Don’t Ask, It’ll Hurt If You Know - Chapter 37

When was the last time I cried like this? After weeping so hard that I thought it must have been since I was a baby, the overwhelming emotions subsided, and the worries I had momentarily forgotten began to surface one by one.

The fear grew, especially at the thought that I didn’t know when I would return to Bianca Lloyd and might lose consciousness and collapse in front of my family.

No. I don’t want to show my parents the sight of me collapsing.

Having directly witnessed my parents crying outside my bedroom last time, I was even more reluctant.

“I think I need to wash up. I feel grubby after not having washed for so long.”

Chloe said, smiling brightly despite her worry and fear. The Count and Countess Elena glanced at each other, then spoke.

“Wouldn’t it be better to be examined by Dr. Bertrand first? I called him as soon as I heard you woke up, so he should be arriving soon.”

“Your father also thinks that would be best. Even though you woke up two days ago, you were unconscious for over ten days, so it would be good to get an accurate diagnosis of your condition.”

“Pardon? I woke up two days ago?”

According to my calculation, it should have been yesterday morning, so Chloe was slightly taken aback and asked.

“Ian told us he saw you wake up two days ago.”

Aaron explained on behalf of their parents.

“He said he should have called people right away, but he was too surprised and apologized for not being able to.”

Ah, so that was two days ago. I thought there was no way Ian would be at the count’s mansion so late, so I naturally assumed it was yesterday morning, but it wasn’t.

That meant it took over 12 hours for me to return to Bianca Lloyd.

Chloe was puzzled by this as well, but she swallowed her curiosity for now. She had more important things to do.

“I’ll wash up before the doctor arrives. I don’t want to show others my grubby state, so please understand.”

After Chloe convinced her parents to leave, Dorothy, who had swiftly prepared the bath water as soon as Chloe mentioned wanting to wash, asked.

“The bath water is ready! You’re going to wash right away, right?”

After seeing the servants of the Viscount Lloyd household, including Maria Lloyd’s maid Vessa, who lacked even a speck of manners, seeing Dorothy smiling cheerfully made Chloe laugh naturally.

She was also proud of her. Chloe stared intently at the smile that spread over Dorothy’s freckles and gently stroked her brown hair.

“Ah, Young Lady?”

“Dorothy, I’m so glad to have you.”

“Pardon? Suddenly?”

As Dorothy asked, bewildered, a playful impulse suddenly took over Chloe, and she raised an eyebrow, deliberately asking in a stern voice.

“Why? Do you dislike me saying that?”

“N-no. It’s not that I dislike it, but…….”

“Pfft.”

“Ack, what was that laugh! You were just teasing me, weren’t you!”

Chloe patted Dorothy’s shoulder as she grumbled that she was being unfair, then entered the bathroom. She hadn’t actually planned to wash, but hearing that the bath water was ready changed her mind. She wanted to be clean the next time she woke up. Whenever that might be.

Chloe quickly undressed and stood in front of the full-length mirror. Her reflection in the mirror was familiar yet strange. It was like wearing clothes that once fit but no longer did.

“……!”

As Chloe, engrossed in a strange feeling, stared intently into the mirror, Bianca Lloyd overlapped her own reflection, and she flinched and stepped back. Dorothy, who was tidying up the clothes Chloe had taken off, asked curiously.

“What’s wrong, Young Lady?”

“……Dorothy, listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”

A sinister and eerie premonition that she would soon return to Bianca Lloyd came over her, and Chloe gripped Dorothy’s shoulders, speaking seriously.

“Even if I suddenly collapse, don’t be too surprised, just put my pajamas on and lay me down in bed.”

“Y-yes? Collapse, what do you mean by that……!”

“Listen to me!”

Her voice rose out of anxiety. Dorothy’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s at the sudden outburst. Seeing her light brown eyes tremble made Chloe feel a prick of guilt, but even the time to apologize was precious right now. She still had a mountain of things to say.

“I’ll definitely wake up by tomorrow morning at the latest, so tell my parents not to worry too much. And if Jeremy comes before I wake up, ask him if he received the letter, and if he did, make sure he sends a reply. The address is the one I told you before…….”

“Ah, Young Lady!”

As Chloe’s legs suddenly gave out and she collapsed weakly, Dorothy let out a shrill scream and frantically rushed to support her.

There were still so many things left unsaid. Thinking she couldn’t collapse like this, Chloe tried to stand up somehow, but it wasn’t easy.

“Try to wake up, Young Lady! Young La—!”

As her mind grew faint, Dorothy’s voice also gradually faded. The words she couldn’t say floated in her head like clouds. She absolutely had to say this one thing, so just before losing consciousness, Chloe squeezed out her remaining strength to earnestly insist.

“Put a full-length mirror…… next to my bed.”

* * *

Another unfamiliar landscape.

The dazzling sunlight that passed through the blue greenery shattered brilliantly on the blue surface of the lake. Chloe stared blankly at the lake, feeling both like she was seeing it for the first time and yet was familiar with it.

The occasional splash suggested a fish was leaping out. A faint rainbow visible amidst the ripples beckoned her to approach, and Chloe drew closer to the lake as if possessed.

Splash, splash, the ground around the lake was wet, soaking her shoes and the hem of her dress. Despite this, Chloe knelt down without a care and gazed at her reflection in the water.

Blonde hair and blue eyes, it was unmistakably Chloe Elena. Although it was obvious, she felt somehow relieved and let out a small sigh.

That relief was momentary, as the clear sky suddenly clouded over, and the surface of the lake began to churn. Chloe blinked her eyes wide, slightly startled, then gasped when a woman with pink, wavy hair appeared on the lake’s surface. It was Bianca Lloyd.

Why is this woman in the water……?

The question surfaced, but there was no time to think. A hand suddenly shot out of the water.

Chloe was startled and tried to evade it, but she was ultimately caught. Her hand stuck to her like a leech, and she was dragged, unable to budge, into the water.

Plop, as she fell into the water, her oxygen-deprived lungs cried out in pain. As her consciousness faded, the last thing Chloe heard before completely losing her mind was Bianca Lloyd’s witch-like laughter.

* * *

After returning from Chloe Elena to Bianca Lloyd, the first thing she did was check the time.

The current time was 2:20 PM. When she had returned to her original body, it was 11:10 AM, so approximately 3 hours had passed.

“I came back surprisingly fast.”

Considering she had caught up with the servants and her family after returning to her original body, it seemed it took less than 30 minutes to switch back.

It was strange that she had returned early this time, unlike the last, but Chloe decided not to think deeply about it. The body switching itself was a bizarre phenomenon, to begin with.

“That dream was also really strange.”

Chloe, recalling the chilling dream, shook her head and got out of bed. She pulled out Bianca’s diary, hidden deep in the drawer, and the paper where she had organized the bucket list by category. Since she had written the page number next to each wish when organizing it, she was able to find it right away without hesitation.

[Splash water on Vessa’s face.]

Again, a black line was drawn across the red lettering. This made two wishes with a black line drawn over them. Chloe checked them off the separate list she had made and counted how many wishes remained.

“There are still many left.”

Surely, I don’t have to fulfill all of these to fully return to my original body.

The thought alone was terrible, and Chloe violently shook her head. Even if she could somehow grant the wishes related to revenge or daily life, the problem was the wishes categorized as love.

Kissing Ian and having s*x with him. That would be absolutely impossible, even if the sky were to split in two.

“Please don’t let it be true. It must not be true.”

Chloe consoled herself that if that woman had any conscience, she wouldn’t insist on fulfilling all these many wishes, and she shoved them all back into the deepest part of the drawer.

Then, she scanned Bianca’s bedroom. The room had been a mess from the fight with Maria Lloyd’s maid Vessa, but it had been tidied up neatly in the meantime. The problematic vase was no longer visible.

Her crimson eyes, which had been carelessly examining the room, fell upon the firmly closed door.