“Ceylon stared at me intently, then spoke in a serious tone.

‘I told you. The Guardian Star is governed by the causal laws set by the gods. It cannot directly intervene with humans.’

“.......”

I furrowed my brows.

‘Now that I think about it, oracles and such are always so vague.’

Since direct intervention is impossible, it seemed to give commands like ‘Let there be light in the West.’

It gave hints, but clear information would count as direct interference.

But then...

‘If that’s the case, why did it tell me about the ancients and present humans?’

Grumbling, I looked at Ceylon.

“Yeah, why was it able to?”

He spoke in a strange tone.

Smiling slyly, I stared back at him.

“Because even if it tells me, it doesn’t affect others...?”

“And that means?”

“Some people already know! There are those controlling the information that humans were created by the ancients!”

“You’re sharp.”

Ceylon was constantly giving me hints.

Then, surely ‘that one’ who cursed me at birth must have also given a hint.

Ceylon.

The priest.

There is a difference in power among the Guardian Stars.

I murmured in a daze.

“...So ‘that one’ feared you, Ceylon.”

I took a sharp breath.

“Because ‘that one’ knew you could recognize my Guardian Star, it cursed me out of fear of you!”

Ceylon lightly placed his hand on the top of my head.

‘That’s the right answer.’

“Child, if one breaks the causal laws set by the gods, the Guardian Star receives a severe punishment.”

“Yes.”

“That’s why I also had to dedicate a long time to recovery.”

“...So you’re the one who caused me to regress?”

“You truly are a clever child.”

‘So that’s why even after I regressed, it was hard to meet you.’

Because he had to recover.

“Was the reason I looked like a woman also because of that?”

“That’s not it.”

‘Could it ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) be a hobby?’

I looked at Ceylon with a strange expression, then nodded.

“Well, everyone has their own tastes. I understand.”

At that, Ceylon’s face turned grim.

“Hobby... you really...”

“I understand everything.”

“Why on earth did the gods assign me someone like you?”

Tsk, he clicked his tongue and pinched my cheek.

“Ahk!”

I shouted, and he answered in a gloomy voice.

“In this space, you see others as the person who makes you feel safest. So seeing me as a woman was your own will!”

“Ah, so that’s why grandmother appearing in my dream to warn me was all...”

“Yes, you met the Guardian Star here. Probably a very powerful one.”

I nodded.

‘But why would I see you as the one I feel safest with?’

Not my father, nor my older brothers, but a woman I’d never met before?

‘Could it be...!’

“You were my mother’s form?”

Ceylon kneeled before me, meeting my gaze.

“Child, I will need to recover once again.”

“What?”

“Because of what is to come, I will likely need a long time to recover again.”

“Are you planning to break the causal laws once more?”

People rarely meet their Guardian Stars.

Even meeting the Guardian Star must be breaking the causal laws.

‘What more is he planning to break?’

Ceylon smiled softly.

At that moment, the space around us began to warp violently.

Ceylon glanced around, then turned his head back to me.

His eyes shone bright red.

An expression of immense authority.

I flinched, freezing as if my fur stood on end from fear.

“I won’t be able to protect you for a while, so you must guard yourself well.”

“Ceylon?”

His form gradually became transparent and soon scattered like flower petals.

After he disappeared, his voice echoed in the space full of blooming flowers.

[You are my first and last child. Your existence is more precious than anything.]

It was Ceylon’s voice.

The moment his words ended—

Crack!

Something inside me shattered.

Soon after, the dreadful chains that had surrounded me appeared.

The chains were broken in several places, and I could tell immediately.

‘It’s a curse!’

The curse I received at birth had taken form.

‘So the curse hadn’t completely vanished at age three.’

That was why I hadn’t seen the faces of ‘that one’ who cursed me and my mother!

‘Ceylon removed my curse.’

This was an early warning that I would break the causal laws.

The chains soon crumbled into dust and scattered.

Immediately, my vision blurred and I felt my body floating.

Then everything went black again.

...I was once again glimpsing memories of my first life.

Looking around, I saw the Astra family tapestry.

And curtains patterned with honeysuckle flowers.

‘The honeysuckle curtains were changed when I was three.’

So this must be a memory from my first life.

I stepped carefully.

People seemed unable to see me, walking right through me.

“Hurry up. Has the doctor from Perco village arrived?”

“Yes, we brought him discreetly as ordered.”

Following a servant was a man wearing a very worn hood.

The man entered the room and slowly took off his hood.

At that moment, the door slammed open and my grandfather and Viscount Debussy came in.

“You’re here, Philippo.”

“Why does this old man’s strength get called upon when it’s not war?”

Grandfather called the hooded man Philippo.

Philippo smiled mischievously.

Viscount Debussy, who had come with my grandfather, sighed.

“Helping without a word. That’s what comradeship means.”

“Calling decades-old ties ‘comradeship’ sounds quite fitting.”

“You’re still fearless. Come inside. There’s a patient.”

“What on earth made you call me here...”

“The duchess’s granddaughter was born. But the mother’s blessing is causing an anomaly—the surrounding poison is severe. No one can approach.”

“.......”

“If left like this, both mother and duchess’s granddaughter will die.”

“Ah, so you need me, former chief healer of the royal palace.”

“I’m counting on you.”

Outside the door Viscount Debussy pointed to was a powerful sacred realm barrier.

The faces of the mages maintaining it were pale from strain.

Philippo dismissed the mages and went inside.

‘Ah, I need to hurry after him!’

I quickly followed Philippo inside.

“Oh, this poison is more severe than expected.”

The room was filled with black mist.

Philippo clicked his tongue and approached the bed.

Then—

“Don’t come!”

A sharp voice echoed loudly.

A woman holding a baby wrapped in a blanket shouted.

Philippo raised his hand lightly, saying, “Calm down. I’m not here to harm the child.”

The woman growled low.

‘Is she transformed into a beast?’

I noticed fur growing on the arm holding the blanket.

‘No, it’s not a beast transformation... The magical waves feel strange.’

It was like Ayla.

‘It seemed she became a monster against her will.’

Moreover, the poison was so severe that the child’s and woman’s faces were completely invisible.

“Go away. I won’t give you my child!”

“Then are you prepared to die as is?”

“......!”

“You created the poison, so you might endure it. But the child won’t.”

“.......”

“If left like this, the child will surely die.”

The woman silently hugged the blanket tighter.

“Newborns are sensitive. They easily absorb others’ emotions.”

“.......”

“But that child never cries. It must be comforting its mother.”

“.......”

“Will you send such a good child away in vain?”

The woman looked down at the blanket and stroked the baby with trembling hands.

Then slowly handed the baby to Philippo.

“Please... save the child.”

“Alright.”

Philippo took the baby and gently rocked it.

“Well done, well done. You endured the poison wonderfully. Yes, your hair and eyes look just like the young duchess.”

“.......”

“Now...”

Philippo lightly tapped the baby’s forehead with his fingertip.

Light shone out and a mysterious symbol appeared.

Immediately, the baby’s breathing became peaceful.

Until before, it had been shallow, fragile breaths as if about to cease.

‘As expected from the former chief healer of the royal palace.’

“Well then, now you also─”

Philippo looked at the woman, who shook her head.

“I am fine.”

“But─”

“Please take care of the child.”

“.......”

Philippo sighed and turned away.

Then a man from the corner approached and lifted me up.

Philippo kindly asked him,

“You’ve been protecting the mother and child. It must have been hard.”

“For my niece, how could that be difficult?”

Philippo smiled warmly.

“First, it’s best to separate the child from the mother.”

“Yes.”

“I will tend to the mother. Please carry the duchess’s granddaughter.”

“I will.”

When the man holding the child grabbed the doorknob—

“What is the child’s name─!”

The woman shouted hurriedly.

Breathing heavily, she spoke each word desperately.

“The only thing a mother can give is a name. Please allow me to gift the child’s name.”

She murmured with one hand covering her eyes.

“Erilot.”

“.......”

“Please name this child Erilot. Tell her I’m sorry, so very sorry.”

‘That’s me.’

It was the day I was born.

Leaving the weeping woman behind, the man walked forward.

When he placed his hand on the child’s shoulder...

From the touched spot, a chain-like pattern spread.

The man’s mouth twisted.

I stood dazed, staring into space until the man passed by and exited the room.

I heard the man and grandfather talking behind me.

“The mother named the child.”

“.......”

“Erilot. That is the child’s name.”

Then my grandfather sighed deeply.

“Well done... Grimier.”

—and that was it.

I let out a bitter laugh.

The woman collapsed as soon as the child left.

Watching Philippo run to her.

Watching my mother gaze endlessly at the place where the infant had been until her eyes closed.

‘Grimier.’

The starting point of all my misfortunes.

That terrible liar who deceived my life and my father.

My vision blurred once more.

‘Ceylon wanted to reveal my enemy.’

And how much my mother loved me.

How much time passed, I don’t know.

Even after regaining consciousness, I didn’t open my eyes.

I wasn’t tidying my hair as when with Ceylon.

My head was so clear it was cold.

“...Miss?”

A voice came from beside me.

I slowly opened my eyes to find the maids of Daymond Jurisdiction clinging to each other, shouting.

“You’re awake!”

“You’re awake...!”

Heidi and Betty cried, clutching me.

“Are you alright?”

“How long was I unconscious?”

When I last met Ceylon, I had been asleep for months.

‘The price of breaking the causal laws must have affected me too.’

So it was clear I hadn’t been able to regain consciousness so long not because of illness.

Heidi wiped my forehead with a damp cloth.

“It’s been a month.”

‘At least not half a year.’

Should I be grateful it wasn’t a year?

Even though the Guardian Star broke the causal laws, waking up in just a month was something to be thankful for.

I slowly got up.

My whole body screamed in protest.

‘Ugh.’

“Don’t get up so quickly!”

‘Other parts are fine.’

I hadn’t fainted from pain, but simply couldn’t open my eyes because of the causal laws.

Still, my muscles must have been in chaos after not moving for a month.

‘But I have things I must check.’

How that bastard had deceived so many with his pleasant face.

Why, even though I tried to kill him for Ceylon’s sake, did he kill my father?

‘The curse my father received had a similar aura.’

That was definitely Grimier’s doing.

I stretched my hand weakly toward Heidi and Betty.

“Help me up?”

My head was ringing, but I couldn’t lie down anymore.

“Huh? Stay until the mistress returns. She’ll be here soon...!”

“I want to go to the castle.”

I need to see for myself.

Grimier, that bastard.