“Come in, Cinderella.”
Ye Tang gave Cinderella a once-over from head to toe, then turned and walked through the gate.
If it had been Anna Rochel, she absolutely would not have said “welcome” to Cinderella. Not even if it was just empty words.
Cinderella’s demeanor bore not the slightest resemblance to the fairy tale protagonist she knew. The little girl hiding behind Hans looked at her and her two sisters with hostility and wariness she couldn’t conceal even if she tried.
“Cinderella, why haven’t you thanked her yet!? Look, your mother has allowed you through this family’s door!”
Hans hadn’t received any contact from Ye Tang all week. He hadn’t just sensed his wife’s coldness vaguely—he felt it plainly. This made him desperate to please her, lest she tear into him.
Her mother?
Rela spat inwardly. Forget that she wasn’t the original owner—even if she were, she wouldn’t acknowledge this stepmother as her own mother. Besides, what had the stepmother done to deserve thanks? This house belonged to her cheap dad; she had every right to enter it.
As for the wicked stepmother, this woman had usurped the magpie’s nest and was playing the lady of the house. She wondered if Cinderella’s late real mother would approve.
“…Thank you, Mother.”
She might think that, but in front of Hans, Rela still put on the act of an obedient girl.
—Wasn’t that how it always went in those transmigration comics? The female lead, upon realizing she’d transmigrated, ditched her previous flashy style and disguised herself as a pure, pitiable little white flower. She used that innocent facade to make the wicked supporting females reveal their wolf tails.
The female lead’s first step was to let her cheap dad see the cruelty of the stepmother, her concubines, and those baggage sisters born from them. From then on, he would distance himself from those two-faced bad women and dote solely on the seemingly pure-hearted schemer.
She hadn’t won over her cheap dad with tears alone, so her next step was to expose the stepmother and the hypocritical bad sisters for who they really were.
“Mother?”
At that moment, Ye Tang suddenly stopped.
She frowned and turned sideways, looking toward Rela, whose schemes were clacking away like an abacus.
“You don’t need to call me Mother.”
Ye Tang’s icy words made Rela’s schemes crash to the ground with a snap.
What did this woman mean!? Was she saying she didn’t consider her a daughter!?
Ha! She hadn’t planned to shamelessly cling to the woman anyway! She was just choosing temporary forbearance, playing along with the wicked stepmother for now!
But fine. She’d thought it would take time for the wicked woman to show her true colors. She hadn’t expected her to reveal her dislike so openly the moment she stepped inside.
Just a remarried widow, after all—a fool who didn’t know the meaning of magnanimity.
“Father…”
Squeezing out a pool of tears, Rela tugged delicately at Hans’s sleeve.
She desperately signaled him with her eyes: Look! I’ve been bullied by the stepmother already!
Hans had wanted to sweet-talk Ye Tang, but with Rela pulling at him like this, he had to deal with his tear-distorted face instead.
“Cinderella, don’t be so immature!”
Hans had spent these past days coaxing his daughter and was already fed up. Seeing Rela burst into tears at the slightest provocation made his mind a mess; he blurted it out without thinking.
Claudia and Gloria kept glancing toward Hans and Rela. Truth be told, the two still felt uncomfortable about Cinderella’s presence.
But hearing their father scold Cinderella made their thoughts shift slightly.
—Where was Cinderella being immature? She had only called out “Mother” as their father demanded.
For their mother to refuse being called “Mother” by Cinderella… wasn’t that perfectly reasonable? What woman could smile and accept her husband’s illegitimate child calling her “Mother”?
In the end, the one who had upset their mother and made Cinderella cry was their father. And he was scolding Cinderella for being immature… He was the immature one!
Ye Tang, walking ahead with a stern face, truly despised Hans forcing Cinderella to call her “Mom.”
How long had Cinderella’s birth mother been dead? And this man was already making her call a woman she’d just met “Mother.” Where did that put Cinderella’s birth mother? What did that make of Cinderella’s feelings?
Moreover, didn’t Hans know Anna Rochel’s personality? If the real Anna Rochel were here and Cinderella called her “Mother” even once… the Anna Rochel who had so far only seen her as an extra little maid would surely feel insulted—how dare a mere illegitimate child consider herself a proper daughter of this house!?
If Anna Rochel with such thoughts didn’t bully Cinderella half to death, that would be the sun rising from the west and red rain falling from the sky.
Was Hans really bringing Cinderella into this house for her own good?
Rela was a bit dazed from Hans’s scolding. Seeing Ye Tang enter without looking back, Hans hurriedly dragged Rela along to catch up.
The sunlight was warm, though the wind carried a chill.
Many trees in the Hedelin House had already shed their leaves, making the evergreen grand tree in the courtyard’s center particularly conspicuous.
Rela’s gaze was drawn to the evergreen grand tree, and as she was practically dragged along, she soon spotted the little beech tree beneath it.
The bare little beech tree had not a single leaf. But that branch shape, that familiar color—it suddenly made Rela lose control of her body, as if shoved aside by an invisible force.
She forcefully shook off her father’s grip on her reddened wrist. The girl with short auburn hair and emerald eyes bolted forward like a madwoman.
“Cinderella!?”
Hearing Hans’s voice, Ye Tang, who was about to push open the door, turned her head. She saw Cinderella run to the little beech tree, wanting to embrace it but afraid of snapping its branches, so she just trembled as she wrapped her arms around it, crying her eyes out.
“Mommy, Mommy, Mommy—!!”
Seeing the little beech tree with most of its roots snapped off, and thinking of her mommy’s soul trapped in this world suffering forever, Cinderella wished she could just die too. At least then she could accompany her mommy and keep her from being alone in her suffering.
Sorrow greater than heartbreak—she wanted to end her own life. In that instant, Cinderella suddenly lost consciousness.
Or rather, after seeing the little beech tree moments ago and sinking into darkness, thinking she’d vanished from the world, Cinderella abruptly woke up.
Now her mind was filled with how wonderful it was that the little beech tree lived, that her mommy’s soul hadn’t fallen to hell and still had a chance to ascend to heaven. Cinderella hadn’t yet realized her situation.
But Kim Hora did—immediately.
Damn it, she’d been ejected by Cinderella’s consciousness! Having lost control of the flesh, she was now just a bodiless ghost!
Returning to her original body… That body had tumbled down the stairs. Even if it survived, with all those implants and her thinned bones for her face, it was utterly ruined.
Besides, she didn’t even know how to get back to her original world!
No! She couldn’t give up this body! She would be Cinderella! She had to be Cinderella! Otherwise—
Where else could her soul go?
Cinderella’s cries were too heartrending. She was like a little beast wailing beside its dead mother, tugging at everyone’s heartstrings.
Remembering how two weeks ago she and her sisters had knelt by their mother’s bedside in tears, terrified at the thought of losing her, praying to God to take half their life… or even all of it… for their mother—Claudia and Gloria’s hearts clenched hard. Their mother had been lucky to brush past the Death God. If, if that scythe had just extended a tiny bit longer…
Would they now be like Cinderella, crying and howling no matter what, unable to call back the mother they loved most, who loved them most?
Their mother wasn’t perfect. But in the eyes of children raised by her, even a mother who glared with huge bell-like eyes and bellowed fiercely at them was beautiful, sacred, indelible.
The stronger the dependence and attachment to their mother, the greater the pain of losing her.
Claudia and Gloria spent no more than three months a year with their father, but every day with their mother. They knew well what their mother meant to Cinderella, who saw her father so rarely too.
—She must have been her whole world.
Who could remain unmoved after their world collapsed overnight?
Ye Tang quietly walked up behind Cinderella. She had no intention of interrupting her mourning for her mother. She was just worried that Cinderella, in her emotional state, might harm herself or get scratched by the little beech tree’s sharp branches.
Hearing the faint footsteps behind her, Cinderella turned and, through Kim Hora’s memories, realized where she was and who stood before her.
She quickly realized: The little beech tree symbolizing her mother hadn’t withered but grew well in the Hedelin House courtyard because this lady had allowed someone to plant it here.
Perhaps the lady didn’t know what this little beech tree meant to her, so she’d permitted it. But the lady surely knew it had come with her and was connected to her.
“…Thank you, Madam. Thank you…”
Cinderella couldn’t say more.
—At that moment, as Cinderella’s emotions slightly calmed, Kim Hora forcibly retook control of her body.
With two utterly different souls in one body, both fully conscious and wanting completely opposite things, Cinderella’s body overloaded and collapsed like a powered-down robot.
“Cinderella!”
Ye Tang was closest; without thinking, she rushed forward and caught the fainted Cinderella.
Inside Cinderella’s body, Cinderella and Kim Hora confronted each other.
“Get out! You useless thing!”
Kim Hora didn’t care if Cinderella was some fairy tale heroine. She grabbed Cinderella’s hair and swung to slap her.
—“The one who should leave is you. This is my body.”
Even with her scalp aching from the grip, Cinderella remained composed and unyielding.
“Aish… You useless thing dare to talk back?”
Kim Hora slapped down, and at the same time, “Cinderella” opened her eyes.