Episode 64

 

‘Neigh!’

I woke up to the sound of the carriage wheels rattling and a horse neighing. Voices, sounding as if people were arguing, filtered through the window.

Forcing my eyes open, I realized it was still early dawn, the sun not yet risen. I pulled the blanket over my head.

Although I was awake, I didn’t want to get up yet. It was the fifth morning since I had been staying at Rosalind’s house.

During that time, I had been woken up twice by noise from outside and twice because the room was cold. Only once had I woken up on my own.

‘I’m so tired.’

I buried my face into the pillow.

The process of creating a new body and transferring my soul had been incredibly complex and exhausting. That’s why I felt more drained than before.

I held the hand of the new body lying next to me. It was warm.

At first, it had been cold, but at some point, it started to have warmth.

According to Rosalind, this was my warmth transferring over. She explained that this was part of the preparation for the soul transfer, which is why I felt more tired and colder than usual.

It was hard to understand at first, but now I was gradually grasping what it meant to transfer a soul.

Last night, I even opened my eyes through that body.

I lifted my hand and gently stroked the face of my other self.

I could faintly feel the touch of my hand on my own cheek.

The appearance of the created body was quite different from my current one.

It was slightly taller but had a smaller overall frame. The shape of the jaw, the bridge of the nose, and even the skin tone were all very different from mine.

Most notably, the hair color was a silvery hue that reminded me of Igon.

When I first saw the hair, white as if aged prematurely, on the day the body was created, I found myself biting my lip unconsciously.

With that hair, even if I took on a different name instead of Evelyn, I felt I would never be able to forget Igon for the rest of my life.

According to Rosalind’s book, the appearance of the created body is influenced by the person who makes it.

Perhaps that’s why the hair color resembled Igon’s.

Since my soul hadn’t fully transferred yet, I still didn’t know my fate.

What if I had to kill Igon?

Should I run away like Rosalind did?

Even though I resented him, I couldn’t bring myself to kill him with my own hands.

Feeling a tremor that was more aptly called fear than anxiety, I closed my eyes.

I took a deep breath.

In that moment, I had the illusion that my lying position had changed.

I quickly opened my eyes and saw myself—Evelyn.

My soul had transferred to the other body.

“Ha…”

My mouth fell open automatically.

Wondering if what I was seeing was real, I blinked several times.

I stared at Evelyn, lying as if asleep, for a long time.

Last time, it had been during the night, so it didn’t feel as vivid, but today, perhaps because it was dawn, it was overwhelmingly real.

Observing myself was extremely strange.

This was the first time I hadn’t returned to my original body for such an extended period.

Out of curiosity, I tried to lift the hand of this current body, but perhaps I wasn’t able to do that yet, as my soul bounced back to my original body.

My startled heart pounded wildly.

‘Bang! Bang!’

An inconsiderate knocking sound echoed.

A curt voice, still heavy with sleep, followed.

“If you’re awake, start preparing breakfast.”

The sound of slippers shuffling away from the door followed those words.

I got up and climbed out of bed.

To keep the new body warm, I carefully tucked the blanket around it and turned it over to prevent bedsores before changing my clothes.

Despite having already been paid well for her services, Rosalind had worked me hard over the past five days.

I prepared Rosalind’s meals, washed the dishes, cleaned her room, and swept and polished the hallway and banisters on the floor where I stayed.

Luckily, I didn’t have to go downstairs, as Rosalind was worried about being discovered. Otherwise, cleaning the downstairs area would have been my responsibility as well.

I left the room and headed to the small attached kitchen.

Inside were the vegetables and fruits Rosalind had bought the previous day, along with some smoked pork.

Neither Rosalind nor I ate much for breakfast, so preparing it wasn’t difficult.

I didn’t know the exact recipe, but by recalling the taste of the salad dressing I had eaten at the Duke’s mansion and mixing this and that, I managed to recreate a similar flavor.

Maybe I had more of a talent for cooking than I thought.

I sliced the smoked meat and fried it, then cooked some eggs.

I placed the salad in the center and arranged the meat and eggs on plates.

Finally, I poured the boiled water into a teapot and set it on the table.

Perhaps it was the smell of the food that woke her, but Rosalind soon walked in, yawning.

“Did you sleep well?”

“I would have if those outside hadn’t been fighting. This makes it the sixteenth time this month alone, and I almost turned them into frogs.”

Rosalind stabbed a piece of meat with her fork and grumbled.

“If they wake me up one more time by fighting before I leave this place, I’ll definitely turn them into frogs next time.”

Since she was someone who did what she said, I silently hoped that the men outside wouldn’t fight again.

As we ate, her mood seemed to have softened considerably.

Carefully, I brought up what had happened that morning.

“Rosalind, this morning, I woke up in that body. I tried to move my hand, but it seems I can’t move it yet, as I was quickly bounced back. Still, I stayed in that body for quite a while.”

Rosalind raised an eyebrow as she sipped her tea.

“Yes. Normally, you should have woken up in that body by the third day, but it seems you’re more attached to your current self than you thought.”

I couldn’t argue with the word “attached.”

I gave an awkward smile and hid my face behind the teacup.

“When you wake up in that body again, try slowly applying pressure to your fingertips. Don’t rush, just take it slow.”

Rosalind gently took my fingers and slowly bent them.

“Yes.”

I nodded, trying to memorize that sensation.

“Oh, by the way, a letter arrived.”

Rosalind pulled a letter from her sleeve and handed it to me.

This was the second letter I had received since coming here.

Rosalind had opened the first one herself, and after reading it, she told me it was meant for me.

The white envelope didn’t have a sender’s name on it, but there was only one person who knew I was here.

The letter confirmed that Liam was still alive and well.

I slit the envelope and took out the letter.

Along with the letter, there was a small amount of money inside the heavy envelope.

I took out the money and put it in my pocket before reading the letter.

In a formal but easy-to-read script, a few updates were written.

Igon was acting as if nothing had happened, as if I hadn’t disappeared.

Publicly, he was claiming that I was resting in my room due to a relapse caused by the dark beast’s poison that they hadn’t yet fully neutralized.

He had been so thorough in hiding the truth that even within the estate, only a few people knew what had really happened.

It seemed to be an effort to prevent anyone from discovering that I had run away.

Sure enough, last night, the daily newspaper Rosalind had handed me reported that Lady Rodore had collapsed due to the poison of the dark beast.

Liam mentioned that Igon was tracking me, but with little success.

Fortunately, Liam hadn’t been caught helping me.

That’s why he was still alive, and it seemed Igon hadn’t been able to find me.

At the end of the letter, Liam mentioned that he had received a letter of inquiry from Kenneth.

I borrowed paper and a pen from Rosalind and wrote a note thanking him for the update and asking him to send Kenneth’s letter here.

After sealing the letter, I handed it to Rosalind when we finished eating.

“What a bother…”

Rosalind grumbled, but she still took the letter.

Then she returned to her room to prepare for her work.

I cleaned up the table, washed the dishes, and then returned to my room.

Once back in my room, I checked the magic circle for any worn areas and repaired them.

I held the hand of the new body and chanted an incantation.

As I repeated the words, other thoughts began to creep into my mind.

Was Igon really unable to find me?

Or did he just not want to find me?

Stop thinking about it. Don’t think about him.

I ran away because I hated him.

But even so, it wasn’t easy to stop thinking about Igon.

Rosalind had called this feeling attachment.

I needed to sever that attachment.

I focused on my breathing.

I thought about my life and my death.

I focused only on myself, not on anyone else.

I pushed away the fear and dread and imagined new things, things I hadn’t experienced before.

I slowly realigned the twisted parts of my psyche.

The warmth I felt from the hand I was holding was the same as mine.

It felt strange.

Following the flow of warmth, I felt something flowing out and then returning, as if I had become a river, flowing pleasantly.

I opened my eyes.

I was lying down, and I soon realized that I had entered the other body.

Just as Rosalind had instructed, I slowly applied pressure to my fingertips.

A slight movement.

My finger twitched.

* * *

It took two days before I could stand up.

Rosalind said I needed to move a lot, and I was trying to follow her advice.

Although I could move with effort, my senses were dulled.

My vision was blurrier than in my original body, my hearing was less sharp, and my sense of smell was weaker.

It felt like I was wearing several layers of large, heavy clothing that covered my entire body.

After walking for a while, I started to sweat.

I sat down and wiped away the sweat.

After sitting for a long time, I got up and drank the water that was on the table.

I carefully lifted the cup, worried that it might break, and slowly set it back down.

Next to the water cup was the letter from Kenneth.

It mentioned that he had heard about my collapse and inquired about my condition.

In my current body, that was all I could see.

But in my original body, other words were visible.

I picked up a towel and wiped the sweat off my forehead.

As I lay down on the bed, I began to feel drained.

I rose from my original body.

The body lying still without a drop of sweat was dry, but I was completely exhausted.

I got up again and looked at the letter, and there were other words written there.

Kenneth asked if I was really sick or if I was being held captive.

It seemed he had realized that something was wrong with my situation.

I hadn’t sent a reply yet.

I was torn between whether I should meet him and settle things or just turn away and never see him again.

After much deliberation, I wrote a reply asking him to come and visit me.

I decided it would be better for him to come here rather than for me to go to him.

I sent the reply to the palace through Rosalind.

She was able to do this because she sold perfume to the palace maids.

And on the evening of the day I sent the letter, Kenneth came to visit.

“You look thin.”

He said with a smile.