How to Live as the Mad Duke’s Fake Daughter - CH 109

Thomas jumped at the unknown story.

“This is really a crazy bitch!”

“Just leave now. Before the chase.”

“Even if you don’t say it, I will!”

Thomas grabbed the evil spirit’s collar and brought the blue dagger to the nape of her neck.

“If I let you live, they’ll catch up to me faster. So you’ll have to die here.”

“… It’s the other way around. Even if you get caught, don’t talk about me.”

Even in the midst of being threatened, the evil spirit did not blink an eye. It warned calmly, but seriously.

“If you speak, you will die bleeding from the pores of your body.”

The bandits widened their eyes, and together they let out low sneers.

“What is this woman saying?”

“Isn’t her delusion too bad?”

One of Thomas’ men came closer and spit, setting the tone.

“Now that I see it, doesn’t it sound like a lie that she was related to the dead duchess? I trusted her because she looked so much like her, but she dared to hit the back of our heads like this…!”

The man could not finish his speech. Red blood gushed out of his nostrils. It was too much for a simple nosebleed. As he shed tears of blood like a broken faucet, laughter faded from the bandits’ faces.

Due to the provocative scene, a muttering voice came to my ears late.

Natalia was whispering a spell.

Flop!

The bleeding man fell on the spot. He didn’t even move. He seemed dead.

All of the bandits, including Thomas, quickly retreated.

“Si, Sir, my lord!What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, it must be magic! That bitch is a wizard!”

The men got their tails out of the ant cave, running away. Endless silence soon came to the garbage mountain.

I looked down at the corpse lying in the pool of blood and swallowed dry saliva.

What Thomas said was half right and half wrong. If you didn’t know much about magic, it’s easy to be mistaken like how Michael did.

She was not a ‘wizard’ who occasionally showed up at festivals or royal festivities.

“It’s just a simple curse.”

As if the demon was proving my thoughts, it spoke to itself quietly.

It turned to the inside of the ant cave. It sang softly as it made its way through the filthy mud to the deepest part of the slump.

It was Natalia’s lullaby.

“I would love to be here. The most abandoned of all abandoned lands.”

The demon held the child in one arm and tapped the door of the house where I lived.

“You will not be discovered until you are resurrected.”

Her fingertips turned black. The door opened without the handle even turning.

A familiar face popped out of the doorway.

“What are you…!”

Boom!

With the sound of something cracking, my father in his youth fainted.

It happened so quickly that I had to redraw the previous situation in my head.

The demon grabbed my father’s head with its pointed hand. And in an instant, black smoke rose and disappeared.

“Now there’s no need to worry about that man. I’ve brainwashed him into loving me.”

The demon patted the sackcloth hanging by its body and entered the house.

I looked at my father who had collapsed and then hurried to follow it. Even though I knew it couldn’t see me, my heart kept pounding.

When I took my eyes off for a moment, the demon was already lifting the floor. It roughly smashed the old wooden plank and jumped under it. As soon as the shoes hit the floor, the ground turned to black stone, and there was a staircase heading down to the basement.

“Stay down here for one year.”

The scenery in front of me moved quickly like a panorama.

Before I knew it, the short capture of the demon had long since reached the waist. The sound of a newborn crying pierced the eardrums.

Eung, wahhhh.

The original sentence came to mind clearly amidst the cry that seemed to split the ears.

「One year after it started the Resurrection Ceremony. The last day of the carnival.」

It was the content of the original I had read in my previous life.

‘Really?’

A question I had never had before shook my head.

‘Did I… really read this book?’

Pyuu… Boom!

Fireworks exploded in the distance. The dark house lit up instantly along with the night sky.

A red-haired woman was kneeling on an unbroken hardwood floor without a single hole. She muttered as she looked at the baby lying in front of her.

“S-She came to get me.”

The demon’s voice trembled for the first time.

The newborn baby cried so hard that I didn’t understand what the demon was saying. The baby’s swaddling was the same as when it had wrapped around Lily’s body, only slightly faded.

At that moment, I almost fell down again.

I barely managed to focus and walked towards the baby.

Pyuu… Boom!

The sparks lit up the baby’s face.

“Ah…”

The baby cried, blinking her eyes protruding like a frog’s. Emerald-colored eyes were clear even in the dark night.

“This kid… Lilietta was obviously dead…”

I mumbled that, but in fact, I was guessing what had happened. I just wanted to ignore the truth.

Despite the effort, the contents of the book came to mind as smooth as flowing water.

「‘I’ was resurrected from Lilietta’s body..」

A rose was placed on the baby’s chest. The vivid bud was the very rose Natalia had made out of her hair.

A strange light descended down the petals and stems. The flower gradually lost its light and soon withered away completely.

The demon took out the completely dried rose and crumbled it in its hands. A cold sweat ran down its chin.

“…Don’t cry.”

It sang a lullaby

The baby pricked her ears and then stopped crying.

The docile baby twitched her eyes like a calf. Her cheeks were reddish and her smiling face was so different from the pale corpse I had seen just before, no, from the memories of a year ago.

“I… sealed your power… If you use your power recklessly, your tail will be trampled on…”

The demon stood up from its position. Even though it had only been a year, her cheeks were pale as if she had aged 10 years.

“I was going to take you to your family at dawn, but… I’m sorry I couldn’t take care of you until the end.”

As the demon put on a robe, the baby reached out and babbled at her as if saying not to go.

Then, the demon could not easily leave, it went back and forth.

“Don’t do this. I have to go. If I stay here, you will be in danger.”

The demon looked around and grabbed a cheap necklace that was on the table.

It placed its index and thumb in the center of the crude necklace. A hazy smoke rose and a black imitation jewel appeared in the center of the necklace. The woman put a necklace that was suitable for an adult’s body around the baby’s neck.

“This is my last magic. This will protect you as long as your power is sealed.”

The shape of the necklace was very familiar.

I touched my chest with trembling hands. But the necklace that looked exactly like the one the woman gave the baby was no longer available.

The demon hesitated and stroked the baby’s head once. The eyes that met eyes of the same color were affectionate.

“Go back to your family. That man is Natalia’s beloved partner, he will surely find you.”

Without further delay, it left through the door. Its last words scattered in the cool night wind.

“Live until then.”

I stood there blankly, then ran after the demon. Even though I knew I couldn’t reach it, I reached out towards it.

There was something I wanted to ask. I was hoping it could reply, please.

The moment I tried to grab it by the collar, the whole world shattered like a broken mirror.

All the scenery in my view became shards of glass the size of my body and shattered.

“This body…”

I fell into the endless darkness, recalling all the memories I had just seen.

“It’s Lily’s.”

I muttered blankly. Now it was a fact that had to be acknowledged.

“Then what about me?”

I waved my hands in the air. It was as cold as ice between my fingers.

“If I am not Lily, I am…”

The sound of fireworks went away. Silent darkness engulfed my whole body.

“Where do I have to go…?”

I struggled constantly, but no answer came back. Gradually, my body lost strength.

‘I’m tired. I just want to close my eyes and fall asleep. Forever if I can…’

Then someone grabbed my wrist. His big, hard hands were hot as if they were being burned.

The exhausted body was dragged helplessly by the person who suddenly appeared.

***

I opened my eyes. I could feel the rough texture of the sand on my back.

I slowly raised my upper body and looked around.

I was lying in the endless wilderness. The sky and the earth were dark as if painted with ink, but nonetheless, the view was bright. It was thanks to a huge tree shining white in the distance.

Black, elongated bugs were climbing up the mysterious tree.

Whoo, whoo. The cries were familiar.

It was my first time coming to this place, but I knew immediately where it was. I had seen the same statue several times as the scene in front of me.

The insignificant bugs were evil spirits, and the sacred tree was the World Tree.

And where I am…

“Are you awake?”

A soft voice was heard from nearby. I turned my head slowly.

“…Your Majesty the Emperor.”

A white-haired woman was standing with her back against the dark wilderness. Her long hair radiated a soft and divine light.

“Don’t be too surprised. I didn’t bring you out of the barrier. This is a dream.”

Igdrasil smiled and reached out to me. When I didn’t respond, she grabbed my shoulder and lifted me up. Rough sand flowed down from the skirt.

“Lilietta, I came to save you because I thought you would be swallowed by black magic.”