She chuckled and pushed the window wide open.
The sky was still bright and clear, yet it no longer irritated her like it had earlier. Perhaps letting out a bit of that frustration elsewhere had helped.
“Ah, seriously! Lady Grace, you do realize your personality is awful, right?”
I know, I know.
If that brat of a student were here, he’d be nagging her again, telling her not to take her anger out on the wrong people and insisting her personality was terrible.
A faint smile returned to Ceres’s lips.
Her gaze shifted, and she noticed a small flowerpot resting by the window. She picked it up without much thought.
Whatever was planted inside looked completely dried out, as if it had been neglected for a long time. No matter how closely she examined it, she couldn’t tell what kind of plant it once was.
Fuhh.
In the next moment, the plant resting in her hand began to change. What had been shriveled and lifeless immediately came back to life, sprouting green leaves before blooming into a small purple bud.
“It was an Elance flower.”
Having identified the plant, Ceres didn’t stop there.
A moment later, the purple flower withered even faster than it had bloomed. The fresh leaves shrank away in an instant. Soon, everything vanished and left behind only a small seed.
“It’s a very effective herb for reducing fever.”
Ceres smiled in satisfaction at the seed’s condition, but then suddenly froze. After a short sigh, she dropped it back into the pot.
“What am I doing right now?”
Habits really were frightening. There was no need for her to collect medicinal herbs like this anymore.
“Sigh.”
Ceres buried the seed in the soil again. Then, just like before, the plant quickly grew and bloomed into a flower.
It’s fascinating.
Even though her body had changed, she could still use her power just the same.
The ability to turn back time. A mysterious force that let her rewind anything she touched, whether it was an object or a person, back into the past or push it forward into the future.
This power played a major role in allowing her to save countless lives, enough for people to call her a saint. If she simply returned the part of the body causing pain to a time before it was injured, the problem would be resolved.
Of course, there are exceptions.
Congenital diseases present from birth were beyond the reach of her power.
Still, her reputation as a healer wasn’t built solely on this unusual ability. And it wasn’t something she could use whenever she wished, either.
Because it comes with its own side effects.
Using it on something small like this flowerpot was harmless, but overusing it would put a heavy strain on her body. It could bring on severe headaches and, in worse cases, cause her to lose consciousness. Having nosebleeds was common as well.
That’s why Kai hated my ability so much.
She had collapsed in front of him once. Ever since then, he would glare at anyone who came for treatment as if he wanted to kill them.
He was practically chasing the patients away.
That look alone was enough to send people running. More often than not, she had to step in and kick him out herself.
“But what matters is that this ability remains intact, isn’t it?”
Was it something tied to her soul? Even though her body had changed, being able to use her time-reversing ability was a relief.
I fixed the bed right away.
The memory of sleeping on that creaky bed the first night was dreadful. The very next day, before going to sleep, she rewound the bed to its earlier state.
That was when she realized how much comfort mattered. Even something as simple as a good place to sleep could make a person happy.
It’s quite useful.
She found herself admiring her ability once again.
Of course, there were also times when she cursed and resented this ability.
Like when I realized it didn’t work on me at all.
That was back when she lived as Grace Ellesia.
Right after learning she had an incurable illness, she tried using her power directly on her own body, but it did nothing. No matter how many times she tried, all she got in return were the brutal side effects that came with using her ability.
Then, for no real reason, irritation twisted inside her and anger surged up.
Why could she save everyone else but not herself? What kind of cursed ability was this? She remembered cursing it for a while.
It didn’t last long, though.
Before long, she accepted her situation. Her mind became more at ease in a way.
Knock, knock.
Ceres, who had been quietly gazing out the window while recalling old memories, turned her head at the sound. The maid Jay stepped inside cautiously.
“My lady.”
“What is it?”
“Um... Madam Agne is looking for you.”
“My aunt?”
“Perhaps it’s because of what just happened... I heard Madam Agne is very angry... it’s all my fault...”
Tears welled in Jay’s eyes.
What lies had those three come up with this time to frame Lady Ceres? They must have twisted everything, mixing truth and falsehood to place all the blame on her.
“What just happened? What are you talking about?”
“P-Pardon...?”
Contrary to Jay’s worries, Ceres simply asked back as if she had forgotten.
“I will be back.”
“No, wait...!”
Leaving Jay behind, who was trying to say more, Ceres just waved her hand and quickly left the room.
“W-What should I do?”
Jay could only watch anxiously as Ceres hurried out of sight. She kept sighing in worry.
***
“Come in, Ceres.”
Contrary to Antonian and Jay’s concerns, Agne welcomed Ceres warmly. A gentle smile rested on her face as she served tea she had brewed herself.
“I heard you were looking for me?”
Ceres paid little attention to her reaction and asked her business as soon as she sat down.
“What is it about?”
“.....”
At that response, Agne’s brow creased for a brief moment before smoothing out again.
Perhaps what those girls said was true.
Earlier, when the three maids reported that Ceres had suddenly splashed water on them, Agne had scoffed. She assumed they were trying to shift the blame onto Ceres, afraid they would be punished for ruining the clothes.
Ceres, of all people?
That made no sense. She was so timid she would walk through the garden carefully just to avoid stepping on ants.
How could she possibly have splashed water on the maids she could barely deal with?
That was what I believed...
But looking at Ceres sitting before her now, she could sense that something about her had changed.
She used to be like a guilty child, unable to even lift her head in front of me.
Agne was the one who had made her that way.
After suddenly losing her parents, her foolish niece, Ceres Drow, was left with nowhere to turn. Agne had made sure she came to trust and rely on her alone.
“Ceres, do you really think so?”
“Pardon?”
“If that’s your choice, then I will respect it.”
“Ah... yes.”
Upon returning to her family home under the pretense of worrying about her young niece, Agne refrained from interfering with Ceres’s actions directly.
Instead, she carefully arranged things so that whatever the girl did would inevitably fail.
“Look at this. Is this really the result of what you insisted on?”
“Tsk, you should have told me sooner. What is this?”
“My goodness... why would you do something like that, Ceres? You have ruined everything.”
“Tsk tsk, this is what your choices lead to.”
After several months of this, Ceres reached a point where she could do nothing on her own. She grew afraid of making decisions herself and came to prioritize her aunt’s opinion above all else.
That was the kind of child she used to be.
Then what was this calm, composed attitude now?
“Surely you didn’t call me here just to drink tea, right?”
Instead of being nervous about what her aunt would say, she pressed for an answer.
A strange light flickered across Agne’s expression.
“We received word from the recuperation house.”
“The recuperation house?”
At the sudden mention, Ceres tilted her head slightly. What is she saying?
When she simply stared back in confusion, Agne sighed heavily.
“Julia has collapsed again.”
“Julia?”
Who is that?
“Oh my... Ceres, you don’t remember Julia either?”
Do you think I would?
At the obvious question, Ceres just stared at her without answering. Agne nodded as if she understood everything and began to explain.
“Julia is your younger sister.”
“...My younger sister?”
She had another sibling?