Chapter 170: Betrayal

Fog.

Within Felicya’s consciousness, a vast expanse of white fog stretched out, covering nearly the entire place.

No sky or ground was visible. There was only thick fog that kept drifting slowly, while all kinds of water bubbles floated among it.

There were a great many of them.

Some were small, and some were very large. But every bubble had one thing in common: something inside it.

A Memory.

Each bubble held a piece of Felicya’s memories, from small things to what should have been very important to her.

Unfortunately, most of those bubbles were covered by the fog.

And Felicya herself knew why.

"..."

The goat girl stood in the middle of the sea of fog, looking around with a lazy expression.

She didn’t look surprised or confused. After all, this place was part of her own consciousness, and she understood what was happening.

That fog was a barrier concealing her memories and her identity.

As long as the fog remained, most of the memories from her past would be impossible for her to recall.

Of course, that didn’t mean Felicya knew nothing at all.

At the very least, she knew that the self she was now was not her true self.

The power she once held had been sealed, and most of her memories about the past were inaccessible as well.

And as for her identity...

Felicya closed her eyes lazily.

To be honest, she didn’t really want to remember everything.

Every time she tried to think about her past, an unpleasant feeling arose. Even without knowing what had actually happened, Felicya already had a premonition that those memories were not something she wanted to see.

It would be so much better if she could just keep sleeping without thinking about troublesome things like this.

Especially if she could do it in Julian’s arms. But Felicya also understood that it couldn’t last forever.

No matter how hard she tried to refuse, the memories hidden behind this fog would eventually return.

And so would her identity.

"...Haa."

Felicya let out a small sigh.

She felt lazy just thinking about it.

But just as she was about to ignore all of it, a part of the fog before her slowly began to move.

The fog started to thin, revealing several bubbles that had been hidden before.

Felicya lifted her head.

One of the bubbles looked clearer than the rest.

And as Felicya looked at it, a memory that had felt hazy slowly resurfaced in her mind.

It was a conversation that had taken place some time ago.

When Julian first met Garph.

At that time, an Primordial Dragon inside Julian’s soul had appeared and stopped time.

Of course, Felicya still remembered it.

How that Primordial Dragon had woken her up by shouting, then started nagging simply because she showed no interest in what it was saying.

Felicya frowned slightly.

Even now, as she recalled the incident, she still felt that the Primordial Dragon talked too much.

But among all the things it had said to her, there were a few quite important ones.

"You! Haven’t you ever thought about getting your identity back soon!? Ah, well, yes, there are some very bad memories, but the situation will be far worse if you don’t remember who you truly are, right!?"

Felicya remembered those words.

Including how the Primordial Dragon had warned her that she might no longer be able to be carried by Julian, and might even be separated from him, if she kept ignoring her identity.

That was the reason Felicya had finally given a short answer.

"...Okay."

She murmured the same words as she had back then.

But there was one other thing it had said that she remembered too.

The last words that the Primordial Dragon had spoken before returning into Julian’s soul.

"You will regret it if you don’t recover your memories. Here’s a small, simple bit of help: try to think again about who it is that’s carrying you, and try to find out more about him."

"..."

Felicya fell silent.

The Primordial Dragon had told her to find out more about Julian.

Felicya actually hadn’t given that advice much thought yet. After all, she felt comfortable in Julian’s arms, and for now, that was enough for her.

But she hadn’t completely ignored the Primordial Dragon’s words either.

Especially the part about her identity.

Felicya looked at the sea of fog around her once more.

’...How troublesome.’

She disliked the fact that she had to make an effort to remember something she actually wanted to forget.

Unfortunately, even if Felicya did nothing, the fog still began to disappear little by little.

Some of the bubbles that had been hidden before were now becoming clearer.

In fact, some of the memories inside them started to return.

But there were very few.

Felicya could only recall a few things that weren’t very clear, while most of the other memories remained tightly sealed.

And when she tried to look at one of those bubbles, something unpleasant crossed her mind again.

"..."

Felicya stared at that bubble for a while.

She recognized that memory.

In fact, it was the very reason she had suddenly woken up some time ago and pulled herself out of Julian’s arms.

A memory that had disturbed her mood.

Felicya didn’t actually want to think about it again. But since she was already here, there seemed to be no point in continuing to avoid it.

In the end, she looked at the bubble once more.

And the scenery around her began to change.

***

A place that looked very faint.

Felicya couldn’t tell where the location was. Most of the scenery was covered by fog, while some parts weren’t visible at all.

But there were two figures she could see.

The first was an adult woman.

That woman looked different from the Felicya of now. Her body was much taller, while her face was so blurry that it was hard to make out what she truly looked like.

But Felicya knew who that woman was.

It was herself.

More precisely, herself from the past, before she ended up with the small body she had now.

Felicya looked at the woman calmly.

She wasn’t very surprised to see herself in an adult form. After all, she already knew that there were many things about herself that had been forgotten.

But the second figure made her feel a little uneasy.

Someone stood before the adult Felicya.

Their appearance was very blurry, and their face couldn’t be recognized at all.

Felicya tried to look closely at that figure, but couldn’t find anything that would help her determine that person’s identity.

Even so, there was a rather strange feeling.

That figure felt familiar.

As if it were someone who had once been very close to her.

Of course, there was no answer as to who that figure was. Felicya couldn’t even make out their appearance or identity.

But she could see a smile.

That figure was smiling at the adult Felicya.

A smile that looked blurry, yet somehow felt so unpleasant.

"..."

Felicya, who was watching the scene, fell silent.

She watched as her past self slowly fell, while the figure in front of her remained there, still wearing the same smile.

There was no explanation of what was actually happening. But Felicya could feel it.

The body that was falling was heading toward death.

Its life was slowly fading away, while the blurry vision made it impossible to see clearly how everything ended.

"..."

She turned her gaze away from that figure, then looked back at herself falling.

Felicya didn’t really need to look any further. After all, that event had happened long ago.

This was only a part of her own memory, something she had once experienced but could no longer recall clearly.

And even though most of her memories were still covered in fog, Felicya was finally able to remember one thing.

Betrayal.

Someone who had once been so close to her had betrayed her.

That was the reason she had ended up in her present condition.

Her power sealed, her body cursed, and most of her memories of the past gone as well.

Felicya still didn’t know who was responsible for all of it. In fact, when she tried to recall the face, all that came up was a faint shadow and an unpleasant smile.

But there was one thing she could be sure of.

That person had once been one of her closest friends.

Felicya let out a small sigh.

So this was why she always had a bad feeling whenever she thought about her past. Actually, she didn’t feel like doing anything about that memory right now.

She simply felt her mood worsen.

Even while in Julian’s arms earlier, that unpleasant feeling had kept surfacing, which was why she chose to climb down and lie on the bed by herself.

Felicya glanced once more at the blurry figure that still stood there.

"...Annoying."

She didn’t know the identity of that traitor, and for now, there was nothing else she could do.

Meanwhile, the fog slowly began to cover the scene before her again.

Felicya didn’t try to stop it.

She simply closed her eyes lazily, letting that memory vanish from her sight once more.

But this time, there was one thing that did not vanish along with it.

Felicya now remembered the reason she had been cursed and had lost her power.

It had all begun with the betrayal of her own closest friend.

The very thing she most wanted to avoid had come to her on its own.