TRL 07

Chapter 7

Leonhardt, who had been anxiously caressing her face, suddenly froze.

As he looked down at Lillietta’s tense and wary expression, he noticed that she was trembling slightly.

Lillietta was afraid of him.

At the same time, she was keeping her entire body on high alert, ready to strike at any moment.

Just what kind of life has this child been through?

Leonhardt withdrew his hand from her and took a small step back. Only then did the tension in her shoulders ease slightly.

Telling her that we’re family and there’s no need to be afraid… would be meaningless right now.

He made a careful judgment and cautiously opened his mouth.

“Rita, for now… let’s go back to your room. Can you stand? Do you want help?”

“I can get up by myself.”

Though her face was pale as a sheet, Rita stubbornly replied as she braced herself against the wall and stood up.

Her thin arms trembled uncontrollably. Leonhardt, resisting the urge to pick up his staggering sister, simply walked ahead in silence—deliberately slow.

Back in the guest room, Rita sat down on the sofa. Leonhardt told her to wait and stepped out, only to return with a tea set.

He poured two cups of warm tea, offered one for her to choose, and then drank from the remaining cup in front of her.

Rita let out a faint sigh as she realized why he had done this.

“You don’t have to go this far. I know well enough that you people wouldn’t poison this body… Lillietta’s body.”

“Knowing something with your head and accepting it with your body are two different things. Everything must feel unfamiliar and threatening to you right now.”

Leonhardt took a sip and continued in a calm tone.

“So I hoped this might help you relax a bit.”

“……”

Rita was caught off guard by his unexpected kindness. She had just mistaken him for a monster and attacked him. It wouldn’t be surprising if she were locked up somewhere right now.

She stared blankly into her teacup before slowly taking a sip. The warm, slightly bitter liquid slid down her throat, and her tense body truly did start to loosen.

Leonhardt didn’t press her. He simply waited quietly.

After finishing the tea, Rita brushed back her sweat-drenched bangs and finally spoke.

“Um… that maid, Hanna—how is she? Is she okay?”

“She’s fine. She was frightened but not hurt. I sent her to the physician, so don’t worry.”

“…Aren’t you going to interrogate me? I just did something terrible.”

“You must’ve had a reason, right?”

“Huh?”

“It wasn’t on purpose, was it?”

“I mean… yeah.”

“Then that’s enough.”

He glanced at his wristwatch and set down the empty teacup.

“Rita, I’ve got unfinished work to attend to, so I’ll head out now. I’ll be back in the evening, so rest up until then. If you need anything, just pull that cord over there.”

As Leonhardt stood to leave, Rita quickly spoke, surprised.

“You’re really not going to ask? Why I did that?”

“If I ask, will you be able to answer?”

“…It’s not a simple story.”

“That’s fine. Actually, the more detailed, the better.”

“But I thought you were busy?”

“You’re more important than work.”

He sat back down, and Rita stared at him in disbelief before speaking hesitantly.

“Leonhardt… You do know that I’m not really your sister, right?”

Leonhardt hesitated.

He had intended to pretend not to know until she realized it on her own, but today’s events had reinforced something for him:

Lillietta had grown up in an extremely abnormal environment.

I had a hunch from the moment I first saw her, but… it’s worse than I imagined.

She must have lived in a place where one could only survive by being constantly suspicious and responding aggressively to even the slightest threat.

In that case, pretending not to know wouldn’t help. Maybe it’s better to…

He wanted to reassure her somehow.

After rubbing his mouth for a while, he finally spoke slowly.

“Rita, to be honest…”

“……”

“I believe you are the real Lillietta.”

“I told you I’m not.”

“Yes, you said so. So I’ve tried to accept that and respect it.”

He gave a bitter smile.

“But what am I supposed to do when you look exactly like the Lillietta I remember, just with lost memories?”

“That’s only because of this body. Don’t be mistaken.”

“Rita.”

His eyes, so similar to hers, quietly met her gaze.

“What’s your earliest memory?”

“I told you—I wandered as an orphan.”

“How old were you then? What exactly do you remember?”

“I’m not sure. I just remember thinking I’d starve to death… and then I met someone. That person asked if I’d like to become their child, and I accepted because I was hungry. That’s my oldest memory.”

That person was Archmage Pascal.

Rita became one of Pascal’s children and endured harsh training with the others.

Her memories before that encounter were vague.

Whenever she tried to recall them, all she could remember were gnawing hunger, foul smells that made it hard to breathe, bone-chilling fear, and searing pain. So she didn’t try to dig further.

Compared to those orphan days, even that hellish training felt manageable. At least after becoming Pascal’s child, I never went hungry again.

So she really didn’t want to talk about her childhood anymore.

“Okay? I was just a common orphan. I have no fond memories of that time, so please don’t ask again.”

Despite her clear reluctance, Leonhardt didn’t back down.

“What about before that?”

“What?”

“Before you became an orphan? No newborn survives alone. Do you have no memories of the family who raised you or the place you grew up? Just memories of wandering?”

“What are you trying to get at? Leonhardt, I really am not Lillietta. I have no memories of living in a fancy castle like this. I don’t even recognize you. But I remember digging through trash while starving crystal-clear.”

Suddenly, she recalled moments of watching other children being protected by their families with longing.

The stench clinging to her skin, the monster innards stuck to her, her hands slick with blood from wounds, struggling to lift a heavy gun with tiny arms…

And seeing a child her age, clean and neat, whining to their mother because Rita looked dirty and scary.

That mother had held her child protectively and stepped away from Rita.

That memory… She had watched for a long time in stunned silence, overwhelmed with envy.

Rita raised her voice emotionally.

“Family? I don’t know, okay?! Why should I remember people who abandoned me?”

Leonhardt briefly wore a sorrowful expression, but soon composed himself and answered calmly.

“I understand you don’t want to remember a painful past. But if you truly have no memories of a family… if you really were an orphan from the beginning, then I hope you’ll consider the possibility.”

“What possibility?”

“That it’s not a coincidence that you ended up in Lillietta’s body in this world. What if the family you’ve forgotten… is us? What if, by returning home, you’ve regained your original body?”

He pulled something from his coat and placed it on the table.

“In your world, maybe things were different. But here, having another soul possess someone’s body isn’t an easy feat. There are rumors about such things in dark magic… but if it had happened, there would be clear signs.”

What he placed on the table was a palm-sized matchbox. A flat brown box with gold-trimmed edges—old and worn with time.

“You’re a different person inside? Rita, I don’t think I’d fail to recognize my only little sister. If your essence had changed, I would’ve noticed.”

He gently pushed the matchbox toward her and stood up.

“Just think about it—what if you are the real one?”

“……!”

Rita sat frozen until he left the room completely.

What if I’m the real one?

She had never even considered that. This was an entirely different body.

What could he possibly be seeing…?

Hesitating, she cautiously picked up the worn matchbox and opened it.

Inside was a small card with a dried four-leaf clover glued onto it.

“I found it!
Good luck on your exam, Leon-oppa!”

The faded handwriting, clearly that of a young child, was pressed carefully around the clover. It smelled of time and memories.

Did Lillietta give this to Leonhardt? Has he kept it all this time—for over ten years?

“……”

Rita stared at it blankly for a long time.

For some reason, it felt incredibly nostalgic. Tender, warm, and familiar. Like unfolding an old letter.

Something stirred deep inside her.

But no specific memories came back. Just a strange fog, like her mind was wrapped in mist.

“You are ‘Rita.’ I took you in as an orphan. You have no parents or family.”

Suddenly, a memory surfaced—Archmage Pascal, hood pulled low, placing a hand on her head.

“Now you’ll clearly remember how hungry and desperate you were. Be grateful to the one who saved you.”

Looking back, something about those words… felt strangely off.