‘…Am I seeing things?’
In one moment, Kiera’s world went dark, and when she awoke, she was greeted by a sight she never thought possible.
Her aunt, that annoying, sadistic aunt of hers… she was crying.
‘Am I dreaming?’
Kiera found the situation so unbelievable that she bit down on her tongue. But as the pain from her action hit, she realized she wasn’t imagining it.
Her aunt… she was truly crying.
But why? Why would that heartless woman cry?
‘Could it be him?’
Kiera’s gaze eventually fell towards Julien.
Indeed, if there was one person capable of pulling such a feat, it was him. His emotive power was amongst the strongest within the Empire. Yes, within the Empire.
He was no longer just the strongest in the academy.
His Emotive magic was now on par with the best within the Empire.
If it was him…
“I didn’t do this.”
Julien’s words interrupted her thoughts like a splash of cold water as if he had effortlessly read her mind.
His gaze drifted towards her aunt.
“Your aunt… she’s been keeping something from you. No, not just her. Pretty much everyone within this household is keeping secrets from you.”
“Wha…? What?”
Kiera shook her head, attempting to reject Julien’s words, but as she did, she was suddenly reminded of her aunt’s words— the ones she had overheard just before her world went dark.
Her eyes widened.
Could it be…?
“Arkh—!”
A sudden scream shook Kiera out of her thoughts as her head flicked to face her aunt, her eyes as bloodshot as they could be.
“Fuck!”
She wasn’t holding back with her voice.
…By now, she was practically shouting.
“Why does everyone just keep meddling in my business? For once… And I mean for once, why can’t anybody mind their own fucking business? Why do you have to ask so many questions? Why do you have to hate me for every little thing? Can’t you just stick with the script?!”
Her gaze shot towards Julien who stared back at her without much emotion. In spite of her aunt’s scary expression, he looked completely unfazed.
Was he truly unfazed or was he just masking his expression?
“I’m not asking for too much, am I?”
“…..”
Julien didn’t answer her but his face said it all.
This made Rose look even more irritated as her jaw clenched tightly. She looked like she was about to burst once again, but just barely managed to keep herself in check while flicking her head to stare at Kiera.
The two pairs of red eyes met, and at that moment, it all grew silent.
Neither said a word nor did they have to.
That was until Rose eventually shattered the silence, her eyes turning even more bloodshot.
“Do you really want to know what happened to that bitch?”
“…..”
Kiera opened her mouth but found no words coming out.
For some strange reason, her mouth was strangely dry. She wanted to say ‘yes’, but at the same time, felt… scared.
Scared? Yes… she felt scared about the answer she was going to receive.
In her mind, her mother was the most perfect human being. Caring, warm, and most importantly, fun.
She was perfect, and she didn’t want to ruin that image.
Therefore, once put in a position she so desperately wanted in the past, she found herself unable to fully answer.
Her silence spoke volumes to her thoughts, and Rose found herself smirking at the sight.
“I guess you don’t.”
In fact, she almost looked relived by the fact.
…And that didn’t escape Kiera’s sight. Relieved? Why did she look so relieved? What could possibly have happened for her to not want to know?
With her body shaking, Kiera clenched her teeth.
A hard lump formed in her throat as she lifted her head, locking eyes with her aunt. Her mouth opened, but only a hoarse voice emerged as she spoke.
“I… do.”
Every part of her told her otherwise, but…
She needed to know.
For her own sake.
So…
“Tell me.”
The truth.
And the truth only.
“…I can take it.”
*
‘What do you think my daughter will be like when she grows up.’
It was a distant conversation.
One that Rose remembered having in the past. She had long forgotten about it, but staring at her niece, she was suddenly reminded of it.
She remembered the conversation well not because she had a great memory.
No, it was because of the face she made when she answered her.
‘Well… She’s most likely going to be like you.’
‘Like me?’
Rose still remembered the face she made so well.
It was one of…
Sadness.
Yes, sadness.
‘I don’t know. I’d prefer it if she wasn’t like me.’
‘What, why? Wouldn’t you want your daughter to be flawless like you?’
‘As if…’
‘Then how would you want her to be like?’
‘I guess I would want it if she was a bit more like you.’
‘Uh? Have you lost your mind? Why would you want her to be like me?’
‘…Hehehe.’
Her question was met with a soft laughter.
The conversation ended there, with Rose brushing it off as just one of her sister’s strange moments. Why in the world would she want her daughter to be a troublemaker and loner like herself?
If it were up to her, she’d want her daughter to be like her sister.
Beautiful, kind, and capable.
It was only way later that Rose understood why her sister had answered like that. But by then, it was already too late.
By then she had left the world.
The culprit?
Herself.
.
.
.
“Tell me… I can take it.”
Pulling her away from her thoughts was Kiera’s soft voice. Biting her lips, Rose stared at her own niece.
“H-ha.”
Her chest trembled.
As she gazed at her niece’s features, so much like her sister’s, she found herself struggling to find the words.
The more she thought about telling her, the heavier her chest grew.
How could she even begin to tell her the truth? That she wasn’t the one to have killed her mother.
That there was no murderer.
“Haa…”
Rose ruffled her hair, her frustration starting to grow evident.
She had dreamt of this moment many times in the past. It was one of the many nightmares that constantly haunted her over the past few years.
She knew such a day was meant to come, and even prepared herself for so long, but… staring at her own niece, she found the words she had prepared beforehand slip away from her mind.
‘I can’t do it.’
Rose shook her head and prepared to move away when she suddenly felt a hand press against her back.
“You…!”
An emotionless voice echoed in her ear shortly after.
“For her sake, you have to do it.”
He spoke as though he knew the truth.
How could he know the truth? There’s no way he could. He was simply a parasite trying to get his hands on the mirror. He didn’t care at all about Kiera or their past.
…He just wanted to find out where the mirror was so that he could climb even higher in the organization.
“You—”
Seeing her still hesitate, Julien sighed to himself and looked at Kiera.
Over the past few minutes, memories of Rose’s past flashed in his mind, and he had started to understand the truth behind the past.
He started to realize why he had felt such a familiar feeling with Kiera’s mother, and he also started to understand Rose’s hesitation.
It was the culmination of all those things that pushed him to this current point.
But even that wasn’t enough.
Rose remained hesitant, still needing that extra push—something to finally make her speak.
But how?
How exactly could Julien get her to speak?
It was then that Julien found himself looking towards his forearm.
As he gazed at the four-leaf clover tattoo, neatly hidden beneath his illusion, a thought sparked in his mind, causing his eyes to close.
He pressed the third leaf shortly after that and his world changed.
***
The moment I pressed onto the third leaf, the world around me started to change.
…The color around me started to fade a little, and the general atmosphere became more tense.
Bang—!
I was startled to hear the sound of something crashing and I quickly activated [Lament of Lies] to hide my presence and self.
Immediately, my attention fell to my surroundings.
‘Kiera’s room?’
Yes, this was indeed Kiera’s room. But… it was also different.
Swoosh!
A shadow suddenly moved past me, narrowly missing my spot as I just barely managed to dodge it.
“Find it!”
“Look for every nook and cranny of this room!”
A familiar voice echoed through the air, and when I turned my head, I saw Rose standing in the corner of the room, her cold gaze scanning the surroundings.
“I know it’s in here! Make sure you find the mirror and report to me the moment you find it! If any one of you dares to have different thoughts, I’ll kill you on the spot.”
She looked younger than she did now, though the age difference was barely noticeable, and her gaze felt even more piercing than it did today.
Staring at her and then my surroundings, I realized what was happening.
‘This must be the day when she used the Inverted Sky to look for the mirror.’
I was somewhat familiar with this day.
Not only because it was where Kiera’s memories stopped, but also because of a different memory of mine.
One that I had relieved before…
“Hurry up! Make sure you look everywhere!”
“….Has anyone looked through the closet over there?”
Right as Rose mentioned the closet, my gaze fell on it and I suddenly felt my breathing stop.
‘Ah.’
I quietly found myself moving towards it.
My heart raced as I inched closer, and when I pressed my hand against the wooden surface, I felt it.
…The two souls that were hiding within the wardrobe.
Kiera’s, and…
‘Mine.’
“So? Is nobody going to check out the wardrobe?”
As Rose’s voice echoed once more, I turned my head to look in her direction, and I put more force into the wardrobe.
Tak—
Her steps drew nearer and my heart started to race.
Then….
Clank!
She arrived before the cabinet and opened it, revealing nothing within.
“…..”
Her gaze looked through every inch of it before frowning as she quickly turned around.
“—!”
I had just sighed in relief when my hand suddenly trembled and my face twitched. Immediately, Rose’s face flicked back in my direction, her gaze drawn towards the wardrobe as I silently cursed within my heart as I felt something hit the barrier I had set up within it.
‘Stay put!’
“…..”
Rose’s gaze scanned the wardrobe once more as my heart rapidly sped up.
Thankfully, her gaze didn’t linger over the cabinet for long as she looked away shortly after.
“Looks like there’s nothing.”
Without a word, she turned and walked away. I watched her retreating figure, my heart clenched tight, before shifting my gaze to the wardrobe. My hand trembled as I felt something hit the barrier once again.
At the same time, I canceled [Lament of Lies] as the wardrobe returned to how it was and I silently cursed to myself.
‘Why can’t you just sit there obediently? Do you really have to hit the barrier I’ve set up?’
That…
It had almost exposed me.