“How long has it been, really.”

Rebecca bent her knees and lowered her body. She slowly stroked my face as she met my gaze.

“Have you been well? Your complexion has improved. I almost didn’t recognize you.”

“……”

“You seem surprised. Well, I didn’t expect to see you in a place like this either. Won’t you say something to your mother? How is it there, are they treating you well?”

“……”

“Why has this child become so mute? Do they not teach manners there? When an elder asks you something, you should respond.”

“……Yes.”

I barely managed to move my lips and speak. Rebecca rolled her eyes. She seemed to find my completely stiff appearance frustrating.

“Even if you don’t say it, I can tell you’ve been doing well. You’ve put on quite a bit of weight. Your skin looks softer too.”

I’m not sure if I answered or not. I could feel my breathing getting faster, so I just thought that I must be barely panting now.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay.’

Rebecca ran her fingers through my hair as if brushing it. The more she did so, the more tangled it became, and I tensed up.

“Ugh!”

“Did you not miss your mother at all? I came to see you so many times.”

‘She came to see me?’

As I looked at her with a surprised face, Rebecca’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Ah, right. They didn’t tell you, did they? Well, I suppose they couldn’t tell my daughter such things after rudely chasing me away like that.”

“Why, why did you……”

“Why, Lil? You’re my daughter. Does a mother need a reason to visit her daughter when she misses her?”

Rebecca smiled brightly. I felt my heart drop and lowered my gaze. I could see spots on her wrists.

“Really, I don’t know why I find such a disobedient child so lovely. This is why they say the love of raising is stronger than the love of birthing, isn’t it?”

Rebecca lightly patted my head.

“You don’t seem to understand, my daughter, but you shouldn’t go against your mother’s wishes. I’ll have to take you back anyway……”

Rebecca’s voice, which had been soft and gentle, became strained. Soon, she frowned and frantically searched her pockets.

“Huff, ah, again, can’t, breathe. My, my medicine, wait, just a moment.”

Rebecca’s hand left my body. I could escape now. No, this might be my only chance to escape.

With that, I turned around and took a step.

“How dare you!”

The place Rebecca had brought me was not far from where the children were. Suddenly remembering this, I stopped running.

‘What if I run there?’

What if Rebecca harms those children too?

Bang!

Suddenly, a powerful explosion sounded from behind, loud enough to shake the ground. I stopped and turned around at the fierce sound that made the earth tremble.

“Urgh, ack!”

The first thing I saw was Rebecca, pushed against the wall. Rebecca was floating in the air.

I could see dark energy rippling around her neck. Rebecca clutched her throat with both hands, choking as if in pain.

Her two feet dangling in the air trembled. With her eyes wide open, she struggled with her whole body.

I slowly turned my gaze to follow that energy. It was flowing from a boy.

“Sa, save, save me.”

“Shut up.”

Said an unfamiliar boy facing Rebecca.

He had ash-gray hair. At Rebecca’s groan, the boy’s head tilted slightly to the side.

“Be quiet.”

With those words, Rebecca closed her mouth. She struggled with her mouth tightly shut, but at some point, all strength left her body.

The energy holding her scattered and disappeared. Rebecca collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Seeing this, I covered my mouth with both hands. The ash-haired boy turned his head. Looking at me, he said nonchalantly.

“She seemed like someone you knew, so I didn’t kill her.”

“……”

“Should I have killed her?”

Surprised by his words, I quickly shook my head. The boy just shrugged at me.

“So this is what that child looks like.”

Just then, a voice spoke right beside me. It was the same voice as the boy who had been talking to me earlier.

Startled, I lost my balance and fell on my bottom.

“Why are you falling down by yourself?”

The one who approached me was another boy who looked exactly like the one I had just seen. He tilted his head and looked at me with a strange expression.

He spun the sling in his hand in the air.

‘Could it be that the stone thrown earlier was……?’

Then the other boy in front of Rebecca spoke again.

“Daiban, let’s go.”

“Aren’t you curious? About father’s biological daughter he brought?”

“Not really.”

“Don’t be like that, come and see. She really has the same black hair as father.”

“I can see that from here.”

I was busy turning my head back and forth at their conversation. Two boys with identical appearances and identical voices.

Their demeanor, unfazed by the woman collapsed before them.

“You didn’t kill that woman? You acted like you were going to.”

“She said she knows her.”

“Is that so?”

I alternated looking at the two of them and suddenly muttered.

“Michael, Daiban……”

In that moment, both boys’ gazes fixed on me.

A faint interest settled on the boy in front of Rebecca, and a smile curved the lips of the boy who had approached me.

“You know us?”

“Father must have told you. Or big brother might have.”

‘Actually, I know because the original work told me.’

I kept my mouth shut as I looked at them. I didn’t expect to meet the twins alone in a place like this.

I was even more nervous than when I saw Clemens.

At least when I saw Clemens, Sophia and Delma were with me. But not now.

I was completely alone, and there was no one who could restrain the twins either.

Then the boy asked me first.

“Are you here to find that snake too?”

“……Snake?”

“They were saying it here? That they’d sell the white snake of immortality.”

I sighed. Poor silver snake, it had caught the twins’ eyes too.

‘If it’s the twins, they won’t give up easily.’

“Have you seen it by any chance?”

The smiling boy asked kindly. I shook my head.

“Is that so? That’s too bad.”

While still worrying if a thin silver line might be visible somewhere on the ground, I carefully asked.

“Are you interested in immortality too?”

“Huh? Puhaha! No?”

My words seemed quite funny to him as the boy burst out laughing. The other boy coldly retorted to him.

“Be quiet. Are you trying to spread the news that we’re here to everyone around?”

“Don’t you find it funny? She’s asking if we’re interested in immortality.”

The boy kept chuckling even after finishing his words, apparently finding my question quite amusing. I hadn’t come here believing that either… I felt wronged.

“Then why?”

“We just came out of curiosity. A white snake that lets you live longer if you eat it, isn’t that interesting?”

The boy who had been serious in front of Rebecca looked around.

“We really need to go now.”

“Alright, just a moment.”

The boy standing in front of me reached out his hand. I hadn’t realized it, but I had been sitting on the ground after falling on my bottom this whole time.

The boy easily pulled me to my feet. Then he added:

“Ah! Don’t tell father you saw us, okay?”

[This is the timeline separator]

The twins disappeared just like that. They literally vanished in an instant.

‘Did they use magic?’

I stood there blankly, then startled again as I saw Rebecca lying on the ground.

‘Let’s get out of here first.’

As I was about to go back the way I had been dragged, I heard a small cough from the corner.

When I turned my head, the silver snake was struggling to drag my bag over.

‘Silver snake!’

I quickly approached and gently picked him up in both hands. The silver snake weakly opened his eyes, then closed them again as if on the verge of death.

‘Why is he like this?’

“Silver snake, what’s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?”

Only after tapping the silver snake a few times did he barely lift his head.

[Nooo-.]

“Then why are you like this? Hm? You’re not injured somewhere, are you?”

[Yaaawn-.]

‘A yawn?’

The silver snake’s mouth opened wide then closed. After a big yawn, the silver snake wriggled on my palm then dropped his head again.

[So sleepy.]

“……”

Snore, snore.

I could hear small snoring sounds. Deflated, I blankly stared at the silver snake.

“Hey.”

[Snore-, snore-.]

“You, you……”

So this stupid divine beast got kidnapped while sleeping, causing all this trouble!

“You idiot, wake up right now!”

How much I worried about you! I came all the way here scared that you might be turned into snake soup!

As I was shaking the silver snake’s neck, I heard a commotion behind me.

“They couldn’t have gone far, first calm down……”

Boom!

Another loud explosion rang in my ears. It was similar to when the twins appeared earlier, but a bit more intense.

Cracks appeared in the nearby building that had been standing fine. I hurriedly shoved the silver snake into my bag that was lying far away.

As soon as I put on the bag, the ground shook again with a thud.

“Ah, there! She’s over there!”

It was Philen’s voice. Following his voice, dark silhouettes emerged one by one through the fog surrounding the area.

“Diane!”

The first to run over was Clemens. Clemens’ hands carefully held both my cheeks as he approached.

“What happened, are you hurt anywhere?”

It seemed they had noticed I was missing because I took too long.

As I rolled my eyes around looking for something to say, Clemens burst out angrily.

“Didn’t you say you’d wait in the carriage first! It’s dangerous to wander around here alone!”

Even in the original work, there were hardly any scenes of Clemens getting angry. I was so surprised by this unfamiliar side of him that I gasped.

‘Clemens getting angry……’

“Diane.”

The Duke appeared next to him, sending a fierce gaze. Chills ran down my spine as if ice had been placed on the back of my neck.

‘They’re both angry.’

Well, I had snuck out of the carriage, and they had to mobilize all these people because of me, so it was natural for them to be angry.

The schedule might have been disrupted because of me too.

‘This is why I tried to go and come back as quickly as possible without anyone knowing……’

I heard that the Duke, who was busy enough to need ten bodies, really hated having his schedule disrupted.

And Clemens, who assisted the Duke’s work, was even more so.

I quickly apologized to both of them.

“I’m sorry, did we get very late because of me?”

“……What?”

“You have another appointment after this, right? Let’s hurry and go.”

Clemens looked at me with a dazed expression as if he’d been hit. The Duke spoke up behind him.

“Do you think we’re angry at you because of the schedule?”

It’s not that? I rolled my eyes around, seeking agreement from those around. I looked at Philen, then at Yan, and even at Sophia.

But they all remained silent as if they had swallowed honey, not saying a word.

‘Why is everyone acting like this?’

“Just what were you,”

As the Duke began to speak.

Drip.

My nose suddenly felt itchy. Looking down at my feet, I saw a round red stain spreading.

‘Oh no……’

I raised my head again and blinked. A warm liquid trickled down below my nose.

“Blood……”

“Diane!”

“Young lady!”