Volume 7, Chapter 10 – Different Memories

Fia adjusted the strap of her nightgown and asked, utterly bewildered.

“If I’m not Dofi, then who am I? Anastasia, did you wake up and suddenly forget who I am?”

Could she still be trapped in her nightmare?

Unfortunately, Anastasia didn’t seem to hear Fia’s words. She sat up and moved away from the Princess, clutching her head with both hands like a madwoman while muttering to herself.

“Impossible… Dofi would never speak with that tone. But even the mana surge is identical… How could it not be Dofi? Am I… Am I still in a dream?”

As she spoke, Anastasia bit the tip of her tongue. The sharp, piercing pain instantly contorted her expression, yet it strangely cleared her mind.

This wasn’t a dream; it was reality.

She raised her head to look at Fia, then slowly shifted her gaze to her own body. She suddenly realized that her skin had become fair and supple again, just as it had been over a decade ago, lacking the dullness brought by years of living as a fugitive. Her flowing golden hair was exceptionally silky, and she was even wearing a sheer, near-transparent gauze nightgown that was entirely unsuitable for combat—these were not traits she currently possessed.

Not only has Dofi changed from how she used to be, but even I have changed? What on earth happened?

Anastasia froze on the spot, not knowing what to do.

Meanwhile, Fia gradually recovered from her confusion. She finally noticed the difference between the current Anastasia and the one she knew. The Anastasia she knew always maintained bright, lively eyes. The current Anastasia still had azure pupils, but her gaze was dull and withered. Fia had seen this look before; it was the same despondent, melancholic, and lifeless look Clark had when they first met.

A thought she was reluctant to believe surfaced in her mind. Perhaps the consequence of an external visitor disrupting the world’s Order had finally fallen upon Anastasia. Anastasia had either lost a vast portion of her memories or something else had occurred. In any case, her presence was affecting the rules governing the world, causing those around her—like Anastasia—to stop being the people she knew.

If that were truly the case…

Fia sat up as well. She gazed at the chaotic Anastasia and spoke tentatively.

“Anastasia.”

“…”

Anastasia didn’t answer, but she instinctively lowered her hands from her head and looked back at Fia.

She responded to the name. That means it really is Anastasia.

Fia let out a slight sigh of relief.

“Just to be sure, I’ll ask: do you know Claire? No, what should you call me? I am Dofilia Alexia Yushir. This is the Barony of Yarua in southern Silvar. We just returned from the Land of Exile.”

The information in Fia’s sentence was too much to process. It took several seconds for Anastasia to react. Her lifeless azure eyes gradually widened, and her posture straightened, her expression full of disbelief.

“Th—This is the Barony of Yarua? The Barony of Yarua was swallowed by Chaos long ago! How could this be Yarua!”

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Saying this, Anastasia rose from the bed, about to leave the room. At this point, Fia understood completely that the current Anastasia was not the same person she knew. Her tone grew stern.

“Halt!”

Reflex made Anastasia stop in her tracks. Fia continued in a cold, sharp voice.

“Anastasia, what do you intend to do?”

“I…”

“If you still consider me the Eldest Princess, then stay here quietly. Otherwise, I will use my own methods to make you stay. I don’t know what happened to you, so I want you to tell me everything. You are not the Anastasia I know.”

“…”

Seeing that Anastasia’s back was still hesitant, Fia chose to use her trump card. Though it felt shameless, it was the most effective means at hand. Suppressing the various emotions in her heart, her tone became indifferent, mimicking the Eldest Princess of the past.

“I was the one who brought you back from the Land of Exile. Do you intend to defy my orders?”

That incredibly familiar voice—the one she had heard in her dreams countless times—rang in her ears again. Anastasia’s entire body jerked. She spun around, her eyelashes trembling violently as crystalline tears welled up in her azure eyes. She stared at Fia’s face, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

It seems to have worked.

But Fia’s heart felt only heavy.

Anastasia’s reaction proved that she recognized, and only recognized, the Eldest Princess of the past. This also aligned with her earlier statement, “You aren’t Dofi.” From this alone, it seemed Anastasia had lost a large chunk of her memory. However, Anastasia also said that the Barony of Yarua had been swallowed by Chaos long ago. This meant it wasn’t just a matter of memory loss; her mind also held memories that didn’t belong to the real world.

Wait… isn’t that exactly like the current me?

Fia’s expression turned complicated.

She, too, couldn’t recall memories related to the Eldest Princess and had a portion of memories that didn’t belong to her. If Anastasia had become like this because of her influence, then who had influenced her?

No, that wasn’t a question to be solved right now. The most urgent task was to figure out what had happened to Anastasia and how to restore her.

Fia stepped off the bed. She walked to the tea table in the bedroom, lit the magic lamp, and let out a long sigh.

“Anastasia, how should you address me?”

“Your… Your Highness…”

The word seemed to weigh a thousand pounds. It took a massive amount of effort for Anastasia to force out the term that was so familiar yet felt so foreign. She hadn’t said it for many years and had almost forgotten the feeling of addressing the Princess.

The moment the word left her lips, Anastasia felt a connection form between her and Fia. The extinguished sun in her heart was rekindled. A flood of emotions she once possessed but hadn’t felt in a long time surged forth. Her mind, once chaotic, was soothed by an inexplicable peace. She remembered the sense of security and satisfaction she felt while following Fia. It was as if, from this moment on, she once again had something to pursue—the black-haired elf before her was her master.

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“Since you know I am the Princess, then obey my orders. Sit down—if you still consider me your Princess.”

“Yes…”

Nodding gently, Anastasia followed Fia’s command and sat at the table. Previously, she had been too overwhelmed by seeing a “deceased” Fia to notice anything else, but now that she had calmed down, she finally had the chance to take in her surroundings.

This noble’s room, filled with the fragrance of a young girl, made her restless and utterly astonished. It had been a long time since she had stepped into such a luxurious room. During her life as a fugitive, she either slept in the wild or lived in stone huts that were little more than ruins. Her surroundings had always been filled with the cries and sighs of refugees. Consequently, this warm, fragrant room was hard to adjust to; it felt as if she were living in a beautiful dream. Once she woke up, she would surely face the pursuit of soldiers.

Fia glanced at the teapot and cups on the table. Though the tea had gone cold, the usual Anastasia would have certainly filled a cup for her. The current Anastasia just stared at the teapot, not daring to reach out. They truly were not the same person.

I have to restore Anastasia to normal quickly.

To do that, she needed to know what had happened to her.

Suppressing her impatience as much as possible, Fia said calmly.

“Let’s exchange information. Start with you—tell me the story of what happened to you. Once you’re finished, I’ll speak.”

“No…”

To Fia’s surprise, Anastasia immediately countered her words.

“Is there something you want to say?”

“Yes.” Anastasia’s hands under the table clenched and released repeatedly. She hesitated for a long time before saying, “You… weren’t you… by the Unsinkable Moon… sacrificed… I saw it with my own eyes…”

The timeline rewound to when I was killed by the Unsinkable Moon?

Considering Anastasia’s earlier behavior, in her eyes, Fia had likely been completely killed by the Unsinkable Moon. That was why she looked so hesitant and shaken upon seeing her.

To facilitate communication, it was better to treat this Anastasia as “another Anastasia.”

Fia poured tea for herself and Anastasia.

“As you can see, I am alive and well, though I’ve lost some memories,” Fia’s voice paused as she pushed the teacup toward Anastasia, quietly observing her reaction. “Because I lost my memories, when Anastasia found me in the Milcandis Holy Kingdom, we had some disputes. I believed I was no longer myself, while you insisted I had simply lost my memories.”

“I…”

Halfway through the sentence, Anastasia suddenly realized her lack of composure. She quickly covered her mouth and stiffly changed her tone.

“Your subordinate does not recall such a thing… In my memory, my failure as a guard led to your sacrifice under the attack of the Unsinkable Moon. After that, our army was defeated. His Majesty was enraged by your martyrdom and mobilized most of the forces from the southern defensive line to the Milcandis Holy Kingdom, turning all the humans there into slaves…”

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This obviously did not align with the facts of this world.

Fia didn’t interrupt her.

“And then?”

Anastasia bit her lip. These events filled her with immense guilt. She had always believed that if she had protected Fia properly back then, the disaster would never have happened.

“His Majesty’s atrocities triggered a joint crusade by the human nations. The mobilization of forces from the southern line before winter also caused the Barony of Yarua to be overrun by the undead. There is a vast ocean between Silvar and the Milcandis Holy Kingdom, making supplies difficult. Silvar couldn’t maintain a two-front war. The soldiers stationed in the Holy Kingdom retreated step by step, eventually having to fall back to the port cities. We expected to hold out until winter ended and the undead retreated back to the Netherworld, allowing Silvar to deal with the human nations to the west, but a disaster occurred that year.”

Anastasia’s expression turned even bleaker. From her look alone, Fia could read that there had been heavy casualties.

“The oracles received by the Milcandis Holy Kingdom weren’t false. The legendary Chaos appeared in eastern Cold Night. At first, everyone just gloated, happy that the Chaos hadn’t appeared in their own country. But they soon realized something was wrong. After swallowing eastern Cold Night, the Chaos spread to other parts of the World Tree Continent—first the Barony of Yarua, then western Cold Night, the Kingdom of Aflreg, and the alliance nations of the Southern Continent.”

“The appearance of Chaos alarmed the Queen of the Kingdom of Death. She joined forces with neighboring countries to resist the encroachment, but it was too late. The Sovereigns had already colluded with the Chaos. The war of attrition lasted for fourteen years, to the point where even Absolute Evil stood on our side. Not a single country could remain untouched.”

Doesn’t this match up with my side?

Fia fell into thought. This year is the second year since her “sacrifice.” Anastasia mentioned Chaos appearing in eastern Cold Night, which matched the Chaos she had eradicated in the Weeping Mountains. The only difference was that the Chaos she faced wasn’t infinite—it had vanished completely after a single orbital bombardment. Furthermore, the fact that the Sovereigns were linked to Chaos also aligned with the information she possessed.

Because so many points aligned with her knowledge, Fia’s gaze toward Anastasia became increasingly strange. Now, she didn’t think Anastasia had lost her memory; the Anastasia before her seemed to have come from another world—a world where she hadn’t descended into the body of the Eldest Princess.

Considering the existence of Laplace, Davis, and Calista, it wasn’t strange to say Anastasia was from another world. But if this Anastasia was from another world, then where was her Anastasia? Had their souls been swapped? Had her Anastasia gone to that other world?

Fia’s heart sank further. If that were the case, things would become quite troublesome. She didn’t mind going to another world to slaughter all the Chaos, but the premise was how to get there and bring Anastasia back. And after doing that, what would happen to the Anastasia before her? She couldn’t just send her back to that ravaged world. But if she didn’t send her back, how could two identical people exist in the same space-time?

Even Fia had never encountered such a problem. It was something that violated the laws of the world and was fundamentally impossible.

Calm down…

Haste wouldn’t help solve the problem. Fia took a deep breath to steady her emotions.

In any case, she should ask Anastasia about her situation over there.

“What was the outcome of the war? Since you’re still here, the alliance formed by the Queen of the Kingdom of Death must not have lost yet.”

“Yes, but the situation is very grim. There are too many of the Chaos. The land they swallow becomes barren. Even if we reclaim occupied areas, soldiers cannot get supplies there. After fourteen years of attrition, two-thirds of the land has been swallowed. Now, even the withered World Tree is gone…”

What about everyone in the Royal Capital, Nola, and Tilulu?

The words were at the tip of her tongue, but Fia didn’t dare ask. She feared she wouldn’t be able to handle the answer, even if they were from another world.

“Then, how have you been living, Anastasia?”

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“I…”

Anastasia bit her lip, looking down at her reflection in the teacup.

“Your subordinate has been a fugitive all along, without contributing a thing.”

“A fugitive…”

It was likely that Anastasia had been held accountable by Yelido for her failure as a guard. However, following the normal course of events, Anastasia would have likely returned to Silvar to accept punishment. Why had she become a fugitive?

Anastasia continued her explanation.

“Failing to find any trace of you in the Milcandis Holy Kingdom, your subordinate had no choice but to return to Silvar. His Majesty ordered my execution. But on the night before the execution, Lady Erin Slate quietly let me go. Even though Lady Erin Slate held a grudge against me just as Queen Yulisha did, she said it was your order—that if you died in the Holy Kingdom, Lady Erin Slate had to let me go.”

No, I never heard Erin Slate mention anything of the sort.

Fia immediately thought that perhaps the Eldest Princess had given Erin Slate an order: “If I lose my memory, you must not tell the memory-less me anything related to me.” However, Erin Slate’s constant behavior hadn’t seemed like she knew everything in advance. It was possible that in this world, the Eldest Princess hadn’t told Erin Slate that she would die under the Unsinkable Moon.

Wait, doesn’t this indirectly confirm that the Eldest Princess actually knew what she would face?

It’s all so confusing…

Anastasia’s tone became pained. She covered her cheeks with both hands, her shoulders shaking, her words filled with nothing but sobbing.

“That was the last thing you left for your subordinate. I couldn’t let down your hopes, so I’ve been doing my best to stay alive. But even in my dreams, I wonder… if the one who died that day had been me instead of you, none of this would have happened. You clearly knew there was danger in the Holy Kingdom, so why did you only tell Lady Erin Slate? Leaving me alone in a world full of disaster… What is the point of living like this? To me… this is nothing but a punishment…”

“…”

Fia remained silent.

Regardless of which world’s Anastasia it was, her feelings toward her remained unchanged; they could even be seen as the same person. Both were filled with guilt and repentance for failing to save her. Even if the Anastasia before her wasn’t her Anastasia, she didn’t want to see her in pain.

But no matter what, she had to find her own Anastasia. Whether she was in a deep sleep or their souls had been swapped—with Anastasia going to the other world—was something that had to be confirmed.

And to confirm an elf’s identity, there was one method that was exceptionally effective—something that would change immediately if the soul changed.

With a solemn expression, Fia looked at Anastasia’s left shoulder and spoke slowly.

“Anastasia, I need to confirm your mana surge.”