I had never heard anyone say I looked happy in my previous world.
And yet… Am I happy in this world?
Looking back, maybe I was.
There were many terrifying moments in this world, but overall, I found myself smiling a lot.
Surprisingly, the adventure of chasing Aurora had been quite enjoyable for me.
As I was lost in thought, Aurora suddenly pointed to a spot and shouted.
“Crazy! It’s the Tower Master!”
“What? The Tower Master?”
We all turned at once to look in the direction she was pointing.
Had the Tower Master, Elisabetta, come all this way just to get revenge on us?
Ghieuspe, in particular, reacted fiercely, searching for Elisabetta.
However, there was no sign of her.
“What? There’s nothing there…”
Just as I turned my head back, I noticed Aurora dashing through our group.
“That crazy…!”
She had pulled a stunt just to grab our attention!
I immediately tried to grab Aurora, but—
Splash—
“Oh my god!”
“Someone fell into the river!”
To our shock, Aurora threw herself into the river without a moment’s hesitation!
I was so dumbfounded that I was at a complete loss for words.
“W-What the hell? Did she really have to go this far?”
I mean, couldn’t she just let us catch her peacefully?
At this rate, anyone watching would think we were out to kill her!
As I stood there, frozen in disbelief, Aurora’s head emerged from the water—
And then, she started running.
That’s right. She was running on the river.
I had no idea how, but she was striding across the water as if it were solid ground!
“What the hell?! What is she even doing?!”
“Hey, Aurora! Stop that and come back!”
The river must have been freezing in the autumn air, but Aurora didn’t even flinch as she boldly crossed it.
We could do nothing but gape in astonishment.
“Aurora’s antics are getting more insane by the day!”
“Incredible…”
“Sera, should I jump into the river too?”
“No, that won’t be necessary….”
Of course, if we really wanted to, we could dive in and catch her.
If someone like Raffaelo or Simone, who had superior physical abilities, swam after her, we could capture her in no time.
But her actions were so beyond our expectations that it felt like our fighting spirit had been drained away.
I even started wondering—do we really need to catch Aurora?
“Arkhangelo, they say God is dead….”
“I know. And yet, even I can’t believe my eyes….”
Aurora crossing the river reminded me of the phrase, “Seraphina, would you believe me if I walked on water?” If there were a deity in this world, she would be its second coming.
Nietzsche was wrong.
God was still alive.
And her name was Aurora.
We boarded a boat at the dock and tried to chase after her.
But unfortunately, Aurora had already taken off ahead of us, and her speed was far greater than ours.
She quickly disappeared into the forest on the other side of the river.
Once again, we stood there, dumbfounded, watching her retreating figure.
“From here on out, we’re in the Kingdom of Erdi.”
Raffaelo brushed his sweat-dampened hair back and frowned.
“Just how far is she planning to run?”
“I know, right? I really don’t understand Aurora….”
“Hmph, there’s no need to try.”
As everyone stood dumbfounded, Simone made his conclusion.
“For now, let’s move toward the Kingdom of Erdi. At first, we were just trying to retrieve our lost item, but now it seems like Aurora holds an important clue. We have to catch her.”
Just as Simone said, we might need Aurora if we were to face Princess Eva.
“What’s this about Princess Eva? What do you know?”
“I can’t tell you yet. It’s not the right time.”
Perhaps Aurora knew Princess Eva’s true identity…
Or even how to defeat her.
“Alright, let’s do that.”
***
“Let’s stay here for the night.”
“Okay.”
We arrived at a border village in the Kingdom of Erdi.
Thanks to the translation magic tool Ghieuspe had given us, we were able to communicate in Erdi without any trouble.
We didn’t know exactly where Aurora had gone, but if we searched, we would surely find more clues.
No need to be impatient—let’s take it one step at a time.
“Whether in creative work or everyday life, approaching things with a light heart allows them to go smoothly. A mind that soars without hesitation, unrestricted by trivial limitations, is truly free.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human
After finishing dinner, I stretched and got up from my seat.
“Yaaawn. I’m going to take a nap now.”
“Seraphina, how many times must I tell you? That’s not a nap, that’s just sleep.”
“Be quiet.”
“Why are you always so cold to me?!”
Hearing Arkhangelo grumble, I made my way upstairs to my room.
Compared to the Duke of Lithman’s estate or the Imperial Palace in Cassan, this place wasn’t exactly luxurious.
But I wasn’t Arkhangelo—I wasn’t one to complain about such things.
Then, as soon as I lay down, I fell into a deep sleep.
By the time I woke up, it was the middle of the night.
“Huh?”
That was strange. Normally, when I napped after eating, I only slept for about an hour.
So why did I sleep so deeply this time?
That’s when I realized—my body felt heavier than usual.
Sitting up in bed was difficult.
“Ugh….”
I placed a hand on my forehead and immediately felt the heat radiating from it.
I had a fever.
My throat was unbearably dry.
Even though I felt parched, I couldn’t move for a long time.
It was only after several minutes that I managed to force myself up.
Staggering, I grabbed a cup and drank some water.
Only then did I finally catch my breath.
“Haa…”
Even my breath felt hot. It seemed like my fever had gotten worse.
Now that I thought about it, my throat ached as well.
I must have caught a cold.
As I searched my memory, I realized that the original Seraphina often got sick too.
She hadn’t been a particularly healthy person.
I wobbled slightly before lying back down on the bed.
And then—
It felt like I was being pulled somewhere.
Deeper.
Even deeper.
To the place where the unconscious mind exists.
“Ugh…”
The dream I had…
It was a memory from early childhood.
It seemed to be Seraphina’s very first memory.
A memory of her mother holding her when she was around four or five years old.
The love in her mother’s eyes as she looked at Seraphina was overwhelming, making it easy to imagine just how happy she must have been back then.
Beside her mother, her father was smiling warmly as he watched. The Count Viviana’s family was truly harmonious.
‘I miss my mom….’
For the first time since coming to this world, I felt a longing for my family.
Just as I was feeling overwhelmed by those emotions, the scene changed.
‘Huh?’
It felt as if my body was being dragged somewhere.
The sensation was bizarre—
As if I were a mere fish being reeled in by an invisible fishing line.
Or like a character in a video suddenly breaking free from the screen, escaping beyond its borders.
In other words, it felt as if I was transcending dimensions.
My soul was being pulled toward a higher plane.
And then, I opened my eyes.
What I saw was a familiar sight.
‘Ah…!’
My original self—Yoo Sera—was there.
For a moment, I doubted my own eyes.
But through my hazy vision, as if submerged underwater, I could clearly see my former face.
No—
Now that so much time had passed since I left that body, it no longer felt like mine.
It felt completely foreign, as if it belonged to someone else entirely.
Meanwhile, Yoo Sera was casually chatting with the people around her.
Going on trips with her family, visiting famous restaurants with her friends—just an ordinary life.
“Sera, now that you’ve quit your job and have more free time, it’s nice, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, I think I used to live way too busily.”
But something was off—these weren’t memories I had.
‘Roje Mara Tanghulu? What the heck is that? I don’t remember ever eating something like that with my friends.’
As I suspiciously observed the scene, a realization struck me.
“Ah.”
This wasn’t a memory from my past.
I was witnessing someone inhabiting my body, moving in my place, and interacting with my loved ones right now.
In other words, the one inside my original body—pretending to be me—was Seraphina Viviana, the one who had swapped souls with me and fled!
Seraphina Viviana was living my life as if she were me, completely at ease.
Well, I wasn’t one to talk, since I was also living as Seraphina.
Still, she must have retained some of my body’s memories, just as I had adapted to hers.
Wait a minute—does this mean that in my original world, Roje Mara Tanghulu is trending? That’s horrifying.
Anyway, I wasn’t sure how or why, but I was watching my original self from my former world.
Then, suddenly—
Yoo Sera turned her head.
Her dark eyes seemed to stare directly at me, as if she could see me beyond the dimensions.
“Ah…!”
The moment her gaze pierced through me, I screamed.
And then—
She smiled.
Right after that, I woke up.
“Haa…!”
That last moment—when Yoo Sera looked at me—felt deeply unsettling.
My whole body trembled instinctively, and sweat poured down my skin.
It felt as if something immense and overwhelming had been watching me from above.
As I struggled to fully open my eyes, I realized someone was standing over me.
“Simone?”
