Throughout this time, Elara has exerted considerable effort to maintain a mature demeanor, not succumbing to childlike behaviors despite her current age of 9 years.
To be honest, in recent years, Elara has struggled with controlling her emotions, oscillating between childlike sensitivity and occasional moments of indulgence towards her mother. This challenge has been exacerbated by a peculiar incident that caused partial memory loss, intensifying her feelings of paranoia and anxiety. As a result, she found solace in staying close to her mother throughout the day, akin to a frightened child seeking refuge in a trusted adult.
Fortunately, Elara has managed to exert some control over these tendencies, allowing her moments of respite. However, if these episodes resurface, she risks reverting to a more childlike state, even if only for brief durations.
'Is this some form of self-protection against an unknown threat...? Ah, I can't comprehend why my second life is filled with such difficulty and mystery.' Elara grumbled inwardly, reflecting on the challenges she has faced in the past four years.
In essence, Elara has truly returned to normal, thanks to her persistence in maintaining her sanity as an adult. However, after being forced to hear a series of insults she shouldn't have heard, Elara felt like the thread of her sanity, as strong as steel, was becoming thinner and thinner.
Even so, Elara was confident that she could control herself as long as she got away from these three girls quickly before her sanity exploded.
Unfortunately, her head suddenly felt like it was exploding upon hearing the most absurd sentence she had ever encountered in her nine years in this world.
'This girl just asked me to kneel...?!'
Elara wanted to laugh out loud because she was so speechless at the current situation.
'HAHAHAHA!'
'What fault of mine warrants such treatment from children my age?'
'Is it a sin to be born the daughter of a baker?'
Elara chuckled coldly. 'Certainly not. Even a newcomer to the village can attest to the delectable taste of our bakery.'
Elara is well aware that villagers, including those connected to the village chief, frequently flock to her bakery, indicating the chief's genuine fondness for her baked goods.
'What's truly awry is this girl's mentality. Enveloped in envy and hatred, she seems prepared to resort to criminal acts to rid herself of the object of her resentment.' Elara contemplated, devoid of emotion.
While maintaining a composed silence, Elara observed Becca standing confidently, seemingly convinced that she had control over the current situation. In that quiet moment, Elara privately resolved to assert herself.
'I need to swiftly become a formidable presence, ensuring that no one like Becca would dare to oppress or belittle me in the future,' Elara thought, grounding herself.
The idea of submitting to someone like Becca solely based on her birth status fueled Elara's determination.
'I refuse to bow down to children merely due to the circumstances of their birth. Of course, if someone of significantly higher status appears, I must comply, but the likelihood of that happening now is slim,' Elara pondered, dismissing fanciful thoughts.
The notion of a high-ranking noble from the three Kingdoms encountering Elara on the outskirts of such a small village seemed not only implausible but downright absurd.
Shaking off such improbable scenarios, Elara refocused on her priorities.
'I will establish numerous bakeries across the three Kingdoms, becoming a renowned figure in this unrefined world!'
To accomplish this, Elara acknowledged the need for a protector or a reliable ally, providing her the safety to build her strength without interference.
'However, before pursuing my grand dreams, I must confront this village chief's child first. Overcoming challenges like Becca is crucial for my aspirations to thrive,' Elara decided, casting a cold gaze at Becca."
"Hey, you, daughter of peasants, wallowing in filth."
"Now, bow before me, and— What?" Becca was taken aback by the curse escaping the lips of a girl known for her manners.
"Can't you comprehend? I'll say it again, you little sycophant. What aspirations do you harbor for the future, if even at this tender age, you're fervently kissing the boots of nobility?" Elara asserted, arms folded, exuding an intimidating aura, effortlessly embodying the demeanor of a natural-born aristocrat.
"W-W-What?!" Becca, Lia, and Silvi all gawked at Elara as if beholding an unexpected apparition.
Becca, momentarily shaken by Elara's profanity, swiftly gathered herself and fired back.
"How dare you?! You're the true sycophant! Your mother must be a harlot who ensnared a noble, explaining why you—"
SLAP!
"Huh?" Becca, startled, touched her now bright red cheek, feeling a stinging sensation. "My... cheek...?"
Becca erupted with emotion as her meticulously cared-for cheeks turned visibly red from Elara's unexpected slaps.
"Mother and daughter are both lowly—"
SLAP!
However, any protest was abruptly silenced as another forceful slap, so intense that blood trickled from the corner of her lips, replaced the words on her lips.
After the forceful slap, Becca felt her entire body go numb, momentarily ignoring the blood staining her lips. Yet, it wasn't just the physical impact that paralyzed her.
Glancing at the figure before her, Becca felt compelled to meet the eyes that demanded her attention. What she saw was an expression entirely unfamiliar to her—a dreadful look not witnessed even by the adults, regardless of the chaos she'd caused.
A chilling demeanor was now etched on the face of a nine-year-old girl, a level of terror Becca had never imagined.
"The issue here concerns only you and me. Why drag my innocent mother into this? Are you trying to force me to claim your mother is also..." Elara's cold voice, coupled with her terrifying expression, sent shivers down Becca's spine.
"N-No!" Becca screamed desperately as if her life hung in the balance.
Quivering violently, she hastily bent down, her once haughty demeanor giving way to a limp form on the ground. The pristine pink dress now tainted, Becca's arrogance dissolved rapidly. The overwhelming confidence that once defined her vanished as if it had never existed.
Becca, now genuinely frightened like a child holding back sobs under the intimidation of adults, found herself in an oppressive atmosphere. The forest surroundings seemed to darken, an unseen weight preventing them from even breathing freely. Lia and Silvi mirrored Becca's uneasy condition.
With emotionless eyes and a monotone voice, Elara fixed her gaze on Becca.
"Listen carefully while people are still speaking politely."
"Y-Yes, I understand!" Becca nodded, biting her lip to suppress the urge to cry under the mysterious fear and horror that enveloped her.
"Forgive me!"
Elara looked down at the trio, who once approached her with arrogance. Now, kneeling and utterly helpless, they invoked a peculiar feeling in Elara, though it swiftly dissipated without a trace.
"I will always remember this incident. Don't expect forgiveness unless you truly strive to change," Elara declared coldly.
Swoosh~~
A breeze from somewhere managed to calm Elara's mind, on the brink of exploding thanks to the confrontation with the three kids. She weakly shook her head, subconsciously returning her expression to normal before focusing on Becca.
"More importantly, tell me about what you said four years ago, Becca. Did you really see me four years ago?"
After Elara managed to suppress her momentary emotions, the tense and oppressive atmosphere from earlier began to slowly fade as if it had never happened.
The three of them breathed a collective sigh of relief. However, Becca, who had calmed down, bit her lip until it bled instead of speaking a word to Elara, who was waiting for her to speak calmly.
She just looked at herself sitting on the ground, with her expensive dress now ruined and her emotions uncontrollable, unable to think of anything else.
'I can't let this happen...!' Becca stood up, determined to approach Elara.
"...?"
Elara believed that Becca didn't want her two followers to know about the issue from four years ago and intended to inform Elara through a whisper. Therefore, Elara allowed Becca to approach without being cautious at all.
"So— Huh? W-What... doing?!"
But to her surprise, Becca moved forward only to push her with all her strength.
Startled and unable to react quickly, Elara's body was pushed backward, causing her balance to disappear. One of her legs, her only support, slipped suddenly.
As her leg slipped, her already unsteady body leaned further backward. Eventually, she fell and rolled to a certain spot for a moment.
Her body stopped rolling when her back hit a hollowed tree trunk, momentarily halting her fall, but she lost her grip, causing her to slip again and into the edge of the cliff.
"NO!" Elara screamed amidst all these events happening in a matter of seconds.
Fortunately, her hands were still holding onto a large tree root that happened to protrude from the ground, helping her hold onto her position, now hanging over the edge of the cliff.
Although Elara felt excruciating pain in her back, she tried her best to remain calm, not panicking and searching for a solution while her hands could still hold her from falling into the abyss.
'Why is there suddenly a cliff like this in the small, supposedly safe woods?!'
'Has something happened to these woods in the four years I haven't visited?!'
These small woods were considered entirely safe, with well-established trails. Therefore, a dangerous cliff like this couldn't exist.
Elara's mind was in turmoil as she struggled hard to find a solution to the unexpected problem that could endanger her life. Elara hoped that there would be at least one way to overcome the current situation.
'Right, this must be just a shallow cliff...! If I fall, I probably won't suffer severe injuries like broken bones and such and If I'm lucky, I might land in a river!'
But for some reason, she didn't feel any ground beneath her feet. Her body was hanging right at the edge of this dangerous and steep cliff. Elara faintly even sensed a strong gust of wind from below instead of the sound of flowing water.
There was no doubt anymore. This was a real cliff.
'How is this possible?!!!!! Haven't there never been cliffs in these woods before?!' Elara finally panicked as much as she could.
Perhaps this panic was similar to the strange feeling she had when she was suddenly pushed from a bridge into the icy depths of the sea.
For some reason, she felt like she had experienced this before.
'No way! I don't want this! I don't want to die again! I'm only nine years old in this other world! I don't want to die young!' Elara screamed in frustration in her heart.
"Anyone, please—" Elara stopped speaking when she faintly saw Becca emerging from a distance. More precisely, she saw the expression on Becca's face.
An expression that was a mix of anger and relief. There was no remorse or fear in the eyes of the nine-year-old girl.
Seeing that, Elara felt an eerie sense of déjà vu.
'I've seen the same expression before... But when? This is our first meeting—'
Before she could concentrate further on trying to remember when that memory occurred, the tree root she was holding onto suddenly shook mysteriously, startling her and causing her to unintentionally let go.
Elara fell.