‘It must have been because the child had suffered so much, Rosie often had nightmares.’
One day, after waking to the sound of the child crying sorrowfully in her sleep and coming to this room, I began to watch over her sleep.
Of course, at the time I didn’t know about my ability, and I simply held the hand of the child who was shedding tears from nightmares and warmed her. When I did that, Rosie would soon relax and fall into a deep sleep with a peaceful face.
‘Looking back now, my ability must have been at work even then, if only faintly. Though I wasn’t aware of it.’
My power had been weak at the time, but since our bodies had been directly touching while she slept, it seemed there had been at least a slight effect.
On this day as well, I had come to Rosie, who was having a nightmare, holding her hand and wiping away her cold sweat.
Even knowing that this was only an illusion seen through the memories of my previous life, I was truly happy to see her alive and breathing like this.
“Rosie, do you feel a little better…?”
Even though I knew the child was fast asleep, I quietly spoke to her, and something was shining from the lower part of her neck.
‘Ah, it was this day.’
Even though I knew I was inside a memory of the past, I was already acting exactly as I had on that day.
Perhaps because this wasn’t a dream but a memory, I couldn’t freely change my words or actions differently from how they had originally happened.
“What is this?”
When I moved closer to look, a very faint green light became clearer.
‘Is she wearing a gemstone necklace or something.’
When I gently pulled down the collar of Rosie’s nightclothes to check, the light was coming from the hollow where both collarbones met.
What was strange was that the faint light wasn’t coming from a gemstone, but from inside Rosie’s body. It looked as if a small luminous bead had been placed beneath her skin.
“Ah…!”
But my exploration of my previous life’s memory ended there. Before I could even think about what it was, I woke up immediately.
As I realized that I had opened my eyes, a long sigh escaped me in regret.
“Haah….”
I wanted to examine that unknown light a little more, but more than that, I wanted to see Rosie a little longer.
‘Since it’s not a dream, I can’t stay or leave by my own will.’
When I glanced to the side, Rastan was still sleeping soundly with a peaceful face.
‘This person really is handsome even while sleeping. More importantly…’
I carefully thought about the memory from my previous life that I had just seen. This memory was something that had truly happened in my previous life.
‘I did think it was strange back then too.’
However, at that time, I had to force myself to go give Helga her morning greetings every day, so I was always sleep-deprived.
So that day as well, I had seen it in a half-asleep, half-awake state, and then fallen asleep again beside Rosie’s bed.
‘When I woke up at dawn, I hurried back to my room to change clothes before going to Helga’s room.’
At that time, Rosie wasn’t emitting that kind of light, so the incident naturally faded from my mind.
‘Even when I remembered it later, I must have simply assumed it had been a dream and moved on.’
Just like Rosie, I too had been struggling to survive in that household, so I had no room to spare, either physically or mentally.
‘To think I forgot something so mysterious without even keeping it in my heart.’
I had continued to forget about it even after regressing, but now that I had seen it, it was clearly not a dream, but a real memory.
‘But why was that kind of light coming from Rosie’s body?’
During the approximately year and a half we lived together, Rosie had never shown anything special or unusual.
‘Perhaps the only unusual thing was that she was somewhat mature for her age, having grown up constantly reading others’ moods.’
No matter how much I searched my memory, aside from this incident, she had never shown anything resembling magical power.
Suddenly, I remembered that the world I was living in now was inside the novel [Even If You’re a Villain, Please Become My Family.]
‘Right, what was the setting in the original novel?’
As I retraced the contents of the novel, I soon realized something.
‘I didn’t finish reading that book…’
Moreover, since I had read it so long ago, even the parts I had read in the beginning were faint in my memory.
I held back a sigh and decided to calmly recall at least the parts I had read.
‘Before Rosie lived with her aunt Lily… ah, right. I think it said she lived hidden in the forest with her biological mother.’
As soon as I recalled that, the family history of the Archmage I had met at the Imperial Palace came to mind.
‘He said his younger sister was accused of being a witch and almost killed.’
There was a reason that thought had surfaced.
Those accused of being witches often fled into forests or mountains to escape the witch trials.
My thoughts naturally continued.
‘Could Rosie’s biological mother also have lived hidden in the forest for that reason?’
If so, there was a possibility that Rosie also possessed magical power.
‘If I assume that small light from her body was proof of some kind of magic, everything fits.’
My heart pounded violently at the thought that I might have discovered Rosie’s potential, something I had never known while living with her.
‘Honestly, what meaning could the potential of a child who no longer even exists have now?’
And yet, my body reacted irrationally when it came to Rosie.
It felt as though this reaction of my heart was proof that she had truly existed, so even the stabbing pain and pounding were welcome and precious.
‘She’s not a child who exists in this life… but still, I want to at least confirm something like a trace of the Rosie from my previous life.’
With one hand, I rubbed my chest, where my heart pounded painfully and erratically on its own.
My chest trembled as if Rosie were alive and moving within my heart, and eventually, tears poured out against my will.
The next day, I asked Rastan to investigate the personal background of the Archmage of the Imperial Palace.
“I do not need all information about him, only what concerns his family.”
“Very well.”
As always, Rastan accepted without asking for a reason, and his capable subordinates brought the requested information in less than half a day.
— Has never married and currently lives alone
— Both parents (Peter, Anna) died of illness while he was studying at the Magic Tower in his teens
— Had two younger sisters (Sabrina, Lily), but both are now deceased
Even from this information alone, I could picture the lonely path of the Archmage’s life, and it made my heart ache.
However, what caught my attention in that information were the names of his two younger sisters.
‘They have the same names as Rosie’s biological mother from the original novel, and Rosie’s aunt who was Gerald’s former mistress.’
In this world, Lily could be considered a common name, but Sabrina was not.
Moreover, the fact that both of them, who would still have been young if alive, were already dead only strengthened my certainty.
‘The Archmage of the Imperial Palace was Rosie’s maternal uncle…!’
If both her mother and her uncle had magical power, then there was a high probability that Rosie also had magical power. Then that green light must have also been caused by magic.
‘Rosie’s magic must have temporarily activated in response to my ability.’
Thinking that made the child seem even more pitiful.
‘If the right person had recognized her ability and nurtured it well, Rosie might have grown into a respected Archmage like her uncle.’
Instead, despite having perfectly capable blood relatives, she had suffered in House Lansval and died at such a young age.
As I clutched my aching chest once more, a somewhat strange thought came to mind.
If I were to regress again after finishing this life, I would take Rosie to the Archmage.
‘He is her close blood relative, and someone who would recognize Rosie’s talent. It would be the best choice for her.’
Of course, I didn’t know whether such a miraculous event as regression would happen again, or if this life would be the last.
But since it had happened once, who could guarantee it wouldn’t happen again?
***
The atmosphere in the Violent Crimes Investigation Team at the headquarters of the Security Department was chaotic.
When an anonymous report containing fairly detailed information about a slave trading crime had come in a few days ago, they had been quietly excited.
As law enforcement officers, they couldn’t welcome crime, but successfully handling a major case that stirred public attention usually led to promotion and rewards.
However…
“How can a slave auction house disappear without leaving a single trace?”
Investigator Jake scratched his head in frustration.
To be precise, the fairly large building that had supposedly housed the auction was still there, but the inside was completely empty.
