CH 158

Chapter 158

Chirp, chirp.

The morning bird chirped clearly.

I got up from the blanket and brushed my frizzy hair.

The sun was setting in my bedroom. The scenery was peaceful as usual.

I think something happened, but I couldn’t remember. As I rubbed my eyes, I heard a familiar voice.

“Ah, she’s awake!”

“I know, Brother. Don’t make a fuss.”

Pedro and Hugo looked at me, side by side. Both brothers had eyes full of anticipation.

“Lily, let’s go on a picnic today!”

Pedro smiled broadly and called me.

“Brother, wasn’t Lily surprised because there was so much noise?”

Just as Hugo was wiping my face with water on a handkerchief, a tall man came into the room.

“I’m ready for the picnic.”

Alan looked at me and smiled softly. Then, from the depths of my heart, longing filled me.

For some reason, I felt like I had not seen that expression in a very long time.

“…Ah…?”

Tears streamed down my cheeks. Hugo jumped in surprise.

“Lily, what’s the matter?”

“You’ve wiped it so painfully, haven’t you, Little Brother?”

“Don’t make a fuss.”

Alan strode over to the bed and looked at my face. His hand caressing my cheek was tender.

“Did you have a nightmare?”

I nodded. Alan hugged me tight and patted my back.

“It’s fine now. I’m here.”

My family stayed by my side for a long time until I stopped crying. When the tears stopped, Alan gently stroked my hair.

“I’ll wait for you to change, Lily.”

The three men left me and went out into the hallway. Suddenly, the door closed and the bedroom became quiet.

“…How? Are you happy?”

A shrill voice was heard nearby. When I turned to the side where the voice was heard, there was a red-eyed young man sitting there.

“…Michael.”

The warm sunlight brightened his platinum hair.

I rubbed my eyes and looked at him and muttered.

“I don’t know.”

“Why?”

Michael got up from his seat and stretched. All of a sudden, he was tall.

“That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? That your family really loves you.”

“…..”

Michael’s words were undeniable. He smiled, his eyes folding charmingly like an angel’s.

“Let’s go on a picnic.”

***

The spring garden was gorgeous.

There was no such thing as belatedly falling snow; only the spring flowers for the youngest daughter of the duke family were spreading happiness in full bloom.

I grabbed the hem of my dress and walked around, then suddenly looked around.

“…Where is everybody?”

The family that had been close to me until recently disappeared.

And the man following me was replaced by Benny instead of Michael.

“Everyone is by your side, Princess.”

Benny made a noise similar to catching floating clouds.

I tilted my head, but kept moving. As we went into the garden, the sound of the wind subsided and silence came.

“Brother Hugo? Brother Pedro…?”

Only my voice echoed through the rich flower garden. And even though it was a spring day, I felt a bit chilly.

“Dad?”

I looked back again. Benny was standing at the entrance to the garden, looking at me.

‘No, is that really Benny?’

I narrowed my eyes and stared at the distant figure.

He was too small to be called Benny. Just looking at his shape, he looked like a little girl.

“Who…?”

Thump, thump.

The figure came towards me.

Without realizing it, I gulped, swallowing my saliva. I had an ominous feeling. I took a step back, but my back was blocked by a wall.

As I took off the glove on my left hand and was preparing to turn into a demon, I was made to freeze in place.

“Hi?”

It was a familiar voice. Slowly, my head ‘creaked’ and faced the person who was talking to me.

“…Ah.”

Red hair in two braids. Big emerald eyes like a puppy’s.

The little girl looked at me and smiled.

‘…Me?’

No, I didn’t smile like that. I knew it because I practiced for a long time in front of the mirror to make up a smile.

If so, then that child…

“Ah.”

As I let out a faint sound, the girl nodded as if I was right.

“…Lilietta.”

The fragile girl looked up at me with her emerald eyes wide open. That alone burned my throat.

Lilietta von Bauner. The child who had been deprived of her body for 18 years appeared in front of my eyes.

The strength in my legs was gone, so I slumped down in place.

Gorgeous outing dresses were piled up one after another like whipped cream decorations on a cake.

“…Are you here to get your body back?”

The real Lily stared at me without answering.

I squeezed my nervous face and finally burst out laughing.

“If you’re really Lilietta… It’s all over now.”

How could I describe how I feel right now? It was complicated and subtle, but the biggest emotion, that’s right…

I was relieved.

It felt like the stone that had been pressing on one side of my chest for years had disappeared. It was so sad, as if I was going to cry at any moment.

“…Lilietta. I have a question for you.”

I leaned my head against the wall made of grass.

My delicately styled hair was messed up, but it didn’t matter anymore.

It was because the hair was decorated without permission from the owner of the body.

Lily tilted her head like a little bird.

“What?”

“By any chance… While I was living with your name…”

I hesitated and put into my mouth what I feared the most.

“…have you been watching me?”

Lily shut her mouth again and looked at me.

I sat down and licked my lips. Now was the only chance I had to say what I wanted to say.

“Lilietta.”

Finally, I pulled out the words I had been waiting for.

“I’m sorry.”

The words of an apology that I recite several times in my mind.

The moment I uttered those words in front of her, I was suffocated.

I didn’t even know if this feeling that filled me right now was joy or sadness.

“I pretended to be you and loved your family…”

I thought I would add my reasons, but I just bowed my head for fear that everything I said would be an excuse.

“…I’m really sorry.”

I touched the ground with both hands.

Lily turned and looked into the distance.

I never asked for forgiveness, so I didn’t urge her to look back. If that child wanted to, I was going to stay in this posture forever.

“I’ve never watched you.”

Lily answered after a while.

The little girl’s charming laughter echoed through the garden.

“Not only you, but I can’t see anything. I am in a place where no one can meet me.”

The Lily I imagined had never smiled like that.

Every time she saw me, she was busy pouring curses with tears in her eyes.

Come to think of it, it was an illusion created by my fears. I didn’t really know anything about the owner of my body.

To apologize once more, Lily turned her head around.

“I have to stay there in the future.”

I didn’t quite understand what she was talking about.

Didn’t she come to me to get her body back and live as the real Lily? But what about ‘in the future’?

“You.”

Lily put her face close to me. She got down on her knees and made a very funny expression.

At the girl’s next words, I was stunned like I had been hit in the back of the head with a hammer.

“You think I’m Lilietta, don’t you?”

“…What?”

Swooosh.

A cool breeze blew from the end of the path in the garden. My body shuddered from the chill that bit my flesh.

“…You’re not?”

“I told you, no one can meet me.”

Lily clenched her toes and turned away.

“And you too.”

The girl suddenly ran into the garden.

I hurriedly got up and followed the girl. A burst of colorful flowers flashed across my field of vision as quickly as lightning.

I went inside without thinking and suddenly stopped walking.

A picnic table was set up in a scenic spot. And there were people I loved sitting around.

Alan sitting at the head, Pedro standing confidently, Hugo with a new pair of glasses, Michael included in the family, Benny in the seat next to mine, and…

“…Ah.”

The woman sitting next to Alan noticed me and waved with a smile. The red hair I saw in the portrait was as lively as a rose.

Duchess Natalia. My… No, it was Lily’s mother.

I realized it belatedly.

“This is a dream.”

The wind blowing from the edge of the flower garden had calmed down. My messy bangs fluttered and obscured my vision as if blood had spread.

The sound of the family’s laughter echoed through the peaceful flower garden.

There was only one empty seat left. If I were to sit there, the scenery would be perfect.

“Why don’t you go and sit down?”

A girl whispered behind me.

“Everyone is waiting for you.”

I proceeded slowly as the girl said, and sat down.

Then everyone’s attention turned to me.

Pedro pushed a plate full of sweets and cakes in front of me, Hugo praised the dress I wore today, and Benny asked if the seat was uncomfortable.

Michael looked pale, but he still glanced at me, and Alan reached out and tucked my hair behind my ear.

“My daughter, do you like the garden?”

Natalia called me. Her cheerful face was full of laughter.

“I grew them myself. Roses are summer flowers, but if Lily likes them, they should bloom.”

The family nodded in agreement. Gorgeous flowers and vines were in full bloom around the table.

I looked into Alan’s eyes and couldn’t help but be astonished.

There was no peculiar gloom on Alan’s face.

He clenched his chin and looked at his wife sitting next to me with a friendly smile.

The more Natalia talked, the more a smile formed on his face.