I Possessed a Character in an Academy Without a Protagonist – Chapter 32

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“The weather is really nice today, young lady.”

“It really is.”

Julia looked out the window with the curtains drawn.

Even though it wasn’t even dinner time yet, the setting sun seemed to be signaling the impending arrival of summer.

Along with that, the withering flowers told of the end of spring.

“Could you bring the wheelchair?”

“Young lady! Don’t tell me!”

“Yes. Before it gets any later, I want to go see the flowers.”

“…!”

Seeing Julia’s faint smile, the maid was at a loss for words, overcome with emotion.

Julia, who had always just sat on the bed reading books, was saying she would go outside on her own.

Someone who, if not forcibly dragged out, would always stay cooped up in her room.

“I’ll bring it right away!”

“I’m not going anywhere. Take your time.”

Afraid that Julia might change her mind in the meantime, the maid lifted her skirt slightly and dashed down the corridor.

It wasn’t just Madam Lichtenburg’s wish, but the wish of all the servants working in the mansion, to let Julia, whose face had turned pale white, get some more sunlight.

“Hohoho. What clothes would you like to wear?”

“Why are you so excited…?”

“Well, it’s not often that I get the chance to dress the young lady in outdoor clothes. Of course I’m happy.”

“…”

Watching the maid take out clothes from the closet, Julia sighed.

Before she knew it, Julia was being treated like a dress-up doll.

The maid pondered for a long time before holding up a white dress.

“I’ll wear that one.”

“This one? It’s from a long time ago, so it won’t fit you…”

“No. It will fit.”

Julia spoke with a firm tone.

She could be certain.

Her body had barely grown over the past few years.

“Oh my. It really does fit.”

“…”

As she was being dressed, Julia felt even more miserable.

Now I can’t even change clothes by myself.

Now this body probably doesn’t even have 10 years left to live, she kept thinking.

What meaning is there to this repetitive life?

This life where I live on forever alone.

And this life where I have to spend my entire lifetime cooped up in a room.

Why was I born with this fate?

“Shall we go out now?”

“…Let’s go.”

Lamenting this situation was meaningless.

I had already tried everything over dozens of lifetimes to stop this cycle of reincarnation.

There was only one thing I had learned as a result.

There was no way other than to simply endure this hellish life.

“Ahh… The cherry blossoms have all fallen. But there should still be some that haven’t withered yet.”

“…”

The wheelchair slowly moved forward.

The flowers in the garden, which had been in full bloom not long ago, had already all withered and were scattered on the ground.

Wondering if she had come out for nothing, Julia rested her chin in her hand and let out an indifferent sigh.

After coming out to see the flowers for the first time in decades.

If she had known it would be like this, she should have just stayed inside and read a book.

Should she go back even now?

It was the moment she thought that.

When she turned her head towards the main gate.

And when she made eye contact with an unexpected person.

“Young lady! There you are! There are still some flowers that haven’t withered!”

The maid’s voice coming from afar was no longer reaching Julia’s ears.

Her full attention was focused on the man beyond the main gate.

Schlus Hainkel.

He was the boy she had known in her previous life, that is, when she was Julia von Iceburg.

At that time, he was a 10-year-old kid, and she was 20.

Now it was the opposite, with her as a 10-year-old girl and him as a 20-year-old young man.

“Ju…”

A trembling voice leaked out of the man’s mouth.

What was about to happen from now on was all too clear.

It was something she had experienced countless times before.

Schlus must have liked the previous me quite a lot, so the shock he received when I died must have been considerable.

The more someone was like that. The more someone was close to the previous me. The more obsessively they clung when they encountered me.

Now Schlus would grab the bars and cry while repeatedly calling my name.

Asking if I was Julia von Iceburg. Or if I was her reincarnation.

He would cause a commotion until security tried to stop him.

Just like anyone who knew me…

“…”

‘Huh?’

But Schlus didn’t finish his sentence and bit his lips tightly.

As if he had accidentally uttered a name he shouldn’t have.

His eyes were still fixed on Julia.

The boy looked like he was even holding back tears.

“Young lady? Ah…!”

Belatedly spotting them from the bushes, the maid grasped the situation and hurriedly ran over.

She stood in front of Julia, shielding her.

It was due to Madam Lichtenburg’s order not to let Julia meet the guest who was coming today under any circumstances.

The time for the carriage to return was still far off, so why was he already here…

In any case, the maid swallowed her saliva and resolved herself.

She had to shatter the young guest’s illusion.

She had to flatly tell him that the young lady was a completely different person from the Julia he knew.

Even though it was obvious he wouldn’t believe it.

“Excuse me. Listen well. This person is-”

“I’ve come after receiving an invitation. I arrived early because I had some time, so will you let me in?”

“Pardon?”

However, what came out of the young guest’s mouth was unexpected.

He seemed to pay no attention to Julia at all. No, he seemed to deliberately ignore her.

She had clearly heard that he was someone who knew Julia von Iceburg…

“Are you going to make me wait standing here?”

“Ah, no. You’re Mr. Schlus Hainkel, correct?”

“That’s right.”

“Guards. Open the main gate, please.”

The main gate slid open.

Schlus calmly and leisurely stepped into the garden.

As he moved, the maid moved little by little to the side to shield Julia, but Schlus simply passed by Julia and the maid as if he had no interest at all.

It was a strange situation. Could it be that Schlus didn’t remember Julia?

‘There’s no way?’

That little brat who used to come play in my room almost every day?

Wondering, Julia tilted her head to the side and stretched her neck.

Beyond the maid, she could see Schlus’ large back.

The little boy had grown into such a reliable man at some point.

“…”

As Schlus turned around, the two made eye contact once more.

There was no emotion to be felt in his dead-looking, pale eyes.

After a brief silence, it was then.

“Ah! I’m sorry! My Lady’s preparations aren’t finished yet! Would you like to have some tea in the parlor while you wait?”

“That’s fine.”

“I’ll guide you! This way…”

Another maid hurriedly popped out of the mansion, and Schlus turned his head again without a word.

In that brief moment, Julia saw it.

Schlus gritting his teeth.

His lips being bitten by his teeth, droplets of blood oozing out.

Schlus wasn’t unable to remember me.

He definitely saw me and thought of Julia from my previous life.

Nevertheless, he was deliberately pretending not to know her.

‘Then what was that reaction…?’

She couldn’t understand at all.

In the dozens of lives she had repeated, this type of person was a first.

But strangely enough-

‘But why does my chest feel so stuffy?’

An inexplicable suffocation was crushing her right now.

With a distant yet stinging sensation, Julia clutched the front of her dress. So tightly that the fabric crumpled.

It was an emotion she was feeling for the first time in her life.

An emotion she couldn’t understand at all.

… That’s why it was confusing.

***

“I’ll call the Lady. Please wait a moment.”

“…”

Only after the maid left the room did my posture, which had been upright, crumble as if all the strength had drained out of me.

Perhaps due to the agitation, my sight and hearing kept turning on and off repeatedly, and my hands were trembling.

“This can’t be…”

Julia had been reincarnated into the Lichtenburgs?

Does this make sense? I’m pretty sure I didn’t reveal Julia’s surname in the original work…

Damn it. That’s why.

Because I didn’t specify Julia’s surname, it wouldn’t be strange for Julia to be the daughter of any family.

Moreover, according to the setting, Julia rarely leaves her room and has no influence on the story at all, so there’s no problem with the plausibility even if she’s the heroine Erica’s sister…

I really never imagined it.

That I would encounter Julia in a place like this.

I wanted to avoid meeting her as much as possible.

Forever. Until the ending.

But why did she suddenly pop up here of all places…

“This is driving me crazy, really…

Julia’s appearance was indeed exactly as I had imagined.

That beautiful black hair. Small hands. Sharp eyes.

Each and every feature resembled her perfectly. No, it was identical.

To the point where it felt like this was what she looked like when she was young.

And that appearance caused an emotional upheaval in me beyond my imagination.

Even though I clearly knew it wasn’t her. Even though I clearly knew it was a fake modeled after her, my body was willingly being deceived.

My heart was pounding loudly as if it was the day I first met her, and my hands and feet were sweating.

If possible, I wanted even my reason to be deceived.

Then it would be more comfortable.

Then my heart wouldn’t hurt this much.

“You’re here early.”

“Ah.”

At that moment, the door opened and a gentle voice was heard.

Even without raising my head, I felt like I knew who it was.

“I’m Irene von der Lichtenburg, Erica’s mother.”

Madam Lichtenburg.

The acting head of the Lichtenburg family, known as the philosopher of Lichtenburg.

I abruptly stood up to greet her.

Even though my character was set up as having no manners, I still showed the minimum courtesy.

As I had learned from Emilia, I was about to kneel down to give a hand kiss, but Madam extended her hand to me.

It was a handshake.

I heard handshakes are a greeting between equals. Why was Madam, who despised commoners, offering me a handshake…?

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I sincerely thank you for inviting me to dinner today.”

“No, not at all. You saved my life. You’ve done me a favor that’s difficult to repay even over a lifetime.”

Fortunately, even though she disliked commoners, she still had a sense of propriety.

At least for today, she would treat me as an esteemed guest.

I should forget about Julia and just enjoy a delicious meal to my heart’s content.

“May I call you Mr. Schlus?”

“Of course, Madam.”

“Yes. Mr. Schlus… you knew someone named Julia von Iceburg, right?”

“…”

Damn it.

Right after I tried to forget, she brought it up again.

The fact that Schlus knew Julia was something I also found out for the first time today.

Because earlier, the ability ‘Memory of True Self’ had forcibly activated and I vaguely saw Schlus’ memory.

It was an image of Julia sitting on the bed reading a book, and Schlus who couldn’t even read letters but was happily looking at the book together with her.

It seemed they were quite close.

What an absurd coincidence.

“Yes.”

“I’ll be straightforward. My daughter you saw in the garden earlier is a completely different person from Julia von Iceburg.”

“Yes. I know.”

“Oh, you know?”

“Lady Julia has passed away. I saw that clearly with my own eyes.”

I confirmed it with my own eyes.

I confirmed it by touching her cold hands.

Many times over. Definitely.

That she was dead.

“She does indeed resemble her… but that’s all.”

No matter how endlessly similar a girl is, she’s not her.

“Dead people don’t come back to life. Unless I’m crazy, there’s no way I would mistake your daughter for the deceased, is there?”

I think I’m half-crazy though.

Seeing how my body kept mistaking Julia for her even though I clearly knew it wasn’t, despite knowing it wasn’t her.

“…I apologize for the rudeness.”

“Not at all. It must have been unpleasant. To have someone overlap your daughter with the deceased.”

“I’m relieved that Mr. Schlus doesn’t do that.”

Don’t do that, my ass.

I’m exactly that kind of guy.

“Madam. Dinner is ready.”

“Shall we head to the dining room then? Erica is waiting.”

“Yes, let’s go. By the way, the other daughter I saw earlier…?”

“Ah, that child said her stomach hurts. She says she can’t eat right now.”

Thank goodness.

I don’t have to see that face again.

But along with the relief, my heart ached.

Thinking that I wouldn’t see that face again…

Walking down the long corridor, I suppressed my agitation as much as possible.

Now I had to forget everything and focus.

Because the purpose of coming here today wasn’t just to be treated to a meal.

I had to negotiate with the philosopher.

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