Chapter 83 - A confession

Chapter 83: Chapter 83 - A confession "Mom... there’s something I need to tell you." "Hm? What is it, Aurea?" "So, you know when sometimes I seem to act older than I actually am?" "Yes...?" "Well... I... I have memories of my past life." There it is. I said it. I confessed. "I know." "Huh?" "Do you really think I wouldn’t have noticed when I was the one raising you inside that locked room?" "Huh? Since when do you...? And... how??" I’m truly baffled. Did she notice it from the beginning? So all my worries were for nothing? And she does accept it like that? Wait, and how did she reach the conclusion of having memories from a past life, just because I didn’t act so childlike? "I think that I started suspecting it around the time you started talking. You never really talked like a toddler, you know. But the confirmation came when you awakened your mana core." Ugh. "Yet you never said anything..." "Of course. I wanted you to tell me when you were comfortable to talk about it and not to force it from you. I understand that it is a delicate thing to talk about." "Is it common for people to have memories of past lives?" "Not common, no. But it’s a secret of state that some exist. The royal family always tries to employ them when they appear. Are your memories also from a world called ’Earth’?" "Yes... So are those people all from Earth?" "It seems so... at least the ones that we have records of. They all seem to have died in a similar event, an explosion caused by a rift in reality, probably caused by someone on this side." "Yeah, that was my case as well..." "And what year was it?" "Huh?" "What year in your calendar was it when the old you died?" "2025" "Yeah... it checks out. It seems that there was indeed something big that year that sent countless people to this world in different moments in time." "Wait, what? So everyone came from that same... But that’s not the main thing I want to ask... So, you knew about it all this time. And you still..." Lillian doesn’t let me finish my phrase. "It doesn’t matter what you were before. In this world, you are, and you will always be, my daughter. I gave birth to you. I saw you come to this world. How could you not be my daughter?" "Mom..." I hug her and start crying copiously. A tidal wave of emotions takes over me, washing away all the worries and restraints. "I was so afraid, Mom... I thought that you would reject me when you learned about it. I’m so sorry for keeping it from you all this time... I love you, Mom..." "I love you too, Aurea. I love you, my little daughter." She held me in her arms, soothing me, for hours, until I fell asleep. It’s weird to be an adult in the body of a child, with a child’s hormones and emotions. But I think that what happened now had deeper roots than that. I had burst a dam of emotions that had been repressed since the life before this one. Lillian is the mother I always yearned for. ::: PoV: Lillian "Did she tell you already about the past life thing?" "Not exactly, Lillian. When she saved me, our consciousnesses touched briefly, and I ended up with access to her memories. So I basically knew it from the get-go." "I see. So that’s why she wasn’t bothered by you being able to hear us." During the conversation between Aurea and Lillian, Lovelace was sitting on her bed, looking outside through the window. It was a bit of an awkward situation. "She is a good girl." "I know, Lovelace. She saved us both, after all." "Yes, indeed, I will one day repay her for saving me. For now, I’m happy with the two of us joining forces. But, one day, I want to be the one to be there for her." "I wonder what life she had in that other world and how old she was. And please, don’t tell me. I want her to someday tell me all those stories." Aurea is asleep on her bed, her face still showing traces of the tears she shed earlier, but now with a softer expression. "Even though I always knew, it’s still hard not to see her as just a little child who needs to be protected. Even now, it still is." "I guess that’s the same even for mothers whose children have already become adults in this life." "You’re probably right." "I, on the other hand, have trouble seeing her as a child. Maybe it’s because of having seen the memories of her old life, or maybe it’s because of having an ageless body myself." "So, you’re saying that you see her as a woman, Lovelace?" "As an adult. And a woman, as a result. An adult who is trapped inside a child’s body and who will be back to an adult form soon." "I see. Was she a good girl in the other life as well?" "Yes, she was. Not always. She did lots of awful things in the beginning but had a strong sense of justice and was able to learn and make an effort to be better over time. "That’s the best I could wish for. I wonder how it would feel to die and then be given a second chance in life in another world. A chance to start it all over from the beginning." "It’s enticing, isn’t it, Lillian? I bet someone could write popular novels based on that premise." "I think that there was one some decades ago. It was written by a reincarnated person, but the Church forbade the book, and all the printed copies were confiscated." "Did they? Was it so heretical?" "It seems that the goddess herself took a dislike for the book." "She is originally from that world as well, so maybe she was trying to kill the idea of reincarnating before it got popular, in fear that people would learn about her own nature. "It might be."