Chapter 2
Huh? Me? Are you calling me?
But my name isn’t Kalidora.
“Do you not hear what your uncle is saying?”
This time, Lord Abellus looked directly at me and spoke.
Could it be that “Kalidora” is an ancient term used to refer to someone who deserves punishment?
As the thought crossed my mind, tears welled up in my eyes.
I… I really must have done something wrong…
“Kalidora! Stop playing around and answer at once!”
Lord Abellus shouted.
With the attention of all my ancestors fixed on me, this was the perfect chance to offer a proper apology.
I forced my eyes open wide so tears wouldn’t fall, bowed my head deeply, and spoke.
“I—I’m sorry…”
I couldn’t see the expressions on my ancestors’ faces, but I could feel the space around me stir.
“I can’t lift my head. I’ve done wrong… sob…”
I mustn’t cry.
I needed to give a proper apology.
But when I remembered the chaos of Ardent Luna, a wave of helplessness and sorrow overtook me.
“Uuuuh…”
In the end, I broke down in tears and confessed.
“I tried to protect the family… but with my strength, I couldn’t do anything… sob…”
I paused to catch my breath, waiting for Lord Tiberius’s response.
Whatever punishment they gave me, I would accept it.
But Lord Tiberius’s response was unexpected.
“What is that child babbling about now?”
“She hasn’t seemed well for a while… perhaps we should send her back.”
“…Hm?”
Surprised by their reaction, I wiped my tears and finally looked up.
Everyone was staring at me with confused expressions, but no one said a word to me.
As I lowered my head again, I caught a glimpse of my reflection on the glossy floor.
“Kyah!”
The moment I saw it, I screamed.
Because the face reflected there was not the familiar Ignicia Cassia I knew—but a child I’d never seen before!
When I screamed, even the stern expression of Lord Tiberius began to falter.
“Young lady, excuse me!”
A man dressed like a servant rushed over and scooped me up in his arms.
“Wahhh!”
He held me with one arm and ran out.
Just like that, I was kicked out of the ancestor’s meeting without even being able to resist.
“Pffft!”
The place he brought me to was a well outside the building. Soon, maids came running and began wiping the tear-streaked mess from my face.
‘W-What the heck is going on…?’
I looked into the surface of the water and fell into confusion.
Short limbs, tiny hands and feet, a huge head.
“Did I… become younger?”
Even my tongue felt clumsy and sluggish.
No matter how I looked at it, I had the body of a four-year-old child.
No wonder everyone seemed so tall.
I had thought the spirits of the great ancestors just looked big, but it turned out I had gotten smaller.
“Young lady, don’t squirm—it’s dangerous!”
As I kept leaning toward the water’s surface, a maid held me in place and shouted.
“What… happened… sniff!”
I wanted to ask what was going on, but it didn’t seem like anyone could understand me.
The maid gently patted my face dry with a white towel, smoothed out my messy hair, and made me stand at attention like a soldier.
Standing there motionless, I could see red-tinted fuzz swaying in the corner of my vision.
‘Is this the afterlife? Did I become young because I died? Lord Abellus looked young too… Maybe I changed as well. But were my hair this red before?’
“Young lady, the young master has arrived.”
“Eh?”
Young master? Who’s that…?
“Kalidora!”
Storming in angrily was none other than Lord Abellus.
As he approached, everyone around him bowed their heads in respect.
“What the hell is wrong with you?! It’s already bad enough that you act out, but now you embarrass yourself like this?!”
He seemed furious about how I had screamed and disrupted the meeting earlier.
Judging by how quickly he’d followed me out, it looked like he’d left the meeting just to scold me.
“The head of the family was kind enough to still call you the heir, and this is how you repay that? I don’t know what kind of joke you think you’re playing, but I won’t let it slide.”
“I—I’m sorry…”
I had already failed to protect the family, and now I had cried and screamed in front of everyone?
I was so ashamed, I wanted to disappear.
Lord Abellus was my favorite ancestor. I couldn’t believe I’d shown him such a disgraceful side of myself.
As a child, I had been obsessed with stories about him. I memorized all the biographies, even read every barbarian-written record if it mentioned him.
When I first found out that he had died before even reaching thirty, I cried so much.
And now, he was this angry—because of me, his most pathetic descendant.
My chest tightened with guilt.
“L-Lord, I’m sorr…”
“If you can’t even speak properly and all you’re going to do is apologize, then just shut your mouth!”
I must’ve sounded insincere, repeating the same apology like an idiot.
“L-Lord, I’m sorry…”
He gave me a look like, “What nonsense is she spouting now?”
“L-Lord… regret…”
That didn’t seem to express my apology well.
Then maybe I should just go with a simple, sincere word.
I took a deep breath, clasped my hands together, and said,
“L-Lord… sorry…”
“I told you to stop joking around!”
Lord Abellus shouted, and I flinched, stepping back in fear.
“F-Fine…”
He ruffled his hair in irritation, clearly at his limit.
“You there, take this girl to her room at once. And you—”
“Y-Yes?”
“Stay out of sight. I don’t want to see you. Your presence is unpleasant.”
‘…Of course it is.’
I had no words left. I simply stared down at the ground.
As Lord Abellus turned and walked away, one of the maids immediately approached me.
“Young lady, let’s go to your room.”
Apparently, even in the afterlife, my quarters were prepared.
For now, I decided to follow her and check it out.
As we walked, the scenery of the afterlife was nothing like I had imagined.
Whenever I thought of the afterlife, I had pictured a dark, gloomy underworld—but this place was warm and peaceful.
Just like in the living world, warm sunlight poured down, and marble buildings gleamed beautifully under the light.
People walked around smiling, dressed in light, wing-like robes rather than armor.
“Wow…”
It was peaceful.
It looked exactly like what Ardent Luna might have been like before it was attacked.
Though I hadn’t been able to protect the family, at least I had finally found peace.
But thinking of the people I loved, who might still be suffering in the living world, made it hard to take another step.
“Young lady, this way please.”
“O-Okay!”
The maid urged me forward.
‘So even in the afterlife, these servants still work for Ignitius, huh.’
With that thought, I followed the maid into a dim hallway.
The place I was guided to was a small room at the end of the corridor.
“Here we are. Please, go in.”
Without any suspicion, I stepped into the room.
It wasn’t luxurious, but it looked clean and comfortable.
—Bang.
“Bang?”
Startled by the sound behind me, I turned around quickly.
The maid was gone, and the large door had shut tightly.
‘Wait, she left already?’
I ran to the door, only to realize the handle was far above my head.
Even if I jumped and grabbed it, there was no way I could push this huge door open with my small body.
‘No… I can’t open it alone.’
“H-Hello?! Anyone?!”
I tried calling out, but all I heard were fading footsteps.
Of course, the ancestors wouldn’t just leave a disgraceful descendant alone.
This must be my punishment—for failing to protect the family.
