The Return of Lilietta

Episode 14

“Come in.”

The one who opened the door and came in was Leonhard. His expression looked somewhat impatient.

She must have a lot to ask you since she passed out last night crying like crazy. So much so that she came to see you as soon as the morning came.

Lilietta opened her mouth and showed him the card with the four-leaf clover on it.

“There is this.”

“Rita.”

“Actually, it wasn’t a test that you could pass or fail. Right?”

Leonhard’s eyes were fixed on the small, old, and rickety card.

I found it!
Leon, you must pass the exam!

“At that time, Leon-nii was preparing for the Academy Graduation Exam. The graduation exam doesn’t have a pass or fail, it’s just a ranking. I didn’t know that, so I thought it was similar to the Academy entrance exam that my brother took in the past or the Knights Templar entrance exam that my brother Lihi took. I didn’t know there was an exam that didn’t have a pass or fail.”

Leonhard’s eyes grew wide. Lilietta smiled and continued.

“So I wrote that I should pass, but my brother didn’t even correct my mistakes and just laughed and said that I would definitely pass and kissed me on the cheek. After he left, my brother Rihi teased me and taught me. I wrote the wrong card.”

“……!”

“It’s the first time since that day, Leon.”

Lilietta closed the matchbox and held it out.

“Before my brother even returned from the academy… I disappeared.”

Her voice trembled slightly with the emotion welling up in her.

Leonhardt was speechless and didn’t even take the matchbox. He opened his eyes wide, took a deep breath, and opened his mouth in a voice even more trembling than hers.

“Lily, Ki, memories…….”

“Yeah, I remember it all now. Everything.”

“Oh my god.”

Leonhard staggered toward her, his large arms wrapping around her.

“Lily, you, Lily…….”

“huh.”

Lilietta no longer avoided him. She embraced him with the hand that held the matchbox.

It’s been 10 years.

The sound of her crying quietly reached her ears, and her shoulders gradually became wet. Rita let out a long, thin sigh.

“You see, Oppa was right. I… really was Lilietta. I forgot everything… and didn’t even recognize my family.”

She muttered softly, hugging tightly her forgotten eldest brother.

“My family never abandoned me, but I felt abandoned without knowing anything, and I kept resenting them. If I had known that everyone was desperately looking for me… I’m sorry, I misunderstood.”

“It’s okay, that kind of thing.”

Leonhard answered in a shaky voice, stroking her head ceaselessly.

“You can complain all you want. You came back, and you came like this… What’s the big deal about that?”

“……huh.”

Lilietta leaned her head against his chest and whispered.

“I’m finally back, Oppa.”

“……!”

Leonhardt could no longer speak. His large body collapsed in the arms of his sister, who was half the size of his own body.

It’s been ten years since the youngest disappeared. Ten years since the happy and perfect family fell apart.

The eldest son, who had been pretending to be sane alone between his mother in danger, his father who was dying, and his younger brother who was breaking down with guilt, was finally able to pour out his heart.

The longing I endured without showing it because it was less sad than my mother, less difficult than my father, and less painful than my younger brother.

The news I heard as soon as I returned to Birch Castle after taking the Academy Graduation Exam.

The day when the doll and candy that I was going to give you as a gift for doing well on your exams thanks to the four-leaf clover you gave me fell out of my weak hands.

It was a cry that had been held back since that day.

I couldn’t even break down in front of my sobbing mother, my distraught father, and my pale younger brother.

“Lily, Lily…… I, I really missed you too. I can’t believe you’re gone, I…… Thank you for coming back alive, thank you…….”

Lilietta was surprised to see her eldest brother, who had always been upright and dignified in her memories, clinging to her and crying, but she did not panic and quietly hugged him.

Because I understood without him having to say what he had endured and what he had supported to live up to this point.

* * *

Leonhardt hurried to send a letter to the Duke with tears in his eyes.

The Duke, unable to meet Lilietta because he was told that she might not be his daughter, despite her appearance, had left for his town house in the capital.

‘It was right that you were avoiding me.’

He said that he had work to do in the capital, but the main reason was that he thought he wouldn’t be able to keep his composure if he saw Lilietta in person.

“Father went to the capital’s magic tower to find out information about black magic. Richard said that you might have been possessed by black magic… If I send you a letter, he’ll get back to you right away, but it’ll still take a few days.”

“My mother is sick in bed. I think she must have been sick from going into the lake. She’s taking some medicine and sleeping now… She kept looking for you, so let’s go together later.”

“Richard has snuck out again. But he usually comes home at night… Now that you’re back, he’ll probably come to his senses.”

“Lily, there are so many things I want to hear from you and so many things I want to ask you. How have you been? What happened that night… But I feel bad about making you tell the same story over and over again, so I’ll listen to it together with the whole family. It’s not an easy story to tell.”

He told me to just rest and leave, saying he would take care of everything.

Even though she seemed tough on the outside, her eldest brother was always affectionate and considerate to Lilietta, and he remained the same even after 10 years.

‘I guess I’m the one who’s changed.’

Lilietta, the pure and innocent girl who grew up seeing only beautiful things and being loved by good people, is no longer around.

Having lived as Rita Pascale for twelve years, Lilietta was more accustomed to the dirty side of the world and the ugliness of people.

I don’t get caught up in my emotions or get swayed by them for too long, because I had to survive in an environment where I couldn’t afford to do that.

‘Why on earth did you follow that?’

As she regained her memories, she recalled the events of that night. Rita was angry at her younger self, but at the same time, she understood.

‘I couldn’t help it, I was a naive child. I didn’t have any friends, so I was weaker towards my peers. And getting angry now isn’t going to change anything… ‘

There is something else to do now.

“Oh, I am the Duke’s maid, and from today on, I will be serving you, ha, ha, my name is Hanna……”

The auburn-haired maid who spoke while sobbing. The one who kidnapped her that night.

‘That child is not the real culprit. A 12-year-old orphan who lost her single mother and was taken in as a maid could not have done this on her own. Her condition that day was also strange… … .’

She must have been controlled by some kind of magic, and if so, there was a high probability that she wouldn’t remember anything. Judging from the fact that she’s still working as a maid.

Still, I had to question him.

Because I had to find out the cause and reason why she disappeared and was forced to live as ‘Rita Pascal’ in the body of a girl who looked like ‘Hannah’.

As of now, Hannah was the only clue.

‘Pascal… … What kind of author was he? Even though he’s a great wizard, he kidnaps souls from other worlds? Is that possible? Does he have an accomplice in this world?’

Even if it were possible, why would they go through the trouble of manipulating the memories of a kidnapped soul and having it possess the body of an orphan?

‘Just to make a high-performance weapon? Then wouldn’t it be much easier and faster to make something like a machine or a golem? Was there a reason why it had to be this complicated and difficult?’

And why her of all people?

Could other Pascal children be in the same case as hers? Then, then perhaps… … .

‘Other Pascals too… … When they die, do they return to their original bodies like me?’

Suddenly, the verse Pascal had taught his children came to mind. Rita repeated it as if she was possessed.

“Do not fear death. Your death will be a seed of hope.”

Could that really be what he meant?

You guys, when you die, you just return to your original world and body, so don’t be afraid?

‘Really…?’

Were they all kidnapped from the same world as her? Or from different worlds?

If they were kidnapped from the same world, and if they really did return to their original bodies after death, would it be possible to meet Pascals here again?

‘We won’t be able to meet our squad members since they probably aren’t dead… … but we might be able to meet the ones who died before. Unless they were kidnapped from different worlds… … .’

It’s all just a hypothesis, but it’s a possibility that can’t be ignored. There’s a mountain of things to find out and verify.

‘Let’s do it step by step. First of all… … .’

Rita was about to call the butler to bring Hannah in, but before she could call the butler, there was a knock on the door.

“Miss… this is Hannah. D, may I come in?”