Chapter 9

"What are you saying now?

Didn't you notice until now?

I truly hated you from the bottom of my heart.

I was definitely deceiving you."

She said this, hiding her mouth with a fan as if mocking me,

"Oh, that face... It serves you right."

She narrowed her eyes happily.

At the palace.

When I asked Marianne why she had deceived me, this was her response.

A woman with very beautiful black hair, possessing a grace and dignity that seemed beyond her 18 years.

That was her.

I was forced to be a candidate for the second prince's consort, and even though I was mistreated by the prince, ridiculed by the rural nobles and other candidates, she, Marianne, protected and comforted me.

That's why I believed her.

I respected her.

The hostility and harassment I directed towards the girl from another world were, in the end, because I believed Marianne's words.

I was convinced that Marianne was indirectly harassing her.

That's why I harassed the girl from another world.

But the truth was different.

The girl from another world was really a good person.

She dodged all my harassment and malice with her naturalness.

Despite all the harassment—she smiled and helped Letty.

She was truly... a pure-hearted person.

Before I knew it, I began to trust her more than Marianne.

As we interacted more, I began to doubt Marianne's words.

And when I later questioned Marianne, her response was this one sentence.

"You only realized now?

You were always the one who stood out, being praised as a prodigy just because you were the same age as me and had high magic power.

Do you understand how humiliating that was?"

To Marianne's words, Letty replied,

"...For that reason?"

"For that reason?

Isn't that reason enough?

There is no existence above this Marianne de Chal Cramborda.

Do you think that could be allowed?"

Marianne, who had always shown a gentle smile, now displayed a surprisingly bitter one.

There, Letty understood.

She was—foolish.

She had no eye for people.

She had no ability to read people's malice. She was just a naive girl.

■□■

Thump!!!

I woke up there.

Looking around—my usual bed, my usual canopy.

My favorite stuffed animals and the picture book I was reading.

I felt relieved that this was my usual room.

...Another dream.

This time, the dream was of Letty's past experiences.

It might be a not-so-distant future that could happen to me too.

Even though it was just a dream, my heart was still pounding.

An unpleasant feeling still lingered in my heart.

"---Had a bad dream, huh?"

I realized my body was drenched in sweat.

I had always wondered.

Why didn't Letty talk to the adults around her before soul-transmigrating?

If she could use such a secret technique, there must have been other methods.

If she had talked, maybe the future could have been changed without soul-transmigrating.

But from this dream, I somehow understood.

She was probably afraid of being betrayed again.

Because she was betrayed by someone she admired.

Her father, who she relied on, was drugged and manipulated, treating his daughter like trash. And when she clung to someone for help, she was betrayed again.

How much despair must she have felt?

At 18, she was still like a high school student.

If I were her, could I have endured being betrayed by adults and trusted friends at that age?

...I, too, should really talk to the adults.

About the future that will happen.

But will they believe me?

And most of all—what will happen to me if I tell them that I have taken over Letty's body?

Even if it was due to irresistible force, will I still be hated?

I don't want that.

I've been Letty for three years.

I don't want to be disliked by everyone.

What am I?

I am Letty, but not Letty.

Since I started recalling my memories, I have been seeing Letty's memories in my dreams more often, and I empathize with her.

It feels like I was being bullied by Marianne.

If this continues, I might lose myself, the Japanese person I used to be, and sometimes I get scared.

---I want to go back to Japan...

I sighed deeply, overwhelmed by emotions I couldn't control.