F-Rank Puppeteer!! But I'll be Queen, and I'm not a narcissist!!!!!-Chapter 205: Painful Gift

It’s been a few hours since that Evelyn from the computer told me the truth. I’ve spent the last few hours chewing my nails and stewing over my entire past. It’s so painful.

The mental anguish is overwhelming. Eighteen years of suffering I never even realized I had. I always thought I’d just been reborn in Evelyn’s adult body and received some of her memories.

But in reality, my soul replaced the soul that was supposed to be Evelyn’s, and fused with the body, turning me into the new Evelyn. I can now remember clearly the feeling of powerlessness, the pain of being treated like trash, and all the bullying the servants put me through.

"My gift... she said I’d get a chance to see my real parents..." I get up from the bed and step out of the room. A few drops of blood drip onto the floor from how much I’d been gnawing at my nails.

"..." I walk into the kitchen, finding the two who are supposed to resemble my mother and father. The Evelyn probably didn’t know much about them, so she used things from my mind.

"Hey, where’s my gift?" I ask with a tone full of disgust, not wanting to waste any time.

"...Dearest daughter, just go out the front door and..." Before she can finish speaking, I’m out of there. I don’t want to stay in this place, built only to humiliate me by revealing a truth I never wanted to know.

"...Is this it?" I open the front door. I hadn’t even opened any windows or exit doors, so I hadn’t noticed there’s nothing outside the house, except of course for this purple and black portal floating right in front of the door.

’This probably isn’t my physical body... it’s likely a temporary spiritual projection...’ I step through the portal without looking back. I want to get this over with and leave. I need... I need to do something about all these memories I have.

"Esther said... she’d get revenge for me... if I asked now... would she... kill them all for me?" I wonder as I cross through this portal without fear. I truly feel now all the hatred that was hidden. I hate those filthy servants who humiliated me.

It’s different from thinking I have Evelyn’s memories. I lived through that. I was there, suffering and debasing myself, and it fills me with this awful feeling of rage.

"This is..." I look around. After passing through the portal, I see I’m on an ordinary street. I look around, seeing people heading to work, girls going to school, cars driving down the road.

"..." It seems no one can see me. A person walking toward me passes right through my body as if I were a ghost. That’s good; I won’t attract strange looks because of my appearance.

’I know this street...’ I look around, seeing a shop with the original game’s sign. Grace is on the front cover, all cheerful and cute as a print. I take a deep breath and start walking.

’I thought I’d never see this place again... what a cruel gift...’ She’s a damn bitch. She’s making me see everything I lost, this world that is so much more peaceful and safe than that dark fantasy world.

Laws that are far more proper, instead of everything being based purely on race, power, and talent. The differences are truly remarkable.

’It’s fine to obey the law just to feel at home...’ I stop at a red light along with everyone else, as if I were still part of this world. When the light changes color, people move forward, but I don’t, because I see a girl standing still beside me.

"..." I take calm steps and stand in front of the girl. She’s sweating cold sweat, and her golden eyes are trembling with fear, while her long black hair is quite beautiful.

"Hmmm... what a cute girl..." I murmur, staring at her. Is she feeling sick? Why is she trembling so much?

’...Did she... see me?’ Her gaze for a moment shifted upward, as if she were looking directly at my horns, but it was so brief I’m not sure.

"Hey, can you see me?" I ask her, but I’m not sure of anything, and I also shouldn’t be here wasting time looking at this strange girl. I should go "home" to see my parents one last time.

"..." I wave my hand in front of this strange girl, but she doesn’t follow my movement. However, she still doesn’t move.

’That yellow vest... she’s still a high school student... which school?... I should have enjoyed my school days more...’ That’s why this gift is so painful. It forces me to regret everything I didn’t take advantage of.

"Mik-chan!!!" A big-breasted girl practically jumps onto the back of the girl in front of me. The two start talking as the busty girl leads her across the street.

Since I’m heading that way too, I also start crossing, listening to the two of them talking about school.

Crack

My teeth grind so hard with my bite that it creates a dry crack, as if something is breaking. I hate hearing others talk about everything I lost. Now that I remember everything, the feeling fills me with envy.

’So this is how I was supposed to be if I had memories?’ I feel so cold, I feel pathetic, I feel irritated, and above all, after remembering, I started feeling frustrated.

If I had always remembered how much I suffered, I could have made better choices. I could have handled everything I had to endure better. I would never have broken down in sadness over dissecting that wolf, and I would have been able to handle my powers better.

"You’re so lucky..." I murmur to this fortunate girl, who gets to have a normal life.

"..." I walk past her, leaving. I have more to do than envy the life of some random girl. I just want... to finish this and leave. I don’t have a place here anymore, so seeing this and leaving as soon as possible is the best I can do.

"It’s so ironic. If I had my real body here, I’d be invincible. With my powers, no one on this planet could hurt me, and even nuclear weapons wouldn’t stand a chance against me."

"Fate is truly tragic. While in this world I’d be like an invincible goddess, in the world I’m in, I’m practically at the bottom of the pit." I complain, trying to kick the ground, but of course, I can’t even do that.

"..." I finally arrive at the street where my house is. I look around, seeing students heading to school. It’s so... so unpleasant to see this and know I wasted my chance.

Two students walk past me, walking too close to be just classmates. One of them speaks softly, almost bored, while the other listens with genuine attentiveness, leaning her body slightly toward her. In a distracted gesture, their fingers touch, and neither of them pulls away.

"..." They walk right through my body as if I don’t exist here. That strangely hurts a lot.

"Maybe if I hadn’t died... if I had lived as a normal girl, I could have had a normal relationship..." I’m not angry about the relationship I have with Esther, but I know it’s not exactly a healthy one.

"My house..." I look at it, four houses away from me. It’s a simple, modest house, but it’s pretty and tidy. Or at least it should be prettier, but I see some things have been neglected.

"...I wonder if Mom and Dad are okay... I died... do they miss me? Do they still live in this house? Or maybe they’re relieved that their parasitic daughter finally disappeared from their lives when they realized everything got easier without me around..." I take faltering steps, stopping in front of my house’s door. I glance around briefly before entering.

Across the street, on the porch of one of the houses, I see a motionless girl. The first thing I notice is her presence, which seems to absorb the world around her, as if no one else existed there.

Her upright and elegant posture contrasts with the neighborhood’s casualness, and even without moving, she seems to occupy more space than anyone else. Her long black hair falls perfectly, and the slight tilt of her head seemed to indicate she was observing everything, or nothing, with silent attention.

From what I remember, she’s that girl who hardly ever speaks. She’s also a student currently, as far as I recall. I never left the house enough to know, but she seems calm as a boy with a somewhat goofy smile approaches her.

"...Haaa..." I just feel even more disappointed, exactly as Evelyn wanted by making me come back to this place. She’s so cruel, making me see these things.

"It’s really, really, really irritating how people can only notice the world around them when their own worlds have already collapsed once..." I walk through the door into the house, where I’ll see my parents. I wonder how they are now.

Has it been a long time? I don’t know. As far as I remember, the neighbor girl used to be much younger than me, so if she’s a high schooler now, it must have been about 3 to 5 years since I died here, showing that time on Earth passes faster.

’It’s so... quiet... almost as if the place had died... Was it always this quiet? Or... did I just never notice?...’ I take a deep breath. I won’t cry. I need to stay calm.