Transmigrated as Jane’s Ghostly Godmother - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: What They Care About—Friction During the First Half of the Competition…

“They’re both asleep.”

Feeling the tremor in the hands clutching her own, Lin Zhao felt a pang of intense pity. She confirmed the two girls in the neighboring beds were deep in slumber before whispering softly to Jane.

Jane didn’t speak. Her lips were pressed thin, but she used her other hand to pull back the quilt, patting the empty space on the bed.

Lin Zhao lay down. Before her was the familiar ceiling; to her side, the window drenched in moonlight. It was the same scenery as always, but neither the living girl nor the spirit had the peace of mind to sleep.

After Lin Zhao settled in, Jane remained silent, simply continuing to hold her hand tightly.

Lin Zhao tried to say something to alleviate the pressure. “…Beatrice and Georgiana talked about Gateshead again in the banquet hall. Georgiana’s words weren’t much different from John’s, but Beatrice noticed she was lying.”

“She pointed out a flaw in Georgiana’s story, and then John Reed’s commotion interrupted them before Georgiana could make an excuse.”

Lin Zhao kept her tone slow, hoping to make Jane feel better. “…Her sudden outburst tonight… it might be because I’ve left too many traces lately. If we keep some distance for a while, maybe—”

“No, Lin. It has nothing to do with you. I can see she’s targeting me,” Jane interrupted, her voice muffled and heavy. “I should have just denied it, but looking at Eleanor, I couldn’t say a word…”

“She almost got into a fight with John because of me. I’m still worried he’ll cause trouble for her later…”

Water welled up in Jane’s eyes, and her words became fragmented. “Don’t talk about keeping your distance anymore. If I can’t even talk to you, wouldn’t I be back to being completely alone?”

At this, she paused, and her tears finally spilled over, no longer able to be suppressed.

“I truly don’t understand why they target me so much—even after leaving Gateshead, they still point fingers at me. Does it really have to be as Eliza says? Do I have to pay them enough money to satisfy them? But I won’t! I don’t want these people who hate me—and whom I hate—to get a single benefit from me!”

“I hoped to earn achievements fairly, to prove I’m different from the girl at Gateshead. But if they still look at me the same way even if I take first place, what should I do?”

“I’ve heard enough about my ‘lowly birth’ and how no one loves me. What do I have to do to escape this cycle?”

“You said I need to love myself and the world—but if no one in the world loves me, where is the meaning in any of it?”

She tried to suppress her voice, but as her emotions peaked, a sob broke through.

Yes, why can’t things go a bit more smoothly? Jane has already done so well.

Lin Zhao remained silent, squeezing Jane’s hand harder. She wondered if there were invisible rules in this world that forced Jane to endure these growing pains even after escaping the original plot. Social interaction, the fight against the past, the questioning of self… the time, place, and people had changed, but the lessons of growth had followed her here.

Jane was still weeping for a friend in the spring of her eleventh year.

Facing a misty future, Lin Zhao had to ask herself: Will the happiness I’m so certain of truly come to pass? It felt as if someone were mocking her: “To think you can change Jane’s fate and carry her future just because you read a book a few times… how laughable.”

…Was her existence truly meaningless?

The thought startled her. In a daze, she reached out, her fingertips brushing the area beneath Jane’s eyes.

Wet. The warmth of Jane’s tears was an incredibly real sensation. Jane stiffened for a second, then, with total trust, she tilted her face toward the hand, letting the tears flow like a river into Lin Zhao’s palm.

…Right. This was the one thing she must not doubt: the meaning of her presence.

She was no longer a reader watching Jane’s tears from outside a book. Their companionship in this moment was the meaning itself. Since she was the first variable, there would surely be a second, a third, and a fourth.

“No, Jane.”

Lin Zhao spoke suddenly, making Jane look up at her instinctively.

“Just as I told you at the very beginning—none of this is your fault.”

As she had promised: Jane was meant to be happy.

Lin Zhao took a deep breath. With careful, incredibly gentle movements, she wiped away Jane’s tears. “You should know better than anyone that they are simply rotten to the core. Don’t waste your thoughts on them. Just ignore them as you did at the start of the day. You felt better then, didn’t you?”

“But… Lina and Betty are both so unhappy,” Jane’s tears seemed endless. The thought of her friends’ doubt made her heart ache. “Lina fought with John because of me. And Betty… I thought we were getting along so much better, but as soon as Georgiana appeared, she became…”

“It’s okay. Deep breaths, Jane,” Lin Zhao patiently repeated her actions. “This proves you care about your current friends. Time is an equalizer. I believe their thoughts about you come from a place of caring about Whirlwood, not Gateshead.”

“But I can’t tell them about you…”

“Indeed, you can’t. But that isn’t the core conflict of your relationship. Even the best of friends have secrets from each other.” As the moisture on her fingertips subsided, Lin Zhao’s voice grew even softer. “I think everyone is just stressed because of the competition. It’ll be a bit rough until the mindset is adjusted.”

“Remember the first rule of our guide? Don’t escape the present; time will prove everything.”

“Yes… can’t escape. The competition,” Jane murmured, her focus shifting slightly. “I prepared for so long, Lin… you watched me, didn’t you?” Her breathing stabilized.

“Yes, I watched. And the thing you have to fear least right now is being alone,” Lin Zhao replied with absolute certainty.

“Because you will always be with me…” Jane followed her thought instinctively, realizing she no longer resisted the idea of a future spent with a ghost.

“Not just that, Jane,” Lin Zhao paused, deciding to give Jane a piece of encouragement. “You have an uncle on your father’s side. He has been looking for you. Besides him, you have other siblings. Believe me—they are people entirely different from the Reeds.”

“…” Jane’s eyes went wide with shock. She couldn’t make a sound. Her damp eyes searched Lin Zhao’s, pleading for more.

“That’s all the news I have for now… but I promise you, the day you reunite will come. Until then, shall we keep working on becoming our best selves?”

Jane nodded earnestly and spoke no more. She leaned her head into that warm palm—the one that wiped away her tears and embraced her grievances—and quietly closed her eyes.

She would work hard. For a tomorrow where she was no longer alone.

Human thoughts change with time, but life continues in the endless cycle of sun and moon. No matter how much the girls sharing the room wished to stay asleep, the sun rose.

The new morning carried the silence of the night before. They walked to class together, but no one spoke.

Lin Zhao couldn’t talk to Jane in this situation. Although Jane had said she didn’t need distance, Lin Zhao decided to give the girls some space and went to keep an eye on John Reed instead.

“Jane, if anything happens, tell me when I get back. See you in a bit.”

Lin Zhao’s departure made the silence between the three girls even harder to bear. Jane wanted to break the ice, but every time she looked at Eleanor, Beatrice would let out a dissatisfied huff. She didn’t want to spark another fruitless argument, so she kept her head forward.

The team remained awkward even as the first event—Historical Drama—began.

This event tested both acting and historical knowledge. Each group drew a historical event and wrote a play for it. In their practices, Jane was always the one who assigned the perfect roles, complemented by Eleanor’s excellent delivery and Beatrice’s skillful acting.

They drew an event they had practiced before. They knew the lines; the roles were set. It should have been an easy win. Jane instinctively looked at her teammates to comment on their luck, but Eleanor was looking down distractedly, and Beatrice was watching them both warily.

It’s not time yet. Jane distributed the materials, suppressing her discouragement. Emulating Lin Zhao’s gentleness, she forced a calm tone: “…Let’s stick to the arrangement from our mock competition. I hope we all perform our best.”

Eleanor finally looked up, forced a brief smile, and took the materials. “Mm…”

Beatrice, looking between the two, only offered a cold snort.

Luck and misfortune often go hand in hand. The luck of drawing a familiar topic was negated by a team spirit crushed by the previous night’s friction. Jane had to admit her “best performance” wish felt like a curse. They couldn’t even reach a normal standard.

When it was their turn, the stage was filled with one actress with a frozen face, one actress with flat emotions, and one who wore a constant cold sneer. Predictably, the result was poor. They received a score that wasn’t “bad” but was far below expectations.

“I’m sorry…” Jane and Eleanor spoke simultaneously as the scores were posted.

As their eyes met, Jane wanted to explain everything—but Eleanor quickly looked away. Jane was left to lock eyes with Beatrice, whose gaze remained a warning.

“If we keep getting these mediocre scores, we won’t get first place,” Beatrice said with a smile that held no warmth. “Jane, why don’t you just give us your excuses now so I can withdraw? We might as well face failure early.”

“…No. We will get first place,” Jane exhaled, biting back a sharper retort.

Eleanor remained silent, her mouth opening and closing as if wanting to say something, but saying nothing.

The next two days continued in this bizarre atmosphere. They managed the events with difficulty, and their ranking slowly dropped. By the end of the third day, they were barely clinging to third place. All three looked grim, yet they remained locked in their own thoughts, unable to communicate.

Jane felt something swelling in the air, waiting for the moment to explode. She didn’t know when the moment of “honesty” would finally arrive. Despite Lin Zhao’s comfort, the results were making her lose heart.

The only good news was that John Reed, under Lin Zhao’s watch, hadn’t had a chance to cause trouble as their events didn’t overlap.

But, as if hearing her thoughts, a “delayed but certain” provocation arrived. As they were leaving the assembly hall for the dorms, Georgiana appeared.

Naturally beautiful, possessed of an innate superiority, and highly skilled in drama, Georgiana Reed had taken high scores in the first few days. Her team was currently in first place.

Seeing them, she glided over, lifting her skirts gracefully. “Betty, I feel so sorry for you—” she said to Beatrice, her tone sickly sweet and “sympathetic.”

“I know this isn’t your true level. You must be dragged down by certain people.”

“After all, an undisciplined wild girl can’t be expected to learn how not to cause trouble for others—let alone do anything useful.”

Her voice wasn’t loud, but it was enough for Jane and Eleanor to hear. Jane’s fist clenched. She might hesitate with Eleanor and Beatrice, but she had no such reservations with a Reed. She had been holding back frustration for days, and she wasn’t about to be polite.

Jane stepped in front of Eleanor, eyes blazing as she glared at Georgiana, ready to strike back.

But an unexpected person spoke first.

“If I recall correctly, hasn’t she been living in your house all this time?” Beatrice didn’t even look at Georgiana. She calmly smoothed out her skirt where Jane had blocked her, her tone flat and indifferent. “Are you admitting that the Reed family’s level of discipline is simply… inferior?”

“What…?”