≈ Chapter 5 ≈
The largest harbor in Belfast.
Harbor Number Four.
Huge merchant ships and luxury passenger ships came and went there.
It was always lively, with hundreds of people passing through every day.
A loud voice echoed across the harbor.
“Everyone! If you reach the Diamond Rank, money will come rolling in even if you just sit still! Do you understand? Just sit there, and other people will make money for you!”
More than eighty percent of the people had already lost money.
But the more they lost…
The more they wanted to believe Number Thirty-Three when he said,
“If this business succeeds, I’ll pay you back ten times as much.”
That was why Number Thirty-Three could shamelessly build a stage in the biggest harbor in Belfast and loudly promote his pyramid scheme.
“Isn’t she a scammer?”
“I heard so many people have already lost money…”
People whispered to each other.
Yet…
Someone still signed the papers.
Someone still wrote out promissory notes.
Number Thirty-Three smiled brightly.
“Thank you very much! The day after tomorrow is my twentieth birthday party, so please come and celebrate with me!”
He scattered birthday invitations as casually as someone skipping stones across a lake.
It didn’t matter.
He wouldn’t even be there.
I’ll collect promissory notes until today…
Tomorrow I’ll gather everything… and disappear.
Whether the Fleur family dealt with the consequences or not…
He didn’t care.
These parents aren’t even my real parents.
Thinking that, Number Thirty-Three happily accepted another promissory note.
It really was the perfect world for a swindler.
There was no internet.
No telephones.
Once someone escaped, they were difficult to track down.
Magic existed.
But magic belonged to the Black Dragon who ruled the continent.
People had to borrow magic from the Dragon.
Because of that, there were very few mages…
And hiring one was unbelievably expensive.
The lack of banks…
Or the fact that people used gold coins instead of paper money, forcing him to exchange everything into jewels…
None of that bothered him very much.
He had already hidden the jewels separately.
He had also prepared a black carriage for tomorrow night.
A carriage that couldn’t be traced back to his identity.
I’m going to the Imperial Capital!
People said that if you wanted to hide a tree…
You hid it in a forest.
Number Thirty-Three had carefully planned his escape.
And once I get there…
I’ll scam people all over again!
His future looked brighter than ever.
He raised one hand high and shouted,
“Why do you think the rank is called Diamond? Why Ruby? Why Emerald? Those names were chosen for our wonderful customers, who shine just like precious gems!”
“Wooow!”
People’s eyes sparkled.
Idiots!
Number Thirty-Three smiled even more brightly.
The flawless skin Anais had cared for so dearly glowed beautifully under the sunlight.
“Everyone, trust Anais. Even the Lesaloniki family of the Azure Dragon Knights has invested a huge amount of money in this business!”
Several people gasped when they heard that famous family name.
Because of that…
Someone’s angry shout—
“You bastard!”
—was completely drowned out.
Even if it hadn’t been…
No one would have paid attention for long.
Because a moment later…
Lightning struck from a clear sky.
BOOOOM!
People couldn’t believe their eyes.
By pure coincidence…
The lightning struck Number Thirty-Three directly while he stood proudly on the stage with one hand raised, still giving his speech.
Screams erupted from every direction.
“Ahhhh! Miss!”
“Oh my goodness!”
Everyone stared at the stage with wide eyes.
The woman who had been struck by lightning rolled her eyes upward…
Then…
Slowly collapsed onto the ground.
Her clothes were burned completely black.
Her body twitched violently on the floor.
“Get a doctor!”
“Someone call a doctor!”
“Where are the Fleur family’s maids?”
“Miss! Miss!”
The harbor instantly fell into complete chaos.
No one knew what to do.
People ran around in panic.
Some scattered.
Others gathered together.
And in the middle of it all…
Anais lay on the ground.
No one knew…
That at that very moment…
The real Anais had returned.
Let’s organize everything.
That night…
On her twentieth birthday…
After fainting and waking up again…
Anais was finally alone.
Even Anne, the nanny who had worried about her all day, had gone to sleep.
Anne had kept asking whether Anais remembered anything.
The doctor who examined her had said,
“If someone suffers a sudden shock, memory loss is possible.”
“Considering she was struck by lightning, it’s not surprising.”
He also said that the best medicine was rest.
So Anne had tucked Anais back into bed.
“Please get some sleep, Miss.”
“All right, Nanny…”
She answered that way.
But the moment Anne left the room…
Anais immediately jumped out of bed.
“How could anyone sleep at a time like this!?”
Everyone around her seemed to believe that she had simply lost one year of memories after being struck by lightning.
But Anais knew better than anyone.
That wasn’t what had happened.
She looked beside her bed.
The pink diary still lay there with its lock already opened.
The moment Anne left…
Anais had read every page of it.
Now she knew the truth.
Someone else had lived inside her body.
A Possessor.
Anais had heard about Possessors before.
But those were stories from the distant Empire and other countries.
She had never once imagined something like that could happen to her.
Yet…
It had.
Think.
Think carefully, Anais.
This isn’t the time to sleep.
Anais immediately sat down at her desk.
Her entire body had been burned.
Even the smallest movement hurt.
But instead of lying down and crying…
She reached for a quill.
Using her favorite pen with its pink feather…
She quickly began writing everything she had learned inside her diary.
1. A Possessor whose identity I don’t know lived inside my body for one year.
2. That Possessor used everything I owned for personal gain.
3. And for some reason…
That person has disappeared now.
A sigh escaped her lips.
Why?
Why did this happen to me?
She wanted to cry.
If someone had been beside her…
She would have thrown down the pen, run to them, and burst into tears.
But there was nobody.
Crying alone doesn’t help anyone.
If someone who knew the real Anais could have looked inside her mind…
They would have been truly shocked.
After all…
Whenever something made Anais sad…
She never hesitated to cry in front of other people.
When she was happy…
She showed it with all her heart.
She loved acting cute and making a fuss.
But…
That only happened when other people were around.
Crying only had meaning if someone was there beside her.
If I cry now…
I’ll only waste time and make my face swell.
That was the truth.
Anais cared greatly about how other people saw her.
And since nobody was with her now…
There was no reason to cry.
She carefully read through every page of her diary.
Ever since she was little…
If anyone even touched her pink diary…
She would cry loudly enough for the whole mansion to hear.
That was why nobody ever touched it.
Apparently…
The Possessor had also written many notes inside it.
Fortunately for Anais…
That became very useful.
Find the Crown Prince’s first love?
Is that idiot crazy? What would I even do after finding her?
The Grand Duke of the North…
This place is at the southern end of the continent.
Who’s going all the way north?
Besides, he’s already married.
And what’s with this Dragon?
How primitive…
The Possessor was unbelievably arrogant.
People always said Possessors believed they knew the future…
And acted as if this world was nothing more than a story inside a book.
It seemed this Possessor was no different.
Anais slammed her fist on the desk.
“You’re the one using someone else’s body to scam people! Who are you calling primitive?”
If that Possessor had been standing in front of her…
She would have pinched his collarbone with all her strength.
Apparently…
He had no interest in following the same path as the previous thirty-two Possessors.
If he acted recklessly…
People would discover he was a Possessor…
And he would die.
Instead…
He chose to become a scammer.
That part was simply unbelievable.
“He cheated people out of their money?”
Just reading it made Anais hold her forehead.
Unfortunately…
She grabbed one of her burns.
The pain made her quickly pull her hand away.
Even the short notes left behind by Number Thirty-Three were shocking.
He had used the Fleur family’s reputation to cheat people out of their money.
Then…
He exchanged all that money into jewels.
“He was even planning to run away with everything…”
She couldn’t believe it.
For an entire year…
This swindler had completely ruined her life.
Stealing her body wasn’t enough.
Scamming people wasn’t enough.
He had gone everywhere pretending to be her.
He wore all the dresses Anais loved…
And treated them carelessly.
Looking around her room…
Even the furniture and decorations had been changed however he wanted.
But…
Compared to what came next…
Those things meant nothing.
He had completely ruined…
Anais’s reputation.
