Chapter 46

Chapter 20 Who Am I?

The black-haired man named Percival had an incredulous look on his face. He approached me with slightly trembling steps, and from his mouth came that name once again.

Payelo.

The girl whom the cake shop lady mistook me for.

But… I really am not her, and I don’t know her either.

“Payelo, who is that?”

“… You really don’t remember at all?”

The man’s beautiful eyes were mixed with hope and fear. He stopped five steps away from me, his voice slightly trembling as he spoke. He seemed eager to approach me but was also hesitating.

I could roughly sense the complex emotions in his heart, but I couldn’t give him the response he wanted.

“Remember what?” My gaze was calm, my words without any fluctuations. “My name is Sylvia, not Payelo. You’ve made a mistake.”

The black-haired young man forced a smile upon hearing this.

“Pepe, don’t joke with your brother. How could I not recognize my own sister… Tell me, where have you been these past few years?”

Upon hearing this, I furrowed my brows.

Payelo is his sister?

I heard this black-haired young man call the Duchess ‘mom,’ which means he is Duke Scargill’s son. Then his sister, the girl named Payelo, must also be Duke Scargill’s child.

“Percival, behave yourself,” the Duchess said softly to her son.

I turned my head to look at her.

“Miss Sylvia, this is my second son, Percival. Please forgive his rudeness; you and my daughter Payelo look so much alike.”

“What are you talking about, Mom!” Percival looked at his mother with wide eyes. “What do you mean by alike! Didn’t you tell me earlier that you found Pepe? Look at her closely. If she’s not Payelo, then who is she?”

“Shut up!” The Duchess slammed the table, her originally gentle tone suddenly rising sharply. Although her expression remained calm, there was an imposing aura between her eyebrows.

Seeing his mother truly angry, Percival shrank back, not daring to speak further.

After a moment of contemplation, the Duchess continued to speak to me, “You… look too much like my daughter. Not just in appearance, but even in preferences…”

Facing me, she seemed hesitant. After a brief silence, I asked her again, “Then, where is she now?”

“Missing. Three years ago, one morning, she slipped away from the servants and the butler and ran out mysteriously. We didn’t know where she went that day, and since then, she hasn’t returned.”

As she spoke, sorrow clouded her features.

“That child was simple-minded and enjoyed playing. At first, we didn’t realize how serious it was, thinking she had run off again. It wasn’t until much later when she hadn’t come home that we realized something was wrong… These three years, we’ve searched everywhere, almost turning over the entire Vallon Empire, but we never found her.”

So, she’s missing.

No wonder Duke Scargill behaved so strangely when he saw me, and no wonder the Duchess reacted so strongly just now. They mistook me for their missing daughter.

Thinking about it, it makes sense. A girl picked up by the Holy Church, with black hair and black eyes, plus the setting of amnesia, and coincidentally looking so much like Payelo.

If I were them, I would think the same thing, and it’s understandable.

But I’m not Payelo.

I’m a monster that crawled out of the mud of the Abyss from another world. This body is naturally a product of the Abyss, and it can’t possibly be theirs.

That’s right.

…Is that really true?

Then how do I explain the hallucinations I saw before?

“So, you thought little Sylvia was Payelo, right?” Carlos interjected at this moment.

“Mm-hm, because the Pope wrote to say that the Church saved a child who might be our daughter, and they wanted us to design a weapon for her at the Central Workshop. This was also an opportunity to meet her and confirm it in person.”

So that’s it. That’s why they eagerly invited me and Carlos for dinner, wanting to meet me first.

Wait, that’s not right.

What did she say just now!

Angel wrote to her? Does this mean they knew about this from the start?

What’s going on?

I was confused and instinctively looked towards Carlos.

“Do you think she is?” Carlos asked calmly, revealing nothing of his thoughts.

The Duchess was stunned for a moment, then gently shook her head.

“Not?”

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t know? Mom, what else don’t you know? Did you lose your memory too when she lost hers?!”

“Percival, you’re being disrespectful! Sit down over there!”

Percival opened his mouth to retort but was given a fierce glare by his mother, eventually sitting down with a displeased look.

The Duchess continued, “Miss Sylvia, you look and act very much like my daughter. She loves sweets just like you, and Captain Gray’s name was given by her, which is her favorite food. And you… you can’t remember anything from before, right?”

Hearing this, I wasn’t sure whether to nod or shake my head.

Amnesia is just a lie…

But how do I explain the hallucinations?

How could I possibly say it?

“What a pity… The ages don’t match.”

“The ages don’t match?” Pasifal couldn’t help but interject again.

“Yes, you’re sixteen, right? But Peilo was already fifteen when she went missing three years ago. If she’s still… still alive, she should be exactly eighteen now.”

“That’s true.” Carlos echoed.

And I could only remain silent.

Because age can be deceiving.

Despite my body clearly being that of an underage person due to its size, an eighteen-year-old body wouldn’t be so underdeveloped.

After hearing what the lady said, Pasifal calmed down. He knew his mother was speaking the truth.

The atmosphere remained silent until it was time for the meal.

Sitting in the spacious dining room, I looked at the abundant food on my plate and glanced up at the Duke’s family, who were chatting happily with Carlos. I stirred the fork around in the dish, inhaling the aroma, but I couldn’t bring myself to eat.

It wasn’t because I couldn’t eat, but rather I had no appetite, as my thoughts were elsewhere.

Carlos had said I was a special existence, because apart from me, no abyssal monster could transform into a human form after death. I had never understood the connection between this body and turning into a monster.

But I had my own speculation: I was not actually a monster, but rather a situation where consciousness or mind was attached to a monster’s body, which made me appear so unique. They didn’t know I had come from another world; they would never think of that.

I believed the abyss was a conscious entity.

I remembered having a dream before reincarnation, a vivid one. Perhaps at that moment, the abyss had somehow seen my subconscious thoughts or preferences, and thus created this body similar to Xia Xi’s appearance.

Until today, I had always been confident about this.

But now everything seemed to be falling apart.

The Duke and Lady seemed to have concluded that I was Peilo, and their only doubt was the mismatch in age.

But I knew this wasn’t really a concern.

Age?

From the moment I emerged from the abyss, I had already been in this form. If we were to be strict about age, then I was barely half a year old.

Moreover, there was a high likelihood that I would forever remain in this form, so age held no meaning for me.

Adding to this, the hallucinations I experienced when first arriving in the Valen Empire.

Thinking this way, even I felt that I must indeed be Peilo, or at least closely related to her.

“I’m full.”

Suddenly, I didn’t want to sit here anymore.

“Wouldn’t you like to eat more?”

The Duchess gave me a concerned look. I shook my head slightly.

“I want to be alone, to think.”

“As for the weapon…”

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

“…That’s fine. I’ve prepared your room, and the butler will take you there. Don’t worry too much tonight, just rest well.”

“Okay.”

The Duchess called the butler, leading me to a door at the end of the fourth-floor corridor.

“This is the room I arranged for you. I’ll stay by the door, and if anything happens, just call me. May you have a good night.”

“Thank you.” I nodded at the butler, then pushed open the door.

A fragrant scent wafted over.

Unlike other parts of the castle, this room had a predominantly white color scheme. In the center stood a large bed with lace edges, and on it lay a big stuffed doll. Next to the bed was a bookshelf and a desk, while on the other side was a soft-looking sofa, with a delicate chandelier hanging above.

The fireplace across from the bed was burning, along with the candles of the chandelier, warming the entire space.

It felt very cozy. The carpet underfoot was spotless, as if it had been well cared for, certainly not a temporary guest room.

I already guessed whose room this was.

Walking to the bookshelf, I randomly took down a copy of *Fairy Tales*, flipping to the first page where a neat handwriting read:

“To the beloved Peilo Guinevere Winter Moon.”

Indeed, the Duchess had arranged Peilo’s room for me.

Putting the book aside, I examined the room. I touched things here and there, opened the wardrobe to find several rows of neatly hung clothes, mostly dresses.

I also discovered that this room had a separate bathroom and washroom, far better than I expected.

In addition, there was a mirror in one corner of the room.

This was the first time I had seen a mirror in this world, not made of glass but some polished metal.

The mirror faintly reflected my image.

A perfect face, a pitifully beautiful one.

I finally understood why I found the Duchess familiar. The young girl’s reflection in the stream at Woodward Forest and the image in the mirror now shared many similarities.

I couldn’t help but think about how my personality was changing.

Originally, I thought it was due to this body, but now… I was confused.

Was this personality derived from Chen Yuxuan, or did it belong to someone else from the beginning?

“Who are you?”

I whispered to myself in front of the mirror.

This night was destined to be sleepless.