The empty castle carried a loneliness it had never known before.
The soft carpet muffled every step, leaving not a sound behind.
Liliya’s golden eyes swept around, trying to find someone, anyone, in this vast space who might be like her.
She found nothing.
This castle, which even before her memories had been sealed was already far too large, now contained only her alone.
The cold stone floors and walls offered no warmth whatsoever.
The glowing magic stones set into the walls still provided the necessary light as usual, yet the empty halls made everything seem eerily strange.
Clearly, this was a place marked by signs of life everywhere, yet there was not a single living soul in sight.
The stark contrast made Liliya clutch at her sleeve.
Dragging the heavy dress, she stepped out of the study and called softly into the corridor, “Lady Rosalia?”
Still, there was no reply.
In that instant, Liliya’s heart rate soared to an astonishing speed, her own heartbeat pounding in her ears.
She wandered through the castle, heading to every place where someone might be, but she had already searched the entire floor—nothing.
In Rosalia’s room, there were still two pillows left from when she and Rosalia slept together. It seemed that she could still smell the mingled scent of herself and Rosalia on them.
“Lady Rosalia, are you here?”
She tried calling again, but once more, there was no response.
Biting her lip, she left the room again. She hadn’t gone far before she had to stop by the wall to rest.
Too tired.
She was so exhausted that she didn’t want to move anymore.
The heavy dress became the greatest burden as she moved. Looking at this adorable yet excessively ornate princess gown, her gaze landed on the delicate little decorations sewn onto it.
She reached out to remove them, but then remembered the look on Rosalia’s face when she helped her put on these clothes.
Lady Rosalia had seemed very pleased with how she looked in this outfit.
Thinking of this, Liliya stopped her hands, leaning against the wall to slowly regain her strength.
Taking off all those complicated decorations and, like in the first two days, wearing just a plain skirt would be much easier to move in. But if she did that, she might anger Rosalia even more.
She had come here because she had done something wrong.
Liliya still thought Rosalia had overreacted—she just wanted to go to the bathroom, after all.
She pressed her lips together and slowly returned to Rosalia’s room, resting for half an hour on the soft bed. Once her strength had recovered somewhat, she left again, this time heading to the third floor.
Liliya had no idea how long she had been here.
Now she stood at the grand doors on the first floor of the castle, staring at the handle, hesitating.
She’d already searched every common room in the castle over who-knows-how-much time, and no matter how hard she looked, she had not found a single living person.
The emptiness gnawed at her heart, filling her with an indistinct unease.
She had been abandoned, abandoned by the whole world.
Everyone had left this castle—only she remained.
She kept telling herself she must suppress these thoughts, telling herself it was all nonsense, convincing herself it couldn’t possibly be true.
Too long.
Pat-pat.
But this was the reality left to her now…
She wanted to go outside to see what things were like out there, but her feet had already been tormented by these unfamiliar high-heeled shoes until they ached fiercely.
Her delicate, untested feet looked soft and fair, but that was precisely what made things more difficult for her—she simply couldn’t walk anymore.
Several times, she had already tripped and fallen, landing awkwardly on the ground, her pretty dress now smudged with tiny bits of dust, her exquisite little face streaked with dirt.
With no one to help her, she could only pick herself up, sit down by the wall, and rest a while.
Now her feet could no longer support her return to her room on the fourth floor.
Should she go out?
Maybe Lady Rosalia and Wendy were waiting somewhere just outside the door—if she left this place, perhaps she could find them right away.
Such wishful thoughts flooded her mind. She desperately wanted to ignore her aching, exhausted feet and just rush out of the castle to look for Rosalia.
What if—what if Rosalia was just outside?
In the end, Liliya didn’t go out.
She slumped by the doorway, took off her shoes, and looked at her bruised skin—blotched blue and purple—her slender toes curling slightly.
Her pale, delicate feet shifted a little, bringing a sharp, peculiar pain.
“Mmm…”
A long, soft whimper and unending ragged breaths echoed in the silence as Liliya sat helpless by the door, gazing numbly around her.
It was the first time she realized just how frightening a castle could become once all the people were gone.
What should she do…
“Lady Rosalia…”
Without thinking, she murmured Rosalia’s name.
Ever since her “amnesia,” Rosalia had been the one by her side. Even though her master could be terrifying at times, she could only think of Rosalia, could only rely on her.
This was a fact Liliya herself had not noticed.
And even if she did, what then? She’d already lost her memory, forgotten her name was once Lyle, forgotten she had once come here to kill Rosalia.
If her memories ever returned and she realized how much she had changed, what kind of expression would she have then?
It would surely make Rosalia smile with delight.
She gently rubbed her tender feet, fingertips brushing over bruises, making her feel a strange blend of itch and pain, drawing another soft whimper from Liliya’s lips.
If it were Rosalia, she would probably give her a massage, then, worried, ask why she hadn’t said something sooner.
Rosalia was her master, after all.
She remembered, Rosalia had once told her she was special.
Not just a little pet, but someone even more important to Lady Rosalia.
But now, she’d been abandoned.
All because she wanted to keep just a little bit of dignity.
She curled up, eyelids fluttering, her hands on her feet slowing and finally stopping altogether. Alone, she collapsed to the ground and fell asleep.
Liliya’s body was never strong to begin with—let alone after wandering for so long in heavy clothes and unfamiliar shoes.
The exhaustion of body and mind was enough to crush such a frail girl, causing her to faint right then and there.
Unlike that morning, when she could sleep peacefully in Rosalia’s gentle embrace, now there was only the cold of the Gothic Castle.
So cold, really cold…
She longed to hold something, to…to curl up in Lady Rosalia’s arms.
With that thought, Liliya slipped fully into unconsciousness.
Perhaps, when she awoke, she could return to her previous life. Even if she only had two days’ worth of memories, to her, those two days were infinitely precious.
After all, those two days were Liliya’s everything at this moment.
But now, she had lost it all. All that remained was a castle that was the same as before, but the people were gone.
She seemed to dream, but the scenes were already fading from memory. She only remembered being with a little girl, not even as tall as her waist, who clung to her timidly—much like Liliya herself now.
She couldn’t see the girl’s face clearly—everything seemed erased, as if wiped clean with a rubber eraser.
Then, the scene shifted rapidly, returning to the memories of the past two days, to when she woke holding Rosalia.
Warmth and peace.
Sadly, even this dream didn’t last long. Even in her dreams, that peace only lingered for a brief moment.
She woke up, and all she saw was the same unchanged castle. Hunger dragged her out of her pleasant dream, returning her once more to this lonely world.
Looking at her bruised foot, Liliya pressed her lips together and took a deep breath, standing barefoot on the cold floor.