I, Who Came From the Abyss, Will Save Humanity Again Today - Volume 2 Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Who Am I?

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The black-haired young man named Parsifal had disbelief all over his face as he walked toward me with slightly trembling steps. From his mouth, I heard that name again.

Peylo.

The girl whom the cake shop lady mistook me for.

But… I’m really not her, and I don’t know her at all.

“Who is Peylo?”

“…You really don’t remember anything?”

The young man’s beautiful eyes mixed with hope and fear as he stopped five steps away from me. His voice trembled slightly, showing a hesitant demeanor of wanting to approach me yet holding back.

I could somewhat sense those complex emotions in his heart, but I couldn’t give him the response he wanted.

“Remember what?” My gaze was calm, my words without fluctuation, “My name is Sylvia, not Peylo. You’ve got the wrong person.”

The black-haired youth forced a smile upon hearing this.

“Peipei, stop joking with your brother. How could I not recognize my own sister… Tell me, where have you been these past few years?”

I frowned upon hearing this.

Peylo is his sister?

I heard this black-haired youth call the duchess “mom” earlier, indicating he’s Lord Scalliger’s son. Then his sister, that girl called Peylo, must also be the duke’s child.

“Parsifal, mind your manners,” the duchess softly reprimanded her son.

I turned to glance at her.

“Miss Sylvia, this is my second son Parsifal. Please forgive his impropriety, it’s just that you look extremely similar to my daughter Peylo.”

“Mom, what are you saying?!” Parsifal stared at his mother with wide eyes, “What do you mean similar! Didn’t you tell me earlier that you found Peipei! Look at her carefully again, if she’s not Peylo then who is she?!”

“Silence!” The duchess suddenly slammed the table, her usually gentle tone rising sharply. Although her expression remained calm, her brows emanated an imposing aura without any trace of anger.

Seeing his mother seemingly genuinely angry, Parsifal shrank back and dared not make another sound.

After some consideration, the duchess continued speaking to me: “You… look too similar to my daughter, not just in appearance, but even in your preferences…”

Facing me, she seemed somewhat timid. I remained silent for a moment before asking her again: “Then, where is she now?”

“Missing. One morning three years ago, she slipped away from the servants and butler, mysteriously ran out the door, and none of us knew where she went that day. Since then, she has never returned.”

At this point, the duchess’s brows were clouded with sorrow.

“That child was pure-hearted and quite playful. At first, we didn’t realize the seriousness of the situation, thinking she had just snuck out again on her own. It wasn’t until much later when we found she still hadn’t returned home that we realized something was wrong… We’ve been searching everywhere for her these three years, practically turning the entire Valen Empire upside down, but we still couldn’t find her.”

So she’s missing.

No wonder Lord Scalliger had such a strange reaction upon seeing me, no wonder the duchess showed such an extreme response just now, they had mistaken me for their missing daughter.

Thinking about it, it makes sense. A girl rescued by the Holy Church, with black hair and black eyes, plus the setting of amnesia, and coincidentally looking so similar to Peylo.

If I were them, I would think the same way. It’s not incomprehensible.

But I’m not Peylo.

I crossed over from another world, a monster that crawled out of the Abyssal mire. And this body naturally belongs to an Abyssal being, it couldn’t possibly be their child.

That’s right.

…Is it really right?

Then how do I explain the visions I saw before?

“So, you’re mistaking Little Syl for Peylo?” Carlos suddenly interjected.

“Yes, because His Holiness the Pope sent a letter saying the church had rescued a child who might be our daughter, and wanted to ask the Central Workshop to design a weapon for her. It was also a good opportunity to arrange a meeting with her to confirm in person.”

So that’s why they were eager to invite me and Carlos for dinner, they couldn’t wait to meet me first.

Wait, no.

What did she just say!

Engel wrote to tell her? So they knew about this from the beginning?

What’s going on?

I was confused and instinctively looked toward Carlos.

“So do you think it’s her?” Carlos asked calmly, completely hiding whatever he might be thinking.

The duchess paused upon hearing this, then gently shook her head.

“It’s not?”

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t know? Mom, what don’t you know, did you lose your memory along with her?!!”

“Parsifal, you’re being insolent! Go sit over there quietly!”

Parsifal wanted to retort, but after receiving a fierce glare from the duchess, he finally pulled out a chair and sat down with an unhappy expression.

The duchess continued: “Miss Sylvia, you are very similar to my daughter in both appearance and preferences. Like you, she loved sweets, she named Captain Grey, and it was her favorite. And you… can’t remember your past, right?”

Hearing her ask this, I didn’t know whether to nod or shake my head.

The amnesia was just a lie…

But how could I say such things?

“Unfortunately… the age doesn’t match.”

“The age doesn’t match?” Parsifal couldn’t help but interject again.

“Yes, you’re 16, right? But Peylo was already 15 when she disappeared three years ago. If she’s still… still in this world, she should be exactly 18 now.”

“That’s true,” Carlos agreed.

And I could only remain silent.

Because the age was also a lie.

Although this body of mine clearly appears underage, because the proportions don’t match.

How could an 18-year-old body still be so underdeveloped?

After hearing the duchess’s words, Parsifal also calmed down, knowing his mother spoke the truth.

The atmosphere remained silent until dinner time.

Sitting in the spacious dining room, I looked at the sumptuous food on my plate, then glanced up at the duke’s family chatting happily with Carlos, stirring my fork around, smelling the pervasive aroma, but just couldn’t bring myself to eat.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t eat, but that I really had no appetite, my mind wasn’t here at all.

Carlos had said I was a special existence because besides me, no Abyssal monster could turn into human form after death. What exactly was this body about, and what connection did it have with becoming a monster, I had never been able to figure out these relationships.

But I had my own theory, which was that I wasn’t actually a monster, but rather something like a consciousness or thoughts attached to a monster’s body, which is why I appeared so different. Carlos and the others didn’t know I had crossed over, they could never imagine this point.

I thought the Abyss was a conscious existence.

I remember having a dream before being reborn, a dream that felt so real. Perhaps it was then that the Abyss, through some unknown means, glimpsed the thoughts or preferences in my subconscious, and thus shaped this body that somewhat resembled Xiaoxi’s appearance.

Until today, I had always been certain of this.

But now everything suddenly became chaotic.

The duke and duchess seemed to have already determined that I was Peylo, their only doubt being that the age didn’t match.

But I knew this wasn’t really a point of doubt at all.

Age?

From the moment I was born from the Abyss, I already had this appearance. If we’re really going to argue about age, I’m not even half a year old yet.

And there’s a very good chance that I will forever maintain this appearance without changing, so age has no meaning for me at all.

Plus the visions I saw when I first arrived in the Valen Empire.

Thinking about it this way, even I feel convinced that I must be Peylo, or if not, I must have some great connection to her.

“I’m full.”

I suddenly didn’t want to continue sitting here anymore.

“Won’t you eat a bit more?”

The duchess gave me a concerned look, but I shook my head slightly.

“I want to be alone, to think.”

“Then about the weapon…”

“We’ll discuss it tomorrow.”

“…Very well, I’ve already prepared a room for you. Let the butler show you the way. Don’t think too much tonight, get some good rest.”

“Mm.”

The duchess called the butler, who led me to a room at the end of the fourth-floor corridor.

“This is the room arranged for you. I will remain outside the door, please call me if you need anything. Sweet dreams.”

“Thank you.” I nodded to the butler, then pushed open the door.

A fresh fragrance wafted toward me.

Unlike other parts of the castle, this room’s overall color scheme was predominantly white, with a large lace-trimmed bed in the center and a big stuffed doll on it. On one side of the bed was a bookshelf and a desk, on the other side was what looked like a soft sofa, and overhead hung an exquisite chandelier.

The fireplace opposite the bed contained burning flames which, together with the chandelier’s candlelight, made the entire space warm and cozy.

It felt very homey. The carpet underfoot didn’t have a speck of dust, as if it had been well-maintained all along, definitely not a temporary guest room.

I had already guessed whose room this was.

Walking to the bookshelf, I casually took down a 《Fairy Tales》 book and opened the first page to see a line of graceful handwriting under the contents.

To my beloved Peylo Guinevere Wintermoon

As expected, the duchess had arranged Peylo’s room for me.

Putting down the book, I looked around the room’s interior, touching here and looking there, opening the wardrobe to see several rows of neatly hung clothes, mostly dresses.

Then I discovered this room actually had its own washroom and bathroom, conditions far better than I had anticipated.

Additionally, there was a mirror in one corner of the room.

This was my first time seeing a mirror in this world, it wasn’t made of glass, but rather seemed to be some kind of polished metal.

The mirror dimly reflected my appearance.

A perfect face, a beauty that evokes pity.

I finally understood why the duchess had seemed so familiar. The reflection of the young woman in that stream in Woodward Forest, and my current reflection in the mirror, shared many similar features with her.

I couldn’t help but think about how my personality was becoming less and less like myself.

Originally I thought it was due to the influence of this body, but now… I’m somewhat lost.

This personality, did it evolve from Chen Yuxuan, or did it belong to someone else from the very beginning?

“Who are you?”

I could only mutter to myself in front of the mirror.

Sleep would certainly elude me tonight.