Chapter 23
My mind was full of confusion. How did Lady Abel know I was a possessor? And now she’s asking if she is one too?
Could it be… that she’s a possessor as well?
As I tried to sort out my swirling thoughts, a long silence stretched between us. I regained my focus and looked at Lady Abel’s golden eyes.
I could handle this. If I just ignored it, she wouldn’t press any further.
But I didn’t want to. Calmness replaced the surprise in my chest.
Abel was still staring at me. The loving expression I remembered from before had vanished, replaced by a cautious, watchful gaze.
“No, I’m not.”
If she was asking whether I was a possessor, that was my answer. I had avoided this truth for a while, but it was a question I had to face eventually.
Am I a possessor?
Or am I just a third-party reader who happened to inhabit this world?
After months of living here, I could finally answer that confidently.
“I’m Lily.”
At first, I had naturally thought of myself as a possessor. But after living as Lily, interacting with everyone, I realized the truth.
I was Lily. I had only remembered bits of my past life because of a terrible fever.
“……”
Abel didn’t say anything and continued staring at me. She sighed and finally released my arm, which she had been gripping tightly.
“Yeah, no wonder the story got so twisted… I never expected there would be another possessor.”
She ignored my words and seemed to conclude that I was a possessor.
“Sit down, so-called Lily. Since we’re in the same situation, I feel like we have a lot to talk about.”
She pointed to the chair across from her. I pulled it out and sat down.
Abel, with her forehead resting in her hand and eyes closed, finally broke the silence.
“When did you possess the body?”
“I said I didn’t possess it.”
“Ah, whatever. When then?”
Her voice carried the certainty that I was a possessor. I gave up trying to convince her.
“Last summer. On the first day of the Academy’s summer break.”
“Ugh… huh…”
Abel suddenly began laughing. She buried her head, shaking her shoulders as she laughed—it was rather frightening.
After laughing to herself for a while, she finally jumped up from her chair.
“Exactly! That day was so weird! You screamed out of nowhere, and Dad made you his personal maid on the spot!”
Her eyes sparkled as she spoke. I cautiously moved my chair back a little, putting distance between us. Abel, for some reason, kept laughing, looking upward.
Wow… she’s really scary. I kept a careful eye on her, unsure if she was completely sane.
“I was so worried because I thought the original story was changing because of me, but it was all your fault!”
“Uh… yes, I guess it was my fault. I’m sorry…”
“It was all your fault! I panicked for no reason! You should’ve just told me you were a possessor!”
She kept scolding me, but her expression looked more excited than angry.
I couldn’t understand why she was reacting this way.
“So, Miss… you’re a possessor too, right?”
“Yes! This is inside the novel. That damn I Became the Young Master’s Maid, Just Like I Dreamed Of. Ugh, the title’s annoyingly long too.”
Abel ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. The innocent appearance she’d shown before was gone; she seemed like a completely different person.
I couldn’t believe there was another person who knew the original story. I thought I was the only one.
Her current appearance was strange to me, but I was glad. Having someone to discuss the story with was a relief, as I had been struggling alone all this time.
I asked her brightly,
“So, you remember the whole story?”
“I’ve lived here for eleven years. Do you think I remember everything? I’ve been busy just trying to survive.”
Her frown made me feel disappointed. I had hoped she’d remember the story, but it seemed Abel was in the same situation as me.
She gave me a sidelong glance, then sat back down.
“Still, I remember some things. Like the male and female leads.”
“I know about that much too.”
“You know the trouble the sub-male lead caused for the couple?”
I knew the sub-male lead caused trouble between them, but I hadn’t imagined it would be called “trouble” in the story.
I recalled Prince Chris. In my memories, he was always grinning, playing strange pranks. I couldn’t picture him acting so badly.
“Prince Chris doesn’t seem like that kind of person…”
“What?”
At my mutter, Abel gave me a dumbfounded look.
“Who said he’s the sub-male lead?”
My eyes widened. I urgently asked,
“Prince Chris isn’t the sub-male lead?”
“No way. Absolutely not.”
Her words shocked me. I had been sure Chris was the sub-male lead!
I spoke in a confused voice,
“I… naturally thought it was Prince Chris… I assumed that if he got engaged to a noble girl from the Deren Empire, she would play the villain…”
“Pfft, what? Hahaha!”
Abel suddenly burst into laughter, hitting the table as she laughed uncontrollably.
After a long time, she wiped tears from her eyes and exclaimed,
“Chris’s fiancée is you, Lily!”
“……?”
I stared blankly at her. Abel was still laughing, clutching her stomach.
“Ah, it’s too funny. How could you misunderstand that? Thinking she’s the villain… about yourself…”
Abel threw herself over the table laughing. Why am I supposed to be the prince’s fiancée? I stood up, startled.
“Why would I be engaged to the royal family?”
“Oh, because you’re a noble of the Deren Empire. Not anymore, but you were.”
“A noble?!”
I shouted in shock. Me? A noble? And Chris’s fiancée?
I grabbed my head with both hands. My mind was in complete chaos.
Then I recalled Abel’s words.
“Not anymore…?”
It wasn’t like my noble status had been erased. If I really was a noble, why was I working as a maid here?
Abel waved her hand casually.
“Your family was wanted for treason. Oh, but it’s no big deal. You just go to prison for a few years, then it’ll be cleared since it’s false charges.”
“That’s not ‘no big deal’!”
Abel casually said something shocking. I didn’t even know where to start asking questions. How could she say such things so easily?
I was the daughter of a duke accused of treason. My eyes widened at the thought.
“Oh, no way…”
I recalled the three pieces of advice Chris gave me recently:
Don’t get close to nobles, hide your face if you go out, don’t get noticed by the princess.
I used to think it was nonsense, but now it made sense.
Wow. That’s advice you’d give to a noble hiding from the law. Even if it was false charges, Chris’s concern was absurd and touching at the same time.
“Really, if it weren’t for Prince Chris, I could’ve been in serious trouble… I feel bad for misjudging him…”
“What? What nonsense!”
Abel interrupted, disgusted. Again. I frowned at her. Please let me focus…
“Chris is the one who would take you to prison! That guy notices his fiancée right away and makes her suffer in jail. I’ve never seen anyone as obsessive as Chris in all the novels I’ve read! He’s totally crazy!”
Abel ranted and chugged a cold glass of milk. I stared blankly, blinking.
That’s extreme… but Chris would really do that?
I hesitated to believe it, but then I remembered something Chris had said a few days ago:
“If I tell you your memories, you probably won’t be able to stay here. I’ll take you away immediately.”
…Taking me away meant… prison?
I shivered and rubbed my arm. Almost got thrown in jail while trying to recover memories.
I rubbed my arm and asked Abel an idle question:
“But I already met Prince Chris, and I’m fine, right?”
According to the story, I should have been caught that moment I met him. But not only was I not taken, I even went out with him.
Abel shouted, frustrated,
“Exactly! You were supposed to meet Chris years later! Suddenly appearing messed up my head! And you just quietly went back to the palace. The story’s twisted way too much! More suspicious… why’s he so calm?”
I had a guess.
If it’s different from the original story, it’s probably this.
“…Actually, I think I have an idea.”
During the ball, I remembered my friend that Chris suddenly liked.
Damien. Chris consulted Damien, and after that, his behavior toward me changed.
I explained the ball incident to Abel. She made a subtle expression.
“So Chris just left because… he treated you as a different person from the one before you lost your memory? He realized it after consulting Damien?”
“Probably.”
I wasn’t sure, but bringing up Emily during the consultation probably influenced his thoughts. The Emily in the original story and I had one existence but appeared different in memory.
Damien and Chris were similar. They loved the past version, not the present.
Abel, impressed, said,
“You really… better treat Damien well…”
I quietly nodded. Thanks to a good friend, I avoided prison.
I was a noble, accused of treason, and destined for prison in a few years, but that was for later.
Right now, the important thing was to finally find the answer to a question I’d struggled with for a month. I asked Abel seriously,
“If it’s not Prince Chris, then who’s the sub-male lead?”
“Who else?”
Abel answered indifferently.
“Of course, it’s Lou. Who else would it be?”
“…What?”
I stared at Abel, dumbfounded.
