🔊 TTS Settings
chapter 16
What kind of nanny wouldn’t even come to the main house when the children hadn’t returned all night?
I don’t know if she’s a priestess of the goddess Habina or whatever, but isn’t this blatant negligence?
I’d take this chance to show the dignity of a proper mistress of the house, just like Lily kept emphasizing.
Just as I was steeling my resolve, I heard the children calling out to me.
“Cielina—!”
“Cielina—!”
But my gaze went past the children to the woman standing behind them.
“Sir Vinter, is that woman Royena?”
“……”
“Sir Vinter?”
“Ah, yes. Probably… yes, that’s her.”
If she is, she is. If she isn’t, she isn’t. Why was he stammering like that?
“The last time I saw that woman was seven years ago.”
“And?”
“She looks… exactly the same as she did back then. No—perhaps it’s because she’s still far away. She’ll look different up close.”
A strange tension hung in the air.
Without saying a word, we walked toward the annex where the children and Royena were waiting.
The closer we got, the clearer Royena’s appearance became.
I’ve never seen someone whose hair and eyes are both silver-gray.
Her exotic features, distinct from those of the Empire, naturally drew my attention.
“Cielina! Hurry up!”
The children ran into the courtyard, urging me on. I waved to signal I’d be there soon, then turned my gaze back to her.
Is everyone from the Guillot clan this striking-looking? If so, it must’ve been impossible for them to hide from people’s eyes.
The clan’s history, which I’d heard from Lily, flashed through my mind.
As I stared openly at her, she approached me first.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
Only after seeing her bright smile did I remember my ambitious plan to scold her for neglecting her duties as a nanny.
No matter how I looked at it, she didn’t seem like someone about to make excuses.
“You were waiting for me? Why?”
Just as I felt pleased at how sharply I’d snapped back, she suddenly dropped to one knee in front of me.
“Huh? That’s not necessary—”
She kissed the top of my foot. Reverently. Solemnly.
It was such an unbelievable sight that I was struck speechless—and judging by the way our eyes met, Remfrey seemed just as stunned.
I guess the familiar annex really is more comfortable, no matter what.
I watched in fascination as the children ran—no, practically flew—around the courtyard.
“Kyaa! Erhi, that’s not fair!”
“I-di-ot.”
Watching them like this, it felt like a lie that they’d once been in a panic, on the verge of completely losing control.
“Sir Vinter, I have something to discuss with Royena. Please wait outside. And make sure the children don’t fly somewhere dangerous.”
“Pardon? Ah—yes…”
Trailing off, he lifted his head and glanced at the children circling overhead.
Was that too much to ask?
Still, it should be fine for a short while. I followed Royena into the annex.
“This way.”
She led me past a dusty sitting room and down a dim corridor.
Are we going to her room?
I followed silently.
Unless she has a split personality, she wouldn’t be bringing me somewhere to harm me, right?
The image of her pressing her lips to my dirt-stained shoe still lingered vividly in my mind.
Even a devoted fan meeting their idol wouldn’t look more moved than she had.
“We’re here.”
Stopping in front of the room at the end of the corridor, she politely opened the door, her cheeks flushed.
“You want me to go in alone?”
“Yes, my lady.”
She answered respectfully.
“The goddess is waiting.”
As soon as I entered, Royena quietly closed the door behind me.
The room I stepped into was surprisingly plain.
It was enough to make me feel foolish for imagining a grand altar prepared inside.
I thought it’d be some special chamber for a goddess… but it’s just an ordinary bedroom?
Tilting my head, I looked around—then froze.
“That is…”
A small statue placed atop a cabinet caught my eye.
“A statue of the goddess Habina?”
Judging by its worn edges and the patina from countless touches, it had clearly been made long ago.
Yet the eyes—crafted from pale green serpentine—were flawless, emitting a soft, subtle glow.
Haven’t I seen someone with eyes that color before?
Cielina.
That’s right. Cielina’s eye color.
I’d once thought it was rare, since I’d never seen servants or knights with the same color.
Is it just a coincidence that it matches the goddess Habina’s?
I was searching the room for something reflective when—
「Can you hear my voice now, Cielina?」
A chill ran down my spine.
It was the same voice—the one that had spoken to me before, that I kept hearing and forgetting.
“What are you?”
I whipped around toward the source of the voice. Immediately, a stern rebuke came from above my head.
「How disrespectful.」
I jerked my head up.
W-what is that?
In the empty air where there should’ve been nothing, something like a floating sea anemone drifted gently.
「I am Habina.」
…Excuse me, who?
「I am the goddess Habina herself. Though my current form is rather… unimpressive.」
There was a hint of embarrassment in her voice.
That sea-anemone-looking thing is the goddess Habina?
The sight was so unbelievable that I couldn’t even speak.
「Oh, come on! If you can hear me, say something!」
The smooth surface of her body wrinkled awkwardly.
“Are you really the goddess Habina?”
At my barely managed question, she exploded in anger.
「‘You’? I’ve been letting it slide, but you’re really getting out of hand!」
She flicked her short tail and circled around my face.
Is she… threatening me?
Even though I doubted that something so pitiful-looking could truly be a goddess, I lowered myself to calm her down.
“I’m sorry. I was just so shocked.”
That seemed to ease her anger somewhat, and she drifted a little farther away.
“Um… Goddess?”
If she really was a goddess, there were countless things I wanted to ask her.
Why she cursed the ducal family.
What my ability truly was.
Whether there was a way to lift the children’s curse.
But when I finally faced her, the question that escaped my lips was different.
“Were you the one who brought me into this world?”
「This world…?」
She repeated my words, then spoke with disappointment.
「The god who created this world is Khuanu. I thought even humans knew that much.」
“That’s not what I mean!”
Her irrelevant answer almost made me snap.
I calmed my anxious heart and continued.
“I mean… were you the one who summoned my soul into the world of this novel? I remember hearing a voice right after I died and then waking up…”
「You remember that I revived you after you died? Impressive.」
She interrupted happily.
「I was worried when you started gulping down alcohol you couldn’t even handle. If I’d been any later, I’d have had to wait another few hundred years—though, to be honest, I don’t really have that time anymore…」
“Alcohol…?”
No matter how hard I tried to recall, I hadn’t touched alcohol on the day I died.
“You’re saying I drank before I died?”
「You don’t remember even that?」
She looked startled, then nodded her round body.
「Well… dying of a heart attack right before your first night with your husband is something anyone would want to forget forever.」
“I… died of a heart attack?”
My first night with my husband.
The memories from the day I possessed Cielina’s body stabbed sharply into my mind.
「Yes. You were so nervous your hands were shaking as you drank. Then you passed out and collapsed onto the bed. When I saw your soul leaving your body, you have no idea how shocked I was.」
“……”
The conversation that had felt completely mismatched finally found a point of connection.
So Cielina also died that day?
Which meant she revived Cielina.
Not me.
So my possession of Cielina’s body was just a coincidence—something that happened the moment her soul left?
It was absurd, but before she could sense anything strange, I quickly continued.
“I think I remember now. Thank you for saving me.”
It seemed best not to let her know I wasn’t actually Cielina.
“But… was there another reason you saved me?”
After a brief pause, she replied,
「Because I need your body to use my divine power.」
Cielina’s… body?
I crossed my arms over my chest and stepped back.
“What are you planning to do with this body?”
「Huh? There’s no need to be so wary… I think you’re misunderstanding something.」
“You said you need my body.”
As I glared at her approaching form, I stepped back again.
Dying meaninglessly once was more than enough.
I won’t let you take it.
Suddenly, she seemed to grow more transparent.
「W-wait, calm down, Cielina! This isn’t good!」
“What isn’t?”
「If you reject me like that—」
If I reject her…?
As I waited for the rest, my vision suddenly spun and my breath caught.
Huh?
Just as I realized something was wrong, the goddess’s voice thundered inside my head.
「Accept me, Cielina! You’re alive because I infused your body with divine power!」
Ah… what kind of absolute bullshit is this?
