In the end, her uncle closed his eyes forever without answering Belinda’s question.

On the day of her uncle’s funeral.

She stayed locked in her room throughout the funeral, not going out at all, but no one came looking for her.

It was as if Belinda’s existence had been erased from this world.

She stood quietly by the window like a memorial flower, gazing at the grass where she first met her uncle.

Then, she heard someone knocking on her door.

At first, she thought it was an auditory hallucination.

However, that hallucination caught her attention by borrowing the voice she had been feeling guilty about in a corner of her heart.

“Bel, are you in there?”

An unfamiliar but gentle adult male voice.

But there was no way she couldn’t recognize it.

It was the voice of her childhood friend whom she had cruelly sent away.

The royal family had already sent a prince as a mourner.

Therefore, there was no reason for the Crown Prince to attend the funeral of a mere family head.

Moreover, wasn’t the Blanche family part of the noble faction that wanted to put another prince on the next throne?

Yet Mikhail was here, beyond Belinda’s door.

“I heard from a servant that you were in the room… May I come in?”

“……”

She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Her voice was hoarse from not speaking a word during her uncle’s funeral.

Belinda slowly approached the door and imagined the presence beyond it in her mind.

Since she had spoken harsh words to Mikhail at the Queen’s funeral, she had never properly faced him.

It would be more accurate to say she deliberately avoided him.

Nevertheless, Mikhail came to see Belinda.

“I just came to see if you’re doing well.”

“……”

“I hope you’re doing well, Bel. That’s all I came to say.”

“……”

Belinda leaned her forehead against the door and stammered a response.

‘I’m not doing well, Mikha.’

‘Uncle has died.’

‘He didn’t even tell me he loved me.’

‘I despise myself for doubting that person even though uncle has died.’

‘Mikha… help me.’

But none of those words escaped her lips as sound.

Belinda dared not show herself to Mikhail, nor could she answer.

She just couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Wasn’t all this the price for butchering Mikhail’s heart?

Belinda listened to Mikhail’s presence, who didn’t leave the door for a long time, and only after he left did she weakly lie down on the bed.

How much time had passed?

Even her tears had dried up now.

There was no anger towards Sybel or doubt towards her uncle.

She was just too tired.

Enough to be fine with dying right then and there.

Belinda closed her eyes, covering her feverish eyelids with her arm.

Wishing that tomorrow would never come.

That the whole world would rather perish.

It seems she fell asleep while making such wishes.

Her wish was half-granted.

Time passed, and the day inevitably broke.

The world did not end.

But tomorrow did not come for her.

[Starting Thump Thump Hero Maker.]

[(!Warning!) Login failed due to an error! Logging in with a suitable alternative character.]

And when Belinda opened her eyes.

“Ugh, my head… Huh? What’s this? Why is my voice like this?”

She was Belinda, yet no longer Belinda.

[You have acquired a special item, ‘Adoption Document with Special Powers’.]

With that system window, she finally floated above the surface of the past.

***

When Belinda blinked once, she was still standing on the terrace of the Blanche annex.

Her hand gripping the railing was so tense that the back of it had turned white.

Belinda gritted her teeth and glared at the floating system window in the air.

[Quest] Where am I? Who am I? Completed

Congratulations! You have completed the synchronization and acquired all pieces of Belinda’s memories. You have now perfectly adapted to this world.

No one will be able to see through your identity.

This is the royal capital of the Kingdom of Genos, and you are Belinda Blanche.

‘Damn synchronization.’

After acquiring the last piece of Belinda’s memories, the immense emptiness she felt at the end crushed her dry heart.

Belinda struggled to escape this terrible loneliness and isolation.

“My lady, are you alright?”

When she came to her senses, she was already clutching Cedric’s sleeve with all her might.

Belinda called out to him desperately, as if she had found someone’s bottled message that had drifted to an isolated island.

“Sir Penadel.”

“Yes.”

“Please… let me stay like this for a moment.”

Cedric froze for a moment, then tilted the umbrella completely towards her.

The drizzle continued to fall, and the moonlight did not shine on them.

In the darkness, Belinda closed her eyes and occasionally called out, “Sir Penadel, are you there?” and each time, Cedric would reply, “Yes, I’m by your side.”

During this time, Cedric’s gaze never left Belinda, who was huddled under the umbrella.

In the north, there’s a flower that remains frozen in the bud all year round, blooming for just one day.

It was said that the fully bloomed appearance of this flower called the Ice Flower, was so beautiful that anyone who saw it would be mesmerized.

Cedric had seen that flower before.

Cedric’s heart, which had remained unmoved even in front of the most beautiful and precious flower praised in the world, crumbled at just one smile from Belinda.

For the first time, he became aware of the location of his heart.

However, his heart was not located on the left side of his chest.

Sometimes it was in his right hand, which he had extended to escort her, and now it was in his left hand, which Belinda was grasping.

Cedric’s heart existed wherever he touched Belinda.

At that moment, Belinda suddenly opened her eyes and looked up at Cedric.

Cedric averted his gaze from her like a child caught doing something wrong.

“Sir Cherry.”

“Yes.”

Only after answering did Cedric realize what he had done.

“That…”

Cedric was startled and took a step away from her.

However, he couldn’t run far away as he had to hold the umbrella for her.

“I’m sorry for deceiving you.”

“It’s alright, I forgive you. More importantly, I have a favor to ask of you, Sir Cherry.”

It was the first time she had made a request.

So how could he dare refuse her plea?

Cedric was prepared to grant whatever request she might make.

But…

“I want to call off the marriage with His Grace the Grand Duke.”

He was suddenly at a loss for words.

Interpreting his reaction in some way, Belinda hurriedly added:

“Don’t misunderstand. I will certainly give His Grace what he wants. But we don’t even need to wait a year. On the day I was originally supposed to marry His Grace, I’ll gift him the mine.”

A way for Belinda to obtain the mine, which was her dowry, without getting married.

Guessing what that might be, Cedric remained silent, unable to give any answer.

“However, if I proceed with my method, I won’t be able to be engaged to His Grace. I’d like you to persuade His Grace.”

“That’s…”

He didn’t want to do that.

Although he knew it was a one-year contract marriage, if Belinda’s plan succeeded, she could obtain the mine faster, but he couldn’t bring himself to readily agree.

Belinda pushed away the umbrella covering her and reached out to carefully remove Cedric’s mask.

“I need you, not the Grand Duke. So be my strength until I reclaim my rightful place, Sir Cherry.”

By now, Cedric’s clothes were soaked through with the drizzle.

That became the weight of his feelings towards Belinda.

Cedric finally realized.

The reason he had been jealous of the Crown Prince.

It was because the Crown Prince shared time with Belinda that he didn’t know about.

The reason he kept becoming a coward in front of her was because he wanted to look good to her.

All of this was because he…

“I will gladly follow you.”

…revered her.

***

It was in the early dawn when night fell on the Blanche family’s annex.

I watched for a long time as the forged ID I had commissioned from the Rats burned to ashes in the nearly extinguished embers.

Now Belinda Blanche was no longer a stranger to me.

She had become my shadow, my reflection in the mirror, my memory.

So, Bel.

‘I’ll take revenge for you.’

A world where death is so close.

The moral concepts of my past life had become more vague, and I was experiencing firsthand the principle of this world where one must kill others in order not to die.

Soon the embers went out completely, and the dim light of dawn shone into the mansion.

I sat in a nearby armchair, grasping the pistol that had been lying around carelessly, and infused it with magic power.

The bright light emitted by the magic circle engraved on the cold blade cast deep shadows on the surrounding objects.

Relying on that light, I looked around at my guests seated around me and asked leisurely.

“I trust you all understood my explanation well?”

No one answered, but I knew that was their affirmation.

I then muttered excited.

“It’s time to hunt.”

Although the subject was missing, everyone present would have known who it referred to.