Translator and Editor: Lea and Ishy

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Chapter 22

The corridor was dark. Although every other light on the wall was turned on, there were blind spots everywhere because they were dimmed.

‘Too bad it’s on the same floor.’

If I had to climb or go down the stairs, I couldn’t be sure I had secured enough vision to prevent my fall if anything were to attack me.

‘It’s a good thing I brought my bed lamp.’ Thanks to the bed lamp that I remembered to bring, I was able to safely arrive in front of my old room.

Click–

I opened the door I was familiar with, the shivering cold wind of the midnight blowing through the broken window that cut into my skin.

I had to be careful that it didn’t plunge me into darkness by turning off the lamp. I walked across the room, placing the lamp on the table behind me.

“Ash.”

Still, no answer.

Soon, however, I was able to find the sleeping bird with his body rolled up on the floor outside the balcony door.

“Oh God, what if you catch a cold while sleeping here?”

It seemed he had fallen asleep while he was waiting for me.

I carefully picked Ash up and wrapped him with the warmth of my hands before standing up, my hair fluttering from the fresh wind.

“The scent of grass, it’s refreshing.”

When the smell of healthy grass tickled my nose, my eyes inadvertently flitted to view the outside of the railing.

It was still the middle of the night, so it was dark.

I could see nothing outside in the dark..

‘Huh?’

Within a short moment, something caught my eye.

The shaking of a light.

‘What is that?’

I leaned on the railing of the balcony in order to get a closer look.

At first, I just saw a round light, but when I looked closer I could make out a human silhouette.

‘Who is that..?’

Relying on a single lamp, the person walking below seemed familiar.

I focused on who they were. And not very long after, my eyes grew wide with surprise.

‘..Mary?’

It was the middle of the night. Too dark to perform your duties, or even to go somewhere.

My eyes followed Mary’s walking direction as I muttered softly under my breath, “she said it was an empty lot.”

When asked where the trail—the one I found while swinging—led, Mary certainly replied that way.

‘I’ll have to follow her.’

I hurriedly moved Ash to my bedside.

Though he seemed sensitive to light and abandonment, he did not wake up because he was deeply asleep.

I was glad that I was dressed in outdoor clothes from having to see Lennox off and then going straight to find Ash.

In the short period of looking after Ash, Mary had gradually moved away, and before I knew it, she looked as big as a finger.

“Sorry. I’ll be right back,” I whispered to the sleeping form of Ash before I went out.

I pressed my feet on the ground, each step loaded with urgency.

Killing the sound of my footsteps, I ran fast to catch up to the light of her lamp.

***

After a while, my forehead gathered into a frown.

‘..It’s not an empty lot?’

There was lush vegetation.

Looking at the trees, bushes, and grass that grew arbitrarily, it could be said without a doubt that this place had not been touched by any human.

‘Mary lied to me.’

There could be several reasons for people to lie.

And in this case, it was probably..

‘To hide something.’

I could feel my muscles tense.

The chilling sensation of finding out something so crucial and at the same time, a dangerous truth.

‘What is she doing here?’

Mary crossed the path thick with bushes as if she were going to her home. She was so fast, it was hard to catch up.

I was lucky there wasn’t a dry leaf or branch on the floor. Otherwise, she would’ve heard my rustling steps behind her.

Then, Mary suddenly stopped.

I reflexively hid behind a large wooden bark next to me.

At the same time, I caught the thick voice of a man.

What he said was nothing but shocking.

“Are you back, Lady Carinne?”

***

‘Carinne?’

I opened my eyes and stared ahead.

Unless my ears heard wrong, the man definitely called out to Carinne.

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”

“Not at all.”

“You always say that.”

The voice exchanging words with the man was certainly Mary’s. I couldn’t be mistaken by her unique voice.

‘But why did he call out to Carinne..?’

I was still trying to figure it out.

“Anything special?”

“There isn’t.”

Listening to their conversation, I seemed to have caught on to a new fact:

‘Mary’s way of speaking completely changed.’

It was an elegant yet overbearing tone of the ruling class. She seemed skilled in speaking informally.

No part of her expressed that she spent her life as a maid in the mansion.

“What about the girl? Did she wake up by any chance?”

“She almost came to her senses a while ago, but I put her back to sleep with the scent.”

“You must be working hard.”

“Not at all,” the man spoke, the lamp illuminating his face as he turned at an angle.

The only things revealed were his fierce blue-gray eyes beyond his mask.

But for some reason, I felt a sense of déjà vu.

The dry and blank look of those eyes.

‘I have seen them somewhere.’

Even amid chaos, I recalled the faces of the people I had met in this world one by one.

And soon I was able to come to a conclusion.

‘The butler?’

Why was he here? Just Mary and him? What were they doing in the middle of the night?

I had countless questions.

But there was no time to think deeper.

Because the two of them had begun to walk deeper into the foliage together.

I followed, keeping my footsteps quiet as much as I could.

They stopped shortly after.

On a night under a moonless sky, my surroundings grew even darker. Even the stars were covered by the shadow of the lush trees.

The only light I could see was from the lantern between Mary and the man.

Taking a risk, I tiptoed on my feet to get a good look ahead.

The first thing that reflected in my eyes was something white.

The color—white and pale.

As I was confirming it, a strong indescribable sense of fear struck me. Every part of my body screamed rejection against my actions.

‘I have to hold it in.’ I could barely cope up with the intuitive urge as I leaned on further to check.

I forced my eyes open.

A white cloth hanging like a hammock was seen between two wooden pillars.

There was a person lying upright on its top.

The butler jumped onto a nearby branch and in a flash, he was closer to the lying body.

‘....!’

I could barely swallow the scream that burst out as I covered my mouth with my hand.

A woman with red hair was lying asleep with her hands neatly placed on her stomach and eyes closed.

‘No way..’

A phrase came to my mind.

《 Beautiful red hair that burns like the setting sun and purple eyes that have the subtle shine of amethyst. 》

It was Carinne.

Like a strike of thunder, a scathing realization pierced my whole body.

I remembered what I hadn’t thought of earlier.

The realization that the unconscious part of my mind blocked to protect itself even though it was actually known.

“Please listen to me! My body changed! I am Olivia!”

Like a bright light, the truth flashed in the back of my mind.

‘Carinne has switched bodies with Mary!’

My vision was shaking like crazy, threatening to turn black.

I was at risk of falling to my knees with my body shaking in shock.

I got chills all over my body.

How? Since when?

The past few days of staying at Viscount Brienne’s house passed by my mind like a flashback. I recalled those memories at a high speed.

‘Carinne was said to be on her way back from her treatment. She was supposed to arrive when the sun came up.’

But even that information was given by Mary. There was nothing I could be sure of.

‘Does that mean Carinne’s treatment was actually a lie for the cover-up?’

Above all, was Mary—who told me the news of Carinne—the ‘real’ Mary?

I was muddled with questions in my head.

From when to when was she in Mary’s body? Or should I have asked, was she Mary from the very beginning?

“Ugh..!”

It was too complicated to grasp.

My head started to spin and my breaths came out ragged.

Why hadn’t I noticed?

I had only suspected that Mary was Carinne’s accomplice, but never dreamed that she might’ve been Carinne herself.

If I could just remember about the amazing ability Carinne possessed.

I was only buried with the idea of not drinking the tea, so I must’ve missed all the important points.

Like a complete fool.

‘Carinne was never away to recuperate.’

The reason why Ash had never seen Carinne even though he was on watch every day.

It wasn’t because Carinne left for medical care.

It was because she—in possession of Mary’s body—was walking around the house, hiding in plain sight.

Mary was sleeping inside Carinne’s body.

‘I have to pull myself together.’

It was not easy to catch up with my reason, but I tried to catch my breath.

I needed to know their purpose and what they were trying to do here.

Just in time, they started conversing again.

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