The next morning, the atmosphere in the mansion was more tense than ever before. Light footsteps trotted toward the hushed living room.
The door banged open, and Charlotte—or rather, Lydilia in Charlotte’s body—stormed into the room. “Morning, fellow denizens!” She glanced back at Roo, who was trailing in after her, looking a little hesitant. “I must say, it has been a very long time since I slept in a bed. And with a Fenrir pup too. You were quite the fluffy companion—I commend you.”
“Okay...” Roo mumbled half-heartedly as Lydilia stroked her head. Normally, she would’ve purred in pleasure to get petted by Charlotte, but today was different. Roo reluctantly tugged at Lydilia’s sleeve and said, “Mommy—I mean, Lydilia. You have something to say, right?”
“Oh yes, that’s right. Well then—hm?” Lydilia gave a big nod and ensconced herself in the middle of the sofa. She opened her mouth to speak when she paused and squinted at something. Her gaze rested on Natalia, who was rooted to the spot with wide-open eyes, too bewildered to utter anything more than incoherent groans. Lydilia cocked her head to the side. “You must be Charlotte’s younger sister. What is that silly, vacant look on your face? I can’t talk when you are ogling me like that.”
“Whose fault is that...?!” Allen spat. He looked sickly pale and had dark circles under his eyes. Beset with worries, he had been up all night researching the legends of Lydilia the Saint. All the tomes and papers he could find were piled up on the table.
Last night, after Lydilia—in Charlotte’s body—had knocked him down, Allen had tried to interrogate her. But Lydilia gave a big yawn, rubbed her eyes, and told him to wait. “I wouldn’t mind explaining...but let me sleep first. I’m tired.”
“Fat chance! I’ll make you spill everything right now!”
“Are you sure? This is still Charlotte’s body, you know. Wouldn’t lack of sleep impact her health?”
“Ugh...! Fine, sleep all you want!”
And so, the discussion had been put on hold, and now that it was almost mid-afternoon, Lydilia finally came out of her bedroom.
In the meantime, Allen had done his research, and when Natalia and Roo woke up in the morning, he’d filled them in on the events of the night. Though they had both listened doubtfully, they seemed convinced now that they could see Lydilia in the flesh.
As for Eluka, Dorothea, and Gosetsu, the trio still hadn’t come back from their bar crawl. Allen set that aside for the moment; those three would only complicate things.
Perching on the table, Allen confronted Lydilia on behalf of the others, who were too baffled to speak. “First, let me confirm: are you really Lydilia the Saint?”
“I am.” Quasi-Charlotte answered rather majestically. She placed a hand to her chest and announced in a resonant voice, “My name is Lydilia Evans. I was born in the 74th year in the calendar of the Kingdom of Neils. My mother was called Christine, my father Berdot, my younger brother Robert—”
“All right, that’s enough.” Allen cut off her seemingly endless introduction. He picked up a big pile of papers and flipped through it. Last night, Allen had flown over to the Athena School of Magic and sneaked into the vault of the library to obtain these documents. “Your year of birth and the names of your family match the records. Though that’s hardly conclusive...” He turned over a leaf and studied a reproduction of Lydilia’s portrait. The young girl with a clever look in her eyes looked exactly like Charlotte. “You’re mirror images of each other. I suppose we’ve got no choice but to believe you.”
“Indeed. It pleases me that you catch on quickly—Allen, was it? You have my compliments.”
“It feels so weird when you act so haughty, looking like that...” Allen grumbled, pressing a hand to his forehead.
Lydilia leaned back on the sofa and gazed down her nose at Allen. She looked just like Charlotte; her voice and aura were the same too. But her archaic, dignified manner of speaking and her mannerisms were worlds apart from Charlotte’s usual bearing. It was interesting in its own way, but it would take time for him to get used to it.
Natalia, apparently recovering from her shock somewhat, sidled closer to them and peered into Lydilia’s face. “So, um, my sister is a reincarnation of you—is that right?”
“Indeed. You are correct.”
“Then, are you still Charlotte, my dear sister...?”
“Not quite,” Lydilia replied with a shrug. “A single soul dwells in this body,” she explained, ruffling Roo’s coat. “That soul belonged to me in the past, and now it is Charlotte’s.”
“U-Uh, okay...?” Natalia was still confused.
“In other words, two personalities are living in one body,” Allen added.
There were roughly three types of rebirth. The first was the “continuity model,” in which the personality traits of the previous life are passed on directly to the present life. The second was the “renewal model,” in which only the memories of the previous life remain, and the thoughts and emotions belong to the person in the present life. The third was the “partition model,” in which the personality traits of the previous life as well as the present life dwell separately in the physical vessel.
“To put it simply, it’s like having multiple personalities,” Allen explained. “Though it’s an extremely rare case—it probably happens in less than one in a thousand people who’ve been reincarnated...”
“S-So then, what’s happening to my sister now?!”
“Don’t fret. She’s asleep, but if you wish to speak with her, I shall awaken her,” Lydilia said.
“And you’ll go to sleep instead?” Allen asked.
“No. I wish to parley with Charlotte as well. Let me see now...” Lydilia looked around the room, and her eyes fell on the heap of birthday presents on the table. She pulled out a mirror from the pile: the magic mirror for distant communication that Natalia had made. “This will do. There!” With that casual exclamation, Lydilia snapped her fingers. A dazzling light shot out of the mirror. When the light dissipated, Charlotte’s face was visible in the glass.
“Huh...?” The Charlotte in the mirror rubbed her eyes in a daze. “When did I fall asleep...? Oh! And there’s another me?! Wh-What’s happening?!” she cried out.
Lydilia chuckled, waving a hand in response. “Our first time speaking like this.”
Watching the scene unfold, Allen and Natalia whispered to each other.
“She analyzed my magic and modified it to her needs, all in a matter of seconds...” Natalia murmured.
“Hmm. As expected, she knows what she’s doing,” Allen answered. The way she threw him on the floor last night was still fresh in his mind.
Lydilia gave Charlotte a rough rundown of her identity. Though she widened her eyes in surprise, Charlotte seemed to believe her.
“I see... I never even realized,” said Charlotte.
“Well, I don’t blame you—I never came to the forefront.” Lydilia cackled. But she soon stopped and scratched her cheek with an abashed look on her face. “I did borrow your body once in the past, however. I suppose I must apologize for that.”
“Oh...! Wh-When was that?” Charlotte asked, flustered.