Her long eyelashes trembled.
Like the wings of a butterfly.
With shadows reaching out beneath her fluttering eyes, the tightly closed eyes gradually opened.
Those wide eyes contained the color blue.
And reflected within the woman's blue eyes were the trees and the sky.
The woman was in a daze for a long time, blinking. And then.
Cough, cough.
As a fit of coughing came over her, she had to sit up.
Her hazy senses gradually became clear.
The woman looked around her surroundings slowly.
Where in the world was this place?
However, even as she looked more, an answer did not come to her.
All she could see were grass, flowers and trees.
"What the…"
Suddenly, the roaming gaze stopped.
Because she was startled by the voice that left her lips.
She raised one thin, pale hand, which then fumbled over her neck.
Those blue eyes gradually opened wide.
'Just what…'
It's been a long time since she had heard that voice.
No, to be exact, it's been a while since she had spoken with that voice.
'Rita.'
This was Rita's voice, not Rosetta's.
Rosetta moved her trembling hands, reaching to the back of her neck to sweep her hair forward.
And the hair that cascaded down her chest was golden.
Glittering gold beneath the sun.
"What— Just what the hell is going on."
Rosetta muttered to herself once again, flustered.
Obviously, she had been living as Rosetta just until a while ago.
It was the day of the hunting festival, and she had just been with Cassion to face the white-yellow deer.
And…
They encountered those blue monsters.
After telling Cassion to run away, she lost consciousness.
Did Cassion successfully escape?
Rosetta's expression hardened as she recalled the person she had left behind, concern tainting her thoughts.
Her head started throbbing because of her tangled thoughts, and as she rose slowly, she pressed down on one temple.
She could not figure out what was going on.
As far as she could tell, this seemed like a dream…
Rosetta and Rita.
She couldn't tell which of the two was dream or reality.
Because the situation she had found herself in right now was also so clear.
And, because this, too, was something that she had been so used to already.
Soon, her heart began racing inside its cage.
It's as if her body was sounding an alarm.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
With the way her heart pounded so quickly, she inevitably grew more antsy with every beat.
Rosetta looked around again, slowly moving her legs that had stopped.
Her staggering steps gradually went faster, until she broke into a run.
She couldn't slow down. It felt like there was someone following her.
Trees and grass.
The occasional sound of birds.
She left everything behind her. The only thing she did was run and run and run.
Only her gasping breaths filled the silence.
"Haa… haa… haa…"
There was no strength left in her body.
She wasn't even running that fast, but her legs immediately felt heavy.
Like she was running amidst a giant swamp.
She couldn't feel her inner qi at all.
Had she been this weak and helpless in her previous life?
She was so infuriated that she bit down on her lower lip.
Her throat was burning.
Her heart, too, had become so hot.
The wind cooled her cheeks, but her bare feet on the ground just gave her pain.
How hilarious.
What kind of dream was this? How was it possible that pain could feel so crystal clear?
Rosetta smirked, but she did not stop her legs from moving.
How long was it that she ran like that?
Suddenly, she could feel someone's gaze zeroing in on her.
It wasn't just one or two sets of eyes. It was coming from all directions.
Just like when those blue monsters had surrounded her and Cassion.
Rustle-rustle-rustle-rustle.
Against her will, the legs that had become heavier eventually slowed down.
She struck one thigh and then the other with a fist, but nothing changed.
Every second she slowed down, those rustling noises persisted on following closer behind Rosetta.
"Please… leave me be… please…"
Rosetta clenched her hands into fists as she muttered.
It was as if she was the main character of a horror movie.
The main character who couldn't stop running, even if their hands and feet had grown cold. A scalding, resentful emotion enveloped her.
In the end, wasn't this fear?
"Ah…!"
It was at that moment.
Her feet caught on something, and she fell to the floor.
As her knee scraped the ground, blood came out from the gash.
With her hands on the ground, she gasped.
Her eyes were trained on the floor right now, but it soon moved.
Very slowly, she looked at the thing that was on her foot.
"…Hah…"
It was a hand.
A blue hand.
Holding her by the ankle, that blue hand crawled on the ground as if it had an ego.
Then, it pointed at me with one fingertip, and proceeded to hit the floor.
Aghast, Rosetta sat back, almost falling to the ground.
The hand that was tapping the ground crawled up to her.
With a white face, Rosetta inched back.
When she reached behind her, what met her palms was rough.
The dried leaves dug into the open scratches that she had sustained earlier on her fingers and palms.
The splinter-like objects dug into her skin painfully.
And yet, she did not stop moving.
Thuk.
Until— her back met something hard.
The woman's blue eyes turned to look.
Her heart pounded heavily, its tempo slowly but surely climbing up a crescendo.
The shadow of what had been blocking Rosetta's back loomed over her body.
It's as if she was being swallowed by that shadow.
Her trembling eyes moved very, very slowly as she looked into that direction.
Her stiff head gradually turned upward.
Over her tilted head, her blue eyes met with a green gaze.
Green eyes that were gleaming as if they were shining amidst the dark.
It was a lush, vibrant shade of green, reminiscent of the height of summer. However, in Rosetta's perspective, that shade of green represented nothing but poison.
Green poison.
Once upon a time, that beautiful color had silently pushed people into the precipice of death.
"…Urien."
Rosetta's lips called his name—the name that she had uttered several times before.
There, a beautiful man stood. And, picture perfect, the corners of his lips curled up into a smile.
As beautiful as ever.
"I've finally caught you, Rita."
A large hand slowly reached out towards her.
The hand extending from above was like divine punishment being send down from the high heavens.
The man's hand covered Rosetta's eyes.
And, Rosetta quietly lost consciousness as she was engulfed by the dark abyss.
* * *
When I opened my eyes again, my surroundings were different.
Not only did the location change, but the time of day seemed to have also shifted.
Unlike when I was running barefoot in the woods just now, I was sitting at a table, dressed in elegant clothes.
Sitting on the other side was the last man I was hoping to see.
Urien.
He moved one hand without a word, a languid smile on his lips.
Each small movement overflowed with elegance and noble grace.
Who would believe it, I wonder.
That this noble emissary of God—this man who moved under God's will—was a madman who slaughtered living things without rhyme or reason.
Urien placed something in front of me. It was a plate with meat that he had cut previously.
I stared at him, moving my own hand quietly.
It wasn't intending to.
This body was moving on its own.
Those wayward hands moved by themselves after that, bringing a slice of meat into her mouth with a fork.
Suddenly, a voice came from across the table.
"Is it delicious?"
It was a gentle voice.
Like a whisper to one's lover.
However, all I felt was disgust.
Regardless of my will, this body repeatedly took the slices of meat to her mouth, yet wouldn't go down her throat.
Nevertheless, my head moved up and down.
It was a false nod.
After all this, I finally realized what was going on now.
Crazy as it was, a sense of déjà vu was telling me that the place I'm in right now was a dream of the past that I had gone through.
Besides that, this was an unforgettable day for me.
Yes. How could I possibly forget.
It was the day I died.
The day Rita died.
Even the dishes served before us were the same as that day.
Ripe beef tenderloin.
Salad made from potatoes and fern sprouts that had been simmered in butter.
The salad came through my lips, barely being swallowed just like the meat.
Of course, I continued to move, but this wasn't my will either.
As more food was pushed down my throat, my memories of this day became clearer.
Like words that you felt were on the tip of your tongue, these memories hung by the edge of my consciousness.
The next thing he'll say is…
Finally, we're getting married.
"Finally, we're getting married."
Right after the memory of those words had surfaced, what came after was Urien's voice.
Like an echo.
My body looked at him with a cool gaze, then quietly opened its mouth.
"The temple and the Royal Family would not be happy about you being wedded to me. You'll be marrying a woman whose family has been executed because of treason. Don't you think that's a joke?"
All the words that this body uttered were cold.
The voice was a little more silent as it mentioned the word 'executed'.
It was inevitable.
The family's execution. This, too, had also been written by the author.
That man smiled as if he knew exactly what's wrong here.
"Even if they're against it, it doesn't matter. In the first place, their opinions hold no influence."
"Indeed. You can just kill them all, right?"
There was a moment of silence.
Blue and green eyes met in the air.
It was Urien who averted his gaze first.
No, it was more like he was acquiescing rather than averting.
"I could, yes. But that would be annoying… I can just brainwash them."
"Whenever you try to do that with more people, it'll make it difficult for you to control your abilities."
Urien was the male protagonist of my third transmigration, and he held more power and had more capabilities compared to anyone else.
Amongst his strengths, the most outstanding was his divine power, which allowed him to brainwash people according to his bidding.
If you purify, purify and purify all the impurities over and over, then before you know it, nothing but transparency would remain.
And it was easy to dye something that's become transparent.
With yellow and green, blue would arise. But if you dye something transparent with yellow, it would just become yellow.
The process of making those blue monsters was similar to that.
Strong divine power could save lives. However, if it's wielded to an excessive degree, on the contrary, it could kill someone, too.
The creatures that he killed in this way went on to become new living beings.
No. You couldn't even say that they were living things.
They aren't dead. Neither are they alive.
They're just monsters.
Right. Monsters like Urien himself.