Everyone remained speechless at the revelation. The silence was so heavy that one could have heard a pin drop.
Katrina was the first to break the silence, her voice trembling:
"That's… that's… that's impossible… You're my daughter. I carried you for nine months in my womb and…"
"Mom…" Miria interrupted her gently. "I am YOUR daughter… at least, in this era."
Gale raised both hands, completely lost.
"Wait a second. Time out. I don't understand anything anymore. Miria, you say you're the bearer of the grimoire… but the bearer of the grimoire would be thousands of years old. Yet you don't look thousands of years old. Besides, Katrina watched you grow up. Can you be clearer?"
Miria took a deep breath.
"To tell you everything… it's more complex. You see… I have the ability to reincarnate."
Kira's eyes widened.
"So you mean…"
"Yes. Every time I die, I am reborn… one hundred years later."
Eiden leaned forward.
"So that means the woman in the portrait… the former Miria…"
"Yes. The former Miria and I are one and the same person. Just in different eras."
At those words, Asher stood up from the table without a word and left the room. Miria watched him go, a dull pain piercing her chest.
Katrina placed her hand over her daughter's.
"It'll be okay…"
Miria placed her other hand over Katrina's and smiled weakly.
"Don't worry. I expected it a little. After all, it's unsettling to think you've loved two people… when in reality it was just one and the same person. However… there was nothing I could do about it. My memory only returned when I turned eighteen."
"Oh… if Darell knew… He never would have blocked your memory and…"
"It has nothing to do with Dad," Miria interrupted. "You see… when I reincarnate, you could say I become a new person."
Isabella frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"I am reborn without the memories of my past lives. However, it's only temporary. The memories of my previous lives always return… when I turn eighteen."
Diana slowly nodded.
"So you remain amnesiac from birth until you're seventeen… and when you reach eighteen, your memory returns."
"Yes. The founders did that to protect me. Returning my memories to me at a moment when I'm defenseless would be dangerous. It's better to give them back to me at a mature age… when I'm capable of fighting."
Everyone absorbed the news in a heavy silence.
---
Outside, Asher stood in the estate's garden, in a well-hidden spot near a small water spring. Light footsteps approached.
"I knew you'd be here," said an amused voice.
Asher did not turn around.
"Ah… really?"
Miria sat down beside him with a smile.
"It's your favorite place of all the spots on the estate."
"It seems some things never change," he murmured.
Miria lowered her eyes, half-sad, half-guilty.
"Asher… I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner about my reincarnation, but…"
"Do you even know how much I suffered after your death?" he interrupted, his voice rough.
"Asher… it wasn't up to me. My memory only returns when I turn eighteen. Before that… I remembered nothing."
"And why didn't you tell me in your past life? You could have told me you were a person capable of reincarnating."
"I wanted to tell you. Right after you became a vampire. I wanted to tell you the truth. That it didn't bother me to become like you… because I live a bit like an immortal, since I reincarnate a century after my death. But you disappeared…"
Asher said nothing. Miria continued, more softly:
"You remember…"
He lowered his head, muttering:
"You could have told me when we found each other again in your past life, right…"
"I no longer saw the point. I had grown old. And if you had turned me, I would have remained frozen at that age. I would have stayed older than you… something I didn't want. So I stayed silent."
"But even if you no longer wanted it because of the age gap that had formed… you could have told me. And I would have waited for you."
Miria looked at him with an amused smile.
"Asher… do you hear yourself? What sensible person would ask to be waited for for an entire century?"
"But I love you. I would have been ready to wait as long as it took."
"Yes… now I know that. But I didn't want to make you wait. Maybe you could have found love during that century… and it would have been unfair for you to give that up just because of a promise you made to me."
Asher said nothing. Miria moved closer and placed her hand on his cheek.
"Asher… after your transformation into a vampire, you left so you wouldn't force me to choose between my family and you. You didn't want me to… watch the people I love die before my eyes while I lived forever. In that sense, you wanted to protect me… in your own way. But I also… didn't want to trap you in a promise that would take too long, that you might regret. I wanted things to follow their course… so there would be no regrets. So I too, in my own way, wanted to protect you. Do you understand? We both did what seemed right to us… for the one we love."
Asher placed his hand over Miria's that was holding his cheek. A smile formed on his lips.
"It's so unreal to have you with me again…"
Miria, tears of joy in her eyes, smiled.
"Yet it's really me. I'm here… and this time, for eternity."
"Miria… my love."
He took her in his arms and pressed his lips to hers in a passionate kiss. Miria responded with the same ardor, the same hunger, as if a century of separation was finally dissolving.