Chapter 11: Painful memories.

“Hello? You must be my younger sister, Yukomis?”

What Yukomis saw when she returned to the main house after a long absence was a completely unfamiliar person.

No, actually, it wasn’t an unfamiliar person at all, but
it was a stranger.

At least, the person who was there wasn’t someone she knew.

“Yes…?”

“Should I say it’s the first time we’re meeting, or that it’s been a long time?”

Yukomis blankly looked up at her sister, who was a head taller than her.

“Anyway, you’re my younger sister, right?”

“Uh… well, I know you know, but I have memory problems right now.”

“I know. About that.”

“Then first of all… um… what should I say.”

“I’m not Yukomis.”

The first words that came out, cutting through the awkward air, were a defensive denial.

Sitting at a tea table with just the two of them, and saying, ‘I’m not Yukomis?’ That was ridiculous.

In fact, until the servants begged and begged her to sit in this seat, Yukomis was confused about how much she should believe their words.

What the servants said was this.

“As you know, the eldest young lady has a disease that affects her memory, right? So… we thought it might be helpful for you to talk to the younger lady, so…”

It was difficult to understand. When did these employees start caring about her sister’s condition so much?

They were people who were extremely reluctant to even approach her?

And to have tea with her sister?

“Her symptoms have improved a lot, but we thought it would be good to have some kind of trigger, so…”

“Did you guys eat something wrong? Did the cook make a big mistake or something?”

“That’s not it.”

“You just said ‘her symptoms have improved,’ right? Then there’s no way my sister would want to see my face.”

“About that… it’s hard to explain, but it’s not the amnesia that’s improved… Anyway, you’ll know when you see her. It’s certain.”

Around her, other maids chattered and agreed, ‘That’s right,’ ‘Yes, it is.’

If ordinary maids with a lack of vocabulary had said such things, she could have just brushed it off.

Maybe they didn’t learn much, so they weren’t even good at explaining the situation.

But the problem was that it was the housekeeper, who had been trusted by the dukedom for a long time, who took the lead in saying this.

“I don’t want to. I have no reason to sit in a useless seat just for your sake and listen to my sister’s harsh words even more.”

“Young lady, that kind of thing will never happen this time. I can say that with my position on the line.”

“Did you catch the same disease as my sister?”

“Lady Yukomis. Please, can’t you trust me just once?”

So the seat she was sitting in was right here.

During the short time she stayed in the capital with her parents, she thought she had met all the sleazy and dirty human beings she didn’t even want to talk about,
but this seat was even more uncomfortable than that.

‘I don’t want to hear anything. Don’t appear before my eyes.’

‘You’re a monster.’

‘Shut up! Please shut that b*tch up!’

‘If only you weren’t here… if only you weren’t here…!’

It was because she knew how much her sister used to hate her.

“You seem to be Yukomis, right?”

The ‘new’ sister in front of her just laughed off her denial.

“Why do you think so?”

“Well, the maids said that my younger sister is the most adorable and beautiful person in the world.”

Saying that, her sister impolitely picked up a cookie on the table and broke it in half with her lips. It was a dry and stuffy nut cookie that she hated.

“So, I knew it right away.”

Crunch. Crunch.

“…Yes?”

“Um, actually, I saw you in advance in a portrait hanging in the house, but I didn’t know you would be this pretty.”

Yukomis doubted her ears.

“After all, the real thing is much better than the picture.”

“Excuse me.”

However, when she saw her innocent smile, she got angry for some reason.

“Sister. Do you know? That you and I were on very bad terms?”

“Ah. I know that from what I’ve heard.”

“Then why are you…”

“So I thought now was the chance?”

“What chance?”

“A chance to get back on good terms.”

“I don’t want to.”

She didn’t even know why she was so negative.

Yukomis had actually thought about her sister whenever she thought of her in the capital,
vaguely wondering if maybe the problem was also with her.

She was her only sister, so shouldn’t she try to restore their relationship if possible?

She had heard that her sister, who was left in the dukedom, didn’t have a clear memory. Then maybe this was an opportunity?

She had even vaguely imagined that if she went home and reunited after a long time, she might be able to try to change their relationship.

That was what she had thought, even though her mother had said there was no need…

But for some reason, when her sister reached out to her first, she started by pushing her away.

“Did you think that if you came out like this, I would forgive you?”

Forgive? Who would forgive whom?

“It’s not that, I just…”

“If it’s not that, did you think that my mother or the employees would think well of you if you did this? Is that why you’re suddenly pretending to be nice?”

But once the harsh words started, they couldn’t be contained, and they continued like a dam bursting.

“…No. I just…”

“Do you know you’re a bit strange, sister?”

It was obvious to anyone that she was the strange one.

“You said you still don’t remember me, right?”

“Huh? Y, yeah.”

“Then, strictly speaking, isn’t today the first time you and I have met?”

“Is that… is that so?”

Ahaha. The person in front of her gave an awkward smile.

It was a face without any dignity.

Besides, her intonation sounded somehow clumsy. Was that also a side effect of the disease?

“And you usually don’t have this kind of meeting with someone you’re meeting for the first time, right?”

“Do I have to teach you even things like this?”

“I’m sorry if you’re feeling u…”

“I thought you would get a little smarter if you lost your memories of being an idiot, but I guess I expected too much.”

Even after saying this much, her sister didn’t seem angry, just surprised.

‘Annoying.’

And that stimulated her even more.

Even that dazed expression was annoying.

If it were normal. If it were a year ago.

She would have been shouting and throwing things, and she would have already been crying…

“I’ll be more honest. I don’t like you treating me like this with a face that used to curse me. You and I weren’t like that, and we never will be.”

Leaving the untouched teacup, she stood up from her seat.

Her sister couldn’t say anything.

“Don’t call me to a seat like this again.”

Yukomis knew. This wasn’t over.

There was still a last dagger prepared in her mouth.

No. I shouldn’t say those words.

But her mouth was already opening…

Ah.

“You outcast.”

No…

“No!!!!”

Her eyes snapped open.

“No, no, I didn’t mean to say that……!”

Her breathing was ragged, and her whole body was covered in sweat.

…?

“…Eueueuk… Haa.”

As soon as she came to her senses, Yukomis sighed, feeling a splitting headache.

Was it a dream? Yes. It’s a dream. It’s that dream again.

The same terrible dream she always had. The dream where she spewed harsh words at her sister.

One of over dozens of types of dreams…

And after that, there was always such a terrible headache.

She had these dreams about once every three days since the day her sister died.

She had tried self-hypnosis, or forced hypnosis or sleep with magic, but all of them were useless.

Nothing could stop these dreams.

Forcibly calming her wildly beating heart, she frowned.

When would she stop having these dreams?

“Are you okay?”

“Don’t worry about it. I just had a bad dream.”

“A nightmare?”

“Yeah. I have nightmares too, you know.”

“I understand. You were in the Wyvern Knights, so you must have seen a lot of things you shouldn’t have.”

“Yeah. More than anything, not getting enough sleep because of the nursing I wasn’t even doing is the reason…”
…?

Who am I talking to right now?

Yukomis looked down.

Soft and fluffy… a girl’s hand was tightly grasped in her hands.

She looked up.

Her sister… no,
her younger sister was there.

“Kyaaaaak!”

Crash.

Yukomis fell over along with the chair she had brought to the patient’s bedside.

“Ouch…”

As she was about to hold her head, which had hit the bedside table, a small hand reached down towards the floor from the bed.

“Are you okay?”

Yukomis grabbed that hand without thinking, but the owner of the hand somehow couldn’t pull her up.

“Hieeeek…Heueueueuk…”

Yukomis’s eyes, which hadn’t fully woken up yet, blinked.

“It’s impossible. It’s not working well. Please just get up on your own.”
Yukomis did so.

“Are you gaining weight? You’re heavier than I thought… Heeueuk!”
Pinch.

Yukomis unknowingly twisted the flesh on the back of the other person’s hand slightly.

Only then did she remember what had happened yesterday.

The boy she found in Manya’s basement…

No, he wasn’t a boy anymore. It was Signo Irendel, who had become a girl.

It wasn’t the appearance she knew, but there was no room for doubt.

The clothes she was wearing were boys’ pants and a shirt that barely passed the ‘noble’ standard.

In her arms were twelve gold coins, authorized by the imperial family and minted by the dukedom. It was what she had given her.

Above all, Manya’s research notes and diary, which she found in the basement, contained enough material to explain this confusing situation.

-Everything starts from the paper that mana has the potential to recover organic matter with life. The main point of this paper has already been verified, but the point of practical use is being extended because it includes numerous technical challenges in controlling the process as intended.-

-Recovery, in other words, refers to ‘transforming’ from a ‘damaged’ state to the ‘original’ state. Therefore, if the operator’s sufficient will and knowledge intervene in the transformation process, it will be able to head to a destination other than the destination of the original form…-

Manya’s research notes were extremely dirty and messy.

Countless notes were stuck haphazardly, and most of the pages were almost torn from being erased and rewritten repeatedly.

However… her reasoning process alone was very logical and neat.

Starting from the correct assumption, she derived the correct conclusion,
and she thoroughly checked and went over the unknown parts, leaving annotations that were almost obsessive.

Yukomis had admired it several times while reading it. Unlike her impression as a foolish and promiscuous magician, she was a real researcher.

…A first-class one, too.

Her intelligence and tenacity were real.

The numerous books and writings that filled the basement clearly showed that she had been continuing her lonely battle, known only to herself, for at least decades.

If she hadn’t been such a corrupt and crazy person,
and if she had had no ill will towards Yukomis, she would have unhesitatingly given her a professorship at the magic university.

Her most recent research notes contained a list of reference books that was sickening about the differences between the reproductive and circulatory systems of men and women.

Above all, the diary.

Her diary, starting from about a year ago, was filled with such contents.

‘Very beautiful. She has outstanding looks.’

‘Originally, she was just one of the candidates, but it turns out she was more than that.’

‘Her personality, her tastes, everything is completely the same as that person.’

Flutter.

‘Even the way she mutters to herself when she’s alone is the same as that person.’

‘If souls really exist, I’d think she might have the same soul as that person.’

‘Now that the research has progressed enough, gender won’t be a problem.’

‘In the case of this boy, all that needs to be solved is the gender problem. There are almost no parts to touch up in terms of looks.’

‘No, is there even a need to touch up? I think all I need to do is wash him a bit.’

Charrreureuk.

‘The preparation is almost over.’

‘I should call the beautician from the capital too. Hehe. The most famous person… Ihhihihihi… The empire’

‘If there’s only one person in this world who is suitable to become Lady Thermis, it’s him.’

‘It’s getting harder and harder to restrain myself as the days go by. I’ve tried, but there was no substitute for him. There’s still only one suitable person… Someday I’ll get him…’

Flutter.

‘I want to give birth to Lady Thermis quickly…’

‘Ugh… quickly…’

Yukomis forcibly ignored the disgusting postscript on the last page.

She hadn’t just spied on the Irendel baronetcy once or twice.

She must have thoroughly spied on his every move without him knowing.

The conclusion that all that information pointed to was one thing.

Bildur Manya…
tried to make…
Signo Irendel…
into her sister.

Yukomis, returning from her reminiscence, stared at that ‘result’ before her eyes.

She couldn’t know why the thing she wanted was her sister of all things.

But she had to admit it.

Manya had succeeded.

What was in front of her eyes was the perfect sister. At least, in terms of appearance.

“I’ll ask you this first.”

“…Will ask me?”

Yukomis hurriedly covered her mouth with her sleeve.

Even though she had the appearance of a clear-cut girl, she unknowingly used honorifics.

“No, no. Never mind. I guess I’m not fully awake yet.”

“Ah.”

“Did you just get up… no, did you just wake up?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what happened to your body?”

“I can tell just by hearing my voice.”

The girl in front of her gave a listless smile, pointing to her neck from which a thin and high-pitched voice was coming out.

“I heard the explanation of what kind of plan you were plotting from Manya herself. And I was awake until just before I was hit by the spell.”

“If I may explain what happened, it’s not like I was wandering the night streets or trying to do something stupid, I was really quietly in the inn. But the person who was acting as the employee was actually Katie, Manya’s fellow magician. But, as you know, I’m just a powerless twelve-year-old boy, right?”

“I’m someone who can never resist a magician, right? It’s not like I can do anything by resisting or trying, right? You understand this part, right? I was hit by the suffocation magic, so I was kidnapped to the basement. When I got there, that big guy named Al was already waiting… well, somehow Manya joined in there… Excuse me? Lady Yukomis?”

Yukomis didn’t answer, looking dazed.

“Are you okay? Hello?”

Waving. Even though the girl waved her hand, Yukomis didn’t react.

When she lightly touched her shoulder, only then did she startle as if she had been electrocuted.

“Ah! Yes! I was, I was listening, Si… what?”

“Are you really okay?”

Yukomis wasn’t listening at all.

She was clear-headed enough to have a conversation with the person in front of her while thinking two thoughts at the same time, but…

The contents that Signo had chattered about just now only left the timbre and flowed straight from one ear to the other.

She was thinking about something completely different.

She was seeing something completely different.

She was hearing the girl’s voice.

She was seeing her hair, which reflected the morning sunlight that poured down on the bed.

She was recalling how soft the touch she had held for a moment was.

And all of these things felt as if they were dreamy and floating like a daydream…

If she moved carelessly, if she said something, it felt like it would shatter at any moment…

So she just stayed still.

It was her sister. Everything was the image of her sister in her memory itself.

It was her before she was hurt. It was her before she hurt her.

But that wasn’t her sister.

Even when she rescued him, or rather, her, around dawn and laid her on this bed, she didn’t know.

That alone was already difficult enough. But if this perfectly identical body of her sister…

moved with her sister’s voice, in the same way as her sister, she didn’t know how that would feel, how much more heartbroken she would be,
until she saw it.

“?”

Perfect.

It was so perfectly the same as her sister that she couldn’t possibly deny it, but… she had to deny it.

The spirit inside it.

Was just Signo Irendel.

Was just a son of a country baronet.

Was just a cocky and rude boy.

“……I……”

“You haven’t slept all night, so it looks like you’re in pain, perhaps it would be best to rest a bit more…”

The gaze of the person looking at her with a puzzled look was painful for some reason.

Yukomis, who had turned her head away, barely said one word.

“Please don’t talk…”

Don’t talk with that voice.

Don’t look with those eyes, with that face either.

“Ah. I’m sorr…”

“I told you not to!”

The other person’s eyes widened.

“…I’m sorry.”

And she herself was also surprised by her shout.

She rattled off excuses that she would never normally make.

“I might just be tired after all.”

“It’s because you woke up too…”

“I stayed up all night, so… I, I…”

“You should rest more.”

The boy, or rather, the girl, this time just nodded.

Yukomis left her behind and quickly ran out of that room as if she was fleeing.

Even though it was only a few steps away, the distance to the door felt as long as passing through the entire hallway.

Kwaang.

As soon as the door closed, Yukomis leaned against the door and slid down.

Her breathing, crouched down with her back to the door, was already in a mess.

“What… What am I supposed to do with this…”