Reincarnated as the mother of an otome game's villainess?!

Chapter 41. Brighter than the sun.

(From Lillie)

Mama and I had moved a lot when I was younger. We finally settled down in that town a year or so before everything happened. She said this place was far enough away, and that it should be safe. At the time, a gigantic tower was being built nearby. Mama started to sell lunches and pastries to the workers who had come from far away to work on it, and we made enough money to buy a home that was truly ours. 

It was rather small, just two rooms; a kitchen, and a bedroom with a bathroom to the side, but I never felt like we were missing anything. As long as I had my mama, and I could eat her delicious food, I was happy. But... sometimes I had weird dreams. Places where I had never been, things that I couldn't find anywhere, and people I had never met. I could never make sense of them, but they weren't that scary, so I didn't mind them. In fact, for the longest time, I thought everyone had dreams like that.

That morning, I got up before the sunrise as usual, but mama was already working. I started to get ready to go out to sell the pastry that was just coming out of the oven. I dressed on my own, wearing the hat and scarf that mama had gifted me on my birthday. I didn't care when the other kids made fun of my clothes for being a bit worn, but it was nice to have something new, especially when it was something made by my mama. Once I was ready, I walked into our kitchen/living room/storefront, where my breakfast was waiting for me. A sunny side egg with sausages and a small pastry roll.

—I'm going out! —I said once I had finished my breakfast, as I picked up my basket and walked to the door.

—Ah, wait —mama said, taking a moment from kneading the dough—, the Mayor's assistant said some people from the church are trying to find someone within the young girls. He knows you, so it would be better if you go, but please be careful. If anything happens, come back home running as fast as you can. And more than anything, remember-

—to never tell my name to strangers, I know.

—That's my girl —she said, as she gave me a kiss on the forehead.

Mama told me the meeting was going to happen in a few hours, so I first went to my usual route and sold most of the pastry. I ended up meeting with a friend that also had been called by the people from church, and went alongside her and her father.

—What do you think this is all about? —she asked me, but I had no idea.

—They are keeping all the people who got sick at that place... —her father muttered.

The sick people... I had seen one of them, an elderly woman named Ruth whom I always visited at the end of my rounds. She was like a grandma to me, I think. Whenever I went to deliver to her, she would give me a cup of warm chocolate milk, and we ate our pastry by dipping it into the hot beverage. She would tell me stories of her youth, where she had been quite a tomboy and an adventurer, even as a grown up. Ruth and her husband traveled a lot, but after he had passed away, she retired back to her hometown. She wanted to write down all of her stories. She was one of the wealthiest people in town, she was one of the first people to get one of those new radios. And she loved listening to it.

That day... when I knocked at her door and nobody answered, I thought she might have gone out for a moment, but I heard the radio playing. I had a bad feeling, so I went to the back of the house and entered through the cat's door. She was lying on the floor. She didn't respond when I called her, and she was acting as if she was having a nightmare. The skin in her hands was turning black, and she seemed to be in pain when I touched her. I couldn't do anything to help her, but I called for help, and thankfully people came quickly. They tried to help her, but even the nurses that the Mayor had hired couldn't do much.

Later, I learned she hadn't been the first victim of this unknown illness, but she was still among the earliest. More and more cases started to appear. The adults started to talk about curses and the wrath of the gods. They took all the sick people to the place that adults told us to never go, the Temple of... Tiamat. The same place where we had been called to. Once we arrived there, we met a woman with a very curious appearance. A long and grayish dress covered her body, her face was covered by a mask that looked like a fox, and she was carrying a sword. Despite all of this, her voice was kind when she explained what she was going to do.