I was possessed by the villain’s daughter.

EPISODE 15

It was the portrait. I stared up at him in disbelief.

As I stared at him, frozen in place, Yit waved at me from the side.

“Laila, look.”

“Uh, huh?”

“It’s not a girl. It’s a guy.”

Huh?

I looked at her(?) face again in bewilderment.

Her long, shoulder-length silver hair and green eyes were beautiful and full of life.

But upon closer inspection, I realized that the thick, hard lines of her face were distinctly masculine rather than feminine. His overall features were fair, but his chest was flat and he was at least as tall as his father.

In other words, he was a man.

I suddenly felt like I wanted to crawl into a rat hole. My face flushed.

“Oh…, that’s… me….”

As I stammered, at a loss for words, the man stared at me.

“Laila.”

And then he laughed.

“Laila-!”

Before I had time to react, he lunged for me, grabbed me in one swift motion, and spun me around in midair like I was five years old.

“Gah, gah, gah!”

I gasped and threw my arms around his neck. The man only laughed.

“You missed your uncle, didn’t you? You cried every day because you missed him?”

This guy was such a weirdo!

The commotion quickly subsided. My father, who was at the head of the pack, quickly stopped the balding figure.

But the man who called himself “Uncle” put me down, but quickly hugged me tightly.

I tried to push him away, but part of me understood why this man looked so much like me and my mother.

“He was my mom’s brother”.

The resemblance was not unreasonable, given the blood connection. I had been told I had an uncle, but I hadn’t realized it.

“Did you say his name was… Raska?

Raska finally let go of me and shared a hug with my father. Raska smiled as we shared a brief embrace.

“It’s been a long time. Only a year, brother-in-law.”

“I’m sorry I haven’t been around much lately, Central has been busy.”

“I understand. But you should have sent the kids. Mother and Father have been wanting to see you.”

“They’ve been busy, too.”

“Ha ha.”

He laughed softly. Being cheerful seemed to be in his nature. I wondered if my mother felt the same way. I hid behind Eddie’s brother, sneaking a glance at Laskar.

Then our eyes met.

I smiled awkwardly.

“My beautiful Laila!”

As if that wasn’t enough, Laila lunged at me. I sighed, “Phew,” as I barely stopped him from flying the second time with the help of my brothers. Yit whispered beside me.

“We told you, didn’t we? He’s a geek… Although he’s a nice guy.”

I nodded, not saying anything.

“I’ll go inside now.”

My father grabbed my hand as if to shut him out, and my uncle whined blackly in frustration.

I was in a very new mood.

He was looking at me like I was beautiful.

I know better than anyone that blood doesn’t mean unconditional love. My aunt had a terrible relative in her past.

A small, dark alcove that was scorching hot in the summer and freezing in the winter. I will never forget the memory of crumpling my beaten and swollen body into that small room and falling asleep.

But,

I looked up at my uncle.

His eyes held nothing but clean, pure favor for me. He opened his mouth to speak to me.

“Laila, after you meet your grandmother and grandfather, would you like to see the mansion? I’ll show you around.”

His eyes, crinkled with laughter, were kind.

I nodded cautiously.

***]

I walked through the classically styled halls and into the parlor, where my maternal grandmother and grandfather – the current count and countess of the Forte family – stood, looking much more refined than their years. I greeted them and they patted me on the back and smiled. I had never met them before, but somehow I felt at ease.

“You must have traveled a long way.”

My maternal grandmother looked at my father and said. My father simply shook his head.

“Of course, it’s a long way to come.”

“Yeah….”

The maternal grandmother smiled faintly.

It was still early for dinner, and since we hadn’t seen each other in a long time, everyone seemed to have a lot to talk about.

My brothers, I, and my uncle sat at one table, while my grandparents and my father sat at another. As we each took our places in the parlor, servants brought tea and snacks.

My father spoke in a low, steady voice, telling me how my brothers and I had fared this year, and what had happened to the dukedom.

There was a gentle affection in his voice for us as he spoke, and I sometimes hid my blush by pretending to drink tea. My maternal grandfather and grandmother nodded occasionally and laughed out loud.

Unlike me, my brothers and my dad seemed to be at ease, as if they were in another home of their own. I suppose it’s only natural to be comfortable when you’ve been coming for decades.

For some reason, it made me feel a little sad.

I wondered what it would have been like if my mother had been here with them.

My mother, who died giving birth to Lila, was said to be a very cheerful and upbeat person. Surely the atmosphere would have been even brighter if she were here.

I sneak a sideways glance at my father’s face. His turquoise eyes, focused on the story, were half-hidden by his azure-colored lashes.

I suddenly realized how amazing my father was. He was been dead for 14 years, and he was managed to raise his sons so well on his own while burying him in his heart, and he was always loved me.

Is that possible for a normal person? No, I wasn’t sure if I would have been able to shower him with such boundless affection even if I were in his situation.

I must have looked at him too intently because suddenly his eyes met mine. He smiled.

“I see you’re bored with Laila.”

“Oh, no.”

I hung my head in shame. I feel like a petulant child. My face burned hot. Just then, my uncle put down his teacup and spoke up.

“Do you think I should give Laila a tour of the house? I promised her earlier.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“Uh….”

“Laila, would you like that?”

Dad asked again. I thought about it for a moment.

I realized that staying here would only lead to more adult conversations. As nice as it was to see my grandma and grandpa, it was boring.

“Yeah.”

As my words trailed off, my uncle jumped to his feet, as if there was nothing to see.

“It’s fall, so the sun sets earlier than in summer, Ginny, so be back before dusk falls.”

“Yes.”

“Of course.”

At my father’s insistence, I walked out of the manor, hand in hand with my uncle.

As I had thought when I stepped out of the carriage earlier, the Forte was certainly small and diminutive compared to our ducal home.

But the colorful old mansion had a charm of its own, even if it was small. The gardens were manicured into rounded shapes, and the niceties of the glass windows and staircases were very neat. The mirror-clear surface of the pond was dotted with scarlet maple leaves.

In addition to the mansion, there was a small outbuilding that housed the servants, a ballroom, and a large forest that surrounded the mansion.

My uncle took my hand and led me by the hand, explaining each detail.

“In the fall, the forest is full of berries.”

As we walked through the forest, he was right: there were fist-sized fruits everywhere. I bit into one that was the size of my uncle’s hand, and it tasted sweet and similar to a pear.

Every single one of them was amazing. Because I was weak and had just lost my memory, my father and brothers wouldn’t let me go outside. Would you believe the last time I went out was on a picnic last fall?

So it felt so good to get some fresh air after all these years.

“Let me show you something cool.”

My uncle tugged me along. We arrived at a large clearing, often on foot.

Backing away from the forest, the clearing was filled with old toy swords and swings. They showed signs of disuse, perhaps because the Counts of Forte no longer had children.

My uncle pointed to a small cabin in the center of the clearing, up in a large tree.

“Wow.”

He chuckled at my admiration. His smile was still boyish for a man in his mid-thirties.

It was a good thing I’d worn a simple dress and underpants for today’s carriage ride. As I climbed the wooden steps leading up to the cottage, which wrapped around an oval of trees, the Forte family mansion came into view.

The wind picked up and blew my silver hair around. I looked inside the cottage. The storybooks, telescopes, experiments, and other toys a child would love were still there.
Of course, there were fluffy cushions and carpets all over the cabin to protect them from injury.

As I touched them curiously, my uncle spoke from behind.

“Isn’t it nice?”

“Yes!”

“It’s a secret base.”

“A secret base?”

“Bella’s and my secret base.”

The small cabin was barely big enough to hold Uncle Coverin. He leaned back in his wooden chair and told me an old story as I sat inside the hut.

“My sister and I were quite a bit apart in age. I thought she must be a knight because she had such a spunky personality.”

The stories flowed easily. I remember stargazing in the cabin with my sister Bella, my mother, and our wooden swords, our sword dueling, swinging together, picking berries, running in the summer, and snowball fights in the winter… Each story brought back memories.

“Ah.

I looked up at the side of my uncle’s face.

There was no resemblance, but I unconsciously recognized my father’s face in his. Perhaps it was because they were talking with a mixture of pride and love on their faces. I couldn’t stop myself from asking an impulsive question.

“Why?”

“Huh?”

I shouldn’t have cried, but for some reason, I felt like I was.

“…Because I’m the reason my mom died. You can hate me.”

“….”

“Why is everyone so nice to me?”

I always wondered that.