My Childhood Friends Are Trying To Kill Me

Her palm burned as if it were on fire. Lelia was embarrassed and couldn’t even open her mouth.

Kalix sighed and let go of her hand. Then he spoke in a light tone.

“I don’t care if you and Oscar get married or not.”

“…”

“But I will wait for you all my life.”

Soon, his expression became quite serious.

“…Kalix.”

“I’ll be beside you for the rest of my life, waiting for you.”

“…”

“Until you make me your second husband. Did you understand?

“…”

“There won’t be any other woman in my life.”

As if he was notifying her, Kalix spat out his words and strode off.

His retreating figure even looked refreshed, as if he had said everything he wanted to say.

“…”

Lelia returned to the room with mixed feelings.

***

A day went by in an instant.

Lelia looked nervously at the system screen.

[Announcement]

– “Alchemy Lottery” service termination notification. –

This service expires in [1] days. I would like to express my gratitude towards the users who have loved alchemy lottery tickets.

It says there’s only one day left, but the service will terminate when the clock strikes past 12 midnight.

Late at night, Lelia sat on the bed hugging her knees, as she looked at the game screen.

She fiddled with her necklace anxiously.

All of a sudden, she remembered the first time she met the game system in this world.

Upon discovering the holy object, she immediately made a wish. She wanted the curse to be released.

However, the holy spirit that made the wish she had made in her previous life come true.

Now that she thought about it, it was rather fortunate.

If there was no game system, she would have to deal with her loneliness by herself.

She had always thought that she was alone, but she wasn’t.

Lelia looked at the screen affectionately.

Time was going by.

The sound of the clock’s second hand was particularly loud.

“Hey, Alchemy.”

She called him just in case, but there was no answer back.

A few more times after that, Lelia muttered in a crying voice.

Soon it was 12 o’clock.

[We would like to express our gratitude to the users who have loved Alchemy Lottery so far. Always be happy!! (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑ ]

The message window blinked with a lively phrase.

Lelia shed tears like a child whose gift was stolen from her.

She hurriedly opened her mouth.

“Thank you so much for all the time we spent together….”

Soon after, the faintly blinking message window disappeared. At the same time, the UI, which has always been in the corner of view, has also disappeared.

It all disappeared so simply.

Lelia fiddled with the necklace just in case, but the game screen never appeared again.

“…”

She buried her head in her knees.

Tears kept flowing at the sense of loss from losing a precious friend.

Lelia didn’t sleep till dawn, crying for a long time. It was difficult even though it was an inevitable breakup.

***

The next morning.

Lelia was shocked to see her swollen eyes. She only changed her clothes after cooling them for a while with cold water.

It was still too early in the morning for Becky to come.

Lelia tried to leave her room and take a walk to soothe her empty heart.

But as soon as she opened the door, she paused.

It was because someone’s back could be seen right away.

“Oh, mother?”

Just from the rear figure, she could tell her identity. Elizabeth turned her head in surprise at Lelia’s words.

“…Ah.”

“…”

At the moment their eyes met.

Lelia took a big breath. Elizabeth’s eyes grew big for a moment, and soon tears began to well up.

Oh…

Her fingertips went numb.

Lelia could feel instinctively.

“Le-Lelia…”

Her mother’s memory had returned.

“Lelia…”

It was a name that Elizabeth called several times before, but it was the first time she had spoken her name as her mother.

Elizabeth fumbled and called her name in a terribly trembling voice.

Lelia was a child that had to be removed from her arms as soon as she was born.

A child, whom she had to leave, without being able to name her.

The memories of that moment were as clear as yesterday, but 20 years have already passed.

When she put her hand on Lelia’s warm cheeks, a low sigh of relief came out.

As soon as she felt her warmth, Elizabeth broke down.

“Oh… Lelia, my baby.”

“Mother…”

Lelia immediately approached Elizabeth and hugged her.

“Mother…”

In the quiet hallway, the sound of two people’s sobbing could be heard clearly.

“My baby…”

She couldn’t hold back her tears because her heart was torn.

Lelia murmured, crying endlessly, “I have lived a good life. I survived. Until now…”

Elizabeth hugged Lelia’s back and shed tears.

As long as this child was alive, anything else didn’t matter.

She didn’t want to think about other complicated problems.

***

The two, who had been hugging and crying in the hallway for a long time, entered Lelia’s room.

They sat next to each other on the sofa and talked with their hands held.

“Your memories…”

“When I opened my eyes at dawn, all my memories returned naturally.”

“All of them? Even the memories of when you lived as Sena?”

“…Yes.”

Lelia closed her lips tightly.

That meant that she remembered what happened with Emperor Perseus.

“Don’t worry.”

Elizabeth smiled benevolently and swept Lelia’s hair over. The eyes were still teary.

“I will need a lot of time to accept everything. So, for the time being… Let’s not worry about anything.”

At that, Lelia nodded. Elizabeth was still feeling complicated and miserable, but she decided not to think about anything for the time being.

The fact that this child is alive was enough.

Even if the reunion with Perseus and her two sons will be postponed to a very distant future, it was still okay.

“You saved me…”

“…”

Lelia laughed, rubbing her cheek on her mother’s palm.

Elizabeth recalled memories of the past in a slow tone.

“Right after being poisoned by Lydios, I headed straight to the cabin.”

Elizabeth’s other hand moved towards the necklace that Lelia was wearing.

“And I cast a spell on this necklace.”

“…Is this the necklace?”

“Yes, in the distant future… Just in case you, who grew up as the daughter of Princess Iris, found out where this necklace is.”

“…”

“Whatever it is, I wanted to make your wishes come true.”

“…”

“As a mother, I couldn’t stay by you, so I put a spell on this because I wanted to do that for you.”

Tears flowed over the back of Elizabeth’s hand that was still on Lelia’s cheek.

Elizabeth wiped away Lelia’s tears as if she were pitiful.

“…”

Lelia hugged her mother and buried her head in her shoulder.

It was thanks to her mother that her dying wish from her previous life came true.

After crying for a long time, Lelia raised her head and said, “…I’m going to meet my grandfather.”

“…Okay.”

Elizabeth smiled and nodded.

However, when she came out of the place, Elizabeth hesitated to walk with a look full of tension.

Lelia held her hand.

“Grandfather said he didn’t want Mother’s memory to return… I’m sure he wanted it more than anyone else.”

“Yeah… he was worried that I would get hurt.”

Elizabeth smiled and nodded as if she knew everything.

Lelia’s heart beated strongly.

Lelia knew that her grandfather would go on a walk with her grandmother early in the morning.

So she grabbed her mother’s hand and headed straight there.

But unexpectedly, Uncle Carius was with them today.

“No, Father. Please listen to me. If Lelia wants to, she can get married twice…”

‘What the hell was he talking about?’

Her uncle was walking along her grandfather’s side and venting.

Her grandmother smiled as she looked at her uncle, while her grandfather had his mouth closed firmly and shook his head.

“Kalix is such an eligible guy! I will definitely have him as my nephew-in-law.”

“Then don’t do this to me and go persuade Lelia!”

“But I’ll still need permission from you, Father.”

Lelia looked at the three from afar, before holding her mother’s hand tightly, and slowly walking towards them.

“Grandfather, Grandmother.”

While taking a walk, the eyes of her grandfather and grandmother seated on the bench turned to Lelia.

“Hey, did my baby wake up already? Elizabeth as well?”

Her grandfather, who asked questions affectionately, paused.

This was because he made eye contact with Elizabeth.

“…Father.”

“…”

At that short moment, Lelia felt that time had stopped. At the sight of her grandfather’s expression containing feelings of joy, sadness, longing, despair, and regret, the tip of her nose tingled.

“Eli–Elizabeth…”

“Father, Mother… Carius.”

Elizabeth slowly approached and called her family.

“Sister?”

“Elizabeth…”

The expressions of Uncle Carius and Grandmother also changed, as if they noticed her mother’s changed behaviour.

The expressions of surprise soon turned into agitation, and then to tears.

“Sister!”

As Elizabeth approached, Uncle Carius immediately hugged her. And like a child, his face distorted and he began to cry.

The same was true for her grandfather and grandmother. Tears flowed down their wrinkled cheeks.

It was the period of time where they couldn’t die after losing their daughter.

Grandfather muttered painedly.

“How…How did you recover your memories? How in the world…?”

Her grandfather hugged her mother tightly while saying that, and her grandmother also cried as she caressed her mother’s cheeks.

Just like how Lelia and Elizabeth did a while ago.

Lelia took a step back and watched them.

As she tried to wipe away the tears flowing down her cheeks, all of a sudden, a large hand was placed on her shoulder.

When she turned her head, Oscar was standing next to her.

“Oscar.”

“…”

Oscar silently kissed Lelia’s temple and tugged her hair behind her ear.

Lelia held Oscar’s hand tightly, and turned again.

Although she had to part ways with a precious friend called Alchemy, it was alright.

The happiness that she had hoped for so much was finally in her grasp.

The vacancy will now be filled by her family and friends.

***