By the time I got home, I had finished eating the bread from the base stand. It had been good, but clearly, it needed a drink. 

‘Beer and wine,’ were the two things people drank the most back at the adventurer’s guild. I had tried both but didn’t find them to be that great, plus they made people grow fat and sluggish like my father. There was nothing interesting for someone a tad younger to drink, and no, water was not enough to satisfy an old desire for a sweet juice I once had tasted.

‘If only sugar didn’t cost so much,’ I arrived in my room without issues, not finding my dog throughout the way. It was likely that my mother had taken little saint to wander around.

‘I should do the slime quest tomorrow,’ my hands grasped the paper Leonor had given me with the information.

"I'll do my best!" quickly, I folded the paper into a small piece, storing it in my pocket once more, and when I did, I felt the touch of something else, removing it.

"This is..." the second card had some information on it: Name: Aurora, Age: 15, Registered at Aria Village, Rank: F.

“Aurora...? Who’s that?” words escaped my lips as I felt disoriented, sensing something within me shattering, giving room for a voice to resound in my mind: a warning from my status skill.

Notice: Soul-bound has reacted.

An eerie aura expanded from me, devoiding my entire room of light, making everything pitch black.

‘What’s going on? I can’t see anything,’ uncomfortably, my body shook from fear, feeling a distinct, abnormal magical pressure than the one of the saintess.

Notice: Due to Soul-bound...

My eyes were forcefully shut and I collapsed.

Light filled my mind, a long distant memory unraveled itself before me, and with my unconscious eyes, I dared to glance at it.

‘A door to my past,’ I felt my eyes furrow, yet I stretched out my arm towards it. I knew that was something I needed to see. Thus, I went for it, turning the handle, and forced it open with all my might.

The green brightness eluded my eyes briefly, and then the scene played before me, slowly.

“That’s...” I shed a single tear upon the greenery before me, the familiar isolated wide garden surrounded by dark fences and tall walls, leaving at its center the grandest mansion I had ever witnessed.

And laying on top of the grass, I saw a different version of myself. The Iris from back then was playing with the ragged and antique dolls, enjoying the one thing that accompanied her life, a colorful imagination that allowed her to live in places that weren’t allowed. My eyes dimmed at the following scene, my birth where my mother had died, leaving my father with a grudge so hard that if I hadn’t had a single use: political marriage at the age of 16, he would have killed me with his bare hands.

And the baby grew into a skinned young girl, deprived of nourishment by the maids her father had assigned to take care of her. He couldn’t find it within himself to do any of it, not even to look at her, that unsightly cancer that murdered his lover. 
But alas, with time passing, his heart too, found a new light, a fellow widow with two young kids, older than Iris. Perhaps by the pain both felt, or something else, he ended up remarrying with her.

Her old husband had died during a war against the Kingdom of Baltimore, one of the military heroes, leaving the widow with a substantial fortune.

The following scene brought more tears to my kind self: The dusty walls filled with books of all shapes and colors, each holding a selection of words that would fill the girl’s brain from that day onwards, the one place where none dared step into, created solely due to her deceased mother’s whim: the forbidden library.

The girl’s personality was closed, lacking nourishment, kindness, and any hint of love, retaining but an empty heart. However, her mind was colorful and bright: the stories she would read became her own tales. At times, fables of brave people and heroic deeds, against monsters and demons through different perils. At others, romantic affairs, and plots of impossible lovers: sometimes happy endings and, at others, tragic ones.

With the time passing fast inside my subconscious, I took brief glimpses of the girl smiling faintly.

‘The magician of the court,’ every so often she imagined using these super amazing magic spells herself, one of the rare things that made her eyes sparkle and the lips turn into a hint of happiness. There had even been a story her ears once caught from the maids' chit-chatting about an extremely venerable ancient sorceress, capable of showering the kingdom with rain. Such was her grandiose power, but not a single soul knew of her name.

‘I wish to be just like her,’ my emeralds caught the image of the faded picture on the page, a woman whose white hair reached the very bottom of the floor, and in her hand a staff made of bones, with the top having the shape of a human skull.

‘The first time I saw that image...’ I had closed the book, and from time to time, I’d go back to see it again. Eventually, I grew used to the eerie way it looked, and at some point, I got to like its peculiar appearance.

“It may have been due to...” the scene changed, making my wondering halt.

Inside the mansion, the mistress mistreated Iris, with the help of her children, verbally and physically, without ever damaging her face, so the husband didn’t notice.

“I wonder how we should torment Iris this time...” The vile woman glanced at her younger ones. “My dear children, Marie and Johan, any suggestions?” Joana asked with an evil grin inside her own room.

The young lady who had a bitter smile and a twisted vile face, had a peculiar thought, voicing it out loud, extending her arm delicately in the tea way.

“Esteemed mother, perhaps we should lock her in a room and starve her to see how many days she can last?”

The mother laughed happily upon hearing her daughter’s comment.

The boy chuckled evilly, looking at the young lady, “that sounds like a splendid idea dear sister, however, let’s make sure to not overdo it, otherwise, dad might notice.”

“Possibly so, my dear son. Let’s attempt a 2-day starving for now and we’ll see how she handles it.”

The three of them smiled and laughed happily upon reaching that decision. Nearby, my eyes caught a glimpse of a maid who was serving tea to them, shivering in fear towards the wickedness of such conversation, promising herself to stay away.

‘Even now it still makes me angry,’ I scorned the four of them. No. My anguish went to all of them, every single one who mistreated me, remembering the coldness that accumulated within that old me for years. 

As if to relieve me from my anger, a new scene unfolded, an unfamiliar one at that.

‘The attic? Why would I go there? I don’t remember that!’ My old me walked to an abandoned place untouched for decades, perhaps even longer. The door was clearly rusted and dirty. It had made her skinny arms have some trouble opening it up, but in a way, it was like a new adventure, the reason why she hadn’t given up and succeeded.

Everything inside was full of objects and around them, plenty of webs with tiny spiders. The air in there felt heavy, which made Iris think it was due to the accumulation of dust and the strange odors that reached out for her nose. It was quite vast. Only god would know how many things were there. Nonetheless, she explored such a place, soon finding something tall and white. Inside, the attic was dark and hard to see as it had no windows, the only light was the one coming from the open door that she had left open.

She wondered what was that white thing, the only object that had a cover. It was certainly suspicious. Due to curiosity, her feet moved closer to it, and extended her arm.

Realizing it by the touch, Iris could tell it was like the blankets used in her bed when she slept, thus, decided to pull it off.

As the linen fell, her expression grew fearful, having the mind screaming for the girl to run, but the body did not listen, freezing. A bit of time went by without anything bad happening, allowing the calmness and common sense to return.

“Silly me, getting scared by a reflection,” she had said as it was only a tall mirror, far bigger than her.

Due to the obscurity inside the attic, Iris thought there was a girl in front of her at first glance, but now she was reassured that it was just a copy of herself. But then it happened... as if to betray the reassurance she had placed in herself. The image of the lips moved and words echoed through the room.

“Can you help me? I’m trapped inside this mirror.”

The air felt even heavier for Iris as she ran out of breath, her heartbeat pounding so hard that it reverberated through the attic, and the anxiety dominated the delicate lady.

The voice re-surged and asked with a fragile, sorrowful tone, “hey, I’m stuck in here. Can you please help me? Please?”

Iris kept on shivering, feet paralyzed in that spot, eyes glued to that image, giving time for the reflection to continue her monologue, “I’m sick of living here in this small place surrounded by darkness.”

‘Who is the old me talking to?’ my emeralds caught both of them and the strange scene unfolding before me, a strange memory, by all means, one where the old me was shocked, and the one in the mirror sad. 

Iris clenched her fists as hard as she could, piercing the nails in her hand to control the different emotions, “ugh.”

The reflection stared at her behavior attentively, taking note of every action.

Blood came out of her skin, painting the floor with tiny drops, moaning softly from its pain. Yet, the coldness in her heart allowed her to hold everything in as much as possible, despite fluttering.

“W-who are you? Why are you there?”

The reflection's eyes blinked, answering, “I am... I’m here because I was locked inside this mirror a long time ago,” the clean light blue eyes trembled, showing off a teary expression.

To that Iris replied confused, “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t hear your name and locked? Why would someone do that to you?”

Once more the reflection spoke, “if you didn’t hear it, then you won’t be able to till I’m out of here. My name, too, is sealed within these chains.”

The girl’s hands grabbed onto one another, feeling bad within herself, “oh, poor girl...”

“As for why I got sealed well... I killed someone very important a while ago, the first king of Ludrica, the founder of it.”

Iris remembered the name of the current kingdom and thought out loud, “Ludrica? There’s no kingdom with such a name.”

The girl inside the mirror heard it, punching the mirror, surprising Iris, and proceeding to shout, “what!? Just how long am I trapped here?”

Tears fell from the reflection blue eyes as she fell on her knees, the sole detail that was different from Iris’s figure.

The girl in the attic, feeling pity for the one trapped in the mirror, attempted to console her, “hey it’s okay, everything will be okay. What can I do to get you out of there?”

Iris’s reflection stopped crying upon hearing that, “I no longer have a physical body, so I need an individual that fulfills three conditions.”

“What are they?” Iris asked innocently, without expecting anything in return, except perhaps a friend and, of course, granting the girl some freedom, and, if possible, even happiness.

“First someone willing to do a soul-bond contract with me, second someone that has enough magical potential, and third...”

Iris, a little sad, interrupted the girl and pointed out hastily, “I’m not really sure what a soul-bond contract thing is, but I’ve never used magic.”

The reflection stared and waited for her to finish patiently.

“I’m Iris, also only ten years old, so I don’t know if I’m someone who can help you get out of there.”

“Don’t worry, Iris, since you can see me, your potential is the real thing.”

“Really? I can use magic?” The innocent girl asked, hopeful, smiling as she had never done before.

“If you wish to take me out of here, Iris, then yes.”

Both girls heard a sound, steps approaching: someone coming up the attic stairs.

“Ah! So, this is where the little bitch was!” Johan her stepbrother shouted angrily, holding on to a long knife.

“What are...” As Iris was about to finish saying the question, Johan jumped on her.

“No! Stop! Let me go!”

Iris did her best to stop his lustful self, despite being overwhelmed by him, a young, fit man. Compared to her adopted brother, she was an underfed skinny girl.

He started cutting off her clothes, hurting parts of Iris’s skin in the mix, blinded by the lust of wanting to abuse her.

The shouts from the assaulted girl echoed through the attic, and suddenly, the reflection’s voice reached her ears alone, causing her eyes to gaze up to the mirror as she was laying down, with her back glued on the cold wooden floor.

“Iris! Touch this glass wall fast with your hand, and make the contract with me.”

Iris struggled, kicking his brother’s leg, making his own leg slip to the side, causing him to lose balance. His arm waved, and the knife pierced Iris's chest. She started coughing blood, some of it tainting Johan’s face, frightening his deluded self, making him back away from her, cowering from his actions.

Iris took the chance to use her remaining energy as a red liquid kept pouring from the chest wound, coloring the floor, paving a way. With the utmost sacrifice, her arms crawled upon the blooded river, allowing a desperate expression to paint the girl’s face, persisting through an almighty pain, unlike anything she had felt before. But her sacrifice was not in vain. Her left hand reached out, touching the mirror and a light eluded from doing so, and then suddenly, despite her consciousness faltering, she heard a whisper close to her ear.

“From today onwards, your soul is mine, Iris,” the suffering girl, stared at the mirror, smiling softly, for she had made a friend, if only for a brief moment. 

The girl then declared nonchalantly, pushing her long hair back with one hand, “my name is...” as she was about to tell Iris her name, the poor girl’s heart stopped beating from the blood loss and she died.

My subconscious faded, and my eyes opened, granting me the ability to see my present life.

“I understand now...” I took a deep breath, closing my eyes to my past, embracing the obscurity that dwelled around me.

“Aurora... Is that your name?” I attempted to converse without knowing if I truly spoke, as I could not hear my voice inside this darkness.

Suddenly, upon my invocation, beautiful lightful particles began leaving my chest, one after another, and then it clashed, dark and light, one ate the other, a ferocious war between the two elements.

Notice: Due to Soul-bound, the System Seal is breaking.

‘Is that a good or a bad thing? If something is sealed, it generally means that it’s bad, no? Unless...’

My memory showed me the girl trapped inside the mirror and I recalled her words, the sorrow that came with them, the despair of being locked, and the same emotions I had endured throughout my entire life. Without putting too much thought into it, I decided then.

‘She must be trying to set herself free from that awful prison! Status skill! I know you can hear me. I want to help the trapped girl inside of me, please.’

Notice: The entity consumed all of your mana. 

My consciousness faded thanks to mana exhaustion as it had happened to me before.

Entity: Time to destroy this seal!

Suddenly, the darkness burst out from within, hitting the ring of light surrounding my body with a pincer attack, consuming it entirely.

Notice: Seal removal concluded.

Notice: The contract between two souls can now terminate.

Laughter echoed through my room.

Notice: The entity devoured the curse.

"You won't escape me, Iris."

Notice: The entity cursed the soul contract, turning it unchangeable by any means.

System: You have received the titles: Soul-bound, and Reincarnated.

Notice: You have received three skills: unidentified, Item Inspection, and Material Evaluation.

System working:

An error has occurred; the same individual cannot have 2 titles of the same type.

An error has occurred; the same individual cannot receive 2 extra skills from the reincarnated title.

Looking for a solution... Success.

Merging titles... Success

Title Reincarnated+ has emerged.

Merging skills... Success

Unique Skill Appraisal has emerged.

Notice: Entity has used a skill against you.

Notice: No longer under the effects of the dark element; Status updated.