‘Could this be coincidence?’
That someone wearing the duchess’s bracelet looked as if she’d been stamped out of the duke’s face?
No way.
There was only one conclusion to reach when you put all of this together.
There was a child born between the Duke of Sorpel and the duchess—and that child was Rania.
‘But that makes no sense.’
Unless a ghost bore a child, it couldn’t be.
Ludville’s birth mother was said to have died long ago. Which meant the Duke of Sorpel must have remarried to the mother of the Camilla–Ravi siblings.
[But why are you suddenly asking about that bracelet, Young Lady?]
“Derrin.”
[Yes, Young Lady.]
“If I said I saw someone who had that bracelet, would you believe me?”
[...Pardon?]
“I saw a woman wearing the exact same bracelet.”
Camilla °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° told him exactly what she’d seen. If anyone knew something, it would be Derrin, who had watched over this place for so long.
[You truly saw it? Where!]
“......?”
[Was she a woman in her forties!]
“...What?”
An unexpected reaction burst out of Derrin. For the first time, he peppered her with questions, flustered and urgent.
“...Forties?”
Why suddenly forties?
[Wasn’t she a woman in her forties?]
“No.”
[...Ah.......]
“She was a woman my age.”
[Your age?]
“She said her mother gave her the bracelet.”
[W-what......!]
Derrin’s face turned to shock in an instant. Camilla’s expression grew stranger at the sight.
Why was he so rattled—so unlike Derrin?
“Derrin.”
[...Yes, Young Lady.]
He’d gone blank for a moment, then hastily schooled his face.
“You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you.”
Otherwise, who asks that kind of question when told about a bracelet the late duchess wore?
At most he should have been a little surprised, or wondered how such a thing could be.
[.......]
As expected, there was something. Derrin clamped his mouth shut.
“Derrin.”
[...This isn’t something I can speak of on my own authority. Please understand, Young Lady.]
With his head bowed low, Derrin shut his mouth again, and Camilla couldn’t press deeper.
‘What on earth is this?’
Only her questions grew.
Chapter. Rania
“Zeno.”
[Huh?]
Camilla, who had sat by the window lost in thought for two hours, called to Zeno.
He’d been unusually watchful of her mood today and hurried over.
“Are twins common here?”
[Twins?]
“And is it common for one to die and only one to live?”
[What are you talking about? Why bring me up all of a sudden?]
“It’s not about you. I saw a woman not long ago.”
[A woman? Who?]
“She exists. And beside her there was a ghost that looked exactly—”
Knock, knock.
Camilla, mid-conversation with Zeno, snapped her mouth shut.
“Young Lady, it’s Rube.”
“Come in.”
Butler Rube stepped inside and glanced around.
“What?”
“Nothing. I thought I heard conversation.”
“Conversation?”
As befit the Chief of Black Shadow, Rube had sharp ears.
Camilla gave an awkward smile, deciding she needed to be more careful when speaking with ghosts from now on.
“I was alone.”
“Then I must have misheard.”
After a courteous bow of apology, he held out a sheet of paper.
“What is this?”
“The list of people who must be invited to this party, as you requested.”
“Ah.”
In a fortnight, a party would be held at the Sorpel ducal residence. It was her birthday party.
So she’d asked Rube for a list of those who absolutely had to be invited. She didn’t know much about such things.
“Hm......”
Camilla took the list with a short sigh inward.
This birthday had a different weight. It would be the last birthday the original Camilla celebrated.
But not knowing it would be her last, she’d ruined that day every time.
‘Sir Petro isn’t coming?’
‘He says he’s busy today.’
Petro declined her invitation.
Already head-over-heels for Laila at that point, Petro no longer offered even false kindness to Camilla.
‘Hk!’
‘Camilla!’
‘Where are you going now!’
At the news Petro wasn’t coming, Camilla left the hall, abandoning a party attended by a crowd.
A party without its host fell apart, and Camilla had to listen to another scolding from the Duke of Sorpel.
‘Truly the worst birthday.’
Even thinking of it again drew a sigh.
What about this time? At least it wouldn’t be ruined because of Petro, so it should pass quietly, right?
“If there’s anyone else you wish to invite, please tell me.”
“Mm.”
Camilla skimmed the invitation list. There were names she knew and quite a few she’d never heard.
Then, the moment she saw the last line of the last page, she went rigid.
Edsen de Fable
...Why was the crown prince’s name here?
“W-we invite His Highness the Crown Prince too?”
“Any event held by a ducal house sends an invitation to the Imperial Household as a matter of obligation.”
Right, it was merely formal. A courtesy invitation.
Those who meant to come would come, and there was no way that man would come just because he received one.
Camilla, who had flinched on reflex at the name, forced herself to turn the page calmly.
‘Receiving an invitation doesn’t mean he’ll actually come.’
Of course. Exactly.
****
“Long time no see, Lady of Sorpel.”
Dorman! Where did Dorman go!
The moment Camilla found herself facing the man before her—Crown Prince Edsen—she reflexively looked for her shield.
“...I greet Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
Is everyone free these days?
‘Why is everyone doing things they never used to do!’
Since when were you the type to come just because you were invited! And to my invitation, of all things!
You hate me!
“Good—at least you know who I am.”
“Excuse me?”
“I wondered if you didn’t even know who I was, since there was no reply.”
“What.......”
“Or did you not like my gifts?”
Right, the gifts!
After the hunting tournament, there had been gifts from Edsen.
No—“gifts,” as in a pile of them.
“I haven’t been well for a while, so I failed to attend to correspondence, Your Highness.”
Only now did she realize she’d received that many gifts from none other than the crown prince, and hadn’t sent even a single letter of thanks.
“You fall ill at the drop of a hat.”
“I’m far frailer than I look......”
Camilla put on the most pitiful, sickly face she could.
Playing a patient was child’s play.
She’d once cameoed in a medical drama as a terminal case and swept both tears and search rankings.
“Really? I thought......”
He bored into her, as if not to miss a single twitch, and continued.
“...you’d shoved everything I sent into a corner without even opening them.”
...Is he a ghost?
I should tear through every corner of the house later. Did that bastard install something like a CCTV?
He wasn’t wrong. She’d stacked all the gifts in one side of the storage and hadn’t properly opened them yet.
“I wonder if the gifts pleased you.”
“Yes, very much.”
“What did you like best?”
“They were things from Your Highness. How could I dare choose one. To me, they were all precious.”
With answers like this, there couldn’t be even a heartbeat of hesitation.
“......”
Camilla smiled placidly under the crown prince’s unblinking stare. Then he smoothly leaned his face closer.
This bastard...!
“You didn’t open them, did you?”
‘Gasp!’
Why were all the men around her so quick on the uptake? Damn it!
“I did open them.”
“Truly?”
“Of course.”
Face control! Face control!
“Do you know this?”
“Yes?”
“You have a smile you flash when you lie that’s so pretty it’s irritating.”
If it’s pretty, why is it irritating!
“From now on, don’t lie in front of others. I’ll allow you to do it only in front of me.”
What is he even saying?
Grinning, Crown Prince Edsen leaned in even closer, and Camilla tilted back.
You punk—what exactly are you trying to do with me right now!
“......!”
The moment she lost balance and started to fall, someone caught her gently.
“What are you doing?”
“...Arsian?”
Where did he pop out from?
She even saw Petro in the distance. Why was he here too?
As she blinked in confusion, Arsian sighed and set her upright.
Then, after making sure Camilla had her footing, he angled his body slightly to face forward.
Arsian and Crown Prince Edsen’s gazes collided.
“......”
“......”
Watching the air between them go cold in an instant, Camilla hastily straightened up.
Sirens wailed in her head.
‘A madman just met a madman!’
Not ready to face the outcome, Camilla tugged lightly on Arsian’s arm. Then she bowed to Crown Prince Edsen as politely as she could.
“Your Highness, please enjoy yourself.”
Before he could answer, Camilla took Arsian and quickly walked away to the other side.
“What did that bastard say? What did he do to you?”
“Shh! Shh!”
Camilla hurriedly covered Arsian’s mouth and looked around. Bastard or not, that guy was still the crown prince!
Even for Arsian, touching the royal family was dangerous.
“Just follow me quietly.”
Camilla drew him out to the terrace in a rush. All she could think was that they needed to leave this spot.
So she didn’t realize it—that everyone in the hall had their eyes on her and Arsian.
“Huh......”
“Isn’t that the young lord of Sephra?”
“It is.”
Arsian—Arsian of those rumors, no less—trailing after Camilla like a puppy with his hand held, was enough to throw people into confusion.
Those who had seen such scenes now and then at the Academy merely shook their heads faintly, faces half-accustomed.
“Hm.”
Edsen, too, watched the two with interest.
