Chapter 24
Should I have helped Jena?
I wondered if I was being unnecessarily nosy, but I felt uneasy about just ignoring it and moving on.
Moreover.
“Really, if it weren’t for you, Young Lady, I can’t even imagine what would have happened to my hand. It’s terrifying to think about. You are my savior!”
“Hehe, it’s really nothing much…”
The first sincere thanks I’d ever received was more than enough to make me melt.
‘Nosy? What does that matter?’
From now on, I am not Cierra, but ‘Nosy Eisen.’
‘It’s not common to find someone who accepts my actions without suspicion or misinterpretation!’
Right, right, shouldn’t I naturally help such a person?
*Ding.*
[Artega nods in agreement, saying it’s absolutely right.]
[Artega gives a thumbs up.]
Since Artega was also in agreement, the rest proceeded swiftly.
I stopped Jena, who kept thanking me, and brought up the matter of her mother.
I thought she would agree to my proposal right away, but Jena just stared at me blankly for a while.
“Jena?”
Was it perhaps burdensome? I thought she might be uncomfortable since I suddenly brought up her family situation.
‘Maybe it really was unnecessary meddling after all.’
I decided to change the subject, saying it was nothing. Just as I was about to open my mouth…
*Plip, plop.*
“…!”
Jena’s dazed eyes rapidly reddened, and tears fell just like that.
“Thank… you. Really… thank you.”
Her voice was already thick with emotion. She tried to smile at me somehow, but the corners of her mouth kept trembling.
“…Alright.”
All I could do for Jena like that was pat her shoulder.
I awkwardly placed my hand on her shoulder and gently rubbed it.
At my action, Jena’s expression completely crumbled, but that sight was actually easier to look at.
And so, I comforted Jena for a long time.
***
Time passed, right after Cierra left for the dining room.
“Ahem.”
Jena, who had insisted on serving Cierra despite her protests, sniffled in a corner of the dressing room.
In her hand were the plump envelope Cierra had given her and a piece of paper stamped with the family seal.
After confirming Cierra’s signature at the bottom of the paper labeled <Entry Permit>, Jena recalled what had happened a little while ago.
“How about we do it soon? Hmm, what about tomorrow?”
“*Sniff*, are you sure it’s, *hic*, okay? *Sob*, thank you, *hic*.”
“It’s not like I’m using my strength, it’s Lady Arte’s divine power, so it’s fine. Hmm, then, shall we bring your mother to the mansion?”
The Cierra who had returned from near death was not the person she used to know.
Originally, Cierra had a childish side, like a 6-year-old.
If she didn’t like something, she would pretend not to know, almost as a form of protest. That applied to Jena too.
But now it was different. Her way of speaking, her every action, was mature.
It would be a lie to say she had no questions about that change. But to Jena, the reason for Cierra’s change wasn’t important.
“Tomorrow…”
Jena’s cheeks reddened as she touched the entry permit Cierra had written for her.
She had never once looked forward to the future in her life until now. On the contrary, she only avoided it.
But not anymore. Because Cierra had saved her life, which had been so daunting.
“What should I do with this letter?”
That was why she was hesitating, just fiddling with the letter Cierra had given her.
‘She told me to report everything about the Young Lady…’
This was the butler’s order, and by extension, Lucien Eisen’s command.
Jena pondered for a while, then finally seemed to have made a decision and moved her feet.
And…
*Knock, knock.*
“Butler. It’s Jena.”
“Come in.”
She entered the butler’s office, clutching the letter Cierra had given her tightly in her hand.
***
As expected, people should face situations with the worst-case scenario as their baseline.
That way, no matter what happens, you can think positively, ‘Phew, I got through it okay!’
And my current situation was exactly like that.
Breakfast with my parents.
Frankly, I thought my parents would be angry the moment they saw me.
‘At the Envy Church, I was accused of being a thief, and at the Greed Church, I almost became a sacrifice for offering an elf, and I tried to use the family name to resolve it.’
While neither incident was my fault and they were somehow resolved well, there was a high chance they had been distorted negatively.
‘Especially since I’m still famous as the troublemaker young lady.’
Who would think positively about an incident I’m involved in?
Plus, I had a previous record of being misunderstood by my family.
But what I received were sincere praises and concerns for me.
“As expected of our daughter! How did you catch that thief, huh?”
“Hayden! Why are you praising her? Cierra, you mustn’t overdo it! What if you get sick and collapse again?”
“Ahem, right! Your mother is correct! If anything happens, you must tell your family, our daughter.”
It was an unexpected thing to say. No, actually, I had anticipated it a little.
‘Because they are such affectionate people.’
Last time, when they misunderstood that I had hurt Jena, it was the same.
They blamed themselves for a whole week.
It was only when I awkwardly approached them first that the shadows lifted from their faces.
And since then, it seemed like they just approved of anything and everything I did.
“Oh my. Cierra, you finished your cake again today. Is it that delicious?”
“…Ah, yes. It’s delicious, Mother.”
“Then have mine too.”
“Ahem.”
Following Mother, Father also subtly slid his cherry cake over to me.
“……”
It’s strange. I don’t know why my throat feels tight here.
The unconditional affection felt awkward, like wearing ill-fitting clothes.
Yet, it suddenly occurred to me that ‘Cierra’—that I—had a really wonderful family.
‘The feeling is… hmm… peculiar.’
My stomach is churning; it’s probably because I couldn’t sleep all day.
I felt like I needed to divert my nerves elsewhere quickly, so I focused only on the cake.
But, I had no idea someone would appear to help me in such an unexpected way.
It was when I finally chomped down the last cherry I had saved.
“Cierra Eisen.”
Lucian, who had been completely absent since my encounter with Shine, spoke to me.
“Don’t even think about lying in front of me.”
What was he saying, declaring war on me like that?
I tilted my head, frowning as a hard cherry pit got stuck between my teeth.
“You, are you really ‘Cierra Eisen’?”
“……? Gulp!”
The question was so absurd I almost swallowed the pit while staring blankly!
I quickly spat out the cherry pit and looked at Lucian. At first, I thought he was joking, but his eyes were utterly serious.
No, more than serious—
“What, can’t you answer because you’re not ‘Cierra’?”
“Wha, what?”
“Sigh, I should have been suspicious from the moment you used divine power.”
His eyes had the crazed glint of someone who had spiraled out of control and done a full 359-degree turn!
‘Gasp, he’s seriously misunderstanding me in the worst way possible!’
Even worse than Shine Adielle.
And as if to add insult to injury, he demanded, “Get out of that body right now.”
“It’s my body, where am I supposed to go…?”
What is happening first thing in the morning?
I was about to go crazy from the unfairness of how he reached that conclusion.
*Ding.*
[Lady Arte has donated 1 Florin!]
[Oh my! Could it be! Cierra, possession novels are popular in the capital these days? It seems he’s been reading them and finds them very entertaining!]
Right on time, Arte made a plausible guess. It didn’t take long for that guess to become a conviction.
Arte donated 1 Florin and displayed a status window.
[That’s right. Lucian’s study is full of possession novels!]
Which meant.
‘He’s acting like this towards me because he’s been reading novels?’
How can he confuse a mere story from a book with reality!
‘Sigh, who even writes such novels—’
*Ding.*
[Lady Arte has donated 1 Florin!]
[Heheh. That would be me, doobi-doobap~ ԅ(＾∇＾ԅ)]
[Artega smiles shyly.]
‘You…!’
That reclusive, shut-in god, really!
From my resurrection in the coffin to Lucian’s misunderstanding. Instead of helping, Arte only caused me all sorts of headaches, making my neck stiffen.
‘Hoo. Calm down. Stay calm.’
I tried to smooth out my face, which was threatening to contort, and pulled myself together.
Now that I knew the source of the misunderstanding, I had to clear it up quickly.
“Lucian, stop reading those novels. Where in the world does possession happen? Huh?”
Of course, with reincarnation and even a god existing, possession might be possible too, but let’s ignore that for now.
“I just met Lady Arte and got a second chance, that’s all.”
I deliberately sighed exaggeratedly and shook my head.
But Lucian was a truly fanatical expert on possession novels.
He rummaged in his arms and pulled out a book.
“<I Was a Maid in My Past Life, Now I’m the Villainous Empress?!> Page 5, line 6. A similar phrase appears here too.”
“No—”
“You *are* a possessor.”
I’m not
