Chapter 11

Despite her tears, Regina kept walking. She knew where the mansion’s basement was, but since she didn’t frequent it often, the path felt unfamiliar. As she descended the winding basement stairs, she steadied herself against the cold stone walls and felt the stale, dusty air that indicated poor ventilation.

“Hic, sob,” Regina’s sobs echoed against the stone walls. Did they say her father and mother were in the basement? Clinging to her last hope, she descended step by step. She had all her memories since birth. Everything that made her who she was clearly indicated that she was Regina Evelyn. I know I am me, so why are they saying otherwise?

“Father, Mother…!” But a sticky unease clung to her heart. What was that strange black monster? And how did I absorb it? Could it be that man Noah showing me hallucinations?

Questions gave birth to more questions. When her head felt like it was about to burst from the incessant doubts, she reached the bottom of the stairs. At the far end of the hallway, she saw a faint light leaking out. From that direction, she could hear the low murmur of voices.

“Is everyone there?” With a glimmer of hope, Regina hurried toward the light. Desperately, she reached out toward the only light in the dark basement.

-Creak.

Inside was a place she had never seen before. Was there such a place in the basement? As she opened the heavy iron door, she was momentarily blinded by the sudden light. Squinting, she saw a larger space than expected. The stone room was cool and filled with a chilly air.

“Oh, everyone….” Regina started to speak, but her voice trailed off as she noticed the somber atmosphere. Everyone was gathered around a rectangular object that resembled a coffin. Inside lay a girl surrounded by her family.

Overwhelmed by the scene, Regina instinctively moved closer. “We need to let her go now. We can’t preserve her any longer. She needs to be properly laid to rest,” the butler said, his face dark with sorrow. Viscount Evelyn nodded but couldn’t tear his eyes away from the coffin. His wife, on the other hand, collapsed onto the coffin, tears streaming down her face.

“No, no! We can’t let her go like this! Ah, Regina!” Regina’s heart felt like it stopped. She froze in her tracks, staring blankly at her mother who was calling out her name. What did she just say?

“So young, why you? I should have been taken instead! No, I can’t let you go!” “My dear, it’s already been a week. We can’t keep her any longer, even in the basement. Let’s let her go. Regina wouldn’t be at peace either,” Viscount Evelyn said, holding his collapsing wife and swallowing his own tears.

Regina had been found lying in the forest a week ago. Her neck was broken, an instant death, they said. Should they be thankful there was no prolonged suffering? The constables suspected bandits, who had been raiding local estates. This was the first murder, though.

Why did it have to be their daughter who was the first victim? The viscount covered his eyes with his hands, trying to stop the tears that wouldn’t cease. He eventually gave up and reached out to hold his daughter’s cold hand. It was small, stiff, and icy.

Oh, Regina. You must have been so cold. He wanted to warm her frozen hand, rubbing it gently, but the warmth never returned.

“Father….” A small voice came from beside him. Startled by how much it sounded like Regina, the viscount turned to see a black-haired girl looking at him. She seemed about Regina’s age, seventeen or eighteen.

“Outsiders shouldn’t be here. Please leave,” the viscount said. The girl’s violet eyes widened in shock, but she didn’t move, her gaze fixed on Regina in the coffin. Pale skin, brown hair, and freckles on her nose. With her eyes closed, the color of her irises was unknown, but the features matched what the nanny had described.

Time seemed to stop. The viscount was about to force the unfamiliar girl out but stopped, his heart softening. He remembered a dream from the previous night. In it, he had run to the town, searching for his missing daughter, and found her safe near the forest, bringing her home.

In the dream, his daughter recovered and ran to him with a bright smile. A dream he never wanted to wake from.

“Father, Mother. I love you.” The black-haired girl, who seemed like she would stay silent forever, suddenly spoke. The viscount and his wife were startled, stopping their tears to look at her. The girl, also crying, smiled brightly and spoke again.

“Regina asked me to tell you she loves you very much, that she’s grateful for your loving care, and not to grieve too much.” The girl’s tears fell as she spoke.

“….” The viscount and his wife should have asked who she was and how she knew their daughter, but they couldn’t say a word. It was their daughter’s voice. Though the appearance was different, the smile was the same as Regina’s.

“Oh!” Seeing that smile, the viscount and his wife’s hazy minds began to clear. Memories erased over the past week started to resurface, but only their daughter’s image was still blurry.

Had they dreamed of her because they missed her so much? Or had their precious daughter come back one last time to see them?

“Regina…!” The viscount and his wife clutched each other’s hands and sobbed, hearts breaking.

The black-haired girl watched them with sorrow before turning and leaving the room. Though they watched her go, no one stopped her.

It was as if they knew it had to be this way.

* * *

As she walked out of the mansion, dawn was breaking. Regina looked up at the clouds tinged with red. Tears flowed endlessly down her chin. A girl who resembled her father’s green eyes and her mother’s brown hair—Regina Evelyn. So, who am I, with my black hair and purple eyes? Why do I have Regina Evelyn’s memories?

“Return to the forest, Black Fairy,” Regina recalled the nanny’s voice. Slowly, she began walking toward the forest in front of her. Maybe she would find answers there.

“Hey, didn’t I tell you not to run away?” A voice stopped her. Turning around, she saw Noah in a black coat. He seemed dressed for a casual stroll.

“Is it because of you?” Is he the cause of all this? Even without finishing her question, Noah seemed to understand and shook his head.

“Are you still in denial? You’ve seen it. You are not Regina Evelyn. You’re the Black Fairy who consumed her memories. It’s strange, though. Usually, when a Black Fairy absorbs memories, they change to resemble the original form. But you look nothing like ‘Regina.’ Why is that?”

“What do you mean?”

“Where did you first wake up?”

“The first time?”

“After an accident or a significant shock, where did you wake up?”

At Noah’s question, Regina recalled the carriage accident and turned to look at the forest. Pointing to the dense, dark forest of conifers, Noah followed her gaze.

“Ah, you were born in the ‘Fairy King’s Forest.’ That must be it. You were influenced by the Fairy King, which is why your appearance differs from the original.”

“I don’t understand. Can you explain in a way I can comprehend?” Regina, her face streaked with dry tears, asked. Noah sighed lightly, seeing her weary face, and walked towards her.

“…What I know is that Black Fairies usually live in the forest. When they accidentally touch a living being, they absorb that being’s memories and appearance, becoming the same form. For instance, if they touch an insect, they become an insect. If they touch an animal, they become an animal. But when they absorb a human, things change.”

“How?”

“Remember the monster you saw at the Jenkins estate? They transform like that and periodically hunt humans every month. If they don’t consume humans, they suffer from severe hunger that nothing else can satisfy.”

“That’s…,” Regina recalled the monster at the Jenkins estate and wanted to deny it wasn’t her. But Noah continued his explanation, cutting her off.

“You’ll become like that soon enough. You are a Black Fairy. Judging by your lack of transformation, it seems Regina Evelyn was already dead when you absorbed her.”

Regina opened her mouth but closed it again, not knowing what to say. Noah looked up at the sky and took out a pocket watch. He held it up towards the faint white moon still visible.

“When a Black Fairy undergoes metamorphosis, they can change into that monster and freely use powers like illusions. Usually, they complete metamorphosis by consuming a human.”

-Click.

As he opened the pocket watch, its face glowed faintly in the moonlight, casting a soft blue light on Noah’s face.

“I don’t remember dying.”

“That’s common. When a Black Fairy absorbs human memories, they usually only retain the memories right before death. Many don’t even realize they’re Black Fairies and live on.”

Noah continued, still looking at the pocket watch.

“Sometimes, the memory of the ‘original’ dying surfaces suddenly or when they face the one who killed the ‘original.'”

At those words, Regina thought of the red-haired maid, Lily, and Hans. Were they the ones who killed Regina in her last memory? How did Regina die, and when did I cast an illusion over this mansion?

-Clack.

Noah watched the hands of the pocket watch slowly turn and point to a specific spot before closing the lid. He then looked up at Regina.

“Will you come with me? Or shall I kill you here?”

“…”

Regina realized that his offer to kill her immediately was his form of mercy. It was the chance to die as a human. But she shook her head. She didn’t need that kind of mercy.

“I want to know who killed ‘Regina.'”

Regina wanted to recover her memories. If she could recall her last moments, she felt she could accept that she wasn’t ‘Regina Evelyn.’

“Fine, then let’s go. But you should know, you might end up eating humans before we find out who killed Regina Evelyn,” Noah warned.

Regina wanted to deny his words but stayed silent. She was too exhausted.

The sky was gradually brightening. Regina glanced back at the Evelyn mansion once more before walking away.

It was the beginning of a long journey.