I smiled with satisfaction as I picked up the capital’s gossip magazine. It was plastered with stories about me, just as I’d intended.
The strange thing was that a day later, the gossip magazines were mostly apologizing for mentioning me. Even the lowest-selling gossip magazines were getting on the circulation tracks.
‘I never protested, so why are they closing one after another? It’s unfair.’
That part was a little frustrating. But at least I got to see that my story was hotter than any other topic in the social circles.
‘Just as I planned, everyone wonders about me! This is the time to light a fire and get the flame burning.’
I stared at the painting in front of me as I worked feverishly on my scarf with the magic yarn.
If the Duke of Cornwall was the final villain, I anticipated.
And from what I know of the artifact, he would have to get his hands on it.
‘This painting would be a very important object to the villain, but it’s mine now.’
Looking at the painting, I stared at it, observing its plainness.
On second glance, it’s just an ordinary painting of the ocean.
But in truth, it hid a pretty terrifying secret.
And if the Duke of Cornwall was dark-sighted, he too would sooner or later recognize the secret hidden in this painting.
‘Well, I’ll run the top in the meantime, keep my eye on the good stuff, and eat cake.’
As I finished weaving the scarf with the yarn, I smiled merrily.
But as I knit, I encountered an unexpected obstacle.
‘Now that I think about it, if I gave this to the Duke, wouldn’t it look a little awkward, like he’d think I liked him? No, it’s just, it’s just for show…’
Giving it to Ricardo or Bell, as well as to Sally or Jenny, didn’t feel strange at all.
But why did the thought of giving it to the Duke stuck in my throat?
I pressed down on my slightly flushed cheeks. Maybe I’ve been overexerting myself lately, and my fever might be rising.
After deciding that, I set my yarn and needles on the bedside table and crawled into bed.
“Maybe I’ll take a nap.”
Whether I was addicted to dreaming or not, I wanted to fall asleep every chance I got.
Because every time I fell asleep, I kept learning new things about the past.
Dreaming became more important to me than anything else, as I realized that the lost memories might hold the key to revenge.
Fortunately, new fragments of memory began to appear in my dreams again today.
The main setting of the dream was still in the cave.
— ‘Where are you from?’
— ‘I’m from the north, I’m from the… abandoned.’
The boy with the round blue eyes was carefully tending to my arm.
I probably got it from the cave.
But my younger self was a little more bossy. I pushed the boy away, ignoring the wound on my arm.
— ‘Did that magic circle try to kill you?’
He nodded cautiously.
— ‘…I almost died with you. Then we’re friends who shared life and death!’
We shared the sour cherries in the small cave.
Then, as he wiped away a trickle of red blood from his lip, he spoke gently to me.
— ‘…You protected my life, so I’ll, I’ll protect you.’
I smiled sheepishly at the boy. Then his cheeks flushed a fiery red.
Shaking my head at the sudden change in expression, I wrapped the scarf my brother had given me around his neck, the one I’d been wearing the whole time.
— ‘You’re red, you must be cold.’
Mimi, our cat, who had been stealing our cherries, frowned sternly.
— ‘Have fun. You guys can’t get out of here anyway, can you?’
I glared at Mimi, and she hissed harshly, as if she were grinding her teeth.
— ‘Either you give me your life, or something as precious as your life, and I’ll work my magic and get you out of here!’
— ‘Something as precious as our life…?’
— ‘That’s right!’
With that, I woke up to the boy’s resolved expression, followed by the sinister laughter of divine beast Mimi.
Still, amid my dazed consciousness, a question lingered.
Surely I had been told to give my life, or something as precious as my life.
I doubt my missing memories are as valuable as my life…
Nevertheless, I survived, only with my memory missing.
‘So, what happened to the child?’
As I rubbed my eyes with my fingers, I thought again.
‘What kind of dream is this… I need a break.’
Too bad I didn’t have more dreams.
‘If I dreamed a little more, I’d know more…!’
Who the heck was that boy?
‘That child… seems strangely familiar.’
But no matter how much I searched my memory, there were no clues about the child in the cave before me.
Seeing myself walking out of that cave… did he sacrifice himself for me?
Blinking, I looked around me.
There was no one around me, except for the rustling of the bedding as I moved.
‘Sally’s gone to give Rune a good bath.’
Rising casually to my feet, I reached for the yarn on the nightstand and gathered the balls of yarn together.
Every time I dreamt of it, a strange emotion kept stirring inside me.
A strange emotion, like an unidentifiable longing.
To get rid of this unexplained feeling, I had to make a scarf out of the yarn.
Focus on doing simple tasks.
When we were poor, I used to stay home alone and knit a lot of shawls whenever my brother went to work. I was more resourceful than I realized.
After a while, I got really into knitting. My hands got faster, and my eyes got sharper.
‘I could see the end!’
But for some reason, one of the balls of yarn seems to be missing… or could it be my imagination?
I smiled with satisfaction as I picked up the capital’s gossip magazine. It was plastered with stories about me, just as I’d intended.
The strange thing was that a day later, the gossip magazines were mostly apologizing for mentioning me. Even the lowest-selling gossip magazines were getting on the circulation tracks.
‘I never protested, so why are they closing one after another? It’s unfair.’
That part was a little frustrating. But at least I got to see that my story was hotter than any other topic in the social circles.
‘Just as I planned, everyone wonders about me! This is the time to light a fire and get the flame burning.’
I stared at the painting in front of me as I worked feverishly on my scarf with the magic yarn.
If the Duke of Cornwall was the final villain, I anticipated.
And from what I know of the artifact, he would have to get his hands on it.
‘This painting would be a very important object to the villain, but it’s mine now.’
Looking at the painting, I stared at it, observing its plainness.
On second glance, it’s just an ordinary painting of the ocean.
But in truth, it hid a pretty terrifying secret.
And if the Duke of Cornwall was dark-sighted, he too would sooner or later recognize the secret hidden in this painting.
‘Well, I’ll run the top in the meantime, keep my eye on the good stuff, and eat cake.’
As I finished weaving the scarf with the yarn, I smiled merrily.
But as I knit, I encountered an unexpected obstacle.
‘Now that I think about it, if I gave this to the Duke, wouldn’t it look a little awkward, like he’d think I liked him? No, it’s just, it’s just for show…’
Giving it to Ricardo or Bell, as well as to Sally or Jenny, didn’t feel strange at all.
But why did the thought of giving it to the Duke stuck in my throat?
I pressed down on my slightly flushed cheeks. Maybe I’ve been overexerting myself lately, and my fever might be rising.
After deciding that, I set my yarn and needles on the bedside table and crawled into bed.
“Maybe I’ll take a nap.”
Whether I was addicted to dreaming or not, I wanted to fall asleep every chance I got.
Because every time I fell asleep, I kept learning new things about the past.
Dreaming became more important to me than anything else, as I realized that the lost memories might hold the key to revenge.
Fortunately, new fragments of memory began to appear in my dreams again today.
The main setting of the dream was still in the cave.
— ‘Where are you from?’
— ‘I’m from the north, I’m from the… abandoned.’
The boy with the round blue eyes was carefully tending to my arm.
I probably got it from the cave.
But my younger self was a little more bossy. I pushed the boy away, ignoring the wound on my arm.
— ‘Did that magic circle try to kill you?’
He nodded cautiously.
— ‘…I almost died with you. Then we’re friends who shared life and death!’
We shared the sour cherries in the small cave.
Then, as he wiped away a trickle of red blood from his lip, he spoke gently to me.
— ‘…You protected my life, so I’ll, I’ll protect you.’
I smiled sheepishly at the boy. Then his cheeks flushed a fiery red.
Shaking my head at the sudden change in expression, I wrapped the scarf my brother had given me around his neck, the one I’d been wearing the whole time.
— ‘You’re red, you must be cold.’
Mimi, our cat, who had been stealing our cherries, frowned sternly.
— ‘Have fun. You guys can’t get out of here anyway, can you?’
I glared at Mimi, and she hissed harshly, as if she were grinding her teeth.
— ‘Either you give me your life, or something as precious as your life, and I’ll work my magic and get you out of here!’
— ‘Something as precious as our life…?’
— ‘That’s right!’
With that, I woke up to the boy’s resolved expression, followed by the sinister laughter of divine beast Mimi.
Still, amid my dazed consciousness, a question lingered.
Surely I had been told to give my life, or something as precious as my life.
I doubt my missing memories are as valuable as my life…
Nevertheless, I survived, only with my memory missing.
‘So, what happened to the child?’
As I rubbed my eyes with my fingers, I thought again.
‘What kind of dream is this… I need a break.’
Too bad I didn’t have more dreams.
‘If I dreamed a little more, I’d know more…!’
Who the heck was that boy?
‘That child… seems strangely familiar.’
But no matter how much I searched my memory, there were no clues about the child in the cave before me.
Seeing myself walking out of that cave… did he sacrifice himself for me?
Blinking, I looked around me.
There was no one around me, except for the rustling of the bedding as I moved.
‘Sally’s gone to give Rune a good bath.’
Rising casually to my feet, I reached for the yarn on the nightstand and gathered the balls of yarn together.
Every time I dreamt of it, a strange emotion kept stirring inside me.
A strange emotion, like an unidentifiable longing.
To get rid of this unexplained feeling, I had to make a scarf out of the yarn.
Focus on doing simple tasks.
When we were poor, I used to stay home alone and knit a lot of shawls whenever my brother went to work. I was more resourceful than I realized.
After a while, I got really into knitting. My hands got faster, and my eyes got sharper.
‘I could see the end!’
But for some reason, one of the balls of yarn seems to be missing… or could it be my imagination?
