TWLSV~02

Chapter 2  

The skin was so dark it looked as if the spirit was steeped in resentment.

Elisia found herself staring blankly at the soul hovering behind Cedric before she even realized it. The spirit’s mouth-like opening kept flapping as if trying to speak something.

‘I can’t hear what it’s saying properly without my spirit child…’

Only then did she come to her senses. Even without her familiar spirit child, some of her shamanic power still lingered within her.

{…Diana.}

“D…Diana?”

The moment that name left her lips, Cedric’s gaze changed instantly.

He strode toward her and grabbed her by the collar, lifting her up.

“How dare you say that name.”

“D- Duke!”

The physician and Betty hurriedly pulled Cedric away from her. Elisia, blinking in confusion, slowly raised a hand toward the enraged man.

Slap.

A crisp sound echoed through the room.

The silence that followed was suffocating.

It was Elisia who had slapped Cedric’s cheek.

The room froze.

Cedric’s head had been turned slightly from the impact. Even with a man towering over her by a full head’s height glaring down, Elisia did not back down.

But instead of striking again or hurling insults, he only looked at her as if she were something insignificant—like an insect.

“So it’s true. You’ve lost your memory. A sane person wouldn’t do something like this.”

Without another word, Cedric turned and left the room.

The moment he disappeared, Betty, who had been holding her breath in silence, rushed toward Elisia in panic.

“What were you thinking, my lady?”

“He grabbed me by the collar first. I mean—he grabbed me.”

Elisia, belatedly remembering that Betty was a servant, tried to adjust her tone accordingly.

“Who is Diana, and why did he react like that? And who is that man anyway?”

“My lady… do you truly not remember?”

The physician adjusted his glasses with a troubled expression. After fixing his disheveled hair, he finally spoke.

“Diana was the former Duchess. And that man is the master of this estate—your husband, Duke Cedric Albrecht.”

“My husband?”

“Yes. Duke Cedric’s mother. She has already passed away.”

“…Ah.”

Elisia recalled the blackened spirit she had seen clinging to Cedric’s back earlier. Judging by its heavy, corrupted energy, it had clearly not died peacefully.

So that’s why it was so resentful. It was because of its son.

“But why is he reacting like that just because I said her name? What, is his mother some kind of sacred taboo or something? It’s just a name.”

Elisia frowned, feeling genuinely wronged.

“Hey. You.”

She pointed at Betty.

“You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”

Betty flinched immediately and shook her head frantically.

“I—I wouldn’t know anything, my lady.”

“…Really?”

Elisia narrowed her eyes.

That red-haired girl was definitely hiding something.

‘Was I too harsh earlier? Saying things like “want to get scolded”… I guess that habit stuck from dealing with my spirit child.’

After the physician and Betty left, Elisia sat on the edge of the bed and sighed deeply until it felt like the floor might cave in.

From what she could tell, her husband—the Duke—hated her. Despised her, even.

Without her spirit child, she had no idea how she was supposed to survive this situation.

Then—

Swoosh…

Rain poured heavily outside.

The raindrops struck the window violently, as if they might shatter the glass. Elisia pulled the blanket over her head and lay down.

‘I wish this was all a dream. I wish everything from the moment I was hit by that truck wasn’t real.’

She wanted to wake up in her luxurious home, as always, and hear her spirit child greet her with a cheerful “Good morning.”

“Ah, damn it.”

But no miracle came.

The next morning, the moment she opened her eyes, Elisia almost screamed.

Right beside her was a dark figure.

It was the spirit of Duchess Diana.

Up close, its surface trembled faintly, like rippling ink.

Its neck, long and thin, no longer held its natural shape—it tilted unnaturally to one side. Strands of what might have once been hair hung like seaweed soaked in blood.

Most striking of all was the hole torn clean through its chest. A wound that must have come from a blade in life.

“I can’t hear you properly, so please don’t talk too much at me. My spirit child disappeared, you see.”

The spirit’s mouth moved silently.

It looked aggrieved.

It spun slowly in place, trying to catch her attention.

“…Can you hear me?”

The spirit nodded.

Though it was little more than a mass of resentment, Elisia’s experience told her it was indeed answering.

‘Ignore it.’

And, as always, she chose to ignore it.

Once you started listening to these wandering resentful spirits, it never ended. Everyone had a story. But these pitch-black ones were usually bound by grudges too heavy for the world.

Helping them resolve it took too much time—and often put her in danger.

Sometimes, even after their resentment was resolved, they would turn on her body.

Her spirit child had always protected her in those moments.

But not now.

‘I don’t have my spirit child. I need to be careful.’

Elisia waved her hand dismissively.

“I can’t help you. Please leave.”

Duchess Diana’s spirit lowered its head and, surprisingly obedient, drifted away.

It returned toward Cedric.

‘That kind of resentment only harms the living… tsk.’

Elisia shook her head.

Even if she had become Elisia Simoe, she had no intention of getting involved in a family’s emotional mess.

She opened the window wide and let in the cold air. The storm had passed overnight, leaving behind a damp, fishy scent.

‘Alright. I’m starting to feel clearer.’

She pushed her messy bangs back and began searching the room.

She rummaged through every drawer, gathering information about the original owner of this body—“the real” Elisia Simoe.

“Born December 10th…”

Using the calendar, she confirmed the birth date and began drawing up a saju chart with pen and paper.

“Let’s see… what kind of life did you have?”

Scratch scratch. The only sound in the quiet room was the friction of pen against paper.

“No recorded birth time… that’s a shame. Still, the present matters more than the later years. Wait… what is this?”

Her expression darkened.

“Everywhere… there are overwhelming signs of indirect officer stars…”

In saju (Four Pillars of Destiny), the “indirect officer” represents oppressive, controlling, and obstructive energy. It symbolized pressure, hardship, and constant trials.

And it saturated the entire chart.

Which meant the original owner of this body was fated to suffer an extraordinarily unfortunate life.

In a modern world, such energy might be used as a stepping stone to success—but in this place, for a woman, it was far from an advantage.

Worse, her wealth-related energies were excessive and unstable, while her core self was too weak to bear them.

In short—she was “wealth-heavy, self-weak.”

“Even the fortune that comes into her hands won’t stay hers. She’ll be dragged into inheritance disputes, family conflicts, and eventually pushed out of her own position.”

Elisia stared at the chart again.

No matter how many times she checked it, the conclusion did not change.

“Even worse… there are strong robbery-star influences in her major cycles…”

Elisia Simoe.

This woman was someone destined to be framed, stripped of her wealth, and cast out to the streets—

A woman who surviving even this moment was nothing short of a miracle.