After I died, my personal maid rebelled.

Pitch black, pitch black, consciousness falls in viscous pieces, breaking into the dream.

It was as if it were a distant past that never happened, or a decaying future that sprouted branches from decay. After all the senses were lost, the underlying color of desire slowly unfolded like a kaleidoscope along strange patterns.

Memories and emotions intertwine at this moment, the colorful indulgence is so unbearable that Annie can hardly believe that the naked person in the picture, humbly begging for desire, is herself.

With a soft thud, passing through the last barrier, Annie was like a drop of water on a stalactite, gently dripping into the boundless abyss.

She was certain she was dreaming, or rather, a bizarre and fantastical dream.

She just didn't know what was connected to her dream.

Memories from several lives are woven into a complex and distorted tapestry, with beginnings and endings carried on the soul, emitting silent and hoarse sighs.

A slender figure stood at the end of the gallery, her desolate silhouette like an endless solo. When she turned her head, eternal tears fell in an instant.

Annie exclaimed in surprise, "Lilith?"

"Lilith!"

She ran forward, everything in her eyes trembling. The alternating flashbacks made Annie's breath catch in her throat. Fear gripped her vision, while the scorching sunlight shone into her eyes.

Annie reached out her hand, and countless afterimages engulfed her, instantly transforming her into another world.

"Oswald, are you really not going to Central College?"

Before the panic on her face had faded, Annie saw herself. The young Annie was lying on the grass under the shade of a tree, holding an obscure and difficult book, probably trying to prove her maturity.

Ten meters away, the boy, who was clearly four or five years older than her, responded while struggling to swing his lance, drenched in sweat.

"I am the eldest son in my family, and I don't have time to waste my days in college."

The boy was Oswald, and perhaps only Annie understood the source of his loneliness. But what Annie didn't know was that Oswald had been pretending all along.

His idol had a famous saying: "I have always given my all in my life."

Oswald also adopted this as his life motto, and devoted his entire childhood and youth to it.

The environment in the Northern Territory was too harsh, and in most years, they had to face the invasion of the demon race alone.

Oswald, who grew up without any more children, would sometimes hold Luna and fall into deep thought.

Not understanding why she had come here, Annie, after entering the illusion and confirming that they could not see her, sighed with a sense of loss.

But it's a memory with Oswald...

When she was young, she was more curious than infatuated, wondering what kind of person her future fiancé would be.

To be fair, Oswald was an excellent person.

He didn't have the disgusting vices of nobles, wasn't a womanizer, and was hardworking and ambitious; it's just that his mind was too deep, making people instinctively feel that he was dangerous.

Time always seemed to move slowly in the past. Influenced by Oswald, little Annie also began to read some military books and discovered her specialty: archery.

The training ground held many memories for the two of them. As little Annie grew up year by year, she looked forward to many things, completely unaware of the growing weariness in Oswald's eyes.

Time flows very quickly in the illusion, and every scene from the past pierces her heart.

"Miss Annie, I hope that you can attend Central Academy starting next year."

One day, Oswald took the initiative to speak up. Now an adult, he was much taller, and the two officially signed a marriage agreement.

"Why? Didn't you say that studying there would be a waste of time?"

Annie looked at him in confusion, but the arrow in her hand hit the bullseye precisely the next moment.

Oswald did not answer the question; he turned and looked at the snow-capped peaks.

"Annie, let's get married after you come back, okay?"

"Hey, do you think you're turning into an old man soon, Oswald with a terrible reputation?" Annie chuckled, winking mischievously. "But I don't mind, just wait for me to grow up."

"yes……"

Oswald lowered his eyes, smiled bitterly, and picked up a cigarette, the flame illuminating the silence in his eyes.

"You don't need to go to school in the capital! I'll hire the best teachers for you. You don't need to worry about that, Annie. Daddy will give you everything you want."

When Annie returned home that evening, she sensed something was amiss. Her father, the Marquis, seemed inexplicably tense, and after quickly eating a couple of bites of bread, he went back to his room.

Before long, a group of nobles quietly arrived at the Marquis's mansion under the cover of night.

From that day on, everything changed.

Annie was restricted from going to the Duke's mansion, and war ensued. The demon army of 150,000 marched south, the border was in dire straits, Starfall City was breached, and Count Camaro's daughter, Lisa, was seriously injured.

The Northern Territory and the Central District responded quickly, with their two armies converging and heading to Starfall City to meet the enemy.

During this period, quite unusually, Oswald took the initiative to accompany her to a banquet and even gave her a dress.

"I've lost everything, Annie, I can't lose anymore."

At the ball, the two dancers whispered to each other. Annie, overhearing this, stomped her foot hard. "So you made a baron's daughter your personal maid? What are you trying to do, Oswald?"

Oswald's eyes were filled with pain. "I need help, but as you said, I'm a man with a terrible reputation, lacking energy and charm."

"Annie, I can't save myself."

The story ends with a kiss on the hand, and the future that Annie had hoped for ultimately turns to ashes.

They lost the war; the king was killed, the northern army suffered heavy losses, and the duke and duchess were killed. Shortly after the news arrived, Oswald swiftly mobilized the Knights and launched a bloody internal purge.

The Marquis's family was the first to be affected.

When the illusion ended, Annie looked at herself weeping in the room and couldn't help but frown. In the illusion, she could only see her own situation and knew nothing about Oswald's.

But... why did the branch happen here?

Suddenly, three paths appeared before her. Annie could understand two of them: one led back to the past, and the other led back to the future.

The coincidence is too much to bear; it just so happens to go back to the day he was imprisoned by Oswald, leaving him no room to maneuver.

After thinking for a while, Annie walked into the first fork in the road.

Since it's an illusion, there's no harm in taking a look. As for myself in the real world, I've probably already fallen victim to Elene's evil deeds...

Hmph, despicable woman. I will never let her go after I become a curse.

Under the gray sky, Annie sat by the window looking at the desolate ice city. Under the heavy snow, natural disasters and a terrible war that had lasted for more than half a year had destroyed all the beauty of the past.

Starving refugees filled the dilapidated streets, and the wind tolled the bells on the city walls, like the murmurs of the dead beneath the snow.

The Duke's mansion was silent. The rescue he had remembered did not occur. The heavy snow fell for three days and three nights. Many people covered themselves with a white blanket and never woke up again.

This bizarre scene shocked Annie. Although Oswald in her previous life could go mad, he was unconditionally good to the common people. How could he allow his people to starve and freeze to death?!

No, based on Annie's understanding of Oswald, it would be more surprising if he took the initiative to help his people.

Or rather, does this extra fork in the road represent Oswald's different choices?