Episode 143
Translator : Missme
Editor : Aru
I stopped for a moment at the door of the parlour room.
âThereâs Agrita in here.â
Until this morning, I had not been told that Agrita had woken up.
Of course, I believed she would wake up without a problem, but Agritaâs unconscious period was getting longer to the point where I began to feel worried.
But I canât believe Agrita suddenly came to see me.
Whatâs going on? When did she wake up? Did she come here as soon as she found her consciousness?
I felt complicated. I faltered hesitantly and soon opened the door to the parlour room.
âAh.â
My eyes met with a lady who looked like a doll, who was sitting in a calm position in the middle of the parlour room.
Before long she raised her body. It was a gentle gesture.
âHello, Lydia.â
I stopped moving with a strange feeling.
Agritaâs appearance was the way I remembered it.
Brown hair that falls neatly to the waist, brown eyes, long neck and white skin like a deer
Her voice was the same, and her colour was not different from her before, as it was incredibly unbelievable that she had been lying for a long time.
But sheâs a different person.
Agrita, who is the same as before, was the first person Iâve ever seen, with everything externally revealing, including her face, body shape, voice, and atmosphere.
I expected it, but when I checked it with my own, I felt very strange.
I was a bit stiff enough to make the other person feel strange, and then I finally woke up and opened my mouth.
âLady Graceâ¦â¦ Agrita, sit down first.â
What should I call her?
Of course, itâs Lady Grace at heart, but Iâve been calling her by her pet name in front of other people.
Is that all? IShe even let go of her words in private.
Of course, not many people have seen it.
Still, it may be strange if there is a sudden sense of distance. I sat down, compromised by calling her by name but not letting go of words.
ââ¦â¦.so, how are you feeling? I didnât hear you woke up, but I was surprised to see you.â
âIâm sorry. Of course, I should have contacted you first, but I was too busy.â
Agrita smiled embarrassingly and continued.
âI heard from people around me that I had been lying unconscious for quite a whileâ¦â¦.â
Then Agrita lifted the teacup slightly with both hands and let it go again to see if it was hot.
Suddenly, I thought that if it were Ari, she wouldnât have put it down so gently.
While thinking about it, Agritaâs voice continued.
âMy body is amazingly fine that I canât believe Iâve been unconscious for so long.â
âIâm glad youâre okay.â
Iâm really glad. It was good to know that there were no aftereffects.
Agrita heard the answer and stared at me.
What? Did I say something wrong? Agritaâs lips moved at the moment of wonder.
âIn fact, I had something to tell you, so I was so embarrassed and didnât contact you.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âWellâ¦â¦.â
Agrita showed signs of hesitation before speaking out.
âActually, Iâve lost some of my memory.â
As soon as I heard it, I realized what Agrita was going to say.
âShe doesnât remember when Ari was in her body.â
I was already not sure about this. Will Agrita remember the time her Ari had in possession of her or not?
The answer was the latter. Agrita continued with a perplexed face.
âI donât have any memories of the period from last autumn to just before waking up. Itâs a weird thing, I donât know when I lose consciousness, but some memories disappear before I lose consciousness.â
I couldnât find anything to respond to, so I replaced it with silence.
This was welcome from my point of view.
Among the conversations I had with Ari, there were quite a few stories that would be difficult for others to hear.
Like Agritaâs character, which I read in the book, remembering it would not immediately lead to the problem, but it was much easier for her to be unaware.
Andâ¦.
I fiddled with the non-hot cup handle.
I donât think itâs necessary to share it with Agrita. The things that were between Ari and me, it would be nice to recall even memories.
ââ¦â¦I see. That must be embarrassing.â
âSo I wanted to apologize.â
âApologize?â
I looked into Agritaâs eyes of unexpected words. She nodded and went on.
âI heard you were very nice to me during the time I couldnât remember.â
âOh, thatâsâ¦â¦..â
âIâm sorry. Iâve completely forgotten those memories. I donât know what to say.â
âNo, no. Itâs okay.â
She may be doing that because she didnât know, but Agrita had no reason to apologize to me. I shook my head in a hurry.
âDonât be sorry. The loss of Agritaâs memory, soâ¦â¦itâs an accident, isnât it? Why would Agrita apologize for the accident? Again, Iâm really fine, so you donât have to worry about it at all.â
Did I go too far? But it hurt my conscience to accept an apology that I didnât deserve.
Ari looked at me floundering and smiled softly.
It was a white, fluffy, and innocent smile that reminded me of spring flowers.
âYouâre a good man. Lydia-nim.â
Well, well.
I had a conscientious question of whether I was in a situation to listen to that, but I decided not to think long anyway.
If I get a compliment, I can just return it.
âAgrita is a really good person.â
Itâs not an empty word. Agrita, who I read in the book, was a good, kind, and right person.
âThatâs why I was nice to Agrita. Iâm always nice to good people.â
This is a white lie.
âI see. Thank you.â
Agrita smiled more brightly.
The smile, which seemed to be in full bloom more clearly than before, was strangely the same face but didnât seem to overlap, so I didnât take my eyes off her face for a while.
***
As soon as the spray was tilted, the stream of water was scattered through the dense entrance.
After Agrita returned, I came out to the backyard.
The backyard was full of fresh flowers and unripe buds that were still waiting to bloom.
I was watering the buds, and suddenly Dylan came to my mind without any connection.
âHowâs Dylan doing?â
The vacation that Ari gave her before returning to the original world must have ended.
Is she still at Viscount Graceâs mansion now?
I couldnât confirm who Ari had just brought as her escort, but if it were Dylan, she might have come to greet me.
I thought of one thing or another and then sighed.
I felt unwell.
Agrita was very different from Ari I knew. It was only a short conversation in the parlour room, but I could feel it.
Of course, that was natural. Because they were different people.
Thatâs right. Different people.
Agrita Grace is a different person from Ari.
Thatâs what Agrita is supposed to be like.
I stared at the flower buds that were wet in the water.
I didnât expect to think about this, but my meeting with Agrita caused me an unexpected thought.
What about me?
What kind of person was Lydia originally?
Originally born instead of me as the daughter of Queen of Viroz, abandoned, adopted into this family and raised as a Duke of Widgreenâs daughter.
And died at the hands of Ash.
What kind of woman was she?
It was when I was lost in such thought. Before I knew it, I could feel a sign of presence close by.
As soon as I turned my head, my face brightened reflexively.
âAsh.â
Ash naturally took the spray from my hand and picked it up. It wasnât that heavy.
He wonât give it back even if I say itâs okay. If I told him not to take away the pleasure of watering myself, maybe he would give it back.
I burst into laughter. Ash with a weapon of the backyard.
Even though it looked like a painting, it was an interesting one.
I looked at Ash and said.
âWhen did you wake up?â
âA little while ago.â
Ashâs face, which answered like that, showed a deep sense of regret. Regret?
ââ¦.â¦if the butler had been a little less useful.â
What does that mean? I was curious, but I didnât pry. Because there was something I wanted to say more than that.
âAsh, you know.â
âDo you remember when you told me you remembered it? Soâ¦â¦ in the northern forest.â
When the secret of my birth was revealed thanks to a murder contractor in the northern forest, Ash hugged me and said.
âI remembered.â
âThatâs when. What did you say you remembered?â
âWhen I was young.â
âWhen you were young?â
âWhen I was very young and I couldnât even keep my balance, I remembered what you said to me when you came to see me.â
Ash kept quiet about his nonsense.
I listened calmly, too. I thought Ash could do that.
âDo you remember everything you heard back then?â
âYes.â
âReally? Everything?â
âI could recite it again. Do you want me to recite it?â
No, I donât need it. And it wonât do me any good if I donât remember it properly.
I only remembered this roughly.
âThen did I say this then? I remember my past life, and I reincarnated it, so this is my second.â
âYou did.â
âWhat did you think when you heard that?â
âNothing.â
Ash looked me in the eye. His golden eyes were filled with my appearance.
âI didnât think of anything.â
âDonât you want to know? What I was like in my past life, what kind of world it was, how I remember my past life.â
âNot really, it doesnât really matter.â
Ash spoke peacefully without haste. So that I can know that heâs more sincere.
âI only care about you as I see you now.â
ââ¦â¦.â
âNot the other one. Whatever it is.â
âAsh.â
âWhy?â
âCall me noonim.â
Itâs really nice to be called âyouâ. I can understand why the song âIâll Call Youâ was so popular in my previous life.
(T/N: song by lee seung gi, noona nae yeojanikka~~~~)
But I suddenly missed that title, too. Ash looked at me with a face that he didnât know what I meant and opened his mouth.
âNoonim.â
I grabbed Ashâs face and bent his back for a long time. Then I kissed the back of his nose.
I thought of useless things. Whatever kind of person Lydia is, what does that matter?
Anyway, Iâm alive at this moment as Lydia, and Ash likes that kind of course.
I grinned at Ashâs eyes. Ash flinched his eyebrows and said in perplexity.
âItâs a little difficult to do it hereâ¦â¦..â
What? Wait. Whatâs the problem?
I stared vacantly at Ash and soon refused to resist the warmth that came to my lips.
The sprayer rolled down the ground.
The flowers and buds of the backyard, which were soaked in water, gave off a fragrant smell. It was spring.