Chapter 16

Even though my swollen eyelids made it hard to see, my eyes were clearer than ever. My mind was very clear. After getting my body back, everything started to feel real again. I was more sane than ever.

I wanted to kiss the cheek of the person who hated Jang Hyunji. I wanted to hug them.

“Do you remember me?”

A clear voice. I opened my eyes again. I noticed that the loud voices of the men were gone. While I was feeling happy, they must have left.

Her eyes were very pretty—purple and beautiful.

“Lyla Green…”

Lyla Green smiled sweetly. I thought her smile was pure. But then, my shoulder was crushed and it burned.

“Aaaaah!”

“I only said to keep you alive. I didn’t say your arms and legs had to be fine.”

“Aah! Fire, fire, aah!”

In my pain and fear, the worst part was feeling like my whole body was on fire. I hated fire. I was scared of it—even if it wasn’t something I had really experienced before.

“Too noisy.”

She kicked my face. I don’t know if the men held back their strength or if Lyla was just stronger—but this hurt more. I could smell my flesh burning. My wish to hug her disappeared. I was really scared now. I thought I might die.

“No!”

“Why don’t you call your great spirits and put the fire out first? Your arm will burn off.”

“I-I can’t, I… Aah!”

Lyla shrugged and sat on my stomach. She had put out the fire on my shoulder, luckily. But I felt something strange in my belly, like something was being taken out. I just hoped it wasn’t my guts.

“I told them to kidnap you if the guards got lazy. I didn’t think it would actually work.”

“Ugh, wait, listen to me, huff!”

“I always wondered what was inside you.”

“Aah!”

There was a weird sound—like poking a cake. Her finger stabbed into my belly. I couldn’t even scream. My body was boiling.

“Nothing special.”

“Please, just listen to me… I’m not that woman…”

“What nonsense are you trying to say? I’m not one of those stupid guys who fell for you. I won’t fall for whatever you whisper.”

“No… I also…”

I couldn’t speak well because of the blood in my throat. Blood kept coming up. But if I didn’t prove that I wasn’t that woman now, I would really die. I had just gotten my body back—I couldn’t die right away. Not because of her hatred.

“Lyla, no, I’m the real Florence…”

“Didn’t I say stop lying?”

“Look!”

I let the blood run down my cheek and looked at her straight.

“I’m not that woman. I can’t use spirit magic or regular magic. I couldn’t even fight back—I was captured, can’t you see that?”

“…”

“She took my body for five years. I just got it back…”

Lyla paused. Maybe she thought I was crazy. I didn’t know if she’d believe a story about possession. But all I could do was keep telling her the truth: that I wasn’t the same person as that woman.

“You lost everything to her… I did too…”

I was just someone who had lost everything.

“…”

Lyla Green stepped back. Did she believe me? But her eyes still looked cold as she looked down at me. I blinked. Some tears fell, and my vision became a bit clearer.

“You’re saying… you’re not her?”

“No! I’m really not!”

“…Who knows. You’re good at lying, Florence.”

“That woman isn’t Florence!!”

“…”

“I’m Florence! That woman is Jang Hyunji!”

I shouted like I was having a breakdown.

To Lyla Green, I must have looked like someone with two personalities. But I couldn’t let her keep calling that woman ‘Florence’. That name was all I had.

Lyla suddenly grabbed my collar and lifted me up. I dangled like a broken doll. My clothes dug into the wound on my neck.

“Then bring her here.”

“Ugh!”

“If you’re not her, bring that woman!”

Lyla’s voice sounded desperate, like someone being chased. Her hand, holding my collar, was shaking.

“I can’t…”

I couldn’t breathe. Lyla stared at me, eyes wide. I clenched my teeth.

“I can’t! That woman went back to her own body!”

“…”

“I just got mine back. Just now! And you want me to give it up again? I won’t! Even if I could—I won’t! I can’t!”

“…”

Even if I die, I won’t bring her back. Even if I lose my arms and legs, I won’t do it. I’d rather die. If Lyla Green didn’t believe me and burned me for real, I didn’t care. I couldn’t do something as terrible as bringing that woman back.

“…You…”

Lyla Green said softly.

That woman was supposed to be the main character. This world was made for her. She was meant to have everything. While she stared at me with a complicated look, I also looked at her.

She looked like a poor runaway—dirty, tired. Her beautiful purple eyes and smooth skin showed her true self, but her skinny face and weak body showed how hard her life had been. In Jang Hyunji’s memories, Lyla Green didn’t get everything she deserved… but she became a knight in Linus’s group, which was a huge deal for someone born as a commoner…

No, this is Jang Hyunji’s memory.

The memories Jang Hyunji kept for herself.

Lyla looked me up and down. I got tense. Maybe it didn’t matter to her who was in this body—me or Jang Hyunji. The Florence she knew looked like this. But still, she looked confused by my words.

That was enough for me.

I let out a deep breath.

I didn’t want to die. But if I could at least help settle her grudge, then maybe…

“…You should burn me.”

“What?”

“Linus… that horrible man… he’ll try to take this body even if he has to sew it back together.”

Jang Hyunji, who hated fire, wouldn’t want to come back to a burned body.

“You… what are you saying…”

“Don’t leave even ashes. Burn it all.”

I closed my eyes. Whether she burned me again or cut me apart… honestly, she had no reason to listen to my begging. To her, it didn’t matter what was inside this body. I had no real proof she could believe.

I couldn’t even fight off Lyla Green, or those two men waiting nearby.

So if I had to die, it was better to die by the hand of someone who shared the same pain.

Even though I made up my mind, Lyla didn’t burn me. She didn’t hit me either. She stayed silent for a long time. I opened my eyes again. She was looking at me without any expression, but her purple eyes were full of emotion.

“Nelson. Ted.”

“You called?”

“Is it over already?”

Even though she spoke quietly, they answered quickly.

“No trace left, right?”

“Of course. What do you take us for?”

“Not even a hair. No one saw us. We checked.”

“What about tracking spells on this woman?”

“Oh, that’s the weird part. Maybe because she can use magic, but there were no tracking spells. She had no magic items either.”

“Magic tracking wouldn’t have worked. No one weaker than her could use it anyway.”

“There were no spirits with her either.”

“…”

I stayed quiet and listened. Honestly, it would have been better if they kept hitting me. My mind was clear, so I could feel all the pain. My belly burned every time I breathed, but I had to keep breathing.

Maybe it would be better if I just died…

I looked up at Lyla Green. She looked at me for a while, then turned around.

“We’re leaving.”

“Huh? You’re not killing her?”

“…It’s done.”