Chapter 21: A Dream of the Past II

—Overloaded by a flood of memories spinning endlessly through her mind, Faustina collapsed, and within that collapse, she dreamed once again of viewing her past as a third party.

The tea party was held in the royal castle’s garden, where vividly colored flowers bloomed in abundance.
Hosted by the Queen, this gathering was meant to give children an opportunity to socialize, and at the same time, it served as a tea party to determine potential candidates for the engagement of the Second Prince, Neige.
The Crown Prince, Bernhard, already had Faustina.
However, because of the terrible first impression she gave him and her selfish nature that looked down on others—especially her own younger sister—the relationship between the two was utterly disastrous.

—As Faustina finally recalled the memories of that past tea party and watched them unfold from a third-person perspective, she felt a headache coming on at the scene playing out before her.
Elvira was crouched down and crying after having a red drink spilled over her by her former self.
Bernhard was glaring at her with sapphire-blue eyes filled with harsh condemnation.
Amid the surrounding murmurs, her former self turned away with a defiant “hmph,” even as she was scolded by the mother who had rushed over.

“Ah, I remember now.
I got irritated seeing Elvira being spoken to by Bernhard, and I poured juice over her from above…”

‘I can’t watch this anymore,’ Faustina thought, her shoulders slumping heavily.

‘It didn’t bother me when other girls talked to Bernhard, but when it was Elvira, I got that emotional… so that really was the reason.’

Something came to mind.
But now, it no longer mattered.

She had simply been jealous of Elvira, who received unconditionally what Faustina had always yearned for.
Now, she could no longer even bring herself to feel envy.

‘If Mother had loved me the way she loved Elvira… yeah.
I probably would have turned into an even more arrogant young lady than before.’

Lacking love had led her down a bad path, but even receiving it would likely have pushed her greed forward all the same.
Using her former self as a cautionary example was a strangely surreal experience.

Ah—Faustina spotted Aeria among the crowd.
Sure enough, she had been present at that tea party as well.
Thinking back, however, they had not interacted at that time.
The reason Aeria approached her now was because she, too, retained memories of the past.

The common thread between Aeria and Faustina.
Both had desired the position of Crown Princess and longed for Bernhard’s affection.
Faustina committed a grave mistake and was disowned from the ducal house.
What, then, became of Aeria?
Given how devoted Bernhard was to Elvira, it was unlikely that Aeria became his next fiancée.

“Ah.”

Neige stepped between Bernhard and Faustina.
Looking troubled as he glanced between them, he handed Elvira a towel brought by a castle maid.
As Elvira wiped the juice away, Neige turned toward Faustina.

The next instant—

“Whoa!”

She was yanked backward with tremendous force.
The tea party scene rapidly receded into the distance.
Though she screamed, it took only moments for the colorful world to be swallowed by pure white.
Losing her balance, Faustina fell backward onto the ground.

A place devoid of color, save for Faustina herself.
She remained seated as she looked around.

“There’s nothing here.”

And yet—

“It’s warm…”

A gentle warmth wrapped around Faustina, different from the spring sunlight, comforting and reassuring.
Her eyelids drooped as drowsiness overtook her, and she closed her eyes where she sat.

“I can’t… fall… asleep…”

Was this a dream?
Could a dream really convey warmth like this?

Such questions were swiftly swallowed by sleep along with her consciousness.

Surrounded by a warmth she felt she had known somewhere before, and by a voice that whispered—

“Good night.
Have sweet dreams.”