The bed was comfortable.
‘Don’t you think this mirror is so pretty?’
It was soft, just like she used to remember.
‘I can see my own reflection so well. Come, have a look, Ki.’
It was also warm.
…Just like she used to remember.
‘Wow, look at you. We look like sisters.’
There were no other beds that were as comfortable as this.
And yet…
‘Hey, Ki.’
Why?
‘What would you do if I suddenly disappeared?’
Why couldn’t she sleep at all?
“Fuck…”
Kiera blankly stared at the ceiling. An activity she found herself doing more and more these past few days.
…It wasn’t strange for her though.
This tended to happen whenever spring was about to arrive.
Like clockwork, she found herself in a loop of nightmares that haunted her every second. It wasn’t bad. She could at least hear her mother’s voice once more, but it was just that… she found herself unable to recall what she looked like.
There were photos that could help her recall, but every time she tried to look at them, she found herself unable to go through with it.
“…I really need to get my shit together.”
Turning her head, she saw that it was already dark outside.
She had wasted the better half of the afternoon.
Scratching the back of her head, she slid out of the bed, and made her way out of her room, heading downstairs toward the living room and kitchen.
As her hand grasped the wooden railing of the stairs, the sound of laughter reached her ears from below.
“Hm?”
She could recognize some of the laughter.
‘They’re still awake? What are they laughing about?’
Kiera checked the time, rubbed her right eye, and made her way downstairs toward the living room, following the source of the noise.
Just as she was about to step into the living room, her father’s voice stopped her in her tracks.
“Yes, I actually did cook this one myself. Even though such an esteemed guest was coming, I thought I’d do the cooking. Kiera used to love my cooking, you see. It’s a pity that…”
What sort of bullshit…?
“Well, that’s on her.”
Aoife’s voice suddenly entered Kiera’s ears. She appeared to be speaking through bites of food.
“…The cooking is quite delicious so she’s the one missing out.”
“Hahaha, that’s pleasing to hear.”
The atmosphere seemed jovial and fun.
Standing behind the door that led to the living room, Kiera stood still, her feet feeling as if they were bound by invisible chains. She couldn’t move, no matter how hard she tried.
“Oh right, how is she doing in school? That girl never really tells me anything about her life. How are her grades?”
“I want to know that too…”
Aoife yet again responded, her voice sounding somewhat annoyed.
“I think she did well, but that bi… Keum, that girl ripped her score before we could see it.”
“She did that?”
“Yes, Evelyn was with me. You saw it, right?”
“…Unfortunately.”
“Hoo… I guess she hasn’t changed that much. Still, the fact that she has friends like you makes me more comfortable. I am gl—”
Bang!
The door suddenly burst open and all heads flicked in its direction as Kiera appeared.
“Kiera?”
“….You’ve woken up!”
Standing up with a smile, Viscount Mylne tried to say something, but before he could do so, Kiera walked over to the table and sat down on the only empty seat. It was right next to Julien who only spared her a glance.
All of a sudden, the atmosphere turned tense.
Taking note of the tension, Kiera glanced at all of the food on the table, from the turkey to the freshly baked bread, and all the goodies.
Her gaze slowly shifted toward her father, eventually landing on the woman sitting beside him. The woman kept her eyes lowered as if avoiding Kiera’s gaze. She was undeniably beautiful, with long blonde hair and striking green eyes
Kiera could also see the slight bulge of her belly as she sat.
As if sensing Kiera’s gaze, the woman’s eyes dropped even further. Kiera couldn’t help but smirk, reaching for a turkey leg with her bare hands and taking a big bite.
She chewed a couple of times before…
“Put!”
Suddenly spitting on the floor, much to the shock of everyone present.
“Ki—”
“Taste like shit.”
Kiera tossed the turkey leg onto the table, cleaning her hands with a nearby tissue. The entire time, her gaze never drifted away from her father.
“Fire the chef. He’s shit.”
Pressing her hands against the table, she stood up and glanced around the room, taking in the dazed and shocked expressions of the others before finally stopping at her father who looked at her with pursed lips.
She could see no signs of anger in his face.
Just sadness.
And that…
That…
Pissed her off.
‘Coward.’
Mumbling under her breath, she left the room, never once looking back.
Clank—!
The silence she left behind was nothing short of suffocating, shattering the previous jovial atmosphere.
*** Read new chapters at My Virtual Library Empire
Following Kiera’s short appearance, the evening was cut short. Still in shock, everyone headed back to their dorms.
The entire time, I kept my gaze focused on the Viscount and his new wife.
She appeared to be on the verge of breaking down but remained strong until all of us were dismissed. Her cries soon reached my ears shortly after I left.
“….And here I thought our family was dysfunctional.”
“Right?”
Overhearing Leon’s words, I found myself nodding.
Our family was crazy, but not this crazy.
“Err…”
On second thought, maybe not. Julien’s mother was quite crazy and so was his father. Even Julien was batshit crazy before I took over. Linus was probably the only normal one in the family.
“On second thought, maybe we’re a little bit more crazy.”
“…Yeah, you’re right.”
“What’s up with your faces?”
Appearing from behind, Amell blinked his eyes as he gazed at the two of us. Ah, what a stupid-looking face…
“We’re making a face?”
“Yeah. One that kind of seems like you both ate shit.”
“What…?”
I looked at Leon who looked back at me. He blinked his eyes, lost and so did I. We were making that kind of face? In hindsight, it made sense, because it almost felt like we did, but…
“Leave them alone.”
Aoife suddenly interjected.
“The two of them always have that type of face.”
“What, really?”
“…Yeah. It happens from time to time. Most of the time it’s something stupid.”
“Like?”
“Something about a stupid face and stuff.”
“I don’t look stupid.”
Leon suddenly interjected, prompting me to raise my brow.
‘He really is insecure about his face…’
I then glanced at Amell and shook my head. What pitiable genes.
“Whatever, I’m heading off to bed.”
Seeing that it was getting late, I decided to excuse myself and head for my room. The others also felt the same and shortly after we separated as we each headed for our own room.
‘It’s not bad.’
My room was pretty good. Nothing crazy, but it had all the essentials and most importantly, it was clean.
I looked around the room before sitting down on the bed and closing my eyes.
At the same time I did, I raised my hand and reached for the first leaf. Immediately, I was transported into a dark world. One where a familiar-looking wheel appeared.
Trrr—
The moment it appeared, it started to spin.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve been here.’
Ever since what had happened to me in the previous year with Pebble, I found myself growing somewhat adverse with the first leaf. It was simply far too much for me, and I didn’t think my mind would be able to handle it.
But that was the past.
Things were different now. My mind was in a completely different place, and I now felt more comfortable with myself.
I wasn’t scared of the first leaf, and most importantly, I was stagnating.
My Emotive Magic was.
‘I have been using the cube a lot to improve my control, but I feel like that is still not enough.’
The only thing that was improving was my control, not my emotive magic.
In the past, I would often get notifications about any experience I gained. From small things like feeling happy after a good score, to laughing at a funny joke. While the experience may have been minimal, it was always there.
But now…?
Extremely rare.
It took something big for a notification to appear, and my emotive magic grew stagnant as a result.
I didn’t like that.
…I wanted to reach the fifth level of emotive magic.
However, I knew that this was hard to achieve. In fact, it was an almost impossible task.
There seemed to be this sort of wall that I couldn’t overcome.
It was frustrating, and I wanted to break that wall.
That was why I decided to use the first leaf again. Because I wanted to reach the next level.
Tak—
Lifting my head, I saw the wheel stop.
[Anger]
‘Anger?’
I wanted to sigh, but could only helplessly close my eyes as the world around me changed.
Recalling the many experiences I had with anger in the past, I didn’t really feel the greatest, but who was I to complain? This was the path that I had chosen, and I could only go through with it.
‘…I just hope I won’t be stuck for long like the first time.’
I still shuddered recalling that experience.
Thankfully, time froze while I used the first leaf. Otherwise, I’d truly be in hell.
As everything around me shifted, I suddenly found myself standing in the middle of what seemed to be a church.
A church…?
“This seems like a bit of an odd place for a trial.”
Well, I wasn’t one to judge. This place didn’t seem too bad. At least, it was better than a few other places I had experienced in the past.
Finding a nearby seat, I sat down and waited patiently for the trial to start. In the meantime, I looked around the place.
The place was rather spacious, with a peculiar statue standing in the middle.
It was that of an eye…
‘Oracleus?’
Was this one of the churches of Oracleus?
It looked interesting but didn’t really pay too much attention to it. I was more nervous about the trial.
‘You never know what might happen.’
I waited.
Waited.
…And waited.
But…
“Uh?”
Nothing happened.
“Is something wrong?”
Looking around, I was just about to stand up when from the corner of my vision I spotted something and immediately grew alarmed.
My alarm only grew when I realized that what I was seeing was a familiar-looking black mist.
One that seemed to represent the silhouette of a person.
The mist stopped, staring straight at me.
Then…
“I found you.”
A voice suddenly echoed throughout the confines of the church.
“…The fake fragment.”