“Haah.”
A long sigh spilled from the Duke of Sorpel’s mouth as he walked through a garden where white baby’s-breath was in full bloom.
Whenever he came here, his mind usually settled. But today, it didn’t. One thought refused to leave his head.
‘Was that why?’
Why he’d never been able to truly give that child his affection.
“Because she was fake...”
Had he sensed it instinctively? That she wasn’t his daughter?
Every time that child put the word “Father” in her mouth, it had always left an unpleasant, prickling feeling behind.
‘But...’
That figure, that face—those had truly been his daughter’s.
Even as fury surged at the beings who had killed Rania and deceived him, the moment he thought of his dead daughter, his chest ached sharply.
‘What happened?’
There were still so many parts he couldn’t understand.
Why had she—why had Anna taken the child and left his side? Why, exactly?
“F-Father.”
At that moment, a familiar voice reached him. He turned slowly, and a faint smile naturally formed at the corner of his lips.
“What brings you here at this hour?”
It was Camilla.
“I heard you were here...”
Noticing the subtle tremor in her voice, the Duke of Sorpel strode over. He gently cupped Camilla’s cheeks with both hands.
She didn’t seem to have a fever.
“Is something wrong with your body?”
Should he have called a healer right away instead of believing her when she said she was fine?
Worry filled the Duke of Sorpel’s face in an instant.
“......”
But no response came from Camilla.
“Camilla?”
At his question, she only stared blankly at his face. Her eyes slowly reddened.
Seeing that, pity overflowed across the Duke of Sorpel’s features.
This hadn’t been some simple kidnapping. How frightened she must have been. He should have checked on her state more carefully—
He shouldn’t have let her calm expression and her “I’m fine” brush everything aside.
“I’m sorry. It’s just...”
“You’ve suffered a lot.”
As if he understood the ache she couldn’t put into words, the Duke of Sorpel gently stroked the top of Camilla’s head.
“Father...”
“Yes.”
“Father.”
At the way she kept calling him, almost like a child clinging to him, his smile returned.
“Just once...”
“Hm?”
“Could I hug you... just once?”
At the unexpected request, the Duke of Sorpel’s eyes widened slightly. Then he let out a small laugh and pulled her into his arms first, holding her close.
“What permission does a daughter need to hug her father?”
In his embrace, the tears Camilla had held back finally slid down in silent streams.
“Father...”
After calling to him so sorrowfully for a long while, Camilla forced herself to step back.
“Camilla?”
“I’m okay now.”
“I’ll walk you back to your room.”
Camilla gently shook her head.
“If this keeps going, I think I’ll really start wanting more...”
“Wanting more?”
Facing the Duke of Sorpel’s bewilderment, Camilla only gave him a faint smile.
“Father.”
“Yes.”
“Mother loved you very much.”
She conveyed the one thing she had to say in the end.
“Really... very much...”
“What are you saying all of a sudden?”
At his question, Camilla quickly wiped her reddened eyes and smiled softly.
“I think I should go now.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you back?”
“Yes.”
“Alright. I’ll see you at dinner.”
“...Yes.”
Camilla looked at him for a moment longer, then bowed politely and turned away. The Duke of Sorpel followed her with his eyes until the very end.
What was it? This strange feeling?
“......”
With a vague, inexplicable wistfulness weighing on him, the Duke of Sorpel couldn’t bring himself to turn away easily.
****
[Thank you, Camilla.]
The moment Camilla left the garden, someone slipped out of her body in a soft rush. It was Rania.
[For letting me say my last goodbye to Father.]
“Phew.”
Yeah... no matter how many times it happens, I never get used to this.
When a ghost entered and left her, a chilly residue lingered, and her body felt awful. Like a cold had settled into her bones.
“You should’ve taken a walk with him or something.”
But Camilla hid how hard it was. She didn’t want Rania to feel guilty toward her.
Looking at Rania’s still-reddened eyes, Camilla clicked her tongue briefly inside her mind.
“You could’ve stayed with him longer.”
She must have regrets. Having to part like this after meeting her father for the first time.
When Rania kept saying the word “Father,” over and over, Camilla had honestly felt a pang. How unfamiliar and tender that word must have been, the first time in her life she’d ever spoken it.
She had allowed the possession so Rania could at least say goodbye, but the time was far too short to fill that emptiness.
[If I stayed longer, I think it would’ve become hard to leave.]
Because the warmth of a father’s embrace she’d felt for the first time was...
“Right.”
Ghosts yearning for human bodies was nothing new.
Camilla understood immediately. Rania had been guarding herself, because if she stayed longer, she might not have wanted to come out.
Of course, Camilla was under the Guardian’s blessing, so unless she permitted it, ghosts couldn’t take her body at will.
“Habel.”
At Camilla’s quiet call, Reaper Habel—who had been pacing around them the whole time—appeared quickly and approached.
“Are you ready to go now?”
[Yes.]
With a faint smile on her lips, Rania turned her head one last time toward where the Duke of Sorpel stood.
After looking there in silence for a long while, she dipped her head lightly, then stepped closer to Camilla.
Slide.
“......!”
Camilla’s face showed open bewilderment for the first time in ages as Rania hugged her tightly.
[We could’ve been good sisters.]
“......”
[Take care, Camilla.]
She stepped back as she offered her final farewell.
[Please take good care of Father.]
“...Yeah.”
She couldn’t grumble, Don’t ask me for that kind of thing, like she usually would. She wanted Rania to leave with even a little peace.
As if she already understood that heart, a deep smile formed again at Rania’s lips.
Camilla watched Rania’s last figure vanish with Habel, just as she always did, until the very end.
****
TAANG!
“......?”
Even though it was midsummer, the chill still wouldn’t leave her, so Camilla had lit a stove in her room.
Wrapped in a blanket and resting, she couldn’t help but flinch when someone flung the door open and strode in.
“Brother Ludville?”
She had no idea why he was here so suddenly. He’d left to train while leading the knights, and she’d heard he wouldn’t be back for several days.
Step.
“Did training already fin—”
Slide.
Camilla froze mid-greeting when he walked straight up and silently placed a hand on her forehead.
“Did you take the medicine?”
“I did.”
Sensing the faint heat, he asked, and she answered right away. Then his gaze shifted to Camilla’s right hand.
“......”
Ludville’s face hardened colder when he saw the bandage wrapped there.
“It’s just a small scratch.”
Camilla hurriedly hid her hand behind her back and forced a bright smile. Then she realized something.
‘Wait, why am I making excuses?’
I didn’t do anything wrong. And this wound was from the fake Rania slicing me with that knife. I’m the victim. The victim!
‘But...’
Looking at him with his whole mood sunk so low, it felt like she had to. Like she couldn’t let things get any heavier here.
“I’m sorry.”
“Huh?”
“For coming in without knocking.”
“Ah...”
Camilla let out a small snort of laughter.
“Some people come in without knocking every single time, you know.”
Ravi should’ve been here right now. I should’ve made him watch this and learn!
“Are you hurt anywhere else?”
“No.”
He must have heard everything the moment he got home. Or maybe the news had reached him during training.
“But is training already over?”
“.......”
Huh?
‘Excuse me?’
Why are you suddenly avoiding my eyes?
“Rest.”
After laying her back down as if dodging the question, he left the room quickly.
“Ludville!”
“I knew you were here.”
But before the door fully closed, she heard Rube and several attendants outside.
“Your deputy is in chaos because you suddenly disappeared.”
“Did you come without saying anything?”
“I’m going back.”
“Right now?”
“Yeah.”
“No, then why did you even co—”
Snap.
“...What?”
Camilla blinked.
He came even though training wasn’t over? That conversation basically said exactly that.
“Well...”
This wasn’t something he could just brush aside. The fact that Rania had been fake.
He must have run straight here the moment he heard.
Did he come to ask about everything that happened?
“Hm? Then why didn’t he ask anything and just leave?”
Only now did Camilla realize that Ludville hadn’t asked her a single question about the incident. She tilted her head.
“Ah, because I looked unwell?”
Maybe she looked so bad that he couldn’t bring himself to ask and left instead.
Do I really look that unwell?
“Ugh, whatever.”
Letting out a short sigh, Camilla lay back and drifted off to sleep.
“Did you hear?”
“About Rania?”
“She was fake!”
“That’s not all! She even kidnapped Camilla to try and kill her!”
“Good heavens...”
“They say the fake young lady’s body crumbled apart right there on the spot!”
“Ugh... that’s horrifying!”
The fake young lady. A kidnapping.
The Empire was thrown into an uproar once again.
Hearing that a vile group had tried to infiltrate none other than the Ducal House of Sorpel, people felt shock and fear all at once.
“Hm.”
Outside was in chaos, but Camilla—the center of it all—was spending a rare stretch of leisurely time.
Her condition had only been briefly poor from the aftereffects of possession, but the Duke of Sorpel and the rest of the family had mistaken it for trauma from the kidnapping and placed her under strict watch.
In other words, she had been banned from leaving.
Naturally, she couldn’t go to the Academy—she couldn’t even step outside her room. So for the first time in ages, she was sprawled around lazily inside, rolling this way and that.
“Was it too broad after all?”
Still, she hadn’t let go of everything.
Reading through the stack of documents laid out before her, Camilla’s brow kept knitting tighter and tighter.
