Rewriting the Past II

While Seraphine is busy mulling over the past, she fails to realize that Historia is now standing right before her.

For a moment, the redhead only blinks her eyes at the blonde in puzzlement. She just seems to look so absorbed in her thoughts. That's when she came up with the assumption that she must be brooding about her departure for her new home today.

"I'll still visit you, Seraphine. Don't sulk too much," Historia reassured her, making her snap out of her self-absorbed state at last.

"Huh? Come again?" Seraphine blurted out, raising her brows incredulously.

"You're sad because I'm leaving, right? But please, don't be! I owe everyone here a lot, so I'll definitely come back to visit. I promise…! After all, we're family, aren't we?"

"R-Right…"

"Don't miss me so much that you'll cry or something, okay? Cheer up, Seraphine!"

Much to her annoyance, Historia has already been this much of a narcissist even when she is still this young.

Her acting skills are still raw at this point, though. She can easily tell that she is just pretending to be humble and down-to-earth. In reality, she bet that she must be itching to leave this place at once. She probably won't even pay a single visit –

And Historia did end up not returning anymore even after a month already passed since her departure to the County.

"What a liar. She told us that she would play with us again after two weeks," Clement complained with a pout on his face as he sat down the grassy ground.

"You said it yourself, Clement. Getting adopted by the Count would mean a fancy life. She probably enjoyed it so much that she forgot about her promises," Seraphine nonchalantly reasoned out before hugging her knees and propping her chin over them.

"Well, I don't think Historia deserves it. You should've been the one who got adopted."

"And why do you think she doesn't deserve it?"

"She's a liar, that's why! She is a pretentious brat and a selfish meanie!"

"H-Huh? Clement…? H-How do you…"

"Above all, Historia is jealous of you, Sera! She won't show it in front of everybody else, but I'm aware that she used to bully you secretly and frame other children when she got caught."

At that, Seraphine tried her best not to inquire anymore since she knew she would end up sounding like she lost her memories.

It did take her aback that Historia was already doing such nasty things to her even this early in time. Because she couldn't remember their childhood during her second life, she had easily believed that all she had was good will towards her. She had let her befriend her without knowing what she did in the past.

Apart from that, though, Seraphine is surprised by how attentive Clement seems to be when it comes to what is going on around her.

It gives her the impression that he cares far deeper than he is showing. Then again, he is her closest friend at the moment. Even though she started acting odd these days and even when she treated him like a stranger sometimes, he was understanding and patient. He is kind of fond of her as well.

"Clement… Do you… l-like…" she started hesitantly, already knowing what this could mean.

"Do I what?" he asked, tilting his head quizzically.

"No… N-Nevermind."

But in the end, Seraphine chose not to ask about it, thinking that Clement was just a victim of her aphrodisiac power like everybody else. With that in mind, she finally decided to call it a day and stood up from the meadow where they were sitting on for a while now.

"Let's go home, Clement. The sun is setting."