Chapter 39
After Jacob left, Delani seemed pleased.
I let her enjoy the moment.
I was already looking forward to the day Jacob would return after awakening his aura—just to see the twisted expression on her face.
As I was chuckling to myself, Dedrick returned from the library.
Seeing my sly expression, he flinched. I quickly controlled my face and asked,
“What fairy tale are we reading today?”
Instead of answering, Dedrick handed me a book.
The cover showed a fairy with four delicate wings and a princess in a flowing dress.
Below them was the title, which I could now read without difficulty.
“The Fairy and the Princess’s Journey!”
Feeling proud, I looked at Dedrick. He naturally patted my head in praise.
“Good job.”
“Let’s read it right away!”
After we finished the story, Dedrick glanced at me and, as always, cautiously brought up a thought.
“The fairy and the princess became happy, even though they had different lifespans.”
Of course, fairy tales always had happy endings.
But this time, I thought about it differently.
The story didn’t show what happened afterward, but I felt a little sad for the fairy who would be left alone.
In vampire fairy tales, the loved one is bitten so they can live together forever. But that didn’t happen here.
“But when the princess dies, the fairy will have to live alone for a long time. That’s kind of sad.”
Dedrick’s eyes widened slightly at my unexpected opinion.
“…You think the fairy would be sad?”
“Yeah. The fairy would have to miss the princess for the rest of its life. Don’t you think so, Didi?”
Dedrick seemed to think about it for a moment, then suddenly looked at me with a shocked expression.
Before I could ask why, he grabbed the book and stood up abruptly.
“I’m throwing this book away.”
“Huh? Why?”
“I don’t like it.”
He looked ready to toss it out immediately, so I grabbed his sleeve.
“Why don’t you like it?”
“…Time.”
He stopped mid-sentence and fell silent before turning the question back on me.
“How long will you live? Will you live for a very long time?”
“Hmm… I’m not sure, but I think I’ll live much longer than you.”
I didn’t feel like I would die at a normal human age.
It was just a gut feeling—one of those instincts that felt certain.
It was like an unshakable truth about myself that I just knew.
“Then… I need to find a way to extend my lifespan…”
Dedrick mumbled to himself as he sat back down.
That reminded me of something I had been curious about while reading fairy tales with him.
“This tree here…”
I took the book from him and turned to the last page.
It showed a happy fairy and princess. Behind them was a large tree.
This tree appeared in every fairy tale we had read so far.
But it looked different from ordinary trees.
Even in the simple, whimsical art style, the tree stood out, exuding grandeur.
Every book depicted it with excessive detail as if it carried some deep meaning.
“What’s this tree? It’s drawn with more effort than the main characters.”
“It represents happiness, peace, fortune, and prosperity.”
“That’s a lot of symbolism. What kind of tree is it?”
“The World Tree.”
“…The World Tree?”
“The tree at the root of this world. The first living being. It symbolizes happiness, so it’s drawn at the end of fairy tales. Actually, the vines embroidered on your wardrobe represent its roots. My mother told me that.”
I followed his gaze to my wardrobe.
Thick roots were embroidered on it.
I had always thought it was just a common decorative pattern.
But it was the World Tree.
Realizing this made my heart pound for some reason.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the wardrobe as I asked,
“Then… is this wardrobe really expensive?”
“I don’t know. My mother left it for me, so you can’t really put a price on it.”
“Your mother left it for you?”
I blinked in surprise, hearing this for the first time.
Dedrick gave a small nod.
“This wardrobe was the only keepsake I had from my mother. It was so large that my father personally gave it to me. That’s why the Grand Duchess couldn’t take it from me.”
Wait, no one ever mentioned this before.
It was like a piece of time had been completely erased from my memory.
‘So that’s why he never got rid of it, even after all the suffering in the novel.’
Seeing my confusion, Dedrick gave a shy smile.
“Ah, but it’s not my only keepsake anymore. You found the rest of my mother’s things for me.”
“Didi, did your parents ever say anything about this wardrobe?”
“My father, as always, said nothing. My mother never mentioned anything about it either.”
That made sense.
There was no reason to talk about a wardrobe.
‘…But why do I feel like I almost remember something?’
The World Tree.
I had definitely heard of it before…
But it wasn’t a memory from my past life.
I had heard the word World Tree from someone before…
Throb.
“Ugh.”
Suddenly, a sharp headache hit me. The sounds around me faded into the distance.
And above the wardrobe, a hazy vision appeared.
The floor was covered in blood.
Two people stood there, their faces obscured.
Then, I heard a woman’s voice whisper in my ear.
“I want to save this child.”
A man’s voice stopped the woman.
“That life is already fading.”
I squinted hard, trying to see the two figures more clearly as they flickered like they might disappear at any moment.
Slowly, my vision sharpened. I could even smell the metallic scent of blood in the air. But still, their faces remained hidden.
However, I could see what was resting in their hands—a tiny baby, as if just born.
The baby was covered in blood. Even the small horns on its head were stained deep red. It barely breathed, its weak gasps sounding like it could stop at any moment.
And somehow, I knew.
That dying baby… was me.
Was this a lost memory?
It made sense that I wouldn’t remember—I had been a newborn.
“The baby has already absorbed all the surrounding blood through its horns. A child like this, born on a battlefield, was bound to be abandoned. This is its fate…”
The man’s words were cut off by the woman’s desperate voice.
“But… it’s a newborn. If we use a piece of the World Tree, it might survive!”
“That place…”
“Only a divine emissary can enter the sanctuary. Please, I can’t just watch this child die… This baby…”
I couldn’t hear the rest of her plea, but I could feel her desperation.
The man sighed, as if he had no choice.
Then, the vision faded as if it had never been there.
Only the woman’s voice remained, clear in my ears.
“I went through all that for you, so make sure to say thank you when you meet me.”
Her voice was gentle and warm, but it quickly vanished like sand slipping through my fingers.
“Wake up! Get up!”
I opened my eyes wide.
“Huh?!”
Dedrick’s face was soaked in tears.
Startled, I backed away slightly, but he grabbed my hand in a panic.
“W-why… why…”
He couldn’t even form a full question as he sniffled.
Feeling awkward, I wiped his wet cheeks and forced a small smile.
“Didi, why are you crying? What did I do?”
“I… I thought you were disappearing. You… You won’t leave me, right?”
“Where would I even go without you?”
But Dedrick couldn’t stop crying so easily.
I hesitated, then gently pulled him into a hug, patting his back to comfort him.
He clung to me desperately, sobbing.
“You weren’t moving… And there was blood… Blood coming from your horns.”
“What?!”
Shocked, I checked my body, but I didn’t see anything unusual.
Ignoring my confusion, he buried himself in my arms again.
“Your eyes… they turned red…”
Was it because I had recovered a lost memory?
I slowly explained what had happened, hoping to calm him down.
“I remembered something from when I was really little. That’s probably why.”
“But why did it have to be that dramatic?!”
That wasn’t my choice…
“I don’t really know how or why it happened. So stop crying, okay?”
I gently brushed my fingers over his tear-streaked eyes, trying to soothe him.
