Chapter 4
He tapped my hand as if soothing, and added.
“I thought you needed an explanation, so I came out to talk face to face with you.”
“No, I don’t need an explanation. Since you’re a good alien with the ability to cast magic with just one gesture, please return me to my original body right now. Please. I’ll give you any compensation should you need it.”
After being silent for a long time in response to my request, he immediately bit his lip and avoided my gaze like someone who had something difficult to say.
“That’s not allowed.”
“Why?”
“…Because you can no longer live as Juliet Karenina.”
Said the alien in a cold voice. That decisiveness, for some reason, seemed to nail down that no matter how hard I tried, I could not turn back this reality.
My hand that was holding him by the neck slowly lost strength.
“I understand your confusion, but for now, calm down and listen to me.”“…”
I walked dazedly and sat down on the other side of the bed.
The alien who followed me stood in front of me, remained silent for a long time, and then opened his mouth.
“My name is Wishit. I’m a spirit.”
“…”
“This place, the Descarde Empire, is a country that is protected by spirits, and most of those in power are people who command spirits. The Diollus Duchy, to which Rubette belongs, is also a long-standing family of spirit contractors, and I was a guardian spirit belonging to her.”
I don’t know what kind of nonsense this was, but I nodded as if I was just reading a fantasy novel.
There were only two pieces of information to grasp.
Unlike Earth, there are aliens who perform strange magic here, and the name of the alien in front of me right now is Wishit.
“Spirits have various abilities, but first of all, I am, simply put, a ‘wish spirit’.”
“So you’re an alien who makes wishes come true?”
“You can say that.”
“Wait a minute. Don’t tell me that the owner of this body, Rubette’s, wish…”
I asked, but sincerely hoped it was not.
“…By any chance, she didn’t wish to swap bodies with me, did she?”
“…”
The alien was silent. It was probably a confirmation.
“Damn! Are you kidding me?”
“Calm down.”
“If it were you, would you calm down? Without even asking my doctor? I came into a complete strange’s body, and as soon as I woke up, I was ridiculed by some children…!”
“Yes. You must have been flustered, so first, I apologize for that. However, since I am a subordinate spirit of Rubette, I had no choice but to obey her orders.”
“Is that my business? I can’t believe I’m going through this ridiculous situation. God, you have no conscience. You’re trying to steal my life.”
I felt like I was going to cry because I was unjustly slighted. I gnashed my teeth, tearing my hair.
“Why me!? How did you know me in this strange place that is not even on Earth?”
At that time, a memory flashed through my mind.
“Pig, Rubette…”
An unknown fan who had made strange comments on my social media. Her ID was also Rubette.
I remember the last time I saw their comment that made me uneasy about wanting to die, and I was sure it was not a coincidence.
Wishit nodded as if recognizing my expression, which looked like I had noticed something.
“Rubette made a wish to show her a ‘perfect and wonderful’ human life. Rubette knew that there was not only this world, but many other worlds, and the child, disillusioned with this world, wanted a glimpse into the lives of humans living in a completely different world.”
“So it was me that you picked and showed her?”
“Yes, because I thought that your life was the most similar to the life that Rubette longed for like a habit.”
“Haha… Do you know what this looks like? It’s not unfair if I get caught committing a crime. But this situation? I’m just very unlucky, aren’t I?”
Wishit was silent again.
As if secretly spying on other people’s lives was not enough, this girl named Rubetria even borrowed the power of an alien and took my body too.
My heart began to pound with anger.
“Is she an idiot? She got a wish-granting like alien, so why does she covet my life? Make me slim, make me pretty, let the kids who bully me get scolded. Shouldn’t she wish for things like that?”
“Because she can only make three wishes.”
“Wow, is that so?”
Wishit, who swallowed a sigh at my sentiments that immediately jumped out, soon had a sad expression on his face and added.
“Listen to what I have to say for a moment. To explain the current situation, we must first talk about Rubette. So, Rubette…was a very poor child.”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
I crossed my arms and smirked sarcastically.
“Even if I feel sorry for her, would she be as pitiful as me, who lost everything in one day?”
“Rubette lived in persecution for exactly 45 years, and before she died she made her first wish to me.”
“I don’t want to hear…”
As I was grinding my teeth, I suddenly noticed something strange and asked.
“She’s lived for 45 years? She only looks like a middle school student, doesn’t she?”
“At the age of 45, after being judged by a doctor that she’s terminally ill and didn’t have much time left, Rubette made the first wish she had saved all her life. She said she wanted to relive her life, which had been tragic.”
“Ah, I get it. So she used her wish to turn back time? In this state we’re in now?”
“Yes, she is now 15 years old. I brought her back to 30 years ago when she first met me.”
“And she continued to live her life like a fool again? No, why didn’t she make a wish to make herself slim in the first place? Looking at the comments on my SNS, I saw that she was jealous of me, who was pretty and slim.”
“I can only make three wishes, so I guess she didn’t want to waste them asking to make herself slimmer. In reality, Rubette had the desire to lose weight on her own without the help of a wish, but umm…because she always ate…”
Wishit, who was blurring the end of his sentence, snapped his fingers, and something from the air fell onto my lap.
It was an old diary. I opened it right away.
[Imperial calendar January 1, 1519.
The new year has dawned. Starting today, I will only eat one meal a day. I’m definitely going to be slim this year. I want to get a dance request from Kedrick too.]
[Imperial calendar March 24, 1519.
I ate again. But the macarons at François Dessert Shop are so delicious. However, I will eat only today.]
[Imperial calendar April 4, 1519.
Why don’t I lose weight? I ran for 30 minutes yesterday…]
[Imperial calendar May 6, 1519.
I will really eat only today. If I eat again tomorrow, I am not a human being.]
[Imperial calendar May 7, 1519.
I am not a human being.]
[Imperial calendar May 31, 1519.
I can’t despair. I will eat only during this month, and from next month I will not eat and work out hard.]
[Imperial calendar, June 1, 1519.
I feel like someone is controlling my body. When I woke up, I’d already eaten it all. There are so many delicious things in the world. Still, from tomorrow onwards…]
“Ugh.”
Unable to read any further, I threw Rubette’s diary into the corner of the bed.
“Right. So she wished to relive her life and lead a wonderful life this time, so you turned back time, but she could not lose weight because she was weak-willed, so she wished for a glimpse of other people’s lives with her second wish.”
“You got it right.”
“What do you mean I got it right!?”
When I got annoyed, Wishit secretly avoided my gaze.
It was hard to understand what part of the girl’s, who was a stranger, weak-willed, and voyeuristic, life to feel sorry for.
Even more so when I was in a situation where I was robbed by such a girl without knowing why.
I was choked up for a moment, then I jumped at Wishit like a madman and grabbed him by the collar.
“Did you feel sorry for her life? Is that a reason to steal my life? After committing such an unscrupulous act, how dare you ask for sympathy from me?”
“…”
“You idiot! Say something! What kind of life she lived has nothing to do with me! You guys are just like thieves to me!”
In an instant, Wishit, whose eyes shone harshly, waved my hand and replied.
“Be careful of what you say.”
“Ha.”
“As you guessed. Rubette used her last wish and begged me to switch bodies with you.”
Somehow, I couldn’t understand Wishit’s shaky eyes. He added with a look that seemed to blame me rather than Rubette.
“Your body, with only ten minutes to live.”
“…What?”
“Have you forgotten? The last memory you had as Juliet Karenina before you woke up in Rubette’s body.”
“…”
“You really don’t remember what your end was like, do you?”
“My last? What do you mean…”
I just came back from my schedule and slept peacefully at home.
At that moment, a piercing headache crossed my mind.
‘Oh, that’s right.’
That memory was not the end.
‘I woke up then. I think someone was strangling…’
For some reason, the whole memory that had flown away came back to me.