In my dream, as I was about to end everything and leave without regrets for my original world, someone grabbed my wrist.

It was none other than the current me, wearing Elizabeth’s appearance in reverse.

“Are you really planning to go? Can’t you stay here?”

After all, you said it was lonely to go where you are alone.

Before I could respond, the dream shattered.

“This is a time separator.”

Inside the Lordship of Linstead.

Kneeling and sitting as if praying to a god, the funeral attendants of the deceased Warray Viscount family were all gone, leaving no trace.

It was because a man identical to Kieran Warray had fully dressed their bodies, preserving them in glass jars.

“The valuable souls were used as sacrifices, but since they were the flesh and blood of my beloved family, I had them dressed. I didn’t want to leave them to decay and attract bugs.”

Speaking as if having a conversation with someone in the desolate Lordship, the man laughed.

“Am I doing well? My brother said so. He said decisions made by a smart guy like me are frighteningly close to being correct.”

Within the cold Lordship, where there was no response, the man sang an unidentified song with a hum.
“The river cannot flow upstream. Look at those salmon swimming against the current there. The river is flowing backward. Who is the fish struggling in the forcibly stirred river? I’m hungry. I’ll catch fish and eat them. What chubby fish will fill my hunger?”

As the song neared its end, a woman with dragging feet approached the man’s office.

“Ah… Ah… Ah…”

“Really. Did you forget human language in the meantime? It’s unpleasant because you keep crying.”

The man furrowed his brow. He seemed completely different from the person who sang with a kind and affectionate voice or looked for Kieran in the past; it was like a 180-degree change.

“Uh… Ah… So… sorry…”

The woman had escaped the horrifying appearance, but she still couldn’t completely discard her zombie-like manner of speaking. It was an error caused by trying to match the behavior from the time when she was perfectly fine before forcibly dying and bizarrely resurrecting, but the man blamed everything on the woman.

“Straighten up. If you were once human, act like a human.”

“Sor…ry…”

“Repeating the same words is tiresome. Are you a parrot? You should know how I intend to use you. Can’t you even handle this level of practice, or are you a fool?”

“Well, I did my best…”

In her slow and unclear speech, fear was evident.

The man threw a cushion at the woman, saying, “It’s good that you’re not crying. If you caused more trouble than this, I would have discarded you and tried with another human. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

Like a creaking wooden doll, the woman moved awkwardly.

The woman had no memories of her time as a human.

Her only memory was that her ‘father’ had mercifully given her life again when she was a zombie. Thanks to that, she could move and speak. She was supposed to be grateful for ‘father’ saving her from being a zombie.

“Tha…nk you… I’ll try… to fix my pronu…nciation… Father.”

“If you can’t understand the subject, I’ll turn you back into a hideous monster, so keep that in mind.”

“Yes… Sir…”

As the woman obediently replied, a complex pattern of crimson magic circles beneath her glowed.

“Ugh, annoying, but I’ll do maintenance until you regain your appearance from your healthy past.”

“Uh… Uh… Ah…”

Each time the man mentioned ‘maintenance,’ the woman’s entire body twisted and writhed in pain as if burning, but she had to endure it as it was Father’s command.

‘Someone has to meet.’

Based on the information strongly imprinted on the brain that had died once and come back to life under Father’s orders, the woman tried hard to remember.

‘I have to deal with those humans who interfere with Father’s revenge.’

She was granted mercy to destroy the ties created by those humans gathering together.

Although she had no memories of her past self, she endured the pain for the desire to fulfill the wishes of her current owner, Father.
“Ugh… Ah…”

As the burning pain subsided, the magic circles under the woman disappeared.

“Now, how do you feel?”

“It’s much more comfortable now.”

In response to the man’s question, the woman raised her head.

Bright golden hair, pale yet strangely glowing skin as if in her former life. Delicate features. Wearing a pristine white dress the man had provided, she looked like a beautiful young lady from some noble family, so intact that you couldn’t think she was a zombie, the appearance of a ‘living person.’

Though her eyes were still tainted red, the eeriness couldn’t be concealed.

“Hmm… To maintain the illusion, I’ll have to expend quite a bit of magic power. We might need to invest a couple more times in the future to restore the eye color. Having red eyes might make people think oddly.”

After all, you weren’t originally supposed to have red eyes.

The emotions reflected in the man’s eyes as he gazed at the woman ranged from awe for the ‘artwork’ he had created to an inexplicable hatred.

“Practice to look more like a human. If my plan is ruined, I won’t stay idle.”

“Yes, Father.”

The woman obediently complied with his words.

Commandments echoed in her foggy mind, sacrificing her life solely for the man with silver hair against the wall, the ‘Father,’ for reasons unknown.