Reborn After Betrayal: The Frail True Princess Decides to Give Up

Chapter 232 : The Past Me, The Present Me

"Stop talking nonsense!"Celitia stiffened her neck, sobbing while refuting.

"It's my other half of soul and body that likes to cry, it's not that I want to cry, understand?"

Erwin indicated he completely didn't understand...

But at this moment, how could Erwin care about that? He nodded like a chicken pecking rice:

"I understand, of course I understand. Don't cry anymore. Let's go sit for a while and chat, okay?"

Erwin half-dragged, half-pulled Celitia back to the bedside, pressing on her shoulders to make her sit down.

"There, there, calm down a bit. Let's chat for a while. I'm very curious about your experiences during this time."

Erwin sat down as well, soothingly patting the back of her hand.

"Are you willing to tell me about it? Of course, if there's anything that's hard to say, you don't have to."

Celitia embarrassedly rubbed her eyes, wiping away the tears at the corners:

"The story might be quite complicated to tell..."

"Complicated is perfect—that makes it interesting to listen to." Erwin laughed heartily. "I'm a retired old man—what I have most of is time."

Organizing the chaotic thoughts in her mind, Celitia briefly mentioned the causes and consequences of that battle, trying to start from the very beginning.

Besides Kassy recognizing her due to their contract, this was the first time Celitia had told anyone else about her rebirth.

As Erwin listened to the first half, his brow furrowed more and more. When she got to the part about waking up later, his expression gradually relaxed, becoming one of complete disbelief.

"Soul fusion occurred? That's really bizarre—I've never heard of such a thing before."

Erwin listened in amazement. "So you're saying that the current you equals the past you plus that little girl?"

"That's right. They are both 'me' that I acknowledge, and their pasts are both my past. And the current me is no longer the past me—both 'me's' are like this."

This experience might be unique, difficult for others to understand, but for Celitia, she had never felt confused about it.

From the moment she opened her eyes until now, Celitia had encountered enough people and enough events.

The new relationships and new bonds that belonged solely to the current Celitia, established with those people...

And the people and things she had found that she wanted to protect.

As for the past that belonged to before, whichever one it was, she had never abandoned it.

Blood relations, relationships, emotions—all were inseparable parts of herself.

"So, although the past 'Sercis' is me, I am no longer entirely him. I hope you can treat us differently."

"I understand," Erwin answered quite cheerfully. "After all, you've become a crybaby!"

"Can you please stop bringing that up?"

Celitia couldn't help but turn to glare at him. "Besides, this is clearly your fault! At eighty or ninety years old, don't you understand how scary it is to pretend to be sick?!"

"My fault, my fault." Erwin raised his hands in surrender. "You're a beautiful young lady—whatever you say is right."

He stroked his chin, unsure whether he was happy or regretful: "Speaking of which, now that you've become a little girl and are no longer a little brat, it would be quite difficult to hit you."

"I saw you didn't hold back with Shanie," Celitia's mouth twitched slightly. "Besides, is that the point? You accepted what I said so easily?"

Celitia had thought that Erwin should at least doubt and struggle with it for a while. She never expected him to accept everything so smoothly.

"Who told you to be so much like a certain someone? That slap you gave me to stop me from smoking was both fierce and accurate—even I didn't react in time."

Speaking of this, Erwin paused slightly and sighed deeply. "Moreover, when the news came back then, I didn't believe it in the first place."

The next-generation legend he had personally raised—how could he die so easily at the hands of trusted people?

Erwin couldn't believe it, but as months passed and news kept coming one after another, he had no choice but to accept it.

Perhaps, deep in his heart, he had always been waiting for a miracle to happen.

That's why he accepted everything Celitia said so quickly.

These words, Erwin didn't say aloud.

But Celitia understood those unspoken words.

Her worries—such as Erwin thinking she was a fraud or considering her a demon—had never needed to exist from the beginning.

Those who most hoped for her resurrection were precisely the people who cared about her.

In that case, continuing to tell the rest of the story shouldn't be a problem either.

"Later, I thought about it for a long time," Celitia continued. "Why, after 'Sercis' died, would his soul be drawn to 'Celitia' and the two undergo fusion?"

"Child, although I long for miracles, I'm old now—past the age of believing in miracles."

Erwin straightened his expression, his voice gradually becoming deeper. "I think that wasn't a coincidence."

"Because once the goddess grants you a gift, she will inevitably collect sufficient payment at the appropriate time."

"I think so too. None of this was coincidence."

Celitia nodded. "Teacher, you probably don't know that many years ago, when I encountered Kassy, I was caught up in a ritual sacrifice..."

Telling Erwin everything that had happened back then, as well as the monthly curse that followed, Celitia continued:

"I suspect that the target of that evil god ritual was the Goddess of Night, and the 'Shadow Space-Time' that was opened was the other side of the world. My body and soul, through the monthly curse attacks, slowly adapted to the dark matter energy. Perhaps that was a gradual transformation process..."

But whether an accident occurred later that necessitated emergency transfer of 'Sercis's' soul, or whether the accident was orchestrated because his body wasn't as suitable as 'Celitia's,' that was unknowable.

"The 'Goddess of Night' Chloe, the inner side of the world, dark matter energy... I've vaguely heard of these things."

Erwin's expression was serious. "You should have told me earlier, silly child. Don't always try to bear everything by yourself."

Celitia embarrassedly lowered her eyes.

The self from that time hadn't considered these problems at all.

Anyway, that so-called "curse" was bearable, and the biggest annoyance was just that it made her lose her sense of taste.

For Sercis at that time, there were too many more important things that needed his attention.

"Since you've heard of them, I probably don't need to explain too much." Celitia continued: "My current body has one-quarter demon bloodline—precisely the race that worships the Goddess of Night. So after comprehensive analysis, I believe this wasn't coincidence, but deliberate arrangement."