This Three-Year-Old Is A Villainess - Chapter 52
***
Here, it was dark.
Nothing was visible in the pitch-black darkness.
‘Is this a dream?’
There’s no one here to tell me, but I realized that this place wasn’t reality.
It felt entirely different from reality.
It was a strange sensation, as if I were floating in the air or drifting in the water.
I stood there bewildered for a while.
Gradually, a light spread from my toes like fireflies.
‘Oh, it’s me. Three-year-old Erylotte.’
I raised my head and looked around.
Only then did the scenery come into view.
I was standing among thorny bushes, and the bushes were full of blooming red roses.
“For now, let’s find the way… Huh?”
I wasn’t stumbling on my words—I could speak properly.
‘It must really be a dream.’
My voice was very young, but the pronunciation was correct.
‘Anyway, let’s find a way first.’
It was too dark and cold here.
I started walking towards the front. It was dim, but not too dark to walk.
After walking for a while, I saw a door in the distance, emitting light.
My steps gradually quickened. In the end, I was practically running.
Finally, I reached the door from which light was pouring.
[That’s not the right way.]
—Someone grabbed my wrist.
The person who held me was shrouded in darkness.
Only their silhouette and hand were vaguely visible.
A woman wearing a dress.
Her hand was covered in wounds, but she looked quite young.
[I know it’s scary, but trust me.]
“…”
[I cannot tell you everything, but I’m your—]
I pointed my finger straight at her.
“You’re my mom.”
I had seen this pattern often in novels.
Usually, when a person in a situation like this says things like “It’s not that way” or “Come this way,” it’s likely their dead mother.
[Little one, I’m…]
“Actually, you have an incredible power, but you unfortunately died and have been watching over me as a spirit?”
[…]
She fell silent for a moment.
For some reason, incredulity was felt in the silence.
[I’m sorry for disappointing you. I’m not your mother—]
“Then you’re Erylotte.”
[…]
“Is it a cliché that an unlucky character who died tragically brings someone else to this world, and that same character will be watching over the new person as a spirit, hoping to change their life?”
[…]
There was still no response.
“Or maybe you’re a god.”
[…]
“Is it that I’m actually a destined child sent by the gods to this empire, and you’ve been watching over me?”
The woman’s silence was stretched on for longer.
After a long silence, she let out a sigh.
[Go. Just hurry up and go.]
“Why, what’s the deal? Is it none of the three? Give me a hint. I know almost all cliches in the fantasy genre, but—”
[Go!]
The owner of the voice pushed me to the opposite side.
“No, but usually, this is where the plot is set up! You should tell me first and then send me off—”
[Go!]
Where she pushed me, a new door had appeared.
I instinctively stepped into the door.
“Are you seriously sending me like this?”
What the heck.
What’s going on?
I came here, throwing up blood, but I can’t just go back like this.
I tried to speak, but it seemed like all the sounds of the world were swallowed, and the surroundings fell into silence.
My vision began to blur.
It seemed like the time had come to really go back.
Before closing my eyes, I could hear that voice.
[I can’t tell you anything. But I trust that you can handle it.]
‘Trust, my butt.’
Trust is useless. Give me information.
How am I supposed to navigate through this harsh life without information!
But in this space, it seemed like I could hear even the thoughts of the other person.
[What a personality… Who… ook after…]
Based on what she said.
So, what do those gaps mean?
Why is it that in a place like this, they blur out the important words?
Just tell me!
***
Gasp!
I jolted awake.
Then, as soon as I came to my senses, a terrifying wave of pain surged through me.
As if my whole body had been battered.
“Ugh…”
I couldn’t help but groan from the intense pain.
“Young Miss!”
“Are you awake?”
I heard the bustling voices of the maids, Heidi and Betty, from beside me.
I groaned and turned over in the bed.
“Why huwt, so mush…?” (Why does it hurt so much…?)
My speech reverted back to the same pronunciation as that of a child.
‘Was what I just saw a crazy dream?’
As I was thinking this, I heard a shuffling sound beside me.
When I turned my head, I saw the maids stirring a small bowl with a spoon.
One of the maids, who had been stirring the bowl several times, extended the spoon towards me.
“Please take this. It’s medicine.”
It was a liquid that looked like green tea powder dissolved in water.
It seemed incredibly bitter, but I didn’t have time to be choosy, so I took the medicine.
After taking it, I felt significantly better after some time.
‘I thought I was going to die.’
I heaved a sigh and lay down on the bed.
The maids, looking concerned, asked cautiously,
“Are you feeling better now?”
“Mm.”
Heidi and Betty’s eyes welled up with tears.
“We thought you were… gone.”
“Don’t say that. Do you forget how angry the General was when the doctor couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the Miss?”
My father was angry?
I blinked and looked at the maids.
