The day I returned from the interrogation, I had raced up the stairs leading to the manor's attic without telling a single soul.

I needed to find the paper Beatrice had mentioned.

It looked as though no one had entered the attic in years. The door was stuck. After several minutes of prying at it with my fingernails, the heavy door finally creaked open.

I quickly slipped inside.

The attic smelled of old memories.

The setting sun streamed through the circular window, bathing the dusty wooden floor in golden light. As I walked across the room, particles of dust rose from the floor and drifted lazily through the air.

Glancing around the square-shaped room, I noticed a pile of cardboard boxes stacked beneath the window.

I immediately headed toward them.

The first box I picked up was old, its cardboard softened by age. A name had been written across it in faded ink.

Lilith Petunia...

At the same moment, Beatrice's warning echoed through my mind.

"Don't open it... If you find my mother's box in the attic, don't open it."

I didn't know her mother's name.

Lilith...

This could be the very box Beatrice had been talking about.

I quickly set it aside.

The box must have belonged to Beatrice's mother, and if even her own daughter didn't want it opened, then I shouldn't open it.

Turning my attention to the remaining boxes, I continued searching.

After ten minutes of digging through them, I finally found that cursed paper in the third box I checked.

A quick glance revealed exactly what Beatrice had described—a list.

I immediately stuffed it into the pocket of my dress.

Once again, I pictured the handwriting from the note that had accompanied the Solenne Flower.

An Old Friend...

The handwriting looked remarkably similar to the writing on the paper now tucked inside my pocket.

After searching through the remaining boxes for several more minutes and finding nothing useful, I began putting everything back.

"No one can know someone came up here," I muttered to myself.

By the time I finished, every box had been neatly returned beneath the windowsill.

As I straightened up, I noticed that only Lilith's box remained.

I reached for it to put it back in place.

Wait a second, Charlotte. Why shouldn't you open it?

My inner voice was practically trying to tempt me.

"But... Beatrice told me not to," I muttered.

And can Beatrice ever find out that you opened it?

"No."

Logically speaking, my inner voice had a point.

Beatrice was trapped in the spirit world.

In that case...

Opening the box wouldn't really matter, would it?

I slowly pulled the box closer.

Once again, the name came into view.

Lilith Petunia...

Carefully, I placed my hands on the flaps and lifted them open.

The first thing I saw was a small portrait of Beatrice.

But wait...

When I looked beneath the portrait, I found Lilith's name once again.

Golden-blonde hair.

Pale green eyes.

There was no doubt about it.

Lilith was Beatrice's mother.

The box also contained stacks of papers. Some were letters, while others were certificates and awards.

"We hereby congratulate Lilith Petunia, daughter of Marquis John Petunia, for her achievements in the field of botany and wish her continued success. The awarded check is enclosed."

Botany?

My mother and Beatrice's mother must have shared the same interests.

And now I had ended up inside her daughter's body.

There were strange parallels between our lives.

I carefully set the award certificate aside and reached for one of the letters.

There was no name written on the envelope.

They looked as though they had been written but had never reached their intended recipient.

The letters were probably private.

But I'd already opened the box.

I couldn't resist.

I started reading.

Oh my God.

"I'm worried about the situation, Leonard. My family must never find out."

"My family has begun negotiations with Duke Charlie Willow. I think they're truly going to marry me to him."

"The wedding has taken place. They don't know I'm pregnant. I'm worried about the baby, Leonard."

"I love you, Leonard..."

Twelve hours had passed since that shocking discovery.

I had locked myself inside the library, researching the Vivismul Ritual the cloaked man had mentioned.

Since arriving, no one in the manor had even asked how I was doing.

At the very least, they could have asked whether I'd ruined the interrogation or not.

"Ah..."

With a weary sigh, I buried my face in my hands and rubbed my temples.

The only thing I'd managed to learn about the ritual was that it granted magical power and one wish to whoever successfully performed it.

Beatrice had attempted the ritual in the cave.

And she had failed.

At least that means I wasn't entirely lying about the luck charms.

Speaking of Beatrice...

There was still that other problem.

According to the letters, Beatrice wasn't Duke Willow's biological daughter.

I wasn't sure whether the Duke still remained unaware of the truth, but Leonard—the man from the letters—had to be her real father.

I slowly straightened the paper lying on the table.

The list I'd found in the attic.

These had to be the materials required for the Vivismul Ritual.

An Old Friend and a cloaked man.

"The ritual must be performed again..."

Those words had come from the mage.

That meant the paper must have been sent by them.

And if that were true...

Then the person who had sent me the Solenne Flower back in the modern world had to be the cloaked man's master.

"Phoenix feather," I read aloud, naming the first item on the list.