4. A Today Different from Yesterday  

Judging by the situation, Theo was slowly drawing back the foot he had stretched toward Wesley. In other words, Theo had tripped Wesley. And because, of all things, there was a sharp stone embedded right where Wesley fell, everyone could understand Wesley’s expression that said it hurt like he was dying.  

“Are you alright?”  

“Ugh.”  

“I forgot my legs are long and couldn’t judge the distance properly. My apologies.”  

 Theo held out his hand, and Wesley stared at him with a briefly resentful look before taking it.  

“Aaagh!”  

Just as Wesley borrowed his strength to get halfway up, Theo suddenly let go again, and this time, Wesley’s backside landed on the sharp stone; he rolled around on the ground in pain.  

“Good heavens!”  

“How is your hand this slippery.”  

As Theo shook out his hand and muttered as if displeased, Judy frowned.  

“Theo!”  

Even at Judy’s scolding call, Theo only looked down at Wesley with icy eyes.  

***

“Couldn’t you at least let me hear the attending physician’s diagnosis about whether you’re really okay before I go? I’m so worried I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep all night.”  

Judy hesitated for a moment at her friend Asilly, who clutched her hand and pleaded. She appreciated her friend’s concern, but she desperately wanted to rest properly. With her friend by her side, it would be hard to fully enjoy the comfort of truly resting. While Judy was still lightly weighing it, Gianna suddenly cut in between them.  

“I will personally convey Miss Judy’s condition. So, Miss Asilly, you should go home and rest comfortably as well.”  

“Then will you do that for me, Gianna?”  

“Yes.”  

“Judy, get some good rest, and let’s meet again once you’re better.”  

“Yeah. And don’t worry too much—you worked hard today. Get home safely, Asilly.”  

After parting with Asilly, Judy headed to her large mansion. The moment she entered the lobby, Gianna tapped Judy’s shoulder and gestured to the second floor. In front of a framed, large family portrait stood her father in sleepwear.  

“Father.”  

“It seems you lost your way like a careless child and ended up putting the young duke who hosted the event in a difficult position.”  

“……I’m sorry.”  

Rather than asking if she was alright, a reprimand came first. Judy clenched her fist to hold back the sting rising at the tip of her nose from her hurt feelings toward her father.  

“I’ve already sent for the attending physician, so wash up first and go get treated.”  

“……Yes.”  

After her father left, Judy let the tears she had held back fall with a soft plop.  

“I’m sure the Marquis was worried about you too, Miss. These days, he hasn’t been sleeping properly because of work, so I think he’s even more sensitive.”  

Gianna soothed Judy as she headed to the room, but Judy’s hurt feelings toward her father did not melt away so easily.  

After finishing a warm bath, she came out and was examined by the attending physician. It was astonishing that, by sheer luck, nothing was broken anywhere aside from bruises. He left after saying the bite wound from the deer was quite deep and would require long-term treatment.  

“Today, please rest well without thinking about anything.”  

Gianna said it as she dried Judy’s wet hair, her face still full of worry. Even so, it was fortunate that there was someone in this household who sincerely worried about her.  

“Yeah. Thank you, Gianna.”  

“If you need anything, ring the bell. And I’ll make sure to pass things along to Miss Asilly.”  

After Judy nodded, Gianna tucked her in warmly, then drew all the curtains as usual. The faint light that had seeped in thanks to the luminous moon was completely blocked, leaving the room dark as a deep cave.  

“Sleep well, Miss.”  

“Good night, Gianna.”  

It had been an exhausting day, in both body and mind. Above all, a wave of sorrow swept in at the fact that the person who had searched for her was not her fiancé Wesley, but her longtime friend Theo. But it was a night far too tiring to keep getting dragged around by that feeling.  

***

In the mountains blanketed thickly in fog.  

Judy once again felt extreme fear and looked around the bleak surroundings. The terror that she had been isolated on the mountain again completely paralyzed her reason, making her lose even her sense of direction.  

“Sob……. What do I do. Really.”  

Through Judy’s tearful vision, as she wished someone—anyone—would please appear, she saw someone sitting in front of the lake. Judy let out a sigh of relief.  

“Hello!”  

When Judy greeted, the figure by the lake turned around. A strange presence, invisible at first glance. The moment she parted her lips to cry for help, the other spoke first.

“My, you’re hurt?”  

“Ah, this? A blue deer bit me.”  

Judy answered, as if the other was speaking while looking at the wound on her arm.  

“My apologies.”  

“It’s okay. You weren’t the one who bit me.”  

“Even so, I should take responsibility.”  

The other person seemed not to particularly heed Judy’s words.  

“What is it you want?”  

“What I want?”  

As Judy watched the other give a small nod, a scene flashed through her mind. It was Wesley smiling even more brightly beside Asilly than he did beside Judy. In that instant, the thought passed through her.  

‘Is Wesley truly happy by her side?’  

‘Can I be happy at his side?’  

Separate from the fact that she still liked him, the doubts she had been harboring for some time now tormented Judy’s mind in this moment.  

“……I want to be happy.”  

And Judy whispered low. Perhaps selfishly, her wish had always been only one.  

“I want to be happy. No matter what the situation is, no matter what I look like! To meet someone who will love me, to meet someone I will love…….”  

“…….”  

“No matter how difficult a trial comes, I want to overcome it together, rely on each other, and live as the happiest person.”  

***

Sunlight pouring down over her eyes made Judy knit her brows. The sun was probably high in the sky, and Gianna, unable to stand it, must have barged into the bedroom—but couldn’t she cut Judy some slack, just for today?  

“Ah, this is a morning different from usual. I’m really tired.”  

Grumbling, she pulled the blanket up to hide her head. At that moment, she sensed something slightly strange. The blanket felt far rougher than usual, and even its scent was different. Then, by someone’s force, the blanket was yanked off hard.  

“Get up right now and fit my dress properly!”  

At the sharp scream that sounded like it would tear her eardrums, Judy jolted upright. In this mansion, there was no one who would treat her with such contempt. But after Judy identified the person looking down at her with pointed eyes, she was so shocked she could not get the words out.  

“What are you staring off like that for? Do you need a hit to come to your senses?”

The person who raised her hand high as if to strike was Rachel. And who was Rachel? Her friend Asilly’s eldest sister!  

Judy had no idea why that woman had suddenly stormed into her room and threatened her to fit a dress. 

Where had Gianna gone?  

“What are you talking about all of a sudden? And you even came all the way to our house…….”  

Judy had heard plenty about the two older sisters Asilly’s stepmother had brought with her when she remarried Asilly’s father. Their personalities were so vile and nasty it was painful even to hear about. But even so, in this case, the sheer absurdity of such outrageous behavior kept making a hollow laugh slip out.  

Judy was only close with Asilly; she had not formed any relationship with anyone else in that family. In other words, Rachel barging into her house and demanding, out of nowhere, that Judy fit a dress was truly insane.  

“Are you still not fully awake?”  

Yet it was Rachel who wore an audacious, incredulous expression, and she lifted her hand into the air again, telling Judy to come to her senses. Judy snatched the hand that was about to strike her and narrowed her eyes fiercely.  

“The one who’s not fully awake is you…….”  

Just as Judy was about to continue, she met the mirror behind Rachel—and fell silent. 

What is going on? Why am I, why am I……  

“How dare you block my hand? Ugh!”  

Judy shoved Rachel back hard as Rachel’s face turned red and blue as if she could not forgive it, then dashed toward the mirror.  

“Did you just push me?”  

Without the presence of mind to answer Rachel’s shrill voice behind her, Judy stared at herself in the mirror.  

“You’re ignoring me too. You’re really not in your right mind, are you? Do you think you’ll be fine after treating me this carelessly? I’ll never let this go. I’m telling Mother. Brace yourself!”  

Rachel left the room after issuing threats to the end, while Judy—unable to believe this reality—kept staring into the mirror and tugging at her face this way and that. But even then, Judy did only one thing.  

“Why me? Why me! Asilly?”  

It was denying the sight of herself—who had become Asilly—in the mirror.  

***

Smack!  

She slapped her cheek hard. Could pain feel this vivid in a dream? Judy once again, with all her strength, slapped her cheek.  

“Ah! How could this…… this impossible thing…….”  

It hurt so much she cried out again. And tragically, she reached the conclusion that these moments were not a dream. As Judy’s mind turned stark white, one single decision formed instinctively.  

“I have to confirm it.”  

She had to confirm the state of her real ‘body.’ If she had become Asilly, there was a high chance Asilly had become her. She did not know why, for what reason, or how this had happened, but what mattered right now more than anything was to understand the situation perfectly. Judy took off the shabby-looking nightgown and changed into whatever dress she could see.  

Then she hurried out of the room and sprinted toward the mansion’s entrance. She had visited a few times before, so she could find it without getting lost.  

“Have we been letting you off too easily lately, little wretch? How dare you lay a hand on my daughter?”  

“I’m so scared that this habit will come back like before. Mom, let’s just cut it off at the root.”  

“Of course we should. We’ll starve her for a while and ban her from going out. Asilly!”  

As she turned the corridor, she froze at the sound of voices from the opposite side and hurriedly left the mansion.

Her father had always been busy with work and never once showed her warm interest, but he still did not engage in *buse and cruelty like the people of that household.  

“I never thought I’d miss an indifferent father.”

What kind of life have you lived, Asilly?

Because Asilly had never shown it, Judy had never even dreamed it was this serious. Even after leaving Asilly’s mansion, Judy felt lost. She always traveled by carriage, so she did not even know the roads well, and the distance was considerable, so it was clear the trip itself would be difficult.  

“But I can’t not go.”

She took a heavy step forward. Recalling traces of memory she had seen through the carriage window, she fixed her eyes on familiar things and kept walking as quickly as she could. But could this have happened because of that ridiculous dream? Could something like this happen just because she had such a strange dream? It was when Judy, feeling helpless at the answer she simply could not find, let out a deep sigh—  

A familiar carriage slid to a stop in front of her.  

“Miss Leroni!”  

And then, without hesitation, the door swung open—and a face that was always welcome no matter how many times she saw it, Earl Wesley, smiled brightly and greeted her. Even though he had not recognized her, Judy was still so happy to have met Earl Wesley at this moment, and she keenly felt that she and he were bound by a connection they could not be separated from.  

“Where are you rushing off to in such a hurry, Miss Leroni?”