FDSML CH 71

Chapter 71 

Nanael had a frightening tendency — once she chose someone to torment, she wouldn’t stop until she’d crushed them completely.

At this point, it felt like her obsession wasn’t even about Alperen anymore. She just wanted to hurt me.

Adrian sighed deeply several times, rubbing his face in frustration, before finally pulling me into his arms.

“I’m sorry, Rodelia. Everything we did… it was for you.”

His hand gently stroked my back — a quiet gesture that said, We’re on your side. Please understand.

He was probably afraid I might misunderstand, that I’d think my family had betrayed me.

But really, it was such a foolish worry.

I knew better than anyone that my family loved me.

If anything, they loved me too much — never too little.

So I hugged Adrian back and whispered,

“Yeah. So now tell me everything. Don’t hide anything anymore.”

Once I gave him permission, he began to speak — carefully, but honestly.

“Do you remember that time we went climbing trees together and you fell? You got hurt pretty badly.”

“Of course I remember! I was so mad that you didn’t get hurt at all.”

That was also the same day I remembered my past life.
The day I decided to break off Alperen and Nanael’s engagement and started to change my fate — to avoid the poisoned ending.

“But why bring that up now?”

“Because that was the day… we erased your memories. That accident didn’t happen the way you remember it.”

He spoke softly, trying not to shock me too much.

Ten years ago, he said, I’d had one and only one close friend — Jessica Miranda.

From the very first day we met, we were inseparable. Everyone thought we were adorable together.

But no one knew the truth: Jessica Miranda had been manipulating me, whispering things that fed my insecurities and slowly destroying my confidence.

To a ten-year-old child, a friend was everything.

And Jessica had used that blind trust to her advantage.

“When I think about it now, you really started talking less after you became close to her.”

At that time, Adrian had been busy preparing for the Academy, so he hadn’t paid much attention to me.

It was only after I remembered my past life at twelve that we’d truly become close.
Before that, we were just a typical brother and sister — distant, polite, nothing special.

‘And since even in the original story, Adrian had a sister complex, it never felt strange to me.’

But now I learned — the reason he had suddenly become so kind to me back then was because of Jessica Miranda.

“That day was freezing cold. You went out to meet Jessica Miranda, but you didn’t come back for a long time, so Mother told me to go get you.”

Adrian’s face twisted at the memory.

“Normally, I would’ve just sent a servant. But that day, I finished my work early and went myself. When I arrived, you were standing dangerously on a high tree branch, reaching for something.”

“So that’s when I fell.”

On that cold winter day, a twelve-year-old girl had climbed a tall tree — and when she fell, she was clutching something tightly in her hands.

A stuffed toy.

“Later, I heard from Mei that Jessica had been bullying you — laughing while you tried to get that doll back. She was the one who threw it up there in the first place. She and her little friends just stood there giggling while you tried to retrieve it.”

Adrian glanced at Mei. She wiped her eyes quietly.

Back then, she’d only been a low-ranked maid. She had known what happened but hadn’t dared speak up.
Without evidence, accusing a noble child could have cost her her job — or worse.

Thankfully, Adrian had seen the scene himself, so Mei’s words carried weight. Her honesty was rewarded, and she became my personal maid.

“If I hadn’t gone myself that day,” Adrian said grimly, “you might have kept enduring her abuse in silence.”

He looked furious even thinking about it.

“But when you woke up, the first thing you did was ask for Jessica Miranda. You said you had to apologize. That she was your only friend. That everything was just a misunderstanding.”

He said our parents’ hearts broke hearing that.

The Miranda family had already confessed everything — all the cruel things Jessica had done.

Father wanted to punish them publicly, but seeing how fragile I’d become, he decided against it.

Instead, the Miranda family was quietly expelled from the capital. They wrote a formal statement promising that Jessica would never appear before me again.

Once their family was gone, the other nobles who had sided with them quickly backed off.
Some even left the capital on their own, sending letters of apology.

But that didn’t make Father feel any better. Every day, he swallowed his anger.

Even though the matter was handled quietly, the damage was done.

“The moment you realized people were avoiding you because of Jessica,” Adrian continued, “you completely broke down. You locked yourself in your room and said you didn’t need friends anymore.”

For a twelve-year-old child, it was far too much to endure.

To learn that every kind word your best friend ever said was a lie —
To realize the reason others avoided you was because your “friend” had poisoned them against you.

You lost your voice from the shock, and your body wasted away little by little.

In the end, Father made the decision — to erase Jessica Miranda from your memories entirely.

He thought that was the only way to help you heal.

“We just wanted you to be okay, even if it meant keeping this secret forever,” Adrian said softly. “I know you must be angry that we took your memories away.”

He looked unsure, maybe even afraid of my reaction — though it was clear he didn’t regret it.

If he could go back, he’d do the same thing again.

But after hearing everything, I actually felt lighter.

It finally made sense — why the original Rodelia Ferris had turned out so twisted despite her loving family.

Why I’d always felt a strange disgust and fear toward the word friend.

All of it traced back to Jessica Miranda.

“In the original story, Rodelia always had a close friend beside her,” I thought.

I used to assume that friend was just a background character — someone unimportant.

But it turns out she was the true villain who destroyed my life.

Even without remembering her, the scars she left remained. Somewhere deep inside, I had unconsciously decided never to have friends again.

Remembering my past life probably only reinforced that.

When I saw Jessica again in the drawing room earlier, that eerie chill down my spine — that was my body remembering.

It wasn’t just fear.

It was rage.

“So, the girl I thought was my best friend was actually a manipulative villain all along?”

I asked flatly, just to confirm. Adrian clenched his fist.

“She broke her promise. She’ll pay for that.”

He looked like he wanted to storm into the palace and drag Jessica out by the hair.

After all, Father had shown mercy once — only for her to crawl back into the capital less than ten years later.

And now she’d joined hands with Nanael?

Unbelievable.

I could already imagine what they were thinking — that the Ferris family had “unfairly exiled” the poor Miranda family.

Eight years was plenty of time to rewrite history and paint herself as the victim.

“Jessica Miranda,” I thought coldly, “you made a huge mistake.”

You should’ve stayed hidden away in your quiet little territory.

Now that I know everything, I’ll make sure you pay for what you did.

“Where’s that contract? The one they signed promising never to come back? Actually—no, I’ll just check the entire case file myself.”

Did she really think she could just walk back into the capital like nothing happened?

She must think we’re fools.

There’s no way I’m letting this go.