.
Then she walked up to the altar buried in darkness and threw me away.
âUghâŠ!â
I was thrown away without even being able to resist the evil force.
âI canât say any words at all!â
Seeing the madness flashing in his pink eyes, I knew I had to run away.
But, as if the woman had noticed my thought, she pressed my hand tightly to her foot.
âOuch!â
âDoes it hurt? Itâs far less than the pain Iâve felt.â
Rosie picked up a silver candlestick that was nearby.
âIf you donât want to remember it, Iâll have to make you remember.â
âAre you crazy? Are you going to kill me with that?â
âYouâre not going to die anyway. If you want to go back, do you have no choice but to kill the Transcendent.â
âDid you know? So thatâs why you didnât hesitate to kill me?â
Rosie smiled as if it was natural.
I smiled back. Who wants to die twice?
I kick her ankle with all my might!
âOuch!â
Rosie took a step back as if she felt pain even though she had monstrous powers.
I immediately pulled back and got to my feet.
But a hand from behind grabbed my hair.
âUgh!â
âDid I say? This kind of pain canât break me.â
My scalp felt like it was going to be ripped off by the hand that grasped my hair so tightly.
Rosie threw me back towards the altar.
âIf you donât want to be like this, you should have protected what I cherished.â
âWhat was it that you cherished? What did I steal?â
I bumped into the altar and grabbed the tingling side and shouted.
I couldnât figure out what she was arguing with me.
âYou think I did it because I wanted to possess you, I didnât want to do it either!
âThen you should at least protect your mother.â
âWhat?â
âYou know whatâs funny?â
ââŠâŠ.â
âYou hate Yurtha so much that you want him to die. He killed your mother!â
I trembled for a moment at the words that hit me like lightning.
<⊠Sister, Iâm not really like that.>
<I didnât do itâŠ.>
It reminded me of Yurtha, who had been begging for trust in the North.
A man with the appearance of a child with red eyes and sobbing.
<You blame me for killing⊠âthat womanâ>
My head was pounding.
Very old memories broke through the barrier and crawled up.
âBut did Yurtha really kill my mother?â
â⊠It was Yurtha who killed her.â
I blurted out in a daze, not knowing what I was saying.
âItâs cowardly. Blaming it on Yurtha because you canât handle the pain.â
ââŠâŠ.â
âOf course I hate Yurtha. Heâs guilty of that either, so I want you both to suffer for the rest of your life.â
My consciousness fades.
Memories slammed into me, as if they were about to explode. My head pounded furiously.
âSo just die.â
The womanâs actions were brutal.
Without the slightest hesitation, she swung the silver candlestick.
Stab! My vision shook wildly with a loud sound, and strength drained from my body.
Hot water ran down my face.
But no moans came out.
âNot dead yet?â
She raised her hand as if about to wield the silver candlestick again.
I stared blankly at her and closed my eyes.
*****
That was a long time ago.
One stormy night, with the candles turned off, they were immersed in darkness.
As I stretched out like a lifeless corpse, I heard a commotion in the manor.
âMy lady, the mistress has returned!â
The maid hurriedly shouted at Rose, who was lying blankly.
Rose just got up.
âMother is back?â
Unexpectedly, I was blown away by the news.
I didnât know that my mother would come back since we had parted in such a bad way.
âCome on, get ready⊠No, no. I have to go this way. Where is Mom?â
As Roseâs face, which had been behaving like a dead person for almost several months, sprung to life, the maid gave her a look of surprise for a moment.
But Rose couldnât care less about the maidâs feelings.
As soon as she heard where her mother was, she ran away.
Then I remembered my last moment with my mother, and suddenly my steps slowed down.
I barely arrived in front of my motherâs room, but I couldnât open the door.
<I hate you!>
<How dare you imitate my daughter for someone that is not even my daughter>
That moment when the gentle mother put her feet up and shouted like a crazy person.
âShe doesnât want to see me.â
I know.
But I wanted to see her, just once, to talk to her.
Because I donât need you to love me like you used toâŠ
Please listen to me just once.
Rose opened the door where her mother was with her earnest wish.
And I saw that moment.
Rose couldnât take her eyes off the scene inside the door.
Flash!
There was thunder and lightning struck down. A blue light came through the window, illuminating the dark room.
She couldnât take her eyes off her mother, who had already become a corpse.
Red blood gushed out around her mother, who had collapsed while holding her stomach.
Rose blankly shook her head.
Her gaze was directed to Yurtha, who was holding a blood-stained sword.
*****
âWhy are you laughing?â
Rosie frowned as if displeased, but strangely, a smile came out.
âAhâŠâ
Tears flowed from her eyes uncontrollably, and she smiled strangely.
It was really incomprehensible.
âWhy are you laughing? Doesnât what I said even make sense?â
I opened my mouth blankly as I looked at her standing with a candlestick.
âStop it now.â
I raised my hand and covered my face.
âNow that I remember, please stop.â
âYou remember? All of it?â
For a moment, Rosieâs eyes lit up with intense joy.
I looked into those eyes and answered slowly.
â⊠Yes.â
I remembered everything.
A memory I wanted to forget.
To explain all this, the memory goes back a long, long way.