Chapter 72 - Chapter 72
「Lady Saint, thank you for visiting our home today.」
「Um... please, just call me Anna, like you always do.」
It had been a few days since I received Anna-san's request for a visit. Apparently, she had been confined to her room lately, leaving the priests at the Great Church at their wits' end. They had suggested various outings to cheer her up, but she had refused them all. Then, out of nowhere, she expressed a desire to see me. The Great Church, desperate to improve the Saint's condition, had sent a formal request to my father. That was how this meeting came to be.
To be honest, my own feelings were complicated. After all, I believed Anna-san was the one who had requested the annulment of my engagement to His Highness. As a noble, I could understand His Majesty's reasoning to some extent. Out of concern for the kingdom, he would choose a Crown Princess supported by the people to ensure stability. Logically, I knew it wasn't unnatural.
That didn't mean I could accept it with open arms. My emotions simply couldn't keep up. Furthermore, there was the sense of debt I felt toward the Saint. If I continued to feel that way, nothing would ever change. I didn't believe we could maintain a friendship under these circumstances.
Perhaps I was a petty person. Because I regretted my past actions, these weren't the emotions I wanted to feel. But I couldn't suppress them—the admiration, the jealousy, the inferiority. I wasn't such a saintly person that I could simply brush them aside.
Still, even these unpleasant parts were a part of me. To accept myself, I decided I had to stop avoiding her. I wanted to have a proper conversation with her at least once. That was why I told my father I would accept her visit.
When Anna-san arrived, it was our first time seeing each other since the academy. She was unrecognizable. The cheerful brightness and constant smile were gone, replaced by a somber atmosphere. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her pupils were bloodshot as if she had been crying for hours. Everything about her state bewildered me. I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to her.
「...His Highness and Theodore-sama came to the Great Church.」
「I see.」
In the room were Anna-san and I, with the priest and Sarah standing far enough away that they couldn't overhear. After a heavy silence, Anna-san began to speak in a low, sunken voice.
「They both told me that no matter what I do, a marriage between His Highness and me is impossible.」
What is she trying to say? Why was she telling this to me, the person whose engagement was currently in jeopardy?
「With that, my hopes are essentially crushed. It's as if I have no place to return to anymore.」
「A place to return to?」
「Yes. My precious place. The place where I could be by that person's side. It's gone.」
That person? Who was she talking about? It didn't sound like she meant His Highness.
「Um, Anna-san? May I ask who you are referring to?」
「That person... he is more precious to me than anything.」
As she whispered those words, a tiny spark flickered in her dark, lifeless eyes. He? So she means a man.
「Do you mean someone you love?」
「Love... it's more than love. Much, much more...」
Anna-san's expression was pained as she pressed her clenched hand to her chest. She turned her dark eyes toward me again. The brief spark from a moment ago vanished, replaced by a deep sense of despair.
「Um, I... I haven't been myself lately. I think I've been saying strange things. I've been selfish and helpless, and my memories are all wrong... I don't know what to do on my own.」
「Calm down. What's wrong? Did something happen?」
I could feel her suffering in every word. But I didn't know what she was suffering from or why she was in this state. And if she loved someone else, why did she want to marry His Highness? None of her actions made sense to me.
Ignoring my confusion, Anna-san spoke to me hesitantly. When I urged her to continue, she asked a question.
「Um, this might sound strange, but... Rachel-san, do you believe in past lives?」
Past lives? My eyes widened at the sudden, out-of-place question. She meant a life lived before being born into this one. A version of oneself that lived a completely different life. It sounded like something out of a storybook. Yet, a part of me couldn't dismiss it entirely. After all, I had died once and was now here. Something so extraordinary had already happened to me. If that was possible, then perhaps past lives were too.
Moreover, her shoulders were tense, and her eyes wavered with anxiety as she watched me. I realized this wasn't a joke; for her, it was a vital question. I took a small breath and looked her straight in the eye.
「Well... I don't think I can say for certain that they don't exist.」
At my answer, Anna-san's eyes went wide. They filled with tears, which began to spill over and roll down her cheeks.
「I know it's not a believable story. But I... I just wanted someone, anyone, to listen.」
「I understand.」
「I know it's wrong of me to ask this of you, after all the trouble I've caused you.」
「It's alright.」
Anna-san wiped her eyes repeatedly, but the tears wouldn't stop. Her voice caught several times, but her long-suppressed emotions were finally overflowing. She wasn't speaking in a logical order, but she was desperately trying to tell me something. She was seeking help. It was a strange sensation.
Whatever I thought of her, I realized I didn't know the real Anna Carroll. Perhaps I needed to know her.
「Take your time. Tell me whatever you want to say.」
I spoke in a quiet, reassuring voice as she tried to steady her breathing. She gave a small nod.
「...I am, well... I am Anna, but I'm not Anna. I seem to be... my past self.」
「Your past self...」
「On the day of the entrance ceremony at Torsova Academy of Magic. That was the day I woke up with only the memories of my past life.」
The day of the entrance ceremony? I froze as if time had stopped. That was the exact same day I had returned to the past. The words she began to whisper were beyond anything I could have imagined.
「Strangers were telling me they were my mother and father, and suddenly I was told it was time to go to school. At first, I didn't know what was happening. But I knew about this world, so I thought, 'Oh, I see. This is a dream. I accidentally came into the world of a game.'」
A game? What did she mean by the world of a game?
「So I thought I had to go home quickly. I had to get back to Makoto-kun. I tried not to think of the people in this world as... living human beings. I told myself everyone was different from me. That they were just dolls playing out their assigned roles.」
This world? Dolls?
「But lately, Anna's memories have been coming back. Instead, my previous parents' faces are becoming blurry. I was afraid that next... next I would forget Makoto-kun. I didn't know what to do. That's why I thought I had to force a happy ending so I could go home quickly.」
「I'm sorry, wait... I don't follow you at all.」
I had to stop her as she spoke in a frantic rush. I couldn't make sense of it. First, I had to ask.
「Who... who are you?」
「...Me? I am...」
Then, the truth of Anna Carroll was revealed. It was a story that defied all my expectations.