Although it was a contradictory expression, it now seemed as if she was comfortably immersed in a dream, yet at the same time, she had become a person vividly present in reality.

“Do you have something to say?”

Cediloy raised an eyebrow slightly. He took another sip of chocolate and pushed the cup to the side.

“Go ahead.”

Mayana, as if not yet, shook her head slightly and pulled the chair closer to Cediloy’s side.
“You might hear it as absurd. No, undoubtedly it will sound like that. And I’ll probably adapt it to some extent. It’s about me… because it’s a story related to me.”

An interesting yet uneasy smile passed over his face.

“Okay. What’s the story?”

Mayana looked at him as if she were about to make her last stand, then lowered her chin with a strange smile, whether it was resignation or mockery, who could tell.

Cediloy seemed a bit anxious, but she waited. To tell this story, she had to be mentally prepared. She needed to decide where to start and where to end the story and organize her thoughts.

“I have memories.”

“Memories? What kind?”

“It’s memories from a very long time ago. I don’t know how to tell you. But it’s not like a dream or fantasy. It was a reality for me… until today.”

She slowly began the story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

When Mayana was in Cediloy’s bedroom, Arianthe suddenly woke up in the middle of the night.

Upon opening her eyes, she saw the wall illuminated by the nightlight, casting a faint iridescent shadow. Rubbing her eyes, Arianthe realized that the chair next to her bed was empty, and she made a slightly troubled expression. She wished Mayana had been there when she woke up.

“Mayana.”

She called out softly, but there was no response. Arianthe glanced around the spacious bed once and, with a cautious look, jumped off the bed as if it were uncomfortable. Putting on the warm slippers and carefully going outside, she found the living room empty as well.

“Mayana?”

Arianthe knocked on Mayana’s door. As she did, the door she thought was closed slid open. Arianthe’s eyes widened. Mayana wasn’t there.

Where could Mayana have gone?

Wandering around the dark surroundings, Arianthe rolled her feet, heading towards Venti’s room. She whispered Venti’s name, but she was sound asleep, not even tossing and turning.

Contemplating whether to wake Venti up by pulling her hair, Arianthe gave up and went to Ivie’s room this time. But Ivie was also sound asleep, completely covered by the blanket.

“Mayana!”

Shoulder hunched as if shivering from the cold, Arianthe opened the door and called out Mayana’s name in a small voice. Although some lamps were lit here and there, the mansion was dimly lit.

Forgetting to close a window somewhere, a sudden cold wind blew, and Arianthe, shivering, called out Mayana’s name while rushing into Swan’s room.

“Swan! Swan!”

“Ugh…”

“Swan! Wake up!”
It wasn’t a particularly loud sound, but it was enough to startle Swan. Startled, Swan sat up, and upon seeing Arianthe approaching closely, she was so surprised that she bit her tongue.

“Oh, Arianthe. What’s up? Why are you here?”

“Mayana is missing.”

Swan, with sleepy eyes, yawned and opened her squinting eyes.

“She probably went out for a moment.”

“Mayana never goes anywhere at night!”

“How would you know? You haven’t been watching Mayana all night.”

Well, that was true. Arianthe looked at Swan with a troubled expression. However, Swan nodded again, starting to doze off with a slight nodding motion.

“Hey, wake up!”

Arianthe shook Swan’s shoulders randomly.

“What if someone has taken Mayana? What will you do?”

At that, Swan, as if questioning the sincerity, squinted her eyes and looked at Arianthe. Still in a state of half-closed eyes…

“Who would do such a thing?”

“I don’t know! Maybe Jocelyn!”

Jocelyn. Hearing that name, Swan suddenly felt her drowsiness completely disappear. Come to think of it, it had been several days since Jocelyn left the mansion. The last thing Swan heard was about her going to the capital. She hadn’t seen Jocelyn since.

Arianthe said, “What if Jocelyn secretly took Mayana at night? What if she does something bad to Mayana?”

Contemplating, Swan answered hesitantly, “Jocelyn is old. I don’t think she has the strength to take Mayana away at night…”

“You don’t know. Jocelyn has more strength than you think! Last time, she grabbed my arm so tightly that it bruised. Here, right here!”

Arianthe pushed up the sleeve of her smooth nightgown and extended her forearm. It had been a long time, so there were no bruises or anything, but Swan’s expression became somewhat serious.

Just like Arianthe, Swan knew that Jocelyn was quite strong. The sensation when she grabbed her wrist, the pain, was still vivid.

Swan said, “If Jocelyn took Mayana… what would we do? We can’t find her.”

Arianthe raised her head slightly.

“Still, we have to look for her. Maybe Jocelyn took her to her room. She might have hidden her in the wardrobe.”