Chương 34: Chapter 33

After receiving the information, Lily briefly looked through the file. Her expression remained calm. There was a lot to consider. Rosa, however, slowly became uncomfortable. The room had become quiet. Too quiet. She glanced toward Lily from the corner of her eyes, checking whether the woman was alright. She seemed fine. Yet she was still silent. Rosa hesitated. After a moment, she decided that the safest choice was to return to her bed. She did not want to continue being watched.

She did not want to continue feeling exposed. Slowly, she began moving back. However, before she could reach the bed, Lily reached out and grabbed her hand. Rosa froze. She turned around. And then her entire body stopped moving. The person standing in front of her had changed. No. Not changed. The woman who had been standing there moments ago was gone. In her place was someone who looked exactly like her. More accurately... Someone who looked like the version of herself before the illness. Rosa's breathing stopped.

Her hands began trembling. She held them together tightly, trying to force them to stop shaking. She did not know what to do. Should she reach out? Should she touch the person in front of her? What if it disappeared? What if it was only an illusion? A dream. A cruel dream created by her own mind. Rosa moved suddenly. She raised her hand and slapped her own cheek. The sound echoed through the room. Her pale skin quickly turned red from the impact. But she did not care.

Her eyes remained fixed on the person in front of her. Nothing changed. The image remained. It was not a hallucination. It was not a dream. It was her. Rosa slowly stepped forward. Then she dropped down, grabbing Lily's shoulders.

"How?" Her voice trembled.

"How did you do this?" Her eyes moved over Lily's face.

"Are you wearing a skin mask?" The question came out quickly.

"But how did you put it on so fast?" She looked closer.

"This does not make sense." Her gaze moved downward. The blood from earlier was still present on the dress. That meant this was not an illusion. Not a simple trick. Not something created by her imagination. The evidence was right in front of her. So how? How could someone become her? …. Lily had originally intended to ease Rosa's worries with a simple demonstration. After seeing how deeply Rosa believed that her appearance had changed for the worse, Lily had come to a straightforward conclusion.

Words alone would not convince her. Evidence would. With a quiet adjustment, Lily altered her appearance to fit Rosa. But without the small blemishes she was afraid of. Her complexion returned to how Rosa had looked before her illness. It was the version preserved in the System's calculations. The version Rosa remembered. Lily had intended to begin explaining immediately. Unfortunately, Rosa had chosen that exact moment to retreat toward her bed. Without thinking, Lily reached forward and lightly grabbed her hand.

Questions immediately began pouring out one after another. Lily, who had expected suspicion, accusations, or at the very least caution... Instead found herself facing someone whose curiosity had completely overwhelmed every other emotion. One question became five. Five became ten. Before Lily realized what had happened, Rosa had somehow managed to ask what felt like over a hundred questions without stopping to breathe.

By the time Rosa finally paused, Lily felt strangely as though she had become the one being interrogated. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. She had intended to study Rosa. Instead... She somehow ended up on the receiving end. Finally finding a brief opening in the conversation, Lily raised a hand slightly.

"I have a question." Rosa immediately became quiet. She nodded.

"What is it?" Lily looked directly into her eyes.

"Do you think I'm ugly?" Rosa blinked. Then immediately shook her head.

"No."

"You're pretty."

"Really?"

"Really." Without saying anything further, Lily quietly adjusted her appearance once more. The two small blemishes reappeared near the corners of her cheeks. She asked the same question again.

"What about now?" Rosa looked at her carefully. She tilted her head. Then shook it once more.

"You're still not ugly."

"How could that appearance possibly be ugly?" Lily looked at her calmly.

"But I'm wearing your appearance." Rosa instinctively replied.

"No." Lily gently corrected her.

"A moment ago, I was wearing your appearance before your illness." She paused.

"But right now..." She lightly touched her own cheek.

"I'm wearing exactly what you currently look like." Rosa froze. Slowly... Very slowly... She stepped closer. She reached forward and gently cupped Lily's face with both hands before leaning in until only a short distance separated them. Her eyes carefully examined every part of Lily's face. The blemishes. The skin. The tiny imperfections. Everything. Sure enough... The blemishes were there. Exactly where they should have been. Rosa staggered backward.

"But..." She looked utterly confused.

"I swear they weren't there before."

"They weren't." Lily answered honestly.

"The first time, I changed into your appearance before your illness."

"I asked you the question."

"You answered."

"Afterward..."

"I changed into your current appearance."

"I asked exactly the same question again."

"You gave me exactly the same answer." Lily looked at Rosa quietly.

"So you already know."

"You know that you're beautiful."

"And that has not changed." After a long pause, she began to speak.

"I know I'm beautiful." Lily blinked.

"... Really?" Rosa nodded.

"I do."

"People have always told me that." She looked toward the nearby mirror.

"I'm not ugly." Her voice remained calm, though noticeably quieter than before.

"It's just..." She hesitated.

"When you've spent your entire life standing just one step away from perfection..." Her fingers lightly brushed the small blemishes near her cheek.

"Even taking a single step backward feels enormous." She smiled bitterly.

"Beauty is one of the things Father always took pride in."

"Whenever people looked at me, they would praise him for having such a beautiful daughter."

"It became something I wanted to protect."

"So even though everyone still says I'm beautiful..."

"I can't stop seeing what was lost." The room became quiet. Lily watched her for several seconds.

"... I see." So that was the problem. The room fell quiet for a brief moment. Lily did not offer empty reassurance. There was nothing she could say that Rosa had not already heard countless times before. Instead, she moved on.

"May I know the name of this beautiful young lady I'm currently dressed as?" Rosa smiled slightly at the question.

"Rosa." Lily repeated the name.

"Rosa..." She tilted her head.

"Roosevelt?" Rosa nodded.

"Rosa of the Roosevelt family."

"I see." Lily quietly memorized the name. Then her expression became more serious.

"Rosa Roosevelt."

"I have another question." Rosa looked at her attentively.

"Do you wish to attend tonight's banquet yourself..."

"Or would you rather allow me to attend in your place while you recover?"

"For the duration of the banquet, I can use your original appearance."

"You would be able to remain here and focus entirely on recovering." Rosa answered almost immediately.

"The second option." Lily nodded.

"May I ask why?" A faint blush appeared across Rosa's cheeks. She lowered her head.

"I..."

"I don't want to attend looking like this." She lightly touched the corner of her face.

"And..."

"I don't think I have the strength to spend an entire evening outside."

"I see." Lily accepted the answer without judgment. Then she called inwardly.

"System." Far away, the System paused. It had finally returned to Mr. Roosevelt's private library and had resumed recording the countless books unavailable to ordinary citizens. The interruption produced a small amount of annoyance. Nevertheless... The host had called. The System immediately returned.

"Yes, Host?"

"How long will Rosa Roosevelt's illness take to recover?" The System analyzed the information.

"If proper medicine is applied..."

"It should require approximately two to three days."

"If untreated..."

"Approximately two weeks." Lily blinked.

"That quickly?"

"Correct." She thought for a moment before asking another question.

"Do you know the medicine?"

"Yes." Without hesitation, the System transmitted the formula directly into Lily's mind. Task completed. There was nothing else requiring its presence. It immediately returned to the library. Knowledge was waiting. Lily watched it disappear before quietly letting out a small sigh. Then she turned back toward Rosa.

"May I borrow some paper?" Rosa nodded before quickly bringing writing materials over. Lily accepted them. After recalling the formula the System had provided, she carefully wrote down the prescription. Once she finished, she handed the paper to Rosa.

"Apply this medicine directly to the affected areas."

"You do not need to avoid the surrounding skin."

"However, concentrate mainly where the blemishes have appeared."

"If you apply it every day..."

"Within about three days, the symptoms should gradually disappear." Rosa looked at the paper. Then back at Lily. Her eyes widened.

"Really?"

"Yes." Rosa carefully held the prescription as though it were something precious.

"Thank you." Her voice carried genuine gratitude.

"Is there any way I can repay you?" Lily looked inward for a brief moment toward Nina and after receiving no objection, she looked back at Rosa.

"There is." Rosa straightened immediately.

"Anything."

"You can help me."

"By answering a few questions." Rosa nodded happily.

"Of course." She had absolutely no idea what she had just agreed to. Nor did she realize that Lily's definition of a few questions differed significantly from that of most ordinary people. Before the 2 hours were over, she was about to experience what could only be described as a complete dissection of her life, habits, relationships, etiquette, speech patterns, preferences, memories, and mannerisms. Every answer would lead to another question. Then another. And another.

By the time Lily finished, there would hardly be a single detail about Rosa Roosevelt left unexplored. Completely unaware of her impending fate, Rosa continued smiling as she nodded gratefully.