Ceres woke up with a throbbing head. The first thing she saw was the woven nipa thatch above her, which her brain slowly registered as the ceiling of a hut. She felt freezing, exhausted, and incredibly sore. She tried to sit up, but her back hurt like hell.
Her low groan startled an old man standing just outside. He immediately stepped inside to check on her.
"You're awake!" the old man exclaimed. His voice carried out into the open, catching the attention of the other villagers. "Where is Merci? We need her help!"
A few young men from the village immediately rushed off to find Merci, the oldest woman in their community. She possessed a deep knowledge of herbal medicine and served as their local doctor, given how far they were from the nearest hospital. Not long after, the old woman arrived, carried gently by the young men since she could no longer walk long distances on her own.
"Give me her wrist," Merci directed, and one of the young men carefully lifted Ceres's hand.
Ceres's assassin instincts screamed at her to be vigilant, but because she was still entirely depleted from her ordeal, she forced herself to relax. She allowed the man to touch her, silently promising to kill him later if he tried anything unnecessary.
Taking her wrist, Merci felt her pulse. A deep frown creased the old woman's forehead. Seeing the shift in her expression, Ceres worried that something was fatally wrong with her new body—not that she felt healthy by any stretch of the imagination. However, the dark look was fleeting. Merci let go of her hand and sighed softly.
"I've already asked Viola to concoct a herbal medicine to relieve her pain. Bring it here the moment it's finished so this young woman can get some comfort."
"We understand, Nanay," the young men replied.
Merci turned her wise eyes back to the bed. "What is your name?"
Ceres blinked. A heavy hesitation crossed her face as the room waited for her response.
"Don't worry," Merci added gently. "We are not bad people. The children who pulled you from the river said you were wearing a nurse's uniform. You must be part of the group that came to the valley for the medical mission."
"I'm... Belle," Ceres replied, testing the name on her tongue.
"A beautiful name." Merci signaled to the boys, and they carefully lifted her wooden carrier to take her back outside. "Have a good rest, child. We've already sent someone up the mountain to report that you are safe."
"How long?" Belle croaked.
"Huh?"
"How long have I been asleep?"
"Two days and one night."
Belle simply nodded, watching the old woman leave the humble dwelling. Before she exited, Merci strictly reminded the lingering villagers not to overwhelm the patient with their presence.
Left alone, Belle took a deep breath. Since she couldn't move due to the agony radiating from her wounds and deep bruises, she used the quiet to organize the chaotic thoughts in her head.
Slowly, she was beginning to adapt to the memories Isabelle had left behind. She saw snippets of Isabelle laughing with children and sharing close bonds with her hospital colleagues. Ceres discovered that the original owner of this body had a younger brother named Neon—a sweet, devoted kid who respected his older sister immensely. As the memories deepened, Ceres felt a suffocating tightness in her chest. The sheer weight of Isabelle's final, desperate emotions was taking a heavy toll on her.
She felt a profound sorrow for the girl. And beneath that, a crushing guilt for stealing a body when its owner had been fighting so hard just to survive.
And then, Eli's face flashed across her mind.
Ceres wept bitterly, the tears leaking into the straw mat beneath her. In this bizarre twist of fate, she had been given a second chance to see the person she loved—but it didn't erase the terrifying truth of her past life. She had pulled the trigger. She had watched him fall. She had watched him bleed out on the pavement, a man who had never done a single bad thing to her. A man who had actually saved her life once.
Staring blankly at the nipa ceiling, she cried silently as the remorse tore through her. She felt sickened by her own past selfishness. She had abandoned Xhylan, her best friend who had risked everything to build her an escape route. She had left Marcus, whose chaotic bickering had been the closest thing she had to joy. She had left the orphan children who relied entirely on her assassin bounties just to survive.
She had been a cold-blooded killer. Isabelle was a dedicated nurse. One used her hands to end lives; the other lived a mission to save them. Yet, the undeniable bridge between them was their fierce love for children—and Eli, who wore the exact face of General Joaquin.
[From this moment on, I am Isabelle], she resolved, tightening her jaw. [Thankfully, I know basic first aid from my tactical training. I'll just have to fake it until I make it. Should I pretend to have amnesia? I certainly can't match her medical expertise right away, especially since she loved nursing children so passionately.]
Having made her decision, Ceres embraced her new reality. Since destiny had granted her a clean slate, she would use this body as a shield for the man she had taken away in her previous life.
[I lost the right to love you the moment I pulled that trigger], she thought, her heart aching. [So, in this life, I will only protect you from the shadows. I will look after you, even if seeing you breaks my heart.}
Meanwhile, in B City, Eliezer was restlessly refreshing the local news feeds on his phone.
There was still no official update regarding Isabelle's disappearance. As much as the hospital administration wanted to notify her family, they had agreed to keep the incident hidden from her younger brother for the time being. Eli refused to lose hope. He firmly believed that good people ultimately found a way back, and he prayed fervently that her reward would be a safe return.
"Dr. Rivera? Are you alright?" a nurse asked, stepping into the breakroom. "I know how worried you are about Isabelle, but as long as a body hasn't been recovered, she is legally deemed missing, not dead. Let's keep praying for that."
Another doctor chimed in, sighing heavily. "It would be an absolute tragedy to lose a nurse like her. The pediatric patients adore her, and the parents always request her during their children's checkups because of her warm personality."
"You're entirely right," the nurse agreed. "Belle is a true blessing to this hospital."
"How is her brother holding up?" Eli asked, his mind shifting to Neon. He wanted to help the boy financially or emotionally, but his hands were tied by the circumstances. "Whatever happens, make sure no one breathes a word about Belle's disappearance around him until his own medical condition is fully stable."
The nurse smiled softly, watching his intense look of concern. "It's a bit tragic, isn't it, Doc? Finding out you're in love with someone only when they're in extreme peril."
Eli's eyebrows shot up instantly at the comment. His brain rejected the statement far quicker than his mouth could form the words. "What on earth are you talking about? I am absolutely not in love with her."
The two nurses simply chuckled, exchanging a knowing look as they left Eliezer alone in the room. Even though he was their senior medical officer, Eli's grounded nature made him incredibly easy to tease. His juniors frequently poked fun at his long-standing single status, often attempting to set him up on blind dates—though none of them had ever succeeded in making a match.