♥ Chapter 2 ♥
Everyone said the same thing so casually.
They told me I was just imagining things.
They said there was no way the only daughter of the great House of Vozbon would copy the daughter of a count’s family whose only advantage was money.
Some even asked if I was the one copying Bellietta.
Others said,
“So what if she copies you a little?”
Those words crushed me.
Anyone who had actually gone through it would never say something like that so easily.
Having someone watch your every move…
Watching everything you do…
Copying every part of your life…
It was never something to be happy about.
When I was young, I didn’t hate it that much.
But as the years passed, Bellietta’s behavior became more and more unpleasant.
I hid the clothes I wore.
I changed my hairstyle.
I hid my jewelry.
I even hid countless other things so she couldn’t copy them.
But all of that was useless.
Bellietta would appear wearing a dress with almost the same color and style as mine.
Thousands of nobles saw it at the banquet.
Then they all said the same thing.
“The young lady of Brilloksen must really admire Lady Bellietta. It’s hard to copy someone that closely.”
To everyone else…
I wasn’t Sierra.
I was simply the girl who copied Bellietta.
Some laughed at me.
Others mocked me.
None of them saw Sierra.
They only saw Bellietta’s shadow.
“I don’t want to go to social gatherings anymore.”
So I told my parents that I would never attend another social event.
Father looked troubled, but he didn’t force me.
Mother understood me.
Even though people accused her of using her own daughter to gain the attention of the House of Vozbon…
She never showed how much those words hurt her.
After that, I cut myself off from high society.
I stayed inside our territory and continued studying to become the next head of the family.
The Gray Mountains owned by our family were filled with rare metals, precious gems, and iron ore.
We also owned merchant companies that handled everything produced there.
Money poured into our family every day.
Because of that, careful management was essential.
I devoted myself even more to my education.
Naturally, I grew farther away from Bellietta.
I also stopped listening to the rumors from outside.
But…
I was wrong.
When I disappeared from public events…
Bellietta chose a far more extreme method.
She started a legal dispute over the ownership of the Gray Mountains.
The Duke of Vozbon adored his only daughter.
After finally having a child, he granted every wish she asked for.
Since Bellietta was obsessed with me, once I hid myself…
She chose another way to drag me back out.
“The House of Vozbon has filed a lawsuit using a contract written 300 years ago. It’s ridiculous, but they’ve already won over both the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Justice.”
It was an old contract.
A contract signed between the first head of the Brilloksen family and the Duke of Vozbon three hundred years ago.
They claimed its wording could be interpreted in two different ways.
“I don’t know why they’re bringing this up now, but it seems the Duke of Vozbon has made up his mind.”
Our Brilloksen family had wealth.
But we had no political power.
The House of Vozbon was an ancient noble family with deep roots.
Once they decided to attack us…
There was no way we could win.
For six months…
My parents became thinner and more exhausted as they dealt with the Vozbon family every day.
I did everything I could to help them.
But nothing worked.
Money meant nothing before power.
Were we really going to lose the mountains?
Just as that thought crossed my mind…
Bellietta came to see me.
“I’ll help you.”
It was the end of winter.
She held my cold hands tightly.
With tears in her eyes, she said she wanted to help me.
Of course…
I didn’t believe her.
“Go home. Things are already bad enough that I almost want to kidnap you and threaten the Duke of Vozbon. Don’t come here again.”
I rejected her coldly.
I refused to meet her.
I pushed her away without mercy.
“Sierra… I’ll help you.”
She kept saying those words.
But I couldn’t trust her.
Still…
I wanted to protect my parents.
I wanted to protect my family.
I had no choice.
I never believed she could truly solve everything.
Yet…
Bellietta completely erased the lawsuit.
As if it had never existed.
That was the moment…
I fell into Bellietta’s trap.
Who could have imagined…
That all of this had started because of Bellietta’s stubborn obsession?
Our family had simply become her victim.
From that day on…
Bellietta never left my side.
As always, she wore the same clothes.
Ate the same food.
Copied the same actions.
She was careful enough that I couldn’t openly complain.
Whenever she had the chance, she reminded me about that lawsuit.
She always emphasized that she was my savior.
And whenever I tried to push her away…
Another lawsuit would appear.
Not just from the House of Vozbon.
Other noble families…
Other businesses…
More ownership disputes kept appearing one after another.
In the end…
Bellietta always stepped in and solved everything.
Everyone believed it was because Lady Bellietta liked me so much that she willingly protected me.
How ridiculous.
I wasn’t stupid.
Nor was I blind.
I simply…
Had no way to escape.
I couldn’t escape her obsession.
I couldn’t escape the swamp pulling me toward her.
She never had to say it aloud.
Her actions told me everything.
If you keep pushing me away… I can destroy your family.
Every time I rejected Bellietta…
The ones who suffered were my family.
The people of my house.
I couldn’t bear to watch that happen.
But Bellietta’s obsession only grew stronger.
In the end…
She destroyed my parents.
She destroyed my family.
And finally…
She even stole the man I loved.
I slowly opened my eyes inside the cold, dark abyss pressing down on my body.
Above me…
The necklace drifted gently through the water after slipping from around my neck.
Bathed in moonlight…
It glowed softly.
I tightly gripped the treasure given to me by the great mage,
Ezekiel Ross,
and closed my eyes.
Then I quietly asked myself.
If I could go back… could I repay Bellietta for everything she did?
Could I stop her from taking my life away from me?
Deep within the darkness…
I answered myself.
I won’t let Bellietta take even a single strand of my hair.
But…
What was the point now?
She had already taken everything.
I had thrown myself into the water just to protect the last thing I still possessed—
My name.
It was…
Too late.
Slowly…
I closed my eyes.
Sleep quietly pulled me in.
＊ ＊ ＊
Warm.
It was warm.
It was so warm that I couldn’t believe I had just thrown myself into the lake.
Is this what death feels like?
My whole body felt relaxed.
Every bit of strength left me.
Then…
I felt my body gently shaking.
It was a familiar feeling.
As if I were sitting inside a carriage.
While I was trying to understand that strange sensation…
A voice suddenly shouted.
“Late? What do you mean it’s too late? It’s not too late yet, Sierra!”
The voice pierced through the ringing in my ears.
Slowly…
I opened my eyes.
As my heavy eyelids lifted, I saw blond hair through my blurry vision.
Then I realized…
My body really was shaking.
The sound of carriage wheels echoed around me.
The movement slowly cleared my mind.
The back of my neck felt stiff.
I rubbed my shoulder and neck before opening my eyes wider.
Only then did my vision become clear.
“…What?”
Something was wrong.
When I heard the voice, I wondered if I had somehow survived.
After all…
It wasn’t an ocean.
It was only a lake.
Someone could have rescued me.
I thought my ears were ringing because I had nearly drowned.
But…
The place I was in was completely different.
Being inside a carriage wasn’t strange.
Someone could have moved me.
My blurry vision also made sense after keeping my eyes closed.
But…
There was one thing I couldn’t understand.
Bellietta.
She was calmly sitting in front of me.
The woman who had just turned my life into hell…
Was looking at me as if nothing had happened.
Do you even know what conscience or morality is, Bellietta?
Then…
Something felt strange.
The woman in front of me was definitely Bellietta.
But…
She looked younger.
Her skin looked softer.
Her hair was shorter.
Her cheeks were still slightly round with baby fat.
She looked no older than eighteen.
I stared at her in silence.
Then I looked down at myself.
I expected my clothes to be soaking wet.
Even if they had dried, I should still have been wearing the dress from before I fell into the lake.
But I wasn’t.
I was wearing completely different clothes.
And this wasn’t a dress a grown noblewoman would wear.
It looked far too young.
“Sierra… are you feeling sick?”
“What is this…?”
I blinked several times.
Then I pinched the inside of my thigh as hard as I could.
“Ah!”
I pinched myself much harder than I meant to.
I had been so shocked that I couldn’t control my strength.
…My shoulder?
My shoulder was perfectly fine.
Layton had stabbed it with his sword.
The wound had been deep.
It should still have been there.
But…
There wasn’t even a scar.
My shoulder was completely unharmed.
Everything was confusing.
Yet my mind remained perfectly clear.
This wasn’t a dream.
It wasn’t an illusion.
The sharp pain from pinching myself…
The feeling of everything around me…
None of it was fake.
This was reality.
