Chapter 61

The moment had finally arrived, and Mary proceeded to the center of the venue.

She could feel the gazes of those around her. Especially intense were the looks from Alicia and Parfait, who held a cake in one hand. The two leaned close to each other, eagerly awaiting Mary's "announcement," and behind them stood Patrick and Gainus.

Mary had asked her friends to subtly inform the surroundings about the announcement she was about to make. Thanks to their efforts, as well as the help of her brothers and Roberto, the venue was now silent, waiting for Mary's next words.

Receiving all these gazes, Mary took a deep breath.

She felt anxious, but the hand Adi placed on her waist reassured her.

With a clear voice, she announced, "I have something to tell everyone."

"I have memories from my past life, which none of you have!"

With Mary's statement, the venue fell into a dead silence.

What Mary recalled were the memories of her past life, specifically those from a dating simulation game she had played. In the game, the player controls the protagonist Alicia, who falls in love with male characters who are the targets of the game.

She revealed all of this.

However, she didn't go into detail about the game, only referring to it as a "creation from my past life." Explaining the game and its routes here would likely confuse most people, causing unnecessary chaos. Only Adi, with his vague understanding, seemed to accept it without much question.

This "creation from my past life" contained events at the Karelia Academy, Alicia's birth, the turmoil at the Elesiana Academy, and the incident with Bertina. Mary knew these events as potential outcomes.

It might be called foresight. Even as she spoke, Mary found it strange. But the truth was, things were unfolding exactly as she remembered from her past life.

After finishing her story, the venue was once again enveloped in a profound silence. The occasional murmur had ceased, and the reactions were varied: some were stunned, others exchanged confused glances...

Mary swallowed hard, the silence so thick it seemed to echo.

But the silence was broken by a voice that said, "Why?"

In an instant, all eyes in the venue turned to the source of the voice.

There stood Mauro, his face one of shock. He took a few steps forward and glared at Mary.

"Why... Why would you make such a foolish announcement...!"

"Why not? There's nothing to hide. I am Mary Albert, with or without the memories of my past life."

"But to do it here..."

"Exactly because it's here. If I'm going to announce it, I want as many people as possible to know. I don't want to be threatened because someone misunderstands my weakness."

Mary glared at Mauro and declared this.

Hearing this, the venue began to buzz again.

Confused voices asking what was going on, and others praising Mary's boldness. Some even realized that Mauro had been threatening her and expressed their disapproval.

Listening to these voices, Mary glanced at the dejected Mauro.

"I'm sorry to see you so disappointed, but threatening me was a mistake from the start."

"A mistake?"

"Yes. You thought I was keeping the memories of my past life a secret, right? That's why you threatened me?"

"Y-Yes, that's right. If it got out, it would be a problem, wouldn't it...?"

"Unfortunately, it doesn't matter to me if people know. Besides..."

As she spoke, Mary leaned closer to Adi, who seemed to understand her intention and pulled her into an embrace. She rested her head on his shoulder and looked at Mauro coldly.

"Besides, I've always told Adi everything, from the moment I remembered my past life. I'm sorry, but love, affection, and shared secrets are only with Adi."

Upon hearing this, Mauro was speechless... and then his shoulders slumped.

It seemed he finally understood his mistake and that his plan had failed.

The Noze family members hurried to call him over. They intruded with great urgency, smiling politely at Mary and Adi as they tried to lead Mauro away. Anyone would try to stop their son from challenging the next head of the Albert family. Especially since Mary had revealed that Mauro had been threatening her, the Noze family must have been pale with fear, thinking, "We must take him away before he does something foolish."

But as his father grabbed his arm and led him away, Mauro, who had been looking down, suddenly raised his head.

"Using that knowledge to your advantage is unfair! It didn't help me at all...!"

"That's because you were born as Mauro Noze. The memories of my past life are just memories; the current situation is the result of your actions."

"The Albert family should have fallen! Everyone! She knew about Alicia's royal lineage in advance and approached her to gain benefits! The turmoil at Elesiana University could have been prevented, but she knew everything and just watched!"

Mauro accused her of being unfair, his face desperate, his voice sometimes cracking, and ignoring the voices of his family trying to stop him.

His family tried to lead him away, not caring about the content of his accusations, but only wanting to remove their son who was causing harm to the Albert family.

Especially in the middle of the party, exposing his defeat and his desperate cries would only tarnish the Noze family's reputation.

Mauro was forcibly led away by his family, his appearance pitiful, and the crowd watched them go with cold, indifferent gazes.

As Mauro's figure disappeared, Mary let out a small sigh of relief.

She had no sympathy for him or any desire to smooth things over for the Noze family; she simply watched them go.

Mary had more important things to focus on now.

And that was...

"Miss Mary, what you just said..."

Alicia asked, her voice trembling.

Patrick was by her side, and of course, Parfait and the others were there too.

Everyone was visibly confused, and Alicia's steps were unsteady as she approached.

Karin and Bertina, who also had memories of their past lives, looked at Mary with concern, probably worried about her decision. If she had consulted them beforehand, they would have likely said in unison, "You shouldn't do it."

But once spoken, words cannot be taken back, and retracting a statement made with conviction goes against Mary's principles.

Most importantly, she trusted Alicia and the others. She believed that even knowing about her past life, they would remain the same and still like "Mary Albert as she is now."

"Alicia, did you... hear what I just said?"

"Y-Yes... of course. Miss Mary has memories from her past life, and you already knew about me, that I am a princess..."

And... Alicia tried to form words, but her understanding seemed to lag behind. She struggled to express herself, looking quite frustrated.

Seeing her struggle, Patrick gently patted her shoulder, offering to speak for her.

"Mary, to be honest, I don't believe a word of what you said."

"I understand. If someone else had said this, I would have laughed it off as nonsense."

Mary laughed self-deprecatingly.

Who would believe that "in my past life, the events of this world were a creation, and I knew what would happen in the future"? It was hard to believe, even as a joke.

Indeed, Patrick looked puzzled. His expression was harsh, and even without speaking, it seemed he was thinking, "What is this person talking about?"

Mary had never seen this puzzled look on Patrick's face before, despite their long history together.

...Or rather, she had seen it quite often.

Even before she recalled her past life. In fact, she felt she had seen a similar look from him yesterday and the day before.

"How strange. Your puzzled expression, as if you're thinking, 'What is this person talking about?'—I've had this memory since long ago."

"Let me confirm, did your foresight from your past life's memories start from high school?"

"Yes, that's right. Specifically, from when Alicia transferred in, up to the incident with Bertina."

"I see, then you can rest assured. I've always thought, 'What is this person talking about?' even before that."

Patrick said this matter-of-factly, and Mary declared, "This is friendship." It was a deep understanding that comes from being childhood friends.

Indeed, Patrick smiled brightly and said,

"My impression of you hasn't changed."

What a dazzling, refreshing, yet oddly suspicious smile. Mary didn't want to know what his impression was.

But this, too, was friendship.

As Mary concluded this, Alicia finally seemed to understand and called out, "Miss Mary is..."