Chapter 16: The Home of the Past

Raindrops pattered steadily against the roof of the adventurers’ temporary lodgings. Outside, the wind howled, making

the paper windows rattle loudly. Inside the small, somewhat shabby room, a beautiful blue-haired woman curled up near

the fireplace, holding a little girl in her arms. Her eyes stayed fixed on the silver ring flashing on the ring finger of her left

hand.

Suddenly, a powerful gust of wind broke through the already fragile window paper. A freezing chill rushed into the room,

threatening to snuff out the flames. The woman quickly stood up and tried to shield the fire with her body, but it was

useless.

With a loud whoosh, the fire went out completely. The room fell back into darkness. Only a pile of blackened firewood remained, and the biting cold made the little blue-haired girl in her arms start crying loudly.

“Don’t cry, baby, don’t cry… Mommy will get the fire going again soon. That’s right, I need to fix the window first… fix the window…”

The woman mumbled to herself in a panic, but her hands were trembling and clumsy. Her mind froze for a second, and she accidentally let go of the child in her arms—

With a thump, little Olivianne hit the ground. The woman let out a startled scream and bent down quickly, only to see her daughter squeezing out a few tears and then looking up at her with big, hurt eyes, asking in a worried voice:

“Mommy… where did Daddy go? Where’s Daddy…”

Hearing her daughter’s question, the woman froze on the spot, and tears immediately burst from her eyes. She leaned down, gently scooped Olivianne into her arms, and trembled as she whispered:

“Baby… sob… Daddy… Daddy won’t be back for a long, long time…”

That was Olivianne’s deepest memory—also the first image that appeared in her mind when she merged with the original Olivianne’s memories after crossing over into this world.

That’s right. Just three years after Olivianne’s parents got married, a sudden accident shattered their happy life. Her

father, Baron Loros the adventurer, died unexpectedly during a mission—reportedly in a monster cave expedition that

wasn’t supposed to be dangerous.

Her mother, Fufu, became a widow and was left to raise two-year-old Olivianne alone, living a life of hardship and instability.

Olivianne still remembered those days. Her father hadn’t been the saving type, and her mother had no income. They were

always hungry, living in abandoned temples or rundown inns. They got chased away often, and her mother had to take on

temporary jobs for a bit of money. When things got really bad, little Olivianne had to hold a bowl, squeeze through crowds

to reach tables taller than her, and scoop up porridge given out by the rich just to fill her stomach.

Thankfully, that kind of life didn’t last too long. A few months later, her uncle—her father’s twin brother who had become

wealthy through business in the capital—heard the news. He couldn’t bear to see his late brother’s wife and daughter

suffering, so he sent people to bring them to his home in the capital.

From then on, Olivianne and her mother began a new life—living under someone else’s roof.

Well… to be fair, things were actually quite good at first after they moved in with her uncle. He and his wife, Venus, had

been married for years but had a cold relationship and no children. Her uncle treated Olivianne, his brother’s orphan, like

his own daughter. He spoiled her with love, gave her the life of a noble heiress, sent her to the Imperial Magic Academy,

bought her beautiful clothes and gifts for every holiday, and even took her out to fun places.

For Olivianne, her uncle had truly become a father figure in her life.

As for her mother, Fufu, after moving in, she helped her uncle a lot with his business—handling accounting, market

research, finding suppliers. She managed all kinds of important tasks. There was even a time when her uncle’s business

hit a serious crisis, and it was Fufu who poured all her efforts into saving it. After that, with her continued help, the

business flourished even more.

It should’ve stayed that way—steady, happy, and safe.

But unfortunately, fate always seems to come up just short of kind.

All the misfortunes that followed… probably began with that fat aunt of hers—Venus.

Venus came from the family that supplied her uncle’s goods. Their marriage had always been a business arrangement.

Her uncle clearly didn’t like her, but her family held a lot of power in the industry, and he couldn’t afford to offend them.

So, he remained passive in the relationship.

Venus, on the other hand, fully embraced her role as a petty, domineering matriarch. She insisted on inserting herself into

everything. She had always been unhappy about her husband bringing home his dead brother’s widow and child. After a

year or two of living together, perhaps out of jealousy toward Fufu’s beauty, she began targeting the mother and daughter,

making their lives difficult in every way.

Even so, Olivianne remembered her mother always being extremely careful and tolerant—swallowing all her grievances in

silence. Probably because they were living off others, she didn’t dare fight back. Her uncle did stand up for her mother a

few times, arguing with Venus, but that only made things worse. The more he protected Fufu, the more suspicious Venus

became of their relationship…

Even though Olivianne knew that, while her uncle had always treated her mother gently, Fufu had done her best to

maintain distance. But as the saying goes, widows attract gossip. The neighbors were always whispering.

Besides… her mother had no shortage of suitors, either. With her beauty—almost ageless and radiant—she always turned

heads wherever she went.

But Fufu had this strange, subtle air about her. She made men fall for her, but after they helped her out, she would always

gently turn them away. Thanks to her uncle’s protection, none of those men ever got close—they all left, disappointed.

Eventually, her mother couldn’t take the judgmental looks anymore. She kept urging her uncle to have a child with Venus.

Venus, of course, was thrilled at the idea. But… Olivianne remembered that night clearly.

Afterward, she got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and saw her uncle sitting alone in the dark living

room, staring blankly ahead, chain-smoking cigarette after cigarette…

No one knew just how deeply he was affected, but then… disaster struck again.

One day, while on a business trip, her uncle’s trade caravan was ambushed. The people and the goods all disappeared.

Her uncle died.

Venus took over all of his assets and later gave birth to his posthumous son—George.

From that day on, Venus had complete control over everything in the household.

What happened after that? Isn’t it obvious?

The family business declined rapidly. Venus stopped letting Fufu handle anything. She treated Fufu and Olivianne like

servants, ordering them around and bullying them constantly. Even now, after all these years, it seemed she still wasn’t

done playing with them.

And her mother? Maybe out of fear that she and her daughter would be kicked out again and forced to live on the streets…

she just kept enduring it. Year after year.

Olivianne took a deep breath, and a fire of anger quietly flared inside her.

Yes, these were the original Olivianne’s memories…

But weren’t they hers now too?

After all—she was Olivianne now.

The blue-haired loli let go of her hand. Instantly, the brat next to her—George—ran off like he’d just escaped death. While running, he yelled at the top of his lungs:

“Mom! Olivianne bullied me—!”

Olivianne let out a cold snort and stepped forward, striding arrogantly toward the door of her home.