#141. Someone’s Memory (1)
“His Grace and Madam used to be so close. He must’ve been lonely all that time apart, and then suddenly a woman who looks just like her appears…”
Naina resembled Sasha so much that even Pavel was startled at first.
Of course, that was because Naina deliberately changed her appearance to look like Sasha. People who didn’t know this found it strange how similar they looked.
If people had only been curious, it wouldn’t be a problem, but some didn’t know where to stop.
They fueled their imaginations and said things like:
“Do you think His Grace is treating that woman as a stand-in for Madam?”
“Even if that’s not it, the Prophet is beautiful and charming. It makes sense if His Grace develops feelings for her.”
They reasoned that it was only natural for a young man to be attracted to a beautiful woman, and that emotions could easily snowball.
Those convinced by such talk whispered among themselves for a long while.
The rumors spread and became distorted, eventually reaching Nikolai.
While on night watch with an older knight, his partner brought it up out of boredom.
“…But seriously, won’t Madam be upset when we get back?”
“Why?” Nikolai was surprised, as if he’d heard something odd.
“She’ll be happy her husband is back safe!”
“Sure, but there’s the Prophet!”
“Huh?”
“He’s coming home after a long time apart—and brings a woman who looks just like his wife! Of course Madam will be upset!”
‘What nonsense is this?’
Nikolai replied with a deadpan face.
“They don’t look alike at all.”
“What? Not alike? Are your eyes okay? Can you even see straight?”
“My eyes are perfectly fine. Better than yours, I’d say.”
Nikolai bragged that his nickname was ‘Hawk Eyes.’
The older knight clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed, but Nikolai didn’t back down and changed the subject.
“Anyway, with my amazing eyes, I can tell they’re not alike one bit! Maybe there’s something a little similar, but saying they’re alike… Our Madam, from her aura to…”
He kept rambling.
Nikolai endlessly praised Sasha.
“The first time I met Madam, I was honestly shocked. You’d think I’d be used to it by now, but even after all this time, whenever I see her after a while, I get surprised again. She doesn’t even seem human—she’s like a fairy.”
“Okay, okay, I get it! Madam is an angel, a fairy, and there’s no way some ordinary woman can compare. I was wrong, so stop already! Ugh. I need to go for a bit.”
The older knight had had enough of Nikolai’s talk and left, grumbling.
“…Should’ve done that from the start.”
With his hands shoved in his pockets, Nikolai glared at the retreating knight.
“But if he’s saying things like that, it means the rumors have already spread.”
Nikolai frowned.
Because he was easygoing and sociable, rumors always reached him first. But now that he was considered one of Pavel’s closest aides, people avoided talking about such things in front of him.
Because of that, Nikolai now heard things about Pavel much later than before.
“This isn’t good.”
Seeing how the older knight spoke, it seemed people had been talking about this for a while.
The rumor must have made its rounds before finally reaching Nikolai.
“Should I report this?”
Nikolai hesitated.
“No, it might just make Madam feel bad. Besides, His Grace doesn’t seem even a little interested in that woman.”
He remembered how Pavel barely kept his annoyance in check when facing the Prophet.
“He doesn’t even seem to like her as a person. Are people blind?”
After grumbling to himself for a bit, Nikolai decided he should observe the situation a little more.
“I shouldn’t say anything without a proper report.”
If he reported without enough information, he’d get an earful not only from Pavel, but also from Igor or Andrey for bringing up such a half-baked report.
Nikolai decided to spend more time and effort collecting information.
“Speaking of Madam, there’s something else…”
Nikolai sighed, thinking of another problem.
“…What should I do with this letter?”
It was a letter Pavel had asked him to hold onto.
Nikolai took out the letter he’d been guarding like a precious treasure.
“This seems like a will, doesn’t it?”
Pavel never said it directly, but sharp-eyed Nikolai could tell it was a will.
“Now that His Grace is fine, should I return it to him?”
Nikolai crossed his arms, staring at the letter.
“What should I do… hmm.”
The more he thought about it, the more his head hurt.
Frustrated, Nikolai messed up his hair and looked up at the sky, making his decision.
“…I should send it back.”
***
Since she had used up all the communication magic in her pendant, Sasha anxiously waited for a letter from Pavel.
In the frozen land, spirits couldn’t move, so communication magic didn’t work. The only way to get news was by letter.
‘I didn’t realize it would be so hard to find a relic that allows communication over long distances. If I had known, I would’ve searched earlier.’
With a sigh of regret, Sasha stood up. Staying still just made her more anxious.
She wondered how the meeting she and Pavel had all night had turned out.
And what had happened with Gregory, the monster.
Was Pavel safe?
How was the war going?
‘I hope everything turned out okay.’
She had so many questions.
But the one that mattered most was whether Pavel was safe.
“But who is that woman?”
Sasha thought of the woman whose face she had never seen.
“Naina. That name feels familiar.”
Was her uneasy feeling about the woman just prejudice?
Sasha tried to recall what she knew about Naina.
A prophet who can see the future.
Prophets were extremely rare and rarely appeared before people. Yet Naina had shown up in front of Pavel just at the right time, after spending a long time with Gregory.
Not only that, she looked so much like Sasha, and she might even be the same woman who had entered the dreams of Duke Titova’s followers, sending them secret messages.
“It’s true—knowing only these things makes it hard to think well of her.”
But…
Sasha felt her aversion to Naina was more of a gut feeling than prejudice.
“Could it be that I’ve met her before?”
Tilting her head, Sasha decided:
“I need to check.”
Sasha closed her eyes and entered the palace of her memories.
Ever since she started cherishing her life as Alexandra, Sasha had avoided visiting her “memory palace” too often.
If she recalled her past lives too much, she worried she might feel out of place in her current, beloved life.
To focus on her present, Sasha only visited her memory palace when absolutely necessary.
But lately, she had been coming here more and more.
The Carto plague, Gregory returning as a monster, and now a prophet who could see the future—she needed information she couldn’t get elsewhere, so she relied on the knowledge accumulated from dozens of previous lives.
‘Lately, I haven’t had a choice but to come often.’
Wandering through her memory palace, Sasha visited places where she might find the information she needed.
She spent the most time in the magic tower—a place filled with memories from a life when she became a great mage.
In that life, she’d entered the tower as a child and stayed there, researching magic until she died of old age.
Because she’d spent her whole life advancing magic, she’d accumulated a massive amount of knowledge.
The shelves lining the impossibly tall tower were packed with books.
‘I’m glad I don’t have to read every single one.’
Sasha decided to use the search function. In reality, her magic was weak, but here she could use it freely, like in her days as a grand mage.
‘Prophecy, prophet, future, Naina.’
As she thought of the keywords, the books lifted from the shelves and floated in the air.
When she finished thinking, the books piled up before her.
‘There are so many.’
Looking at the mountain of books, Sasha sighed and started reading. Thankfully, she read fast.
Still, it was such a huge amount that even focusing hard, she couldn’t get through them all.
‘Maybe I should take a break.’
Sasha considered returning to reality but instead stepped out of the magic tower.
She decided to wander her memory palace a bit more.
‘Sometimes, just walking around can trigger unexpected memories.’
The magic tower was from a relatively recent life, so it was near the entrance. Not far away was the house of Hirote, a famous doctor from a thousand years ago—a life Sasha often revisited.
‘I used to come here often, especially after marrying Pavel, to try to cure his illness.’
As she wandered through places connected to her past lives, she found her current life’s memories blending in.
‘Maybe it just means this life is that important to me.’
