You dont even believe what youre saying.
Thats not important.
A dark hand swept over Carynnes hair. Funnily enough, the touch felt comforting. And then, Nancys voice began to seep into Carynnes ears, slowly but rcilessly.
Its okay, its okay.
Just accept it. Live simply. You are truly beautiful, after all.
Now go back to sleep.
Its okay.
Everything frightening is just a part of a dream.
All the sadness belongs in a book.
You are dreaming, Miss.
This world is almost like a dream to you.
Soon, you and the knight will fall in love.
And all your hardships will end.
* * *
I am !
Mom has gone mad, Dad too! Even in death, Mom tries to control !
Carynne, clutching a rope, ran out to the garden. She couldnt live like this. It couldnt end this way. It had been a year since she regained her mory. Until yesterday, she believed she was the protagonist in a book, insisting in her diary that she must escape to find her real self sowhere else.
A crumpled diary page from the back of a drawer brought back painful mories, but she feared they wouldnt last. If she lost her mories again, who knows how long it would be. Carynne was utterly sick of it all. She wanted to die while she still rembered who she was.
Carynne didnt believe in a life after death. It was unthinkable. But her parents incessantly believed it, claiming it was inevitable that she would die, and that erasing her mory would help. The more she expressed her resentnt, the more they were convinced they needed to erase her mory. Taking drugs and listening to lullabies made her calm and obedient.
Every ti Carynne recovered her mories, her rebellion grew more violent, leading to self-harm and suicide attempts. If she forgot this ti, she might truly beco lost to herself.
Lets die.
While Im still .
Argh!
Carynne slipped, mud splashing everywhere. Tears stread from her eyes.
Hiic hiic
Carynne tied the rope to a tree, forming a noose. This should do it, she thought, recalling illustrations from lodramatic novels the maids read. Even without her own identity, such mories remained. It was a relief. Carynne placed her head inside the loop.
Take that, all of you!
Why
But Carynne fell. The knot wasnt tied tightly enough due to her lack of knowledge. The rope left a gash on her neck as it fell to the ground. Carynne stood and cried. She was now sixteen years old. Years had passed since her mothers death. Her mory was fragnted, mostly spent in ignorance.
She looked up at the mansion.
How long can I remain myself? Does turning seventeen an its my birthday? Would it be a success if I die today or tomorrow?
But after another failure, she was afraid to die again. Her throat hurt.
How long can I be ?
I fell into a novel.
To escape this book, I must fall in love. True love. And then I will be happy. This book is a romance novel. If I find true love, I will have all the happiness in the world.
Its okay.
The garden was wet with rain. Carynne shivered with cold. Ho, I must go ho. Its cold. She almost tripped over the rope at her feet but managed to get to her room. Strangely, she knew which one was hers.
* * *
I think Mom wasnt quite right in the head.
Miss, dont talk about Madam Catherine like that. She was a good person.
Nancy, who had received a ho, salary, and respect from Catherine, wanted to repay her kindness in her own way. But Carynne replied with a voice tired of Nancys loyalty.
So, you think my mother was normal? Drugging and brainwashing her daughter like this?
See.
She thought she knew the reason.
Catherine, too, had been entangled with a powerful and insane man like Gueuze.
But back then, Prince Gueuze was the most eligible bachelor in the country. He was the future king, handso, and he loved Catherine. Perhaps Catherine wouldnt have been satisfied with any other man.
Carynne knew all too well that choosing a man based solely on character was foolish.
But Gueuze was much too insane.
Catherine suffered at his hands, and like Carynne, she had repeatedly faced death. She must have been disillusioned with the endless fear of death and the idea of escaping through pregnancy.
Carynne understood why her mother acted the way she did.
That didnt an she approved of it as another victim herself, though.
How many tis had Catherine died trying to escape him? Carynne wondered.
How many tis did Mom say she died?
She never said anything about that.
I see.
How many tis have you died, Miss?
Nancy asked. Carynne frowned, thinking. How many tis was it?
Maybe a hundred and six?
Such a delusion Thats very specific.
Carynne sighed, looking at Nancy who still didnt believe her.
Nancy had her own kind of affection for Carynne, evident in her ticulous care. But she also harbored arrogance, the product of inferiority from her origins and the pride of being able to manipulate Carynnes mind. Thats what led her to subtly look down on her.
It wasnt pleasant, but Carynne was too tired to engage in another life-and-death struggle with a pistol. Nancy wouldnt betray her as long as she was well-compensated.
Carynne had tried to approach things this way and that, but at the end of the day, it was enough to just tolerate it and move on. Age seed to have made her more lenient.
Haa
Carynne flopped onto her back. She rolled around in bed. What should she do first this ti? She wanted to live more leisurely before Raymond arrived. Just knowing soone rembered her changed her so much. What if she couldnt succeed again next ti?
Dying in Raymonds embrace, like last ti, didnt seem so bad.
Miss, acting so childishly at your age?
Playing caterpillar.
Carynne wrapped herself in the blanket and retorted. Nancy gasped and then unwound the blanket Carynne had curled into.
Dont act so childishly. I didnt raise you like this.
You entered this house when I was already grown. Who exactly did you raise?
I know that my nanny was Missus Deere when I was young.
Carynne replied, and Nancy laughed awkwardly.
Rembering even that, are we?
Anyway, I wont cause trouble anymore, so dont try to brainwash . As I said, Ill pay you more.
Alright, alright.
Nancy nodded. For her, seeing Carynne so stable, it made no sense to force brainwashing and forcefully feed her dication during her cries and screams.
Though Carynne was still talking about her delusion of coming back to life after dyingwhich Nancy couldnt believeshe was showing a stable side that Nancy hadnt seen in a long ti. And with the promise of extra money, Nancy was more than willing to betray the fief lord and side with Carynne. After all, she had grown more attached to the Carynne she had cared for.
So, what are you going to do? Your birthday is coming up, Miss, and Lord Dullan will be here. You have an engagent ceremony planned.
Should she et Dullan? Carynne felt like a lead weight had lodged in her chest. That bastard. She gritted her teeth. The biggest problem was that he couldnt even rember.
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