Chapter 170
“Oh my, Miss, you’re back? Shall I prepare some refreshments—?”
A maid walking down the corridor greeted Silvia warmly as she returned to the mansion.
As always, the maid offered a light greeting, but Silvia passed her by with a stiff expression.
“Miss?”
“Don’t let anyone enter this room.”
Without even returning the greeting, Silvia slammed the door shut.
Startled, the maid flinched and tilted her head in confusion. It was the first time she had ever seen Silvia—who was always kind even to servants—lose her temper like this.
“Did something bad happen…?”
After standing there blankly for a while, the maid shrugged and went back to her duties.
Meanwhile, once inside the room, Silvia grabbed her hair and pulled at it mercilessly.
Her heart was pounding so violently that her stomach churned.
She had never imagined that, in front of so many people, her status as an adopted child would be revealed.
She could still hear the whispers—adopted child—echoing in her ears.
If she explained that she had been adopted at such a young age that everyone mistook her for her mother’s biological daughter, she could probably suppress the rumors somehow. But there was a far bigger problem right now.
“…Selina is Mother’s real daughter.”
On the way back from the academy, Anais had confessed everything to her. Silvia didn’t want to believe it.
“Nox! What the hell is going on?! Selina is Mother’s daughter?! You knew about this, didn’t you?!”
Silvia screamed as she confronted Nox.
Lying atop the bed, Nox looked at her lazily.
“Of course I knew.”
“You knew? You knew and didn’t tell me?!”
“And what would you have done if you had known?”
“What would I have done?! I wouldn’t have let Selina meet Mother in the first place! If they’d never met, this would never have happened!”
The kind and gentle Silvia Hailers was gone. Overwhelmed by anxiety, the girl ruled by her emotions looked exactly like she had the first time Nox met her.
“So this is your true self. Yes—this suits you far better.”
“Stop changing the subject. At least try to make an excuse!”
“An excuse? I have nothing to explain to you.”
“Noxius!”
Silvia screamed until her voice nearly tore, pressing Nox. In response, Nox’s pitch-black eyes darkened even further as he looked at her.
Silvia was crushed by an intangible force and fell to her knees.
“…You!”
“I told you on the very first day not to get close to that girl. You’re the one who ignored my warning.”
When Silvia first saw Selina, she had felt instinctively drawn to her. Nox had warned her once back then.
Remembering that, Silvia’s face went pale.
“And you—don’t tell me you’ve forgotten?”
“Forgotten what?”
“Your fate. Whose do you think it originally belonged to?”
Glowering at Nox, Silvia suddenly realized the truth she had forgotten.
“Do you think the ever-kind Silvia Hailers would feel guilty toward the one whose fate she stole? Or would she hate her for trying to take her place back?”
“I—I didn’t mean to! I didn’t know it was Selina’s fate!”
“Even if you had known, you would’ve made the same choice.”
“………”
Silvia trembled, unable to refute him.
“You were more desperate than anyone back then. Wasn’t that true?”
Silvia’s blue eyes twisted as if she were about to cry.
Silvia first met Nox eleven years ago, just as a cold winter was coming to an end.
* * *
At the time, five-year-old Silvia was a slightly special child—one who retained memories of her past life.
She was briefly happy about being reborn, but once she understood her situation, despair quickly followed.
She thought being adopted by a noble family might offer some hope, but most nobles who took children from orphanages did so for reasons far less noble than raising them as their own.
Continuing to live in the orphanage, being adopted by nobles, or escaping and surviving alone—none of the options promised peace.
At five years old, after coldly assessing her reality, she fell into despair and lived each day losing hope.
Then one day, as she sat alone, a shadow spoke to her.
“Are you sick of your life?”
“W-who are you?”
“Shh. Be quiet. Others might see.”
Realizing the voice was coming from her shadow, she gasped and covered her mouth.
“What kind of person talks through someone’s shadow?”
“I am Noxius, the god of shadows.”
“…A god?”
“Don’t you want to escape this situation? Don’t you want to live without envy?”
The god who spoke to her, Noxius, read her desires and tempted her.
“I’ll raise you to the highest position.”
“…How would you do that?”
Unlike her initial panic, she now grasped the situation clearly.
“Make a contract with me and do exactly as I say. Don’t worry—I won’t make you do anything dangerous.”
“What do I have to do?”
“It’s simple. You just live someone else’s fate in their place.”
“Someone else’s fate?”
“Yes. Though the original owner of that fate will die.”
The small child’s hand trembled.
“If you take my hand, you’ll be adopted by a marquis’s family. You’ll meet kind parents and two older brothers who love and support you. You’ll become a saintess of the Moon Temple, beloved by all.”
Confused by the idea that someone might die, she hesitated—then froze at Nox’s explanation. Greed filled her eyes as she looked down at her shadow.
“A wealthy life, a family that loves you unconditionally, and the love of all. Doesn’t that tempt you?”
Though the shadow was pitch-black, it felt as though it were smiling.
“…There really won’t be anything dangerous for me, right?”
“Right. As I said, someone may die because of you. If you’re okay with that, take my hand.”
The shadow’s hand rippled and emerged from the ground, reaching toward her. After much deliberation, she grasped the black shadow’s hand.
It was a strange sensation—cold, without warmth. But to her in that moment, the shadow’s hand was no different from a golden lifeline.
Thus, after forming a contract with Noxius, she was told of her future.
“Listen carefully. In one month, a marchioness will come looking for a girl with pale lavender hair. When she does, don’t question it—don’t hesitate—cling to her and call her Mother.”
After that, Noxius never appeared again. She simply waited for the day he foretold.
About a month later, the orphanage staff bathed her, dressed her in clean clothes, and led her to the reception room—a special one used only when nobles visited.
“They’re looking for a girl with pale lavender hair. Do you think it’s this one?”
“She always caused trouble when nobles came. I hope she behaves this time.”
“I heard the visitor is a marchioness.”
“They say she was born a commoner. The marquis fell for her at first sight.”
Listening to the staff chatter, she was certain—this was the day Noxius had promised.
The door opened, and a noble couple entered.
Turning around, she saw a beautiful woman with the same pale lavender hair as herself. Instinctively, she knew—this is my mother.
But unlike her hopeful gaze, Anais’s face twisted with clear disappointment.
“…No.”
“She’s not your child?”
“No… She isn’t. I was sure she would be.”
When Anais began to cry, the child panicked. It felt like the brilliant future laid before her was slipping away.
Desperately, she clutched Anais’s skirt.
“Please don’t cry…”
Anais flinched, visibly shaken. Remembering Noxius’s words, she acted at once.
“Are you my mother? Did you come for me?”
She knew Anais wasn’t her real mother—but she still called her so, clinging tightly.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. The child is being rude.”
“This isn’t the child you were looking for, is it?”
At that moment, the staff pulled the girl away. Panicking, she reached out desperately.
“L-let go! I’m going with Mom!”
“Hey! Stay still!”
“Mom! Mom!”
No matter how desperately she called, Anais didn’t stop them.
Dragged away, the child was thrown back into her old room.
“Tch. Don’t cause trouble—stay here.”
“She always refused adoption before. What’s with her today?”
“Maybe she thought the lady was her mother because of the hair color?”
The staff left her behind, chatting among themselves.
Staring at the tightly shut door, the child clenched her small fists.
“Noxius! Come out right now! I did exactly what you said! Why didn’t she take me?! You said all I had to do was call her Mom!”
She shouted at the deep shadow on the wooden floor, but the other children only stared at her strangely. Noxius did not respond.
Thinking she had been deceived, she hurled a toy aside and curled up on the bed.
That night, after everyone had fallen asleep, Noxius appeared again.
“I called her Mom and clung to her. Then why didn’t she take me? You didn’t trick me, did you?”
“Calm down. It’s not over yet.”
“…What?”
“The marchioness who came today is desperate to find her daughter. To her, you are a very important existence—one that reminds her of that child. Watch. She’ll return in a few days.”
Deciding to trust him one last time, she was shocked when Anais truly returned just days later.
“From now on, your name is Silvia. Silvia Hailers.”
Given the name Silvia Hailers, she followed Nox’s advice—treating Anais as her real mother and always calling her Mom.
Perhaps because of that, Anais showed weakness toward her.
Still, entering the marquis’s household wasn’t as smooth as Noxius had promised.
Some servants whispered about her, eyeing her like a caged animal. Young Sylvester, believing she had stolen Anais’s affection, tormented her relentlessly.
Even so, remembering the worst days of her life, Silvia endured it all.
As time passed, just as Noxius said, people naturally began to love her.
An abundant household, a perfect family like a painted portrait, and the oracle naming her a saintess the moment she entered the marquis’s home—everything was satisfying.
Except for one thing.
Anais never stopped searching for her real daughter.
Even a year after adopting Silvia, Anais cared for her sincerely while still holding onto hope.
Whenever Silvia overheard talk of searching for a child from the marquis’s study, fear of losing her place consumed her, and she would whisper to her shadow.
“Please… answer me. Am I really safe like this?”
But from the day she left the orphanage onward, she never saw Noxius again.
