Chapter 52
“It’s a cat!”
It wouldn’t have been strange to say my body moved on its own.
Showing up in front of the two of them had been almost an impulse.
It was also a warning not to go around acting like a caring big sister in my body.
But the other party’s reaction was unexpected.
Unlike Ariel, who was acting like she might die from how cute the cat was, she simply looked down at me with a bored expression.
She didn’t seem to recognize me.
It was pure, thorough indifference.
If that attitude was an act, it was the kind of acting that could fool anyone.
“Come here.”
Unaware of anything, Ariel approached me with a face full of excitement.
I’d hated the way she looked as if she carried all the world’s misfortune on her shoulders, but I also hated that “so-happy-I-could-die” face she had now.
The brighter Ariel was, the more it felt like I was the only one unable to accept the present.
“Uh…”
By ignoring Ariel’s beckoning gesture, I laid my twisted feelings bare.
When Delphi turned and left without a glance at me, I ground my teeth.
I decided I had to make contact with her somehow.
Let’s see how long you can keep ignoring me.
Whether this was an act, or whether someone else really was in Delphi’s body, I could find out from here on.
“Can you get down from there?”
I hadn’t expected her to treat me kindly.
My ears twitched of their own accord.
Flustered, I meowed like a cat.
“This almost feels like we can talk to each other.”
A moment ago, she’d been so indifferent.
It seemed she liked animals after all.
If that was the case, the rest would be easy.
“I never said you could come in!”
“Meow—”
“Sigh…”
“Meow—”
I waltzed into her room uninvited and prowled around “Elicia’s” room—a room unlike the one I had stayed in.
A proper desk, with stacks of documents arranged neatly on top—it stirred strange emotions in me.
They were things I had never had.
Perhaps that was why I subconsciously avoided the desk.
“Since you climbed up, you can climb down, right? I’ll leave the door open. Go out on your own.”
It didn’t take her long to realize how pointless it was to try and chase out an agile animal like a cat.
As if declaring surrender, Delphi even kindly opened the window, then lay down on her bed with a weary look.
She must have been exhausted, because she soon fell asleep.
My eyes lit up, and I climbed onto her body.
My form scattered like dust, and I returned to human form.
Looking down at my younger face while she slept was far from pleasant.
A person’s memory was like a story.
Peeking into a memory was like opening a book and reading it, and erasing a memory was like blotting out the words inside.
This woman’s memory was no different.
“You didn’t leave?”
I hadn’t slept all night, busy peeking into her memories.
Still, I had gained something.
The biggest gain was realizing this woman was not Delphi.
She wasn’t even from this world.
The woman knew this place was inside a novel.
The absurdity of realizing the world I lived in was part of a story wasn’t nearly as shocking to her as waking up in someone else’s body.
But there was another problem.
Did she even read it properly?
Even if she hadn’t read it to the end, she knew far too little.
Her reason for not finishing it was ridiculous.
She can deny it all she wants, but wasn’t I her favorite?
Apparently, after I died, the novel lost its appeal for her.
My long-forgotten self-love threatened to flare back up.
Was her upbringing so messed up that even her tastes ended up warped?
The woman’s—Elicia’s—past was dark, though in a different way from mine.
Her so-called mother had never once called her by her name until the day she died, and her so-called father only ever called her with curses.
Even after reading all of her past memories, I couldn’t recall what name she had used.
No one had ever called it.
So I decided to just call her by my old name. After all, I was currently in Delphi’s body, and I had no lingering attachment to that name anymore.
“Did you give it a name?”
“I’m not going to raise it, so why bother?”
“For someone saying that, she seems to like you a lot…”
Even as Ariel spoke, I didn’t let my guard down. I was certain she’d try to touch me at any moment.
And sure enough, Ariel, ignoring Elicia’s answer, subtly reached her hand toward me.
I swatted her hand away with my tail without hesitation.
How dare you touch me.
There was a limit to what I’d tolerate.
“Why can’t I pet it?!”
Whining in frustration, Ariel pouted.
“I haven’t even petted it myself.”
Elicia’s reply, given in a flat tone while her eyes stayed fixed on her papers, seemed meant to pacify Ariel.
Elicia could be warm one moment, and cold the next.
Maybe that’s why I found myself hovering near her, craving attention.
She’d sometimes give me more affection than I expected.
When I first saw her, I thought she was the ideal big sister. Now I thought differently.
Her affection resembled Isabella’s—my mother’s.
Poor thing.
Because of the abuse in her past, it seemed she was more easily stirred by Isabella’s motherly warmth.
Her love for her mother was far too much like mine.
Which only made her seem more pitiful.
The only difference was that while I had gone astray, she—though twisted—hadn’t strayed completely.
“You should try petting it. What’s so scary about a cat smaller than you that you have to step back like that?”
Ariel urged Eden on.
My fur bristled instinctively.
Eden was different from Ariel or Elicia. The only reason I could stand being around him was that he’d been easy to handle when we were kids.
But letting him touch me was another matter entirely. I could tell he didn’t even want to pet me—this was purely Ariel’s stubbornness.
These days, Ariel had a pushy streak. She was childish, putting her own feelings above others’.
She was nothing like the timid girl she used to be.
What did she do to her?
It wasn’t easy to turn a child into this level of spoiled brat.
Then I realized—despite seeing all of Elicia’s memories, I’d still fallen asleep on her stomach.
I wasn’t much different from Ariel.
She’s the problem.
And so, I conveniently shifted all the blame onto Elicia.
As I was lost in thought, Eden’s hand—guided by Ariel—approached me.
Behind the small hand, I noticed Eden’s oddly cut hair.
Wearing an ill-suited red coat and sporting a ridiculous hairstyle, Eden couldn’t be called scary even as a joke.
Yet when his hand neared me, a sharp pain pricked at the back of my neck.
I swiftly scratched his hand and hissed.
“Ah!”
A thin red line appeared on his pale skin.
That’s what you get for trying to touch me.
Just as I was about to huff and turn my head away, someone grabbed the scruff of my neck and lifted me up.
It was Elicia.
“No matter how much you hate being touched, you can’t attack people.”
Meow—
I’m a person too, you know.
Even knowing she wouldn’t understand, the words came out reflexively.
Elicia took Eden into the bathroom and washed his hand.
Then she coaxed Ariel into apologizing to him. She really was just like my mother.
Meow—
A lump rose in my throat, and I meowed before I realized it.
When I saw Eden blushing as he looked at Elicia, I almost laughed.
Unbelievable. You’re thinking about love in this situation?
And to top it off, he liked the daughter of the man who’d locked him up.
It was absurd.
When I had been Elicia, Eden had been Ariel’s emotional trash bin.
And for Eden, Ariel was the same.
They comforted each other out of mutual pity, as if competing over who was more miserable.
Their bond had been built on sympathy and understanding—never on possessiveness born of love.
That’s how it had been back then…
How ridiculous.
The once-innocent Eden was gradually baring his fangs. That his feelings had shifted toward Elicia instead of Ariel was unexpected.
At some point, Eden had stopped looking away when our eyes met.
His gaze was growing sharper.
It was nothing like the look one gives a cat.
The mana inside him was the same.
He’s about to awaken…
Delphi had been able to predict a person’s awakening period through magic.
Based on the past, Eden’s awakening should have been far off.
Yet now, the mana circulating inside him was so active, it wouldn’t have been strange if he exploded at any moment.
In his blood, passing from heart to brain, there was as much mana as Delphi’s—no, more.
Seeing his power so clearly, I could understand why Delphi had died by his hand.
So I had no intention of taking him away like Delphi had.
I didn’t want to die by his hand twice.
Still, I could use the current Eden.
This time, you’re the one who dies.
I knew the symptoms of mana rampage when one couldn’t control it.
Without magical training, Eden would end up just like me.
No—worse.
The more mana you had, the greater the scope of destruction when you lost control.
If things went well, my father might die in Eden’s rampage before the magic my mother placed on Ariel was even undone.
The signs of awakening were already there.
Fearing he might die before doing anything—his head cut off in an instant—I even placed a protective spell around his neck.
It was the greatest act of kindness I could offer.
Perched at the window of the annex where Eden was, I looked down at him gasping for breath.
Sometimes he clawed at the air with bony arms, other times he scratched at his neck as if the choker there was suffocating him.
When Elicia’s visits suddenly stopped, it took only a few days for his fits to start.
“Ugh…”
He gagged, and then vomited—though with an empty stomach, only stomach acid came up.
Disgusting.
I couldn’t help but frown.
Anyone would pity the sight of him.
But not me.
I had no “pity” option where he was concerned.
My only interest was in his rampage.
If his awakening could be delayed just a few more hours, that would be ideal.
It wasn’t time for Father to return yet.
“Hhh…”
A sound like crying escaped from him.
My eyes narrowed.
I didn’t know the difference between his past and his present. If he was going to let emotions push him into awakening early, that should have happened in his previous life.
Yet as I thought that, a corner of my mind flashed with images of Eden, Ariel, and the warm Elicia.
This was why affection was dangerous.
“Elicia…”
As if confirming my suspicion, Eden called out for Elicia.
The voice, hoarse and cracked from his dry throat, was filled with longing.
He hadn’t called for me, but because that name was also mine, my stomach churned.
The tightly stretched patience I’d been holding onto since coming here finally snapped.
I shifted into human form and knelt in front of the crouched Eden.
Sensing someone’s presence, Eden lifted his head.
His face was covered in tears and cold sweat.
“Hang in there just a little longer.”
“…?”
Eden furrowed one brow, as if to ask who I was.
But he didn’t seem to have the strength.
Soft groans continued to escape him.
“If you get out of here, you’ll be able to see Elicia.”
The moment Elicia’s name came up, any curiosity about my identity vanished.
Life returned to his once-dead violet eyes—that was proof enough.
