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Chapter 29
The moment Solia heard herself called “child” for the first time, she felt her blood boil.
Whack!
She struck Baron Rotten in the side with her parasol. She didn’t care if he screamed, she hit him with all her strength.
“Haah, haah… I’m only doing this for your own good, Father. I put up with you treating me like trash, I put up with being sold off for a marriage deal!”
Solia panted, her voice shaking with anger.
“Your daughter was only five! Little Solia, who begged for forgiveness even when she’d done nothing wrong… You gave her wounds that could never heal…”
She closed her eyes tightly, her hand trembling as she gripped the parasol.
Her burning rage made her body shake. The original Solia was small and weak before she possessed her.
So she always got beaten. She always got cursed at. She only worried about her sick mother…
She died, full of guilt, without ever even blaming her father. In this cold, harsh world.
“No matter how much I endured, I was never really Solia… I wasn’t your daughter. She just couldn’t endure it…”
Solia tilted her head back and let out a bitter laugh.
“Twelve years… It was twelve long years.”
The time she’d survived as Solia. Through seven rounds of possession, she’d hung on to her sanity with all her might.
She fought to stay herself. But it was inevitable that all those pent-up emotions would explode eventually.
“I always wondered… Why did I become Solia?”
She wiped the sweat from her forehead.
“Maybe it was so I could pay people like you back for what you did.”
She’d only hit places that wouldn’t show, but he’d be covered in bruises.
“Guh… Sa-save me…!”
Baron Rotten clutched his chest and gasped for breath, then fainted with his eyes rolled back.
“Haah, haah…”
Solia, dripping with sweat, let out a shaky laugh, still clutching her parasol.
“Sorry… This is all I could do for you.”
Sorry, child. This is all I can do for the little girl who had to die at only five.
I’m sorry I could only remember you now. All you had was a sick mother and Alexei…
Your last day was begging on the streets before the carriage accident.
On that warm summer day, nobody hugged your small, cold body as you faded away…
That small and fragile body couldn’t handle the pain, so you wished you could just die.
It hurt her that Solia had only used Alexei’s mirror—her precious gift—when she was already dying.
Plip, plip. Swaaah—
Under the violet sky, the sound of rain filled the silence.
She still couldn’t forget those memories. Hugging the mirror Alexei gave her before he left, Solia smiled faintly.
“If you wish to Wolgwi, it’ll grant you just one wish.”
“Why only one?”
“Because I had to pay Wolgwi a price. He said no to two. You have to risk your life for it…”
As little Solia lay dying at five, she prayed with tears in her eyes.
「A-and… please let Solia live happily.」
She wished an angel would come who could understand her.
Someone much stronger than someone like her, who only cried.
I’ll endure. I’m selfish and tough, so I’ll hold on to the end.
“I’ll live instead of you, poor Solia…”
She’d never had anywhere to go back to anyway.
She had no loved ones in the world she lived as Yoo Chaehwa, no memories of being loved.
She’d already long ago given up on that cold world, which never offered her even a scrap of warmth or something precious.
“Here… In the place you were born, Solia, I’ll live shining like the summer sun.”
This might be her last—her seventh—reincarnation.
Yoo Chaehwa finally understood why she’d opened her eyes as Solia, and that fate, like a river, kept flowing.
She realized she’d been chosen by fate, but the path she’d walk was hers alone to decide.
She wondered if “that man” realized Solia’s soul had changed. But it didn’t matter.
“I’ll punish all the bad adults for you. Rest in peace…”
Solia wiped her sweaty cheek with a shaky hand.
She had promised herself she wouldn’t cry, but she was crying before she knew it.
She told herself it was the five-year-old Solia who was crying. Maybe that’s why the rain felt so cold and sharp.
“I promise I’ll do anything. I have nothing left to lose.”
Solia took a deep breath and nudged Rotten with her foot.
Even though she’d beaten him with the parasol, it wasn’t enough to kill him. He’d have a long bruise and a small scar, but it was nothing compared to all the times he’d whipped his daughter.
Plan B had worked. If his life felt threatened, he’d want to throw her out of the manor as soon as possible.
“Ha, haha…”
She dropped the parasol she’d been gripping like a lifeline. It slipped and rolled to the ground.
‘If Noah proposes, does that mean I’m finally done with Rotten?’
She felt strangely empty. Her mouth tasted bitter. She couldn’t handle the heaviness in her heart.
Did Noah know about this mess of a person she’d become?
She didn’t feel lovable. She didn’t feel beautiful. She hated herself.
She didn’t want to show this broken side of Solia Rotten—at least not to Noah, who she cared about.
How do you fix a broken clockwork? How does a puppet with cut strings dance again?
‘No… no, I haven’t even set the trap yet. I can’t let my guard down.’
She shook her head hard. Her rain-soaked hair stuck to her cheeks.
She was satisfied just knowing the reason for Solia’s death and why she’d come to this world.
“I’ll let you live, Rotten. It’s not your time to die yet.”
She brushed her wet hair back and gave a wry smile.
“I’ll find the owner of that carriage, too, and make them pay for what they did.”
Flop.
As Solia lifted her head from Rotten, she felt the touch of someone’s clothing on her cold, rain-soaked shoulder.
“Solia.”
At the sound of the quiet voice, Solia froze.
She knew who it was. The voice she’d heard in every one of her seven lives here.
Since when had he been there? Why hadn’t she noticed him before? Was it because of the rain?
“I have nothing left to lose, too.”
It was Noah. Even though he’d always spoken formally, he suddenly felt like a different person.
She’d married Noah countless times, but she’d never loved him.
In the last life, he was just her ex-husband. That’s all.
But the moment she heard his voice, Solia almost broke down in tears.
He whispered desperately,
“I’ll give you whatever you want. So please, don’t cry…”
“…Noah.”
Her voice was choked. Solia’s lips trembled as she asked,
“Why are you here?”
Noah didn’t answer. Instead, he hugged Solia tightly from behind.
Feeling his warmth on her back, Solia felt dizzy.
How much had he seen? How much did he know?
Her heart pounded, refusing to calm down. Was it because she was startled, or because of the anger she’d let out on Rotten?
Swaaah—
With rain pouring down, Noah spoke, holding her trapped in his arms like a black panther that never let its prey escape.
“I forgot you liked hide-and-seek.”
Some time later.
Noah still hugged Solia from behind. Then, he pressed his lips gently to her neck.
“Now it’s your turn to forget, Solia.”
Thump, thump, thump—
Solia’s heart pounded so hard it felt like it might stop.
Suddenly, he turned her around and cupped her face, looking down at her.
“Forget you saw me here today.”
Noah’s blue eyes shone dangerously, like a beast’s.
‘Ah… I’ve seen eyes like that before.’
It was the same look he gave her the last time she’d asked him for a divorce in her previous life.
Just before the carriage door closed, Noah had smiled twistedly.
She remembered holding her breath in that moment.
Even though he’d agreed to the divorce, she had felt he’d never really let her go.
Bang!
Noah had thrown open the carriage door, leaned in, and whispered low in her ear—
“I forgot you liked hide-and-seek.”
On that rainy day, just when she thought she’d said goodbye to her ex-husband.
As the memory came back, Solia felt relieved.
‘It’s just a coincidence. Noah is only saying the same thing as before…’
Maybe the rain had messed with her mind. She kept telling herself it was nothing.
She didn’t have the courage to ask Noah if he remembered what she’d said in their past life.
She was too afraid of what answer she’d hear, so she squeezed her eyes shut.
“I was never here, and I didn’t hear anything you said.”
Noah’s voice grew softer and softer, like his throat was dry.
‘What does he mean…’
Solia’s blue eyes slowly blurred.
