IBDEML 02

Chapter 02

My scalp throbbed painfully.

After barely separating them, I breathed heavily while trying to calm down. Lisa looked at me with pity.

In Lisa’s and Sally’s hands were large clumps of my hair, the same blue hair that reminded people of the sea.

Lisa awkwardly smiled and shook the hair off her hand.

“Th-this… I’m sorry, Lopez.”

“Humph!”

Unlike Lisa, who apologized, Sally sharply turned her head away from me.

It had been one week since I transmigrated.

And I had my hair violently pulled out by kids much younger than me.

Because Lisa and Sally fought, we were locked up three more days than planned.

I had only been caught in the middle, but I ended up staying there with them.

Now Lisa and Sally—who had been locked up before me—had finished their punishment and left.

Only I remained alone in the room, bored.

It did feel unfair.

But thanks to the conversations I had with the two girls, I managed to learn some things about this place.

According to them, this place was an orphanage.

From what they said, the children were divided into Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3, and it seemed like there was discrimination between them.

And on top of that, corporal punishment was normal here.

‘An orphanage…’

I also grew up in an orphanage when I was young.

I had found a similarity between myself and the original owner of this body.

But unfortunately, nothing suddenly came to mind like in a comic.

‘Maybe I’ll learn more once I get out of this discipline room.’

The woman with the switch briefly watched me lying in the solitary room with my eyes wide open.

Then she suddenly disappeared.

Finally, on the last day—

The teacher, who had been suspicious of me until the end, finally gave up.

“…Did you really lose your memory?”

“Yes, teacher. I really did.”

Anna was the discipline instructor and etiquette teacher at Sunflower Orphanage.

The discipline room was located far away from the place where the children usually studied and lived.

All the children were afraid of being sent there, so they usually behaved well despite their young age.

But not every child could behave perfectly.

Naturally, there were children in the orphanage who caused trouble.

However, the child who entered this time—Lopez—was not someone who usually caused problems.

She had entered the discipline room for the first time because of a single mistake.

On the first day, Lopez trembled in fear and cried loudly while begging for forgiveness.

On the second day, Lopez suddenly screamed while getting her palm struck.

Because of that, Anna lost her balance and fell backward in front of the child, making a ridiculous scene.

On the third day, Lopez rolled around on the floor and showed no sign of reflecting on her behavior.

Not only that, she even teased Anna by saying she “couldn’t remember anything.”

On the fourth day, Lopez stared at Anna with a frighteningly blank expression.

On the fifth day, the child began listing words like “abuse” while criticizing Anna for teaching her.

Anna was angry.

But when she thought carefully, Lopez was a child who had always been afraid of adults.

From that moment, Lopez’s behavior began to seem strange.

Then came the sixth day… the seventh day…

Lopez was dragged around while Lisa and Sally pulled her hair inside the discipline room.

Yet even in that situation, she didn’t argue with them even once.

Finally, on the tenth day—

Anna watched Lopez lying lazily with a blank face and felt certain.

“This child… is not the Lopez I know!”

And suddenly, a memory came to her mind.

“Um… may I ask who you are? I can’t remember anything.”

“…So you really did lose your memory!”

Anna slowly walked toward Lopez’s solitary room and looked inside.

The child was staring blankly into the air.

She looked almost like an adult who had experienced many hardships.

There was only one reason why a person could change so suddenly.

‘Amnesia.’

Yes, if Lopez still had her memories, there was no way the child who feared adults would behave so boldly.

Anna opened the door.

Lopez slowly crawled to her feet.

The child who was usually neat now had messy hair after spending so long in the discipline room.

Anna asked seriously.

“…Did you really lose your memory?”

“Yes, teacher. I think so.”

Anna was shocked.

Really… really!

She believed Lopez had lost her memory because her palm was struck.

Lopez never actually said that.

But Anna couldn’t think of any other explanation.

The room reflected the personality of its owner.

The bookshelf was neatly organized with books and decorations perfectly aligned.

Scratch. Scratch.

At the dry scratching sound of a pen writing, Anna nervously swallowed and glanced sideways at Watson.

Just as she was beginning to grow anxious about how long she had to wait, the woman who had been focused on documents finally raised her head.

Anyone could see she had a strict personality.

Watson, the director of Sunflower Orphanage, pushed up her glasses and looked away from the papers.

“Are you saying Lopez has lost her memory?”

“Yes, Director. It doesn’t seem like a lie. She doesn’t even know my name or where she is.”

“Could she be playing a trick?”

Unfortunately, that didn’t seem likely.

Anna had already come to the director’s office with confidence.

“As you know, Director… Lopez is not that kind of child. Especially since she is afraid of adults.”

Director Watson closed her mouth.

Lopez had lived a life of abuse when she was younger.

Because of that, she feared adults.

It meant Lopez was not a child who could look an adult in the eyes and speak clearly.

But now she had even criticized Anna.

The Lopez Watson knew would never do such a thing.

Watson slowly tapped the desk.

Lopez had never caused any major trouble in the orphanage before.

She did bully other children sometimes.

But that was common among children and could usually be overlooked.

However, this time it was revealed that she had falsely accused her classmate Medina of stealing.

At first, Lopez denied it.

But after Anna pressured her, she trembled and finally confessed.

The result was obvious.

She was sent to the discipline room, the place children feared the most.

‘I thought she would reflect and come out… but amnesia?’

It sounded ridiculous.

There had been no sign of it.

She hadn’t even injured her head.

Yet suddenly she had lost her memory.

It was hard to believe.

But when Watson thought about it carefully, even if Lopez was lying about amnesia, the situation still didn’t make sense.

There was nothing Lopez could gain by pretending to lose her memory.

And a child who feared adults couldn’t suddenly change overnight.

‘Then… it must really be amnesia.’

Watson slowly opened her tightly closed lips.

“I will see for myself. Bring her here.”

“Yes, Director.”

Anna hurried out of the office.

Finally, I was able to leave the discipline room.

As I followed Anna outside, I saw a building a short distance away.

It was probably the main building of the orphanage.

She led me to the fourth floor of that building.

While climbing the stairs, I looked around.

The orphanage that I thought looked shabby was actually better maintained than I expected.

‘So it only looks good on the outside.’

Or maybe this place had some ridiculous tradition where bad children were allowed to be beaten.

I could hear children’s voices from different parts of the building.

But since it was class time, I didn’t see anyone.

Trying to keep up with an adult’s pace was exhausting.

Even though half the stairs still remained, I was already out of breath.

‘Did this kid usually not eat properly?’

I held my fast-beating heart and tried to follow Anna as quickly as possible.

But she didn’t even consider the walking speed of a child and impatiently urged me on.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and follow me! Why are you so slow?”

Watching Anna click her tongue in annoyance, I frowned.

Why was someone who didn’t even seem to like children working in an orphanage?

Soon we arrived at a luxurious door.

Anna didn’t even give me time to catch my breath before pushing me inside.

The strong push almost made me fall awkwardly.

“Director, I brought her.”

The woman called Director lowered the glasses resting on her nose and stared straight at me.

Even while looking at the strict-looking middle-aged woman, no memories came to mind.

After making eye contact with me for a moment, the director quietly called my name.

“Lopez.”

“Yes.”

“How old are you right now?”

“I don’t know.”

I had a rough guess after looking in the mirror.

But I knew that wasn’t what she really wanted to know.

She was testing whether I truly had lost my memory.

“Your name?”

“Lopez. Ah… do I have a family name? If I do, I don’t know it. The teacher here only told me my first name.”

“Do you know why you were in the discipline room?”

“No.”

“What about your appearance?”

“Blue hair and violet eyes. I saw it in the small mirror in the solitary room.”

“….”

The director’s eyebrow lifted slightly.

She looked me up and down before looking away.

“How do you feel when you see me?”

“I don’t feel anything. Should I be feeling something?”

Should my heart start beating faster or something?

At my calm answer, the director let out a quiet laugh and put her glasses back on.

“It seems you are not lying.”

“What should we do, Director…?”

“Wait outside for a moment.”

Following the director’s order, I quietly waited outside the door.