Possible

*trigger warning*

"D-dead?" Ashley couldn't comprehend what Mrs. Lana was talking about. So many things are happening simultaneously: Her near-death experience, those previews of her death, and now Elizabeth. She suddenly felt dizzy then her legs seemed to lose strength, so she staggered. Mary saw this and supported her together with Mrs. Lana.

"Ashley? Are you okay?" Mary asked with a worried look.

"I-I just felt dizzy," Ashley answered as she sat on a chair. She looked pale, and her palms were cold. Mrs. Lana gave her warm water while Mary kept on pressing her hands. Moments later, Ashley's color and strength returned, but Mary told her to rest.

"She is too tired today, Mrs. Lana. Please continue what you have to say tomorrow." Mary pleaded to her.

"B-but-"Ashley wanted to hear what Mrs. Lana had to say.

"I understand. I'll come back tomorrow and talk to you about it. For now, please stay here in your room and rest. I'll let Mr. Carl know that you are not feeling well." Mrs. Lana walked towards the door and left.

"Are you okay?" Mary asked her again. Ashley looked troubled, but she just smiled at her.

"I'm fine. I-it's just…overwhelming." Ashley thought of all the possible things that may happen if Elizabeth suddenly returned and got her position again. But she never thought that she would die.

"You should take it easy. I'll go prepare you a hot bath."

When Ashley got left alone, she tried to relax her mind. She closed her eyes and tried to stop thinking of what had happened today, then dozed off.

She felt her body floating. Instead, it was sinking. She opened her eyes and saw she was underwater. Ashley panicked because she thought she was out of breath. But Ashley soon realized she was breathing perfectly fine. She seemed to be underwater so she tried to swim to the surface when suddenly someone fell into the water too.

It struggled at first, too, but soon gave and sank, so she swam towards them. She gasped when she saw who it was;

'Me? No, a younger me.'

Soon she realized her younger self was running out of breath, so she tried to help her swim back to the surface. But she just passed through the body. She tried again and again, but she kept passing through.

'Is this a dream?'

Soon the young Ashley ran out of breath and died.

'No!' Ashley tried again and again but to no avail. She couldn't even help her own self. She felt so useless and worthless. Then suddenly, a light flickered on one part of her hair. It was so tiny, and it didn't last long. After that event, the younger Ashley woke up and started breathing again. She seemed confused, but she just swam back toward the surface.

Ashley just watched her swim away when suddenly someone entered the water again. It seems like they were there to save her.

'Maybe it was Uncle Ben?' Ashley thought. 'No… it's a…girl...boy?'

The sunlight was too bright to see the face, so Ashley tried to swim toward them. She kept her eyes on the child, yet she couldn't see their face because of the light.

'Who are you?'

She struggled to swim, but it was like her speed was not enough to get her to close the gap between them. Then the light became so bright.

"Ashley. Wake up. Your bath is ready." Mary said as Ashley woke up, then dragged her to the bath. Mary helped her take off her dress and other garments.

"It's not here." Ashley then searched the clothes she just took off.

"What? What is it?" Mary looked at her with a worried look.

"The wristlet. It's gone." Ashley answered as she kept on looking for it. Mary helped her find it, but it was not in her pockets.

"I'll check in the room. You should go bath now, or the water will be cold."

"I'll help you-"

"No need. I'll search for it. Don't worry."

She took a bath quickly and helped Mary search for the missing wristlet.

"I even asked Sir Carl and Sir Gil if they saw a blue wristlet; however, they didn't. Grandpa Olen even checked the carriage but didn't find any." Mary reported when she got back to Ashley's room.

Ashley sat down on her bed and sighed heavily. She looked down at the floor and uttered, "I'm sorry, Mary. I lost your gift."

Mary just looked at her with a smile. "It's alright. And besides, I don't think you can use that wristlet because of that old lady. Seeing it will just remind me of her craziness."

Ashley still couldn't face her, so Mary sat beside her and hugged her. "This child. It's alright. Besides, we can buy another trinket when we return to town. So stop sulking, okay?"

It was then Ashley faced Mary with a smile. "Thank you, Mary."

"You should rest now. As soon as I leave, please lock the door. And never open it unless you hear my special knock."

"Alright. Good Night, Mary."

"Good Night, Ashley."

Ashley was lying in her bed, yet she couldn't sleep. It bothered her what happened back then in her dreams.

'Why did some of my hair shined? Now that I think of it, isn't my hair color back then a lot darker than now? And who was that boy? But they have long hair, so it was a girl?'

Ashley turned and tossed around her bed, thinking about it.

'Their gender is not the question here. Me dying then coming back to life? Is that even possible? No… it's impossible. If it were true, then Mother…'

Ashley buried her face in her pillow as she remembered that image of her mother carrying her when she was a baby.

Morning came. Mary knocked on Ashley's door using a coded knock.

"Good Morning, Milady. " Mary said as soon as she saw Ashley's face. "What happened to your face?"

Ashley has a puffy eye, bags under her eyes, and a red nose. Her hair was a mess, too, due to her tossing and turning. "Sorry, Mary. I couldn't rest at all."

Mary sighed and then brought her a cold towel to help reduce the swelling of her eyes. Then she helped her change into casual clothes for today.

"I heard that the Countess hurt one of her maids," Mary uttered as she fixed Ashley's hair. "They said she whipped her maid until she fainted and could only escape after the Countess fell asleep." Ashley kept quiet after hearing Mary's news until she finished her hair.

"It's time for breakfast. We should go now." Mary broke the silence.

Ashley proceeded to the breakfast room, where the Count was already there. The full breakfast time could have been more comfortable, but no one bothered to speak or even sigh. They just ate until they served all food.

"Ashley, I will introduce you to everyone at the funeral tomorrow as my youngest daughter, so I want you to attend it." The Count spoke before he walked out of the breakfast room.

Ashley was too shocked to say anything; thus, she couldn't express her disagreement. She returned to her room and found Mrs. Lana and Mary waiting. Mrs. Lana told them what happened yesterday when they were still in town.

"The knights in charge of searching Lady Elizabeth came back suddenly with a dead body covered in shrouds. According to them, they tracked the knight that fled with Lady Elizabeth in an abandoned house in Port Town. But he was the only one there while Lady Elizabeth was nowhere to be seen. They interrogated him, and eventually, he confessed that he sold Lady Elizabeth to a group of men."

"The knights could locate her body near the Serpent's river, but it had already started decaying, and they couldn't recognize her face anymore. They said that…." Mrs. Lana pursed her lips before she added, "She got violated based on her missing lower garments, then abandoned her in the Forbidden Forest."

Mary just closed her eyes while Ashley frowned and bit her lips. She couldn't bear to imagine what had happened to Elizabeth. Even though she couldn't consider her relationship with Elizabeth that of siblings, as someone who shared the same blood, she still felt pity for her.

"The Countess was so devastated that she threw a fit and started yelling at the knights that it was not her daughter. That they brought the wrong person, and her daughter was still alive. However, they brought out one of her belongings they found on her; a sapphire pendant--hidden inside her bodice. You may not know this, but the Countess gave Lady Elizabeth a necklace with a sapphire pendant on her coming-of-age ceremony, which matches the one they found."

"The Countess fainted upon seeing the sapphire pendant. The Count ordered her maids to bring her back to her room while he ordered the knights to bring Elizabeth's body to the parlor. He commanded everyone to prepare for a funeral and return to his office with Mr. Carl." Mrs. Lana ended her story.

"He just went back to his office and did his work?" Mary asked her with a frown. "He didn't even shed a tear for his dead child?"

"Working here for so many years, I've grown accustomed to how heartless the Count could be. However, he remained calm after hearing what happened to his daughter brought me shock. It was as if he was ready." Mrs. Lana explained.

"He is the one in charge of the funeral, right? How about the Countess?" Ashley asked.

"The Countess… You must have heard it already from Mary, but she is not in the right mind to do it." Mrs. Lana replied to her. "Her maid's wound got treated, but her broken leg couldn't let her continue work here."

The room was filled with silence when Ashley broke it. "Something happened during breakfast." 

Before she spoke, Ashley breathed deeply, "He wants me to attend the funeral and introduced me as her youngest daughter."