In the highest floor of the Librium Grand Hospital, in Filrci’s office, Reina carefully took out a sheet of paper and placed it on the desk.
“Everything is perfectly normal.”
At her brief words, both Artasha and Filrci expressed unexpected surprise.
“Really?”
Artasha’s blue eyes shook greatly. Pressing her trembling heart, she asked again, and Reina wore a calm smile as she delivered the good news.
“There are no pathological causes at all. The self-harm incidents from before weren’t because she was psychologically broken; it seems she made that choice due to being overwhelmed in extreme circumstances.”
Ultimately, it meant that Tina had only hurt her wrist because of Viviana. While Artasha harbored resentment toward Viviana, she felt deep relief knowing her daughter wasn’t in serious trouble.
“However… she shows slight signs of affection deficit. It seems that she needs more love from her parents.”
At these words, tears subtly trembled in the corners of Artasha’s eyes. Seemingly recalling something, she clutched her hands with a sad expression.
“…Yes, I will keep that in mind.”
Thinking back, it might have been a painfully obvious truth. Tina lost the father she trusted and relied on the most when she was young. While other children grew up surrounded by the love of their fathers and mothers, Tina grew up without fully receiving her father’s love.
To her, he might have just been an utterly meaningless male, but a parent is more precious than anything else in the world. It must have been the same for Tina.
Yet, even so, she had never considered that Tina might be suffering from affection deficit.
The fact that such a deep wound existed within the Tina, who had been hugging me with a loving smile for the past two years, made me resentful of myself for not noticing it as a mother.
No.
Perhaps I had known and simply turned a blind eye.
‘…I have to start working on this from now on.’
Tina had no partner yet, and the only person capable of healing her heart was me.
I can do it.
Even though I couldn’t think of a way right now, if I keep trying, I’m sure there will be a path.
With a firm determination to give enough love that might even overwhelm Tina, Artasha gazed at Reina.
“Where is my daughter right now?”
“She is sleeping in the sleep room.”
“Thank you. Then I—”
“Baron.”
Just as Artasha was about to step forward, eager to embrace her daughter, Filrci’s heavy voice halted her.
“…There’s something I must say before that.”
Although her heart wanted to rush to Tina immediately, for some reason, Filrci’s gaze had become even more serious than before, causing her to stop.
In her hand, there was a document.
—
In a hazy state of consciousness, I felt someone gently stroking my head. The touch was so soft that I thought it wouldn’t be bad to lie like this for a lifetime.
“You’re awake?”
A refreshing yet alluring, mysterious voice flowed into my ears. Bursting with nostalgia, I opened my eyes wide, searching for the owner of the voice.
There stood a face so familiar. It was the very face I knew better than anyone else, my own.
Once it was me, but now it wasn’t; a face I could no longer confront.
Black hair that shimmered like a night sky, contrasting pale skin, a prominent nose, long, thick eyelashes, and plump, red lips.
An exquisitely beautiful appearance that had clearly inherited the beauty of the woman I once called “mother.” A look that, despite being male, had caused many to mistakenly perceive me as female.
It was the face of my past life.
However, there was just one distinct difference.
A clear feature that distinguished me from her.
A black cross embedded right in the center of my crimson eyes.
The cross was dark, but to me, it was a being more dazzling than anything else in the world.
“Long time no see.”
“Uh, how…? That appearance…?”
I sprang up from my seat and looked around.
The endlessly dark space around me reminded me of my room from my previous life.
“…I guess now I should be called Tina.”
My childhood friend, who had been stroking my head, suddenly buried her nose in my nape and took a deep breath, her eyes sparkling.
“Tina, remember this.”
As she spoke, my body began to slowly sink into the darkness. In my fading vision, my childhood friend’s figure began to gradually disappear.
“You’re mine.”
I wanted to say something, but the tendrils of darkness rising from the ground wrapped around me, robbing me of my voice. In the end, all I could do was gaze at her with vacant eyes.
The crazed crimson eyes. And a strange voice that seemed to whisper directly into my brain.
She was someone I had missed so much.
“In your life, after death, and in the life after that… for all eternity.”
As my childhood friend lightly pushed me with one finger, my body began to sink downward, swept away from the surface of consciousness.
—
[I will not let you go till the end.]
–.
“Wait, Tina!”
As the voice calling me desperately broke through, my deeply submerged consciousness began to gradually surface. The dark space I had just been in vanished, and an intense sunlight, strong enough to make me squint, tickled my eyes.
“…Mother?”
In the bright sunlight stood a woman—the person I love and rely on the most in this world, my mother. She smiled at me with a look of relief.
“You’ve been sweating a lot. I called out loudly without realizing it because I was worried.”
Only then did I notice the damp sensation enveloping my body. My back was wet with sweat, and my whole body felt sticky.
“Did I… return to the mansion?”
The surroundings felt familiar.
It wasn’t as lavish as the Duke’s bedroom, but the sky-blue curtains and bedding snugly wrapped around the room.
It was my bedroom.
“Yes, you were sleeping so deeply that I brought you without waking you.”
I slowly began to retrace my memories.
The last thing I recalled was sitting on the sofa to receive treatment. I even remembered Reina suddenly shaking the pendulum back and forth in front of me.
But after that, I had no recollection whatsoever.
‘…What? Was it really hypnosis?’
Even if it was treatment, could they really hypnotize someone without any forewarning? What if the person was someone with gloomy tastes like Mardian? I would have been completely trapped.
“Was there… nothing wrong?”
“There was nothing. By the way, the results of the examination came out; aren’t you curious?”
Right, the examination results.
The fact that my mother had been sick popped back into my mind. The only reason I had braved the trouble of going to the hospital was precisely because of my mother. I grabbed my mother’s hand with a surprised expression.
“You’re okay, right, Mother…? Surely there’s nothing wrong…?”
I urgently looked up at her. My mother stared at me for a moment, her eyes vacant, then calmed her quivering lips and gently patted my head.
“They say it’s just a simple cold. Since you got some medicine, you’ll be better soon.”
“Ah… I’m so relieved, really…”
I am truly relieved.
While this might not be a big deal for someone else, I couldn’t help but be sensitive when it came to my mother. As long as I was Tina Blanc, my mother was the only person in the world who could love me selflessly.
“Tina, aren’t you curious about your results?”
“I’m sure they’re perfectly normal.”
“…Yes, that’s right.”
It was a natural outcome.
I do have a slightly lonely character, but aside from that, there wasn’t anything particularly problematic. My mother seemed to have unnecessary worries.
Holding my mother’s outstretched hand, I slowly rose from the bed. Perhaps because I had been asleep for a long time, I felt surprisingly refreshed. My mental state was also not bad.
Maybe it was because I could see my childhood friend’s face after such a long time, or perhaps it was due to the affectionate gaze of my mother, always overflowing with love toward me, but I no longer felt the loneliness that had been tormenting me.
“Ugh, but I need to wash up…”
Having been outside for a long time, my hair felt sticky, and the thin dress draped over my body was slightly damp with sweat. Although it didn’t smell, a person called a “young lady” couldn’t be this dirty.
“I’ll have Renihel prepare a bath for you, so just rest a little longer.”
As always, my mother gave me a warm smile overflowing with tenderness. Staring blankly at her, my heart began to flutter faintly.
Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.
Usually, when I bathe, I spend about an hour. So, I’d have to be alone during that time…?
I don’t like it.
For me, loneliness is a torment worse than death.
I don’t want to be alone anymore.
And aside from that… I just really like my mother… I can be sure she wouldn’t do anything strange. Also, my mother must feel sticky because she just came back from outside too…
“Huh? Why are you doing that?”
Gently grabbing my mother’s sleeve, I noticed a curious look in her clear green eyes. With my mother waiting for my response, I stammered for a moment.
At my age, acting like this would be embarrassing enough that my ears and cheeks turned bright red. But I can’t help it. I hate being lonely.
“Um, um… would you wash up with me, Mother…?”
Shyly, bashfully, and without much confidence.
As I uttered my small voice, my mother’s two eyes began to quiver.
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