Chapter Eleven : Liliane

My first goal was to avoid being a villain to not get killed. Hah, that was a failure.

Second, make Michael an ally.

I created him with so much love so that's the last person I want against me. Specially, considering the skill I gave him. 'One slash', the name ain't much but the skill is... He can cut the neck with any sharp object in a swift second. I found the thought of it cool that he would kill off his enemies in a swift move like that. Yea, I don't wanna die like that by my beloved.

Lastly, live a peaceful life.

Therefore, I decided to not hold back on doing what I want to do. Reminding me, I can be great at faking my feelings.

I entered the room, finding June already standing beside his table. It is his room, who did I expect?

"Good afternoon, brother~" Like I said, I was going to be me. So I didn't hold back on sounding cheerful.

"Oh, Liliane. Did you have a pleasant dream last night?" He was pleased for some reason. I nodded and approached him for a hug. He was also cheerful, "You're being awfully affectionate today, Lily." He ruffled my hair into a mess. I backed off, "That doesn't mean you can mess my hair! Milly works hard to arrange it!" I pout. As a result, he ends up laughing. At least, I made him laugh.

"You're leaving already?" I asked.

"We are supposed to go to the church today. Did you forget?"

"Huh? Really, today?"

"Yes and here I thought my lovely sister had come to pick me up," he pats my head with a frown on his face, "You really okay?"

"Yes! I am! I must have mixed the dates. Let me fix my hair quick and join you," I push him out the door.

"How was I supposed to remember what we have to do specifically when I came back 5 years into the past! It's the least bit of my worries," I sigh out loud and fix my ponytail.

As I was about to leave, something caught my eye. A paper was half out the drawer, June must have been in a hurry to place it right. I opened the drawer to organize the paper. My heart dropped as soon as I saw the necklace inside it.

There was a knock on the door, "Princess! We have to get going soon."

I quickly arranged the paper as how it should be and hid the necklace inside my pocket. Mathel opens the door since she had received no response. "Princess! If you're inside, you need to respond-"

"Yes yes. Didn't you say we are getting late? Let's hurry up then!" I ran out without waiting for her to catch up.

....

After the prayer session, I walked around the garden of the church. It was carefully maintained and cared for, giving off a calm atmosphere. I thought no one was going to be here at this time of the day. I was proved wrong, spotting Nyla standing beside the fountain that was situated in the middle of the garden.

- "Princess, whenever there's distress within your heart. I may help you find your answers."

Last time, She did seem to know something. She is a celestial priest. I'm curious to see if she will keep her words even though she didn't say it in this timeline yet. I decided to approach her, "Uhm, Priestess?"

She was so stunned that her hood fell off as soon as she turned around, focusing at my direction, "Princess?"

I instantly got shy. This was my first time seeing her face. Her eyes were so bright, like a morning sunshine in the middle of summer. I have seen a yellow so bright. Moreover, her hair was a perfect mixture of light and deep green in the sunlight. "Princess? Are you alright?" She asked again.

"Oh, yes, I'm good," I didn't know where to look as she was such a captivating beauty. I never liked green but she sure is changing my mind about it. She smiled, her hand caressing my cheek, "Has something been causing you distress, princess?"

Her way of speech, sprouted hope in my silly little mind, making me forget what I wanted to talk to her about. I put my hands in my pocket and remembered about the necklace. I pulled it out, "I wanted to check if this was cursed."

The words my mouth spat out didn't even make sense to me. I should have thought about it before spouting nonsense. She took it from my hand and observed it for awhile, "It's got a seal in it."

"A seal? For what?"

Her gaze softens, "I believe I'm not allowed to know by the grace of the goddess, princess. I've removed the seal. There doesn't seem to be any reaction."

I was speechless. She put it back into my hand, "I can at least assure you that it will now help you fixate your route in life."

"Route?"

"It may be impudent of me but I assumed you were lost, princess. Though you have found a key needed to get back on track. You are still in the process of finding out what you truly want."

"If you seem to know so much then why don't you just tell me," I felt triggered.

"My divinity doesn't allow me to know that, your highness," the warmness in her voice disappears, "I'm only told to guide others. Therefore, god only bestows upon me what I should do and in exchange, I am not allowed to know anything more than what I am to say."

"Then answer me something", I put the necklace back in my pocket, ready to leave, "Have you ever felt like you have gone back in time?" I don't know what came over me to speak those words but if she's such a so called servant of God, then my question shouldn't be pernicious, right?

"No, your highness", she bows and hides her face again, pulling up the hood. I decide to not waste another moment here. I might end up saying more things that I shouldn't. As I was a few steps away from leaving the garden, she spoke, "However, you are not alone princess."

I didn't look back and continued to walk back to the carriage. "What a joke. Every fucking individual in this world is alone. After all, the end game of everyone is death."

....

I put the necklace back to where I found it in the drawer. I decide to sleep in early.

I started to feel strange. I open my eyes to find myself in a different place. I couldn't see anything, everything around me was pitch black. I tried to reach out to the void in front of me. Instantly, the atmosphere had changed into a scenario that I had long forgotten. It gave off a nostalgic feeling since this was the first place I saw upon arriving into this unknown world.

The same busy streets filled with vendors, shops and locals. If I knew I would miss this then I would have visited this part of the town when I used to fool around with my brothers.

My attention was soon captured by a girl running around, crying loudly, "Mother! Where are you! Please, I promise to be good! Don't leave me!" I reached out to hold her just to realize I couldn't touch her. "I'm transparent? What the heck's going on?" I muttered to myself. People were passing through me as if I didn't exist. Did I die again and this is a different outcome?

The girl had white hair that resembled mine and finally looked behind. My eyes widened in disbelief, the little was Liliane! She seemed to be a lot younger. "Is she 4 or 5?" I couldn't believe my eyes.

She kept sobbing while everyone ignored her, "Mother... Where did you go again?" She was rubbing her eyes when suddenly her lips formed a smile. She ran after what made made her sadness go away in an instance.

I also followed her mindlessly, "Maybe It's her memories.. But why am I seeing this now?"

Liliane's smile was so innocent that nobody would be able to guess that she was crying alone in the middle of the streets for god knows how long. She had somehow found Ashley, "So that's why you were suddenly smiling like that..."

However, Ashley seemed displeased by Liliane's actions. Liliane was hugging her tightly while Ashley didn't even bother touching her.

"Hah, I knew something was off about her when she came running to pick me up." Looking at the scene before me was proving my intuitions right, the ones I was overthinking about after meeting her for the first time. I felt like giving her a good slap on the face but of course I couldn't right now.

"Did she ever genuinely care for Liliane?"

Someone decided to answer that for me, "She never did. Not even once in any of the timelines..."

I was horrified and yet looked beside me to see who it was. It was Liliane, an older version, with a different demeanour about her. Needless to say, it was the real Liliane. She directly turned her face, making making eye contact. I quickly change my sight to end up witnessing my appearance in one of the shop mirrors. Black hair, a shirt and a long skirt... I was in my original appearance.. More specifically, with the outfit I wore the day I drowned to death.