Please Bully Me, Miss Villainess!

Chapter 242 : Before the Bell Tolls 2

In the private room, the Elven Holy Maiden removed her veil,

"Linda... Do you recognize me?"

Elsa raised her trembling hand, shakily pointing at her own face.

Seeing the young woman before her on the verge of tears, her expression softened, showing the familiar smile Elsa knew.

"How could I forget the little stray cat our Young Lady picked up?"

Little stray cat.

When Yvonne wasn't around, this maid always liked to refer to her with this slightly teasing term. Although Elsa was always somewhat dissatisfied with this mildly derogatory nickname, now, hearing this endearing word again, she was almost moved to tears.

Suppressing her excitement, she had more important things to confirm,

"...Are you really the Linda I know?"

The long hair let down, the elongated ears no longer concealed by transformation, and the emerald eyes unique to the Elf race,

The black and white maid uniform replaced by vibrant traditional attire,

It was as if she had become a completely different person...

"Miss Elsa, your question is as troublesome as asking 'Please prove that I am me'..."

Only this exasperated expression was familiar to her.

"I'm sorry... I can't think of a better way to ask..."

"No need to apologize, I understand your meaning."

She placed her hand on her chest,

"Let me prove it with memories."

·

When the Young Lady was born, she arrived a month early,

Pink and tiny, weaker than any Smollett descendant Linda had ever delivered, causing concern about whether she could survive,

Lena's condition was also precarious, exhausted and nearly comatose after giving birth, unable to nurse normally.

It was in the cold winter, and due to the early delivery and roads blocked by heavy snow, the wet nurse who was supposed to arrive the next day was forced to remain en route,

But unlike other infants, little Yvonne didn't cry or fuss, just blinked her eyes looking at Lena on the bed,

Her tiny hand could only grasp one of an adult's fingers when fully opened,

As if comforting her endangered mother in reverse, she held Lena's hand until she awoke.

This scene brought tears to Duke Campbell's eyes.

From that time, Linda began to notice this child's uniqueness.

After the Young Lady learned to speak, she would occasionally utter words or concepts no one had ever heard before. The surrounding maids all said she was a child who liked to make up strange words, but Linda felt these concepts might actually exist.

At age 7, the Young Lady suddenly cried and insisted on going to the lower city, saying she had to save a girl from her dream.

Even in heavy snow, with hands reddened by cold, she kept knocking on doors,

Finally finding that injured little stray cat, who became the Young Lady's most precious treasure from then on.

During their days together, the Young Lady's face was always beaming with smiles.

To repay the kindness, that child voluntarily became a vessel to bear the curse on the madam's body,

However, staying would cause the curse to affect the Young Lady, so she had to choose to leave on her own.

With the promise of stealing her first kiss, they vowed to meet again in the future.

When parting, the Young Lady chased after the carriage and took a hard fall,

The fall seemed quite serious, and although she still recognized the master, madam, and Linda when she woke up, her precious treasure was buried deep in her memories.

At 13, the Young Lady became a beautiful young lady.

It seemed she had some troubles,

Although she had always been serious, it was as if she grew up overnight, becoming very hardworking,

Knowing her magical aptitude was mediocre, the Young Lady had been studying magic theory diligently,

Lord Campbell felt sorry for his daughter, saying that with enough sponsorship money she could easily enter school, as many nobles did, and she didn't need to work so hard. But the stubborn Young Lady insisted on proving herself through the exam.

During this time, Linda served as a home tutor for a while,

Fortunately, her efforts were not in vain. In the end, with real ability, the Young Lady passed the rigorous entrance exam and was officially admitted to Hartwell Magic Academy,

The expression of joy, almost to the point of tears, when she received the admission notice while hugging Linda, was unforgettable.

As for the sponsorship money, Lord Campbell, on Madam Lena's suggestion, sent it as tuition assistance to a certain monastery far away in Canberra, along with a letter of introduction to the magic academy.

School life was exciting,

But the Young Lady seemed to have some worries,

Every time she mentioned life at school, she was animated.

She also said she had made a friend.

Although a bit strange, it should be a good child.

But suddenly one day, she returned home pale-faced, telling Linda 'something bad might happen soon'

"Did you get into trouble?"

She shook her head, saying she hadn't, but because she did something that wasn't allowed, she might be punished, and it might even affect her family.

"Young Lady, do you think you did something wrong?"

"No, I believe that was the right thing to do."

"Then do you regret your actions?"

"I might feel guilty for the consequences of my momentary willfulness... but I absolutely don't regret it."

Although her eyes were red, her gaze was extremely serious.

Shortly after saying this, the Smollett family was suddenly accused of treason due to an intelligence letter bearing the demon race's crest.

After that came a long period of confinement.

Locked in her own room, unable to go out, every move monitored, like a bird in a cage,

She didn't cry or resist, just calmly accepted it all.

This situation lasted for nearly two years,

Because they couldn't find further definitive evidence of rebellion, Prince Michel appealed in the council chamber on behalf of his already broken-off fiancée, changing the original execution to a suspended sentence, and finally reduced to exile.

The final verdict came down: the former duke's daughter, Yvonne Smollett, was banished to the southern coastal town of Emerald Port.

The former duke and duchess were sent to the northern frontier, North Kalos,

From then on, the family was scattered, each in a different place.

Before parting, Linda wanted to stay by the Young Lady's side, but was stopped by her,

That stubborn child believed the reason for this outcome was entirely her fault, so she hoped Linda could protect her parents in her stead.

After exile, the Young Lady remained ambitious, entering the local Verdant Star Academy to study magic.

However, because her name hadn't been cleared, her situation at school didn't seem good.

Although she didn't mention these things in her letters, it could be seen from some details.

During that time, when up at night, one could often glimpse the former duke drinking cheap wine from earthenware cups in the lit basement to drown his sorrows.

Fortunately, this situation didn't last long.

From when the Young Lady mentioned meeting a 'troublesome person', the colors visible in her writing began to change subtly.

Perhaps the Young Lady didn't notice herself, but the number of times she mentioned that child gradually increased.

Saying something like she couldn't stand seeing the other person bullied by bad children, so she simply let her move into her house.

She even proposed wanting her father to send some locally grown vegetables as ingredients to cook for the other person.

That cautious yet delighted tone was exactly like a shy girl in love, causing Campbell to agonize for a long time over whether the other person was male or female.

Lena was more open-minded, feeling that it didn't matter whether it was a boy or girl, as long as her daughter was happy. Every time she read the letters, she couldn't suppress her rising smile, hoping to meet that child soon.

From 'troublesome person', unknowingly, the introduction in the letters changed to 'important person'.

Seeing it was Elsa, Linda wasn't very surprised,

There wouldn't be a second person in the world who could stay by the confused Young Lady's side and bring her smiles.

From being abandoned to becoming a remarkable magician, she had been desperately chasing.

Seeing their tightly clasped hands, Linda knew that this time, she had finally caught up.

"The Young Lady used to make pickled cucumbers every year during this season. But the first time she tried pickling, there was a problem, and when she gathered everyone in the duke's mansion to taste them, everyone vomited non-stop. That miserable scene was quite spectacular..."

"Of course, the pickled cucumbers she made later were very delicious. Every time they were sent to North Kalos, Lord Campbell always had a look of wanting to eat but being reluctant to, and every time he would eat two large ones with tears in his eyes."

"The Young Lady was also interesting as a child. After learning simple wind magic, she would wear a bedsheet tied with a rope, hold up a wand and shout 'Magical Girl ☆ Transform—'"

"It seems she wanted to use magic to blow away the bedsheet and make a spectacular transformation, but she couldn't control the air flow well and ended up wrapping herself instead. In the end, I had to help her untie it. Later, when I asked the Young Lady 'Aren't you transforming today?', she ran away crying."

"Ah, there was also that time when the Young Lady seemed to want to proactively explain to Miss Elsa why the baby born to the maid had a little ○○, but when she told her it was the organ for women to have babies, she was bombarded with Miss Elsa's imaginative rapid-fire questions like 'Why can't girls have little ○○s?' 'Can it be done with magic?', which ended up making her face turn completely red."

Before she knew it, it had turned into a black history broadcast session.

It's a good thing the person herself isn't here. If Yvonne knew about this, she would definitely be furious enough to smoke from all seven orifices.

Never mind Yvonne's face turning red, Elsa felt she was about to be so embarrassed she'd want to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

However, sitting across from her, Linda continued to speak with an unchanged expression.

"...That night, because I saw you rushing to meet the Young Lady, I didn't have time to tell you that the lily-of-the-valley hair ornament was actually handmade by the Young Lady."

"Her eyesight isn't good, and she's not very skilled at needlework. She pricked her fingers many times while making the flower parts, almost dyeing the blue flowers red... Such a clumsy child."

...It really is Linda.

And a Linda who shares the same memories as herself.

Just realizing this point made Elsa unable to control her opened tear ducts any longer, and tears began to flow freely.

"...This is troublesome."

Stopping her narration, Linda took out a handkerchief and wiped the tears of Elsa, who was crying with her face covered.

Still a crybaby like before, not changed at all.

"I almost... I almost thought my memories were fabricated, that everything was just a dream..."

If that were the case, what would she do?

"It's a bit late, but I'm here now, aren't I?"

Linda comforted her softly.

It wasn't only Elsa who woke up to find the world had changed, but her as well.

"So... what exactly happened? This time, can Miss Elsa tell me?"

Wiping away her tears and taking a deep breath, Elsa nodded.

She took a deep breath and informed the other party in detail about Yvonne being a reincarnator and her own situation.

"So you're saying... the Young Lady has memories from a previous life, knows the course of this world... and Miss Elsa is the 'protagonist', and has even encountered a version of herself who traveled back in time from a different future??"

Linda held her forehead.

She felt her mind was a bit chaotic now.

Although she knew these two were unusual, this had already surpassed ordinary unusualness.

She pondered, constantly piecing together and reorganizing the fragments of clues in her mind.

With their identities as clues, these fragments now seemed to finally connect.

"...Miss Elsa, although it's just my personal opinion, I hope you'll listen."

Just like when teaching her to complete magic homework during summer vacation, Linda picked up a charcoal pen and drew a circle on the paper,

"You said your future self has the ability to traverse space and time, so you believe your current self has come to another world line... right?"

"Mm."

Elsa nodded, this was the conclusion she had been able to draw so far,

"But I think this hypothesis is incorrect."

"...What??"

"Suppose this circle represents this world, and this point represents Miss Elsa, who can observe this world and retain memories."

"If the 'Elsa' of this world and the original 'Elsa' had switched places, how do you explain my existence with memories that highly overlap with yours?"

Like a bolt of lightning striking inside her skull.

Supporting herself on the table with her hand, Elsa nearly fell off her chair.

She realized an important point she had overlooked.

Dimensional magic is unique.

This is magic developed by Dorothea, and in this world, apart from herself who shares the same origin as the Wingless Witch, it's impossible for a second person to use it.

Unlike herself, Linda doesn't have the aptitude to use dimensional magic.

In this case, only one line can be drawn between two points.

The time jump theory cannot explain Linda having the same memories as herself.

"But... if that's the case, how do you explain the current situation?"

"Here we can use the process of elimination."

Linda didn't draw a second circle, but erased the boundary of the circle she had just drawn and changed it to a square.

"Since it's not Miss Elsa coming to a branch line with other possibilities, it can only mean that our environment has undergone some change that affects other people's wills."

"What changed is not us, but this world."