"You are hurting me, Your Highness." She said as tried to move her shoulders to escape his grip.
To no avail, she felt her body froze, golden marks started appearing before her shoulders immobilizing her as the uncomfortable markings caused a sudden surge of pain shooting through her body. Alexis pushed her back to her chair and whispered.
"Your memories aren't back. You must've forgotten the truth behind that curse."
He paused and turned to face her. Alexis's face remained unreadable, and Erza couldn't discern his thoughts. Her body was stunned, she couldn't even utter a word as she can't move a muscle. The truth behind the curse, what is he talking about? Unarmed me at once, Alexis! She thought to herself as she tried her best to summon Erschelle's magic to counter Alexis' spell.
"Jellal already knows the truth. He is now aware that I was the one who possessed that black magic first and it was only switched by your mother. He wants to take his life back, Erza, and the only solution to switch everything back to its normal state is to undo the seal."
The seal? What seal? Erza asked herself, dumbfounded at the revelation from the prince. Suddenly, her eyes widened as she remembered the pattern that appeared in her dream, the pattern that Erschelle kept on writing and its similarity to the magic spell she had written the day on her wedding night. Was that a magic seal? So Erschelle wanted to undo the seal? Then that means- her thoughts were interrupted as he spoke to her in a shaky voice.
"And you are the seal, the late archmage used your body as a seal to the forbidden magic she had created to reverse the curse."
"W-hh?" she blinked her eyes in disbelief.
"The only way to undo it is to break the seal before my age of coming ceremony."
The crackling of the fireplace reverberated in the suspended silence of the room. Erza stood frozen as the weight of Alexis's words settled in the air. Her mind struggled to process the unexpected revelation. Breaking the seal? Does that mean Jellal -?
"It means, he needs to kill you to reverse the curse before it becomes permanent. That's why I need to purify you so that you'll regain your memories back," Alexis said as he hugged her then transported them to another place in the palace.
She found themselves in the secluded part of the sacred space of a church. The holy lake, the place where the priest would baptize their new students. Ironically, the holy water seemed to defy its nature—it remained dry when touched, incapable of wetting anyone. Oracles said that it was a lake gifted by the gods, a lake that never experience drought or was affected by snow.
"You need to remember everything," he said before he forcefully kissed her lips and pushed her to the water.
"No!" she shouted mentally as she felt herself plunging to the deep lake, the markings on her body vanished as it casted an eerie golden glow around her.
Three days prior to their marriage
Erza's heart sank as she watched Jellal's retreating figure, the weight of his departure settling heavily upon her. Desperation clawed at her, and her hands trembled, clutching the fabric of her gown in a desperate attempt to anchor herself to the nonchalant façade she's wearing.
"I'm sorry, I have to." She thought to herself as she closed her eyes as the door closed.
The dull ache in her wounded hand paled in comparison to the searing pain of rejecting Jellal. She stood there, the silence broken only by the distant sounds of footsteps echoing through the hallway. The realization of what she had just done gnawed at her, and the tears welled up, threatening to spill over. The hollowness of the room mirrored the hollowness within her, and as she sank to her knees.
"How can I save him if he keeps on saving me first?"
On the day of their marriage
"Forgive me for loving you." He said before losing his consciousness to the drugs she had given him.
"Fool! How can you be a fool for loving someone like me, Jellal? I hate you, I detested you for making myself act like this. I hated the fact that I can't even hate you for loving me."
She slumped to her knees as she grabbed his collar, she bit her lips enough to make it bleed. Is there any other way to resolve this damn curse, mother? How can you be so selfish that you've ruined someone else's life to revive mine?
Erza's bitter sobs echoed in their chambers, the world felt too cruel for her. In her mother's desperation to revive her daughter's life, she agreed to the unjust suggestion of the emperor to reverse the curse from the crown prince to one of his illegitimate son. Erza felt responsible for the messy life that Jellal had experienced, each tear shattered heart as she remembered how cruel the world was for making them meet and even made them love each other.
"You should've hated me so that it will be easier for you to move on and feel nothing if I die," she sobbed as she took out the vial from her gown.
"Erza?!"
Erza's consciousness slowly returned. The distant echoes of someone calling her name reached her ears, Jellal, she thought as she blinked trying to focus her vision.
"Erza, can you hear me?" Jellal asked.
"J-Jellal?"
The disorientation began to wane, replaced by a surprising sense of warmth wrapped around her body. As her senses adjusted, she realized she was nestled in Jellal's lap, his arms cradling her with a protective embrace.
"You're awake," he said in a voice full of concern.
"What happened?" she asked as she tried to distance herself from him as she lifted her gaze and met his.
"No, stay right here," he said as he tightened his embraced.
"It means, he needs to kill you to reverse the curse..." Alexis' words echoed in her mind.
"You fainted near the holy lake. What are you doing there? Aren't you aware of how dangerous the ceremony was? I know you're suspicious of my actions because you thought that I will not believe in you because you are not Ersche-"
"She never hated you," she commented as soon as she heard him mention her name.
"She acted as if she detested you so you would distance yourself from her but in the end, you keep on pursuing her despite your grudge against her father. Jellal, I have no right to demand that you love me," she said in a shaky voice.
A heavy sense of guilt settled over Erza as she grappled with the realization that she had detested Erschelle so much without knowing her true story, she felt horrible for using her life. She robbed her mercilessly of her life and everything. She couldn't escape the truth: she had lived as if she were the original owner of that body, navigating relationships, experiences, and emotions that didn't truly belong to her.
The internal conflict raged within Erza, torn between the comfort she found in this life and the moral dilemma of perpetuating a charade. She was merely borrowing her existence and she even misjudged her. Erschelle loved him more than herself. He was her savior and she was his.
The weight of guilt intensified as Erschelle's memories resurfaced, vivid images of Jellal tending to her in the aftermath of her mother's death. She tried to kill Jelal back then in a fit of rage but stopped as she can't remembering their friendship. Jellal stayed with Erschelle as she refused to eat and drink because of the trauma of witnessing how her mother died before her eyes. She recalled the comforting touch of Jellal's hands and the fact that he stayed with her during the darkest periods of her life.
"Are your memories back?" Jellal asked, bewildered by her words.
"Erschelle's memories are back," she emphasized not wanting to replace Erschellle's role in his life.
"I-I'm sorry?" Jellal was in disbelief, she must've hated him now since she had all of her memories.
"If you're thinking that I've hated you now, you're mistaken. I pitied you both. How can the author of this novel be cruel to the two of you," Erza began sobbing as she recalled her memories.
"To reverse the curse, you need to kill me," Erza said as she summoned a dagger.
Jellal's eyes widened in shock as Erza extended a dagger towards him, her expression was full of desperation. He recoiled instinctively, unable to fathom the gravity of the request coming from someone he cared for so deeply.
"Erza, what are you saying?" Jellal stammered.
"If I die before Alexis's birthday, you can possibly reverse the spell that my mother had created, if not it will become permanent. You need to do it!"
"I can't do that- I'd rather live as a cursed man than lay my hands on you,"
"I am not Erschelle, Jellal! The woman living in this vessel is no longer the Erschelle that you loved, if you kill me now, you may be able to summon her soul back to her body if you will regain your holy magic from him. So please, I beg of you, do it!" she stood up, placing the tip of the dagger to her chest.
She can't kill herself, it will not undo the seal, it should be Jellal in order to undo the seal. That night on their wedding, Erschelle tried to cast an enchantment on Jellal to make him kill her to undo it. Erschelle wanted to atone her sins for causing his miserable life, but Erza felt too guilty for all the favors Jellal had given her. If the author of the novel does not give them a chance to be happy, then maybe this way, you can be reunited again. She said to herself as she accepted her fate.
"No, I can't do this." He shook his head as he used his dark magic to disintegrate the dagger.
"You are Erschelle, you are not anyone else," he said as he bit his lip as a single tear grazed his cheek.
"What? Why don't you believe me?" Erza cried as he shook his head and retreated to his seat.
"I am an impostor! You should have hated me! I am not your Erschelle, so kill me!"
"Erschelle will do everything to make me hate her and that only confirms to me that you have indeed lost your memories, making you think that you are not yourself."
"I am a reader! For heaven's sake Jellal, I know that you will become the villain in this story because she died! She died after the prince's birthday and the curse became permanent. You've became the villain in the novel that I was reading. Maybe if I die earlier than the plot, I could return to that damn world of mine and you might even revive Erschelle using your magic if you want to,"
"If you are indeed a reader then you should've predicted about the past instead of relying into Erschelle's memories. The archmage may have altered your memories that way, he made you think you are someone else, Erza-"
"That's because this is the prequel to that story, I never read this book but-"
"No, I had enough of whatever reasons you have. I am not doing anything if entails of taking your life. Lady Irene made the right decision to revive you, and I will never hate her for that." he replied sternly cutting her off.
"You knew the truth all along?" Erza was shocked as she did not mention her mother reviving her to life, she only mentioned about the seal.
"She asked me to protect you, and I had forgiven her for everything, so if you think that killing yourself to atone for your mother's actions would justify everything, it will not! It will only make things worse."
"If you die, then a part of me will die too. I don't care about the curse anymore, please, just don't leave me. Stay with me… I might lose my mind if you'll die because of me," Jellal kneeled as he held her hand.
A/N: See Chapter 4 as reference for Erza's flashback. Erschelle's memories are back and the confrontation had finally happened! I'm so happy that I was able to update this. I can't believe you're still reading this story, Jusalove. Thanks for your support. I'll update if I'd buy some for reading folks!