“Yet, I! Not a single day!”
He had never forgotten her.
The words he was forcing out through his clenched teeth couldn’t come out completely. Probably because it was a fact he didn’t want to acknowledge.
Recalling his first memory was painful, but his subconscious would replay that memory on its own, adding painful thorns to his small heart.
It didn’t take long for that pain to grow daily, turning into the emotion known as hatred.
That’s probably why he decided to study the past. In the hope of changing his first memory.
He wasn’t sure what or how to change, but he didn’t want to keep hurting like this…
“Having only good memories about your mother! Knowing only happiness!”
It wasn’t his place to accuse, but he shouted at Loretta anyway. When she didn’t respond, he grabbed her small shoulders and shook them.
“Don’t you remember? You don’t remember your mother?! There’s a limit to being blinded by happiness!”
His voice echoed in the void, and after it vanished, an extreme silence returned, leaving only the panting sobs of a young boy.
“…Mom?”
Suddenly, Loretta’s puzzled voice was heard. Jeremiah wiped his somewhat blurred eyes and affirmed.
“Mom…?”
Loretta seemed to ponder, bringing her hand to her mouth.
“…Mama.”
After a while, for some reason, tears began to form in the child’s large eyes.
“…How foolish.”
Jeremiah, putting his emotions aside for a moment, began to observe Loretta closely.
The moment she attached a name to the figure, it seemed specific memories started returning to her.
“Mom, with mom… Loretta was….”
At that moment, the carriage they were in started to move forward.
Caught off guard by the sudden speed, Jeremiah tumbled onto the seat, and Loretta fell onto Beatrice Baldwin’s, that is, her mother’s lap.
Thud! When he looked up, the carriage door that had been open was now shut.
The carriage’s speed started to increase. The mansion that was faintly visible disappeared, and they were passing fields and streams, even reaching a mountain path.
Pitter-patter!
Soon, it began to rain.
“….”
Jeremiah placed his hand against the window, looking outside.
There was a distortion. The rain that should be transparent had turned pitch black, covering the carriage windows.
The sound of raindrops hitting the ceiling grew louder and louder. It was almost believable that a giant was thumping on the carriage roof, not just rain.
‘This is a memory that Loretta Baldwin fears.’
He looked back at Loretta. The child was still clutching her motionless mother’s skirt, trembling.
“What exactly are you so afraid of?”
Just a carriage running on a mountain path.
“…!”
At that moment, Jeremiah recalled a fact about Loretta, something he didn’t want to know but had to acknowledge for her treatment.
‘Lost memory after the death of her guardian, Beatrice Baldwin, in a carriage accident.’
Just as he began to suspect that this was the current situation, the carriage suddenly leapt up with a thud.
He thought it would crash back to the ground and shake violently, but his expectation was wrong.
Surprisingly, the carriage remained suspended in mid-air, continuing to shake. The sounds of the startled horses crying strangely filled the air.
“What on earth?”
Peering out through the nearly invisible window due to the pitch-black rain, he saw a whirlwind enveloping the carriage.
Was this someone’s magic?
Or something conjured by Loretta’s illusion?
“Snap out of it, Loretta Baldwin!”
Losing consciousness even in a memory was dangerous. He shouted, turning back.
“…Huh.”
He gasped in surprise, then quickly turned his head back to the window.
Beatrice Baldwin, who had opened her eyes, was looking at him.
From that moment, Jeremiah forgot how to act.
“….”
Even in Loretta’s world, her gaze felt too vivid on his back.
He had many things he wanted to say to her, to his mother.
Firstly, he wanted to ask why she disliked him.
Why did she happily take care of her sons and daughter but ran away from raising him? What was so wrong with him as a child?
…And also.
He wanted to show her how splendid the son she wanted to kill had become.
If she knew he was called the prodigy of the Magic Tower, would she admit she was wrong?
Or at least feel regret for having abandoned him?
‘….’
Even though she was a figure from someone else’s memory, this was his chance to fulfill a long-held wish.
Yet, Jeremiah couldn’t bring himself to turn around. Fear made his hands tremble.
He clenched his hands tightly in panic.
‘What is there to be afraid of! I haven’t done anything wrong!’
Finally composing himself, he turned back.
It was at that moment the wild wind around the carriage ceased.
In an ear-deafening silence, the carriage began its descent.
“Jeremiah!”
A startlingly clear voice rang in his ears.
He tried to look at the owner of the voice, but it was impossible as she had already pulled him tightly into her embrace.
The sound of windows breaking came from behind the woman who perfectly embraced both children.
Most of the shards would have fallen onto the mother’s back, and a few that she couldn’t block grazed deeply across Jeremiah’s cheek and forehead.
“…!”
The carriage was getting closer to the ground.
Anticipating the impact, he tightly closed his eyes.
The mother’s arms, embracing Jeremiah and Loretta, tightened, and a faint prayer was heard.
“Please protect my beloved children. All four of the Baldwin’s…”
Bang!
Leaving behind an unfinished prayer, the carriage crashed to the ground.
“Ugh!”
Jeremiah, suppressing the ringing pain in his head, barely managed to lift his head. He was still in his mother’s embrace.
Black rain started seeping into the carriage. He watched as the luxurious fabric of the seats began to darken, then turned to see the mother who had embraced him.
Blood was… flowing from her head. She must have absorbed all the impact.
Even though he concluded she must have died instantly, Jeremiah unwittingly gathered magic at his fingertips.
But this wasn’t reality, and his magic wouldn’t materialize. His empty hands meaninglessly hovered around her head.
“Oh, no… it can’t be.”
Cries mixed with pleas flowed out. He couldn’t understand why he felt so sad, but he kept going.
“No!”
After crying out several times, the girl who had been collapsed with the mother slowly opened her eyes.
Loretta looked at Jeremiah with her mother’s blood on her face and then spoke.
“Jeremiah… brother?”
He had never taught her the term ‘brother,’ yet it came from the child’s mouth. How did she know?
There was only one answer. Someone had told the child about Jeremiah, and now that memory had returned to her.
“Brother.”
With a face mixed with tears, the child approached and hugged Jeremiah’s neck tightly.
Jeremiah, not knowing what to do, just stood there for a moment before remembering what he needed to do.
He had to leave. Get out of here.
‘But.’
He still thought of the mother lying beside him. Even if it was just a memory, he felt reluctant to leave her alone.
“Loretta Baldwin, wait.”
He lifted the mother’s body and leaned it against his shoulder. Feeling somewhat strange, he couldn’t bring himself to look at the mother’s face directly.
Then he reached out his hand to Loretta again.
The child, looking back and forth between the two, soon opened her arms wide and embraced both Beatrice and Jeremiah.
As the three of them came together,
Jeremiah heard the mother’s prayer in his ear. It was a continuation of what he had heard when the carriage was falling.
Please protect my beloved children. All four of the Baldwin’s…
I wish for their happiness.
***
Jeremiah opened his eyes.
The first thing he felt was soft hair and a cute head that strangely emitted a floral scent.
Then he saw the luxurious bedding of a duke’s mansion.
‘I’m back.’
He sighed softly. He was relieved his prediction was correct.
Since the entangled threads of Loretta’s mother and Melody in her memories were untangled, the long dream must have ended.
‘But how could those two be mixed up?’
The mother was an adult, and Melody was still a girl. It was uncommon for memories of such different age groups to mix, so he doubted Loretta’s cognitive abilities.
‘…So foolish.’
Children raised in overprotection had this problem. The fervent love they received skewed their view of the world.
Soon, he felt something wriggling and moving near his shoulder.
‘She’s awake.’
Considering a few side effects that might occur in people waking from a long sleep, he lowered his head.
“Yet, I! Not a single day!”
He had never forgotten her.
The words he was forcing out through his clenched teeth couldn’t come out completely. Probably because it was a fact he didn’t want to acknowledge.
Recalling his first memory was painful, but his subconscious would replay that memory on its own, adding painful thorns to his small heart.
It didn’t take long for that pain to grow daily, turning into the emotion known as hatred.
That’s probably why he decided to study the past. In the hope of changing his first memory.
He wasn’t sure what or how to change, but he didn’t want to keep hurting like this…
“Having only good memories about your mother! Knowing only happiness!”
It wasn’t his place to accuse, but he shouted at Loretta anyway. When she didn’t respond, he grabbed her small shoulders and shook them.
“Don’t you remember? You don’t remember your mother?! There’s a limit to being blinded by happiness!”
His voice echoed in the void, and after it vanished, an extreme silence returned, leaving only the panting sobs of a young boy.
“…Mom?”
Suddenly, Loretta’s puzzled voice was heard. Jeremiah wiped his somewhat blurred eyes and affirmed.
“Mom…?”
Loretta seemed to ponder, bringing her hand to her mouth.
“…Mama.”
After a while, for some reason, tears began to form in the child’s large eyes.
“…How foolish.”
Jeremiah, putting his emotions aside for a moment, began to observe Loretta closely.
The moment she attached a name to the figure, it seemed specific memories started returning to her.
“Mom, with mom… Loretta was….”
At that moment, the carriage they were in started to move forward.
Caught off guard by the sudden speed, Jeremiah tumbled onto the seat, and Loretta fell onto Beatrice Baldwin’s, that is, her mother’s lap.
Thud! When he looked up, the carriage door that had been open was now shut.
The carriage’s speed started to increase. The mansion that was faintly visible disappeared, and they were passing fields and streams, even reaching a mountain path.
Pitter-patter!
Soon, it began to rain.
“….”
Jeremiah placed his hand against the window, looking outside.
There was a distortion. The rain that should be transparent had turned pitch black, covering the carriage windows.
The sound of raindrops hitting the ceiling grew louder and louder. It was almost believable that a giant was thumping on the carriage roof, not just rain.
‘This is a memory that Loretta Baldwin fears.’
He looked back at Loretta. The child was still clutching her motionless mother’s skirt, trembling.
“What exactly are you so afraid of?”
Just a carriage running on a mountain path.
“…!”
At that moment, Jeremiah recalled a fact about Loretta, something he didn’t want to know but had to acknowledge for her treatment.
‘Lost memory after the death of her guardian, Beatrice Baldwin, in a carriage accident.’
Just as he began to suspect that this was the current situation, the carriage suddenly leapt up with a thud.
He thought it would crash back to the ground and shake violently, but his expectation was wrong.
Surprisingly, the carriage remained suspended in mid-air, continuing to shake. The sounds of the startled horses crying strangely filled the air.
“What on earth?”
Peering out through the nearly invisible window due to the pitch-black rain, he saw a whirlwind enveloping the carriage.
Was this someone’s magic?
Or something conjured by Loretta’s illusion?
“Snap out of it, Loretta Baldwin!”
Losing consciousness even in a memory was dangerous. He shouted, turning back.
“…Huh.”
He gasped in surprise, then quickly turned his head back to the window.
Beatrice Baldwin, who had opened her eyes, was looking at him.
From that moment, Jeremiah forgot how to act.
“….”
Even in Loretta’s world, her gaze felt too vivid on his back.
He had many things he wanted to say to her, to his mother.
Firstly, he wanted to ask why she disliked him.
Why did she happily take care of her sons and daughter but ran away from raising him? What was so wrong with him as a child?
…And also.
He wanted to show her how splendid the son she wanted to kill had become.
If she knew he was called the prodigy of the Magic Tower, would she admit she was wrong?
Or at least feel regret for having abandoned him?
‘….’
Even though she was a figure from someone else’s memory, this was his chance to fulfill a long-held wish.
Yet, Jeremiah couldn’t bring himself to turn around. Fear made his hands tremble.
He clenched his hands tightly in panic.
‘What is there to be afraid of! I haven’t done anything wrong!’
Finally composing himself, he turned back.
It was at that moment the wild wind around the carriage ceased.
In an ear-deafening silence, the carriage began its descent.
“Jeremiah!”
A startlingly clear voice rang in his ears.
He tried to look at the owner of the voice, but it was impossible as she had already pulled him tightly into her embrace.
The sound of windows breaking came from behind the woman who perfectly embraced both children.
Most of the shards would have fallen onto the mother’s back, and a few that she couldn’t block grazed deeply across Jeremiah’s cheek and forehead.
“…!”
The carriage was getting closer to the ground.
Anticipating the impact, he tightly closed his eyes.
The mother’s arms, embracing Jeremiah and Loretta, tightened, and a faint prayer was heard.
“Please protect my beloved children. All four of the Baldwin’s…”
Bang!
Leaving behind an unfinished prayer, the carriage crashed to the ground.
“Ugh!”
Jeremiah, suppressing the ringing pain in his head, barely managed to lift his head. He was still in his mother’s embrace.
Black rain started seeping into the carriage. He watched as the luxurious fabric of the seats began to darken, then turned to see the mother who had embraced him.
Blood was… flowing from her head. She must have absorbed all the impact.
Even though he concluded she must have died instantly, Jeremiah unwittingly gathered magic at his fingertips.
But this wasn’t reality, and his magic wouldn’t materialize. His empty hands meaninglessly hovered around her head.
“Oh, no… it can’t be.”
Cries mixed with pleas flowed out. He couldn’t understand why he felt so sad, but he kept going.
“No!”
After crying out several times, the girl who had been collapsed with the mother slowly opened her eyes.
Loretta looked at Jeremiah with her mother’s blood on her face and then spoke.
“Jeremiah… brother?”
He had never taught her the term ‘brother,’ yet it came from the child’s mouth. How did she know?
There was only one answer. Someone had told the child about Jeremiah, and now that memory had returned to her.
“Brother.”
With a face mixed with tears, the child approached and hugged Jeremiah’s neck tightly.
Jeremiah, not knowing what to do, just stood there for a moment before remembering what he needed to do.
He had to leave. Get out of here.
‘But.’
He still thought of the mother lying beside him. Even if it was just a memory, he felt reluctant to leave her alone.
“Loretta Baldwin, wait.”
He lifted the mother’s body and leaned it against his shoulder. Feeling somewhat strange, he couldn’t bring himself to look at the mother’s face directly.
Then he reached out his hand to Loretta again.
The child, looking back and forth between the two, soon opened her arms wide and embraced both Beatrice and Jeremiah.
As the three of them came together,
Jeremiah heard the mother’s prayer in his ear. It was a continuation of what he had heard when the carriage was falling.
Please protect my beloved children. All four of the Baldwin’s…
I wish for their happiness.
***
Jeremiah opened his eyes.
The first thing he felt was soft hair and a cute head that strangely emitted a floral scent.
Then he saw the luxurious bedding of a duke’s mansion.
‘I’m back.’
He sighed softly. He was relieved his prediction was correct.
Since the entangled threads of Loretta’s mother and Melody in her memories were untangled, the long dream must have ended.
‘But how could those two be mixed up?’
The mother was an adult, and Melody was still a girl. It was uncommon for memories of such different age groups to mix, so he doubted Loretta’s cognitive abilities.
‘…So foolish.’
Children raised in overprotection had this problem. The fervent love they received skewed their view of the world.
Soon, he felt something wriggling and moving near his shoulder.
‘She’s awake.’
Considering a few side effects that might occur in people waking from a long sleep, he lowered his head.
