Chapter 45
Regina was puzzled by the sudden lightness in her body, but first answered Snow’s question.
“No, Mr. Noah said he’d get wanted posters from the constabulary, so I was looking for Rose on my own in the meantime. But then…”
“Ah, right! Speaking of that human Rose.”
Regina was about to mention her encounter with the woman she suspected was a black fairy when Snow suddenly jumped down from the bench, causing her to stand up as well. Snow looked up at Regina and continued:
“I think I know where she is.”
“What?!”
“I’ve made friends with some cats around here. When I asked, they said only one red-haired human entered the territory yesterday. And they just saw her go into a jewelry store.”
“A jewelry store? Do you know where it is?”
“Yeah, I’ve got the location. Let’s go right now, Regina. Follow me!”
Snow turned and dashed off quickly. Regina, anxious not to lose Rose again, followed Snow at a run, suppressing her breathlessness even as it rose to her throat. After running for a while, Snow stopped in front of a small shop slightly removed from the town center.
“Regina, it’s here!”
Snow urged Regina, who was bent over panting heavily. He approached the jeweler’s shop first, standing on his hind legs with his front paws against the display window, stretching his neck to peer inside. The shop seemed to double as a pawnshop, with various miscellaneous goods displayed alongside jewelry.
Beyond the display counter, a woman with her back turned could be seen talking to the shop owner.
“Regina, isn’t that her?”
“What?”
-Ding-a-ling.
Just as Regina caught her breath and approached the jewelry shop at Snow’s words, the door suddenly opened and a red-haired woman came out. She was startled for a moment upon seeing the black cat in front of the door, then immediately locked eyes with Regina standing behind it.
“…Rose!!”
“…Who?”
Rose looked at Regina and replied with a furrowed brow. It was her first time seeing the girl with black hair and purple eyes. She felt uneasy about this stranger acting familiar and calling her real name.
Rose eyed Regina suspiciously while discreetly grasping the folding knife in her dress’s inner pocket. Though she didn’t think anyone could know her identity, she planned to threaten with it and escape if necessary.
However, the girl before her remained still. She stood there with hazy eyes, saying nothing, as if in a trance.
“…Hey?”
Seeing the girl’s empty-looking purple eyes, Rose waved her hand in front of her face. Still, the girl showed no reaction. It was exasperating. Rose shrugged and pushed past the girl blocking her way.
“What a weirdo…”
-Thwack.
As Rose muttered to herself while walking away, suddenly a hand reached out from behind and grabbed her arm forcefully.
“Ouch! What the-?”
Startled, she turned to see the black-haired girl gripping her wrist, head bowed.
“Let go! What’s wrong with you? Who are you?”
Rose, irritated, tried to shake off the hand gripping her arm. But the girl’s grip was stronger than expected and wouldn’t budge. Flustered, she yelled at the girl. The girl, still with her head down, muttered something quietly to herself.
“…Why did you do it?”
“What?!”
When Rose snapped back in irritation, unable to hear the soft voice, the girl suddenly raised her head and looked straight into her eyes.
“Why did you kill Regina Evelyn?!”
The girl’s purple eyes were blazing with bright red hatred.
* * *
– The memory of the ‘original body’s’ death sometimes resurfaces suddenly, or it can emerge when confronted with the person who killed the ‘original body’.
It was just as Noah had said.
The moment Regina’s eyes met Rose’s, she recalled her lost memories as if by magic. It was like a water balloon precariously suspended above her head suddenly bursting, instantly flooding Regina’s vision.
* * *
“Huff… Hah!”
Regina was running through a dark forest. Having already discarded her shoes when secretly fleeing the carriage, her feet were in terrible condition, but she had no time to feel the pain properly. Even as sharp branches scratched her skin and needle-like stones pierced her feet, causing her to stumble, she didn’t stop running.
The moment she stopped, she would die.
Tears welled up in her eyes. She was fleeing without knowing why she was suddenly being chased. She had merely visited a jeweler to buy a sapphire necklace, and on her way home after purchasing dresses and accessories while she was out.
It had been just another ordinary day, but suddenly the carriage wheel got stuck and settled on the ground with a loud noise. The impact caused her to hit her head against the carriage wall, briefly losing consciousness.
“…?”
When she regained consciousness, her vision was blurry. The throbbing pain in her forehead made her dizzy, and as she lay there unable to get up immediately, she heard bustling sounds right beside her. Thinking subconsciously that the maid and coachman had come to rescue her, she was about to call out to them when:
“Hey, John. Be careful with that. If there’s even a scratch on the jewels, they won’t give us full price. Ah, don’t tear the leather on those shoes either.”
“Damn it, don’t order me around! I’m handling them just like you said!”
The maid and coachman were there with faces consumed by greed.
In her dazed state, she watched the two standing in the carriage with muddy feet, overturning all the boxes and stuffing items into large sacks. As her vision gradually cleared, her body slowly tensed with anxiety.
“Why did you have to wreck the carriage anyway? If we’d just drugged the young lady and dumped her on the roadside, we could have stolen the whole carriage. How long is it going to take to move all this?”
“Shut up, Rose! If you’re going to nag, at least help out!”
She belatedly realized that the coachman and maid were now looting her belongings. The two, unaware that Regina had awoken, tied the sacks full of items from the carriage to the horse’s back.
-Rustle.
Regina rose when they turned their backs to detach the horse from the carriage.
“…Ugh.”
As she got up, her whole body ached. It seemed she had been thrown around inside when the carriage overturned, hitting herself hard. However, the sense of crisis that she might be in even greater danger if she remained still drove her to move.
Holding her breath, she moved her trembling arms and legs to crawl to the open carriage door and carefully stepped onto the ground. Unable to run in her uncomfortable shoes, she left them behind in the carriage.
Trees surrounded her on all sides. No matter how she looked, there was no sign of a road. Not knowing which way to flee, she just ran forward.
-Crack.
“…!”
Just then, a branch caught on her clothes snapped back, making a sound. At that moment, that sound seemed louder to her than any other in the world. A chilling sensation ran down her spine. Turning her trembling body slowly, she looked back to see the maid and coachman both staring at her.
“Hic…!”
Tears instantly welled up in Regina’s eyes. As she turned to flee, the coachman threw down his load and rushed towards her.
“Damn it! When did she wake up?”
“John, wait! Don’t follow her. We can’t kill her!”
The maid beside him grabbed the coachman’s collar as he ran off, but he shook off her hand and chased Regina into the forest.
“Shut up! Damn it, stop right there! I said stop!”
The coachman’s shouts could be heard from behind. Terrible fear clung heavily to her limbs. It felt as if she were swimming through mud, her body so heavy. Nevertheless, Regina pressed forward desperately, driven by her intense desire to live.
“I’ll kill you if I catch you!”
But contrary to Regina’s desperate wishes, the distance between her and the coachman closed all too easily.
The hand of the man chasing her brushed against her back.
“…!”
That sensation sent chills through her entire body, momentarily draining the strength from her legs, but she gritted her teeth and steadied her wobbling body to keep running. Too afraid to look back, she fled madly, focusing only on what was ahead.
She blinked constantly to keep the falling tears from obscuring her vision, suppressing her sobs.
She wanted to scream, begging to be spared, but she knew well that even that would be a futile struggle. She couldn’t breathe properly. She knew instinctively.
He had come right up to her.
Just as Regina, her face contorted with fear, stretched out her hand, a strong force grabbed her hair and yanked her backward.
“As if the likes of you could outrun me! How dare you try to escape, huh?!”
“Aaaahh!!”
With pain as if her scalp was being torn off, her body bent backwards and briefly lifted into the air.
-Thud!
“Guh!”
Regina’s airborne body slammed into the ground. John, who had grabbed her hair and knocked her down, smiled with satisfaction as he grasped the knife at his waist.
“You should have just woken up after we’d all fled! Why did you have to wake up in the middle of it, huh? Do you know how startled I was?! Do you know how much you scared me?!”
The man yelled into Regina’s ear as she lay fallen. But Regina, slumped over, showed no response. Displeased by this, John shook the hand gripping her hair violently, causing her head to tilt lifelessly, exposing her white nape.
Seeing this, John thought it would do well enough. He had hoped for the woman in his grasp to scream and struggle, but he was somewhat satisfied with her limp appearance, like a hunted rabbit.
“That’s right, let’s not waste energy and make this easy, how nice is that, hm?”
Giggling and baring his teeth, John was about to bring down his knife-wielding hand when…
