Lady Baby Is a Revenge Maker Chapter 54

—Whisper

 

Someone whispered in Sephiel’s ear.

 

<Oh dear, you’ve finally opened your eyes. You’re the one who let me taste the power of a dragon, right? Hmm?>

 

‘huh?’

 

Sephiel wanted to answer, but her eyelids would not rise.

 

<Wow, that was some incredible magic power. Top-tier, even among dragon power. Mmm. Delicious.>

 

‘What does that mean?’

 

‘Was it about Erga infusing magic into the ring?’

 

—Clatter, clatter.

 

Her body moved in sync with the speed of a running horse.

 

‘More importantly… whoever you are, if you’re alive, help me.’

 

‘I’m being kidnapped,’ Sephiel muttered to herself.

 

<Hmm. Okay. Okay. What kind of dream should I show you? As the incarnation of the first succubus queen and the fairy of the ring, I can do anything.>

 

Sephiel almost cursed for a moment.

 

‘Why are you suddenly talking about dreams at this point?’

 

Sephiel barely opened her mouth.

 

“Miss Miella… no….”

 

Stop Miella.

 

That was what Sephiel wanted to say, but she couldn’t finish her sentence.

 

An unidentified voice continued to mutter.

 

<Ah, Miella. The woman you’re deeply tied to. All right. Since she sacrificed her life for you once, that counts. I’ll show you—a dream.>

 

‘What the hell…’

 

‘I didn’t ask to see a dream! Whoever you are, if you’ve got powers like that, wake me up instead!’

 

‘Good thing the Duke isn’t home today. If he catches her, she’s dead.’

 

‘Wait… why am I even worried about Miss Miella?’

 

At that moment—

 

‘Oh!’

 

Sephiel saw the white light shining from the ring darken.

 

‘It’s strange. I’m obviously unconscious right now, but I can see it?’

 

That thought crossed her mind.

And then suddenly, Sephiel saw something like a hallucination.

Her head was hazy. A vision unfolded before her eyes like a dream, and she was momentarily speechless.

 

As the mist before her cleared, she saw something.

 

‘Huh… that’s… Miss Miella?’

 

Miella appears alone in a dark room.

 

Her shoulders drooped, her back curled in loneliness.

 

<Sister.>

 

Miella pulled a necklace from inside her clothes.

 

‘I’ve seen that necklace.’

 

It was the locket pendant Miella always wore.

 

The kind with a space inside to put a portrait or scented cotton.

 

Miella stroked the necklace and then opened it with a click.

 

‘I want to see it more clearly.’

 

It seemed that Sephiel was in a kind of ghost-like state right now.

 

Hovering around Miella but invisible to her.

 

Unconsciously, she focused on the open locket.

 

‘Huh? This picture?’

 

Sephiel flinched.

 

A young Miella is sitting in front, with a woman behind her placing her hand on Miella’s shoulder.

 

It was a beautifully drawn, detailed portrait.

 

‘The woman next to Miss Miella in the picture, where have I seen her before?’

 

Sephiel was surprised.

 

Looking closer, the woman in the locket looked almost exactly like her.

 

‘But she is Miss Miella’s older sister?’

 

Miella stared at that for a while, then caressed it with tears in her eyes.

 

‘Am I hallucinating?’

 

‘What is going on? Or rather—when did this happen?’

 

With numerous question marks, Sephiel began to focus on the scene in her dream.

 

Just then someone came into the room.

 

<Miella.>

 

<Ah, Master.>

 

Miella’s expression quickly changed to a cold one.

 

<You were looking at that painting again. You said it was your sister’s painting, right? You said there were two of them, right?>

 

<Yes.>

 

Miella looked at a painting on the table. Her master did the same.

 

‘Good. I can see it more clearly this time.’

 

It was the same composition and characters as in the locket, but larger.

 

Young Miella and the woman who looked just like Sephiel, her hand resting on Miella’s shoulder.

 

It was a picture of two people looking straight ahead and smiling brightly.

 

Sephiel looked at the picture for a long time.

 

‘Wait… if that’s Miss Miella’s master, then…!’

 

Sephiel’s gaze stopped at the person standing next to Miella.

 

‘Yes. I know him. That’s Professor Miles. Though maybe he’s not a professor yet?’

 

Professor Miles was a commoner with no backing and low status.

 

However, he invented a great number of magical tools.

 

‘He’s also known as a symbol of misfortune.’

 

To be exact, a person who becomes famous.

 

Professor Miles has a gentle personality and is not very good at anything other than research, so many of the Magic Tower elders stole credit for his achievements.

 

Some of it was seriously bad. The elders would slap their names on his work and patent it as their own.

 

Eventually, in the distant future, Miles prepared to sue.

 

‘But the Magic Tower silenced him with a ridiculous accusation.’

 

Miles was falsely accused of stealing someone else’s paper and forced into early retirement.

 

‘Hmm, so Miss Miella was Professor Miles’s student.’

 

Both of them are geniuses, but they have no backing.

 

‘And both… a little awkward. A pair of teacher and student obsessed with research.’

 

Not an unexpected combo.

 

‘And that strange woman who looks just like me is Miella’s older sister.’

 

Her heart was pounding. A strange intuition began to form.

 

Finally, Miles opened his mouth with a frustrated expression.

 

<To think you’d join the Allegro royal family… Even if Lilia’s death hurt, the living must go on. Think again, Miella.>

 

<My sister was everything to me. She raised me, so she was like a mother to me. I have no regrets about what I did for her.>

 

<I don’t think Lilia would want that either.>

 

Miles said with a sigh.

 

<My sister was a great scholar and a talented person. I just can’t believe… she bore the king’s illegitimate child. No, even if that happened, it’s clear that my sister was deceived. The king must have seduced my sister and then abandoned her. I need to know the truth.>

 

<Your sister was a shadow within the Allegro royal family. Once she stepped into that role, she probably had no chance of surviving.>

 

<If only she had asked us to save her instead…..>

 

Miella said sorrowfully.

 

<Lillia was an incredibly clever woman. Just before she died, she bribed the midwife to send word to me. That was probably the best she could do. If it was Lillia—someone that bright—she likely had no other choice. Even in that situation, she asked me to hide her death from you. She must have been worried about how you’d react. This is all my fault. I should have been more discreet.>

 

Miella shook her head with a bitter expression.

 

<It’s not your fault, Master. More importantly, is there any news about the daughter my sister gave birth to?>

 

<There was no official announcement of a princess being born. Perhaps, since the child was illegitimate, they decided to keep her hidden. But knowing the Allegro royal family, they wouldn’t have killed the child. They believe that misfortune follows when a child dies.>

 

<That’s right. Right now, we can only hope for that.>

 

Miella muttered softly.

 

<That’s why I’ll approach the Allegro royal family and find out. At the very least, I want to know how my sister died.>

 

<Miella. You’re only twenty-seven. Come on. You have a life.>

 

‘Twenty-seven years old?’

 

At that moment, Sephiel realized. This was a memory from a past life.

 

‘Isn’t Miss Miella who came to teach me now about twenty-five years old?’

 

That meant this memory was from two or three years before Sephiel, at six years old, first met Miella.

 

‘And wait… if Miss Miella is my mother’s younger sister… then… she’s my relative… my blood?’

 

If this were reality, not a dream, she might have fainted from the shock.

 

At some point, Sephiel, who had initially cursed the unknown voice, had quickly changed her stance.

 

She was completely absorbed in the dream.

 

‘I don’t know… is this real? But… it feels too vivid to be a dream. If you can show me more, please keep going.’

 

And again, the scene changed.

 

In front of a dark underground prison.

 

Miela stood holding what looked like textbooks.

 

<I know the conditions for teaching a princess. Never speak kindly to a child. And, never tolerate childish behavior. If I break it even once, I’ll be fired immediately. Right?>

 

And opposite Miella stood a man as creepy as a demon.

 

It was Lotto. Lotto spat on the floor.

 

<Anyway, I said she was a witch. Even though His Majesty knows full well that she is your niece, how can you say that you want to discipline and educate your niece yourself? Hehe, I was shocked listening to what you said.>

 

<A disgrace was born from my sister’s bloodline. If I had any sense of shame, I’d correct her myself and make her realize what a disgrace she is.>

 

<Anyway, do your best. If you try anything funny, I will report to His Majesty right away. Take good care of your neck.>

 

<You should be careful too. People who know about the cursed princess don’t tend to live long, do they?>

 

<Ha, you unlucky woman. Don’t forget the instructions.>

 

<I know. Teach the child that she’s the root of this kingdom’s misfortune and that she must repent. That’s it, right?>

 

Miella said that with eyes that looked like they were looking at a bug.

 

And then, Lotto opened the door.

 

Sephiel noticed Lotto swearing at the back of Miella’s head, but it didn’t matter at all.

 

And Miella entered the dark prison.

 

Miella was wearing green clothes with a long robe over them.

 

‘I remember this outfit. The day I first met Miss Miella in my previous life.’

 

‘The day she came to teach me in the underground prison—she was wearing that.’

 

‘Yes, Miss Miella in green was so beautiful… for a moment, I thought she looked like a forest fairy.’

 

Which meant…

Sephiel was about to witness the moment of her and Miella’s first meeting.

 

‘Yes, that’s me.’

 

A small child with white hair that was disheveled like a ghost, blue-toned toenails, and a skinny body.

 

A trembling Sephiel was staring at her.

 

‘Oh, Miss Miella’s hands… they’re shaking…!’

 

Her whole body, even her pupils, were trembling ever so slightly.

 

Now Sephiel looked at herself from Miella’s position.

 

‘I remember. I was really hungry that day because Lotto gave me food late.’

 

Then Sephiel turned around and observed Miella.

 

‘I’m getting used to moving around now—even though I’m like a ghost.’

 

Miella took a deep breath. Her eyes were moist.

 

‘Back then, Miss Miella scared me a little… so I never really looked at her face. She had that kind of expression… so that’s how it was…’

 

And then, a series of fragmented memories flashed through her mind.

 

Miella is teaching Sephiel with harsh words.

 

Then, back at home, crying alone at the table.

 

‘Miss Miella… or rather… if she’s my mother’s sister…’

 

Sephiel thought.

 

‘She’s my aunt.’

 

And as that realization settled in, the next scene began.

* * *