Chapter 58
It was a horrifying sensation.
Someone kept grabbing and releasing my hand, over and over.
I never imagined I’d feel that again. I panicked.
Even before I could fully process the betrayal, I wanted to scream.
Laila also hated Jang Hyunji, so she would help me—
What a naive thought that had been.
“Don’t be too shocked, Florence.”
The sensation of hearing my own voice, detached like that, was both alien and familiar.
“I’m not trying to steal your body. I just want to teach you something.”
Teach me what?
“I told you I didn’t dislike you, remember? I nearly killed you for no reason, so this is my apology.”
That’s what Laila said.
But I couldn’t understand how this could be called an apology.
Having my body taken over—it was a terrible act for me.
A demon wearing my skin and turning my life inside out…
The trauma left by a world made perfect only in my absence ran deep.
I wished I could scream, but I couldn’t even make a sound.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Laila collapse as if her strings had been cut.
Her shadow writhed and twisted, eventually forming a humanoid figure.
“Well, well. Look who it is.”
“No time for games, Nelson. Take care of my body.”
“Yeah, yeah. Ah, but I did make a promise…”
“Promise?”
“I promised that woman I’d kill her the next time we met.”
Nelson gave a cutesy wink.
Thankfully, Laila didn’t smile—she shot back coldly:
“Cut the crap. Make sure no one gets in while I’m gone.”
“Yeah, yeah. Orders are orders.”
Nelson bowed his head.
At Laila’s gesture, another man emerged from her shadow.
She made sure they laid her body down gently before turning away.
“See? It moves just fine. And it doesn’t even hurt.”
Laila, now in control of my body, moved with the grace and speed of a flying squirrel.
It was no wonder she found me pathetic.
“Since I’m at it, want me to show you how to use spirits too? It’s easier than explaining it!”
I already knew the theory.
Useless magic, unreadable spells, senses-based descriptions…
I’d studied magic books and spirit-related texts as a hobby.
Longing and obsessing over things I couldn’t have—that had always been my life.
Laila burst out laughing.
The sky had already turned dark.
As she dashed through the streets like the wind, the cold breeze stung my cheeks.
Cool air filled our lungs, and strangely, I felt a sense of liberation.
Even though my body had been taken over.
“No good. I can’t summon the spirit bound to you. Well, I guess that makes sense since I’m the one using your body.”
Even the sensation of lips curling into a smile was transmitted to me.
This was different from when Jang Hyunji took over.
This time, my senses were still partly alive.
It wasn’t possession—it felt more like puppetry via black magic.
Laila spoke again:
“You shouldn’t just be protected—you need to fight for yourself. You need to become our strength. Our plan only becomes viable if you are part of it. After all, I’m helping you, not them.”
I knew. I understood.
“The fastest way to learn is through your body. Words don’t work on people with rigid minds. I don’t have the patience either. But I do mean it when I say I’m sorry, Florence.”
Her voice softened slightly.
Surprisingly, I realized she genuinely felt sorry.
And that surprised me—maybe because I didn’t resent her.
Or maybe because she was treating me as someone separate from Jang Hyunji.
That was something I deeply appreciated.
“Learn the sensations. Feel it, Florence. You can do this. There’s no way someone like you can’t do what that idiot woman did so easily.”
Once I understood what it was, I’d be able to learn quickly.
Amazingly, this was Laila’s goodwill.
“Alright, let’s go show your guardians how well you can walk.”
They’re not my guardians.
I wondered if she could hear me.
Even if she did, she pretended not to.
My vision shook rapidly, and then—I saw the main office of the Haynes Trading Company.
Panic rose in me.
I wasn’t wearing the ring right now.
They’re going to give me hell for this…
“Why are you doing this, Enoch?”
“Can’t you see I’m busy?”
My heart pounded violently.
It felt like the woman inside me—her—recognized who was beyond the door before I did.
“Linus has gone completely mad. A bounty? A reward? Who knows what people desperate for money will do to her!”
It was Blake.
My brother.
“What can a mere merchant do that even the Knight Commander couldn’t?”
“At least you’re the best when it comes to tracking people. Linus is too flashy, too loud. You can’t find someone deliberately hiding in back alleys that way…”
“…”
“Please, Enoch. She’s like a little sister to you too, isn’t she?”
Like a little sister to you, too.
That sentence made Enoch scoff with a cold laugh.
Blake faltered, but tried again:
“We need to find Florence—”
“I left that mansion five years ago, Blake.”
Enoch’s voice was cold as ice.
He said he left the mansion the moment he realized I wasn’t the real Florence.
According to Rissy, he was practically kicked out.
Clunk.
Something slammed shut.
A chair scraped across the floor.
My heart beat too fast—it hurt.
Blood didn’t seem to be flowing properly.
My hands and feet were freezing. My mood dropped.
“Do you know why I left?”
“No. You never contacted us after that.”
“Sure, Linus the bastard kicked me out. But even if he hadn’t, I would’ve left on my own. I didn’t want to spend one more day in that hellhole.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You really don’t know, Blake?”
“…”
“The Marquis of Seymour was kind to me. He took in an orphan, fed me, gave me a good education. He didn’t ask for my opinion, of course, but he treated me like family. I considered that a generous act.”
“You’re implying something. Are you being sarcastic?”
“I’m just saying I was a dumb kid.”
“…”
“Even if I was treated like family, I was still an outsider. That’s why you all kept your dirty secrets from me.”
“…”
“Blake, I didn’t know.”
“…”
“I understand not loving someone. Family doesn’t mean you have to care or love them. So even though it was a cruel and petty way, I didn’t blame you for ignoring Florence, for distancing yourselves from her.”
His voice carried a sorrow I’d never heard before.
“But I was a fool to think that was all you did. I didn’t realize the truth until five years ago—when I started digging, trying to find the real Florence.”
So… he found out.
The thing I wanted to keep hidden from him, no matter what.
“E-Enoch, that…”
“People who would go that far to deliberately hurt a daughter, a sister—they didn’t stop there. Of course they didn’t.”
Enoch was breathing hard with rage.
His cold fury filled the room.
“I must’ve looked like an idiot, saying we should all leave together.”
“…”
“I don’t owe your family anything anymore. No debts. No gratitude. Go home, Blake Jin Seymour.”
Enoch’s tone was cold and threatening.
“Th-that’s not the point. That’s all in the past now!”
But Blake didn’t give up.
“We made up! Florence could be in danger right now! Yes, like you said, we hurt her in the past—but things are different now.”
“Tch. I don’t want to talk to a dumbass.”
“Enoch Haynes!”
“And what if Florence isn’t in danger? What if she disappeared on purpose, and even the great Knight Commander can’t find her?”
“…”
“Your beloved daughter is missing, and what’s the Marquis doing? Why aren’t you using your family’s power—why come begging me?”
“That’s because…”
“You’re going against the Marquis to look for her? Now?”
“…”
“You didn’t search once for five whole years.”
Enoch believed the family knew I wasn’t the same person as her.
I didn’t think they were completely clueless either.
At the very least, Grace knew the difference between me and Jang Hyunji.
“I know it’s too late.”
“…”
“I want to apologize! I was young—I didn’t know any better!”
My head burned.
Reality felt too heavy.
Laila. Where are you, Laila?
I gripped the doorframe—
That’s when I realized: I could move again.
Young? You were just young?
“I was hurting too! It was painful! Every time I saw her, I missed Mom. I felt like if not for her, Mom would still be alive! I couldn’t breathe!”
Was it really not your fault?
Disgusting. Revolting.
“We had to resent her to survive! I know now—it must’ve hurt her. I know that now. Resentment became a habit. It wasn’t until years later that I realized how wrong we were.”
I had always wondered—
Do I even deserve to be alive?
“So when she lost her memory, I thought—it was a gift from the gods. A second chance. We tried to make things right. She understood us. You don’t know, Enoch. We were so close. We were perfect.”
So that’s what the answer was
To the question I had asked myself over and over again.
Just that.
