“You....”
“If I do this, no one will notice, right?”
Rania—no, the woman now wearing Camilla’s appearance—spread her arms as if showing off a runway look and twirled in place.
Camilla couldn’t say a single word as she watched the perfect copy of herself spin.
“Holy.”
She had truly lived long enough to see every ridiculous thing.
Among all the horrifying scenes she had witnessed so far, this one might rank near the top.
A human body melting grotesquely and being reborn into a new shape was just...
Camilla frowned as hard as she possibly could.
“If you’re going to pretend to be me, then what about Rania?”
If Rania suddenly disappeared, people would look for her.
“We’ll make one.”
“Make one?”
“You just saw it. It’s not even that difficult.”
“......”
“If I can live there perfectly in this form, Rania doesn’t matter anymore. I’ll just create a corpse that looks exactly like her and throw it into the river.”
What did she even think human life was worth?
Camilla let out a hollow laugh because she was too stunned to do anything else.
When Camilla shut her mouth—because what was even the point of speaking—Rania’s expression grew even more triumphant.
“Then /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ I’ll be going.”
Rania waved her hand and headed out.
Before long, she was completely gone.
Soon after, the fake Dennis left as well, yawning.
He seemed to think she couldn’t escape since she was tied up tight—apparently planning to go take a nap.
A moment later, a long sigh escaped Camilla’s lips as she was left alone.
What am I supposed to do now.
She had forced herself to act calm in front of them, but in truth she felt cornered.
What could she actually do in this situation?
She kept sighing again and again, and then suddenly a thought struck her.
She turned her head slightly.
Water Ghost Beth stood there blankly, staring vacantly in the direction the impostor wearing her son’s skin had disappeared.
“Beth.”
She called her name, but there was no reaction.
“Beth!”
[......]
Raising her voice a bit finally made Beth’s empty gaze shift toward her.
“Go find Derrin.”
[...Derrin?]
“The grandfather ghost in my house. Go to Derrin and tell him what’s happening to me right now. And Ars—...”
Camilla stopped mid-sentence.
That was the only move she could make.
Use Derrin or another ghost to tell Arsian what was happening.
At the very least, Arsian was capable of recognizing ghosts.
Will this be okay?
But there were too many problems with choosing that option.
Would Arsian really leave Derrin alone?
He wasn’t the type to tolerate a ghost lingering around him.
And Derrin couldn’t even speak directly to him.
Getting Arsian to come to where she was would be anything but easy.
But if Derrin learns about this situation, he wouldn’t sit still.
He would try somehow to make contact with Arsian.
He would hover around him endlessly, making a nuisance of himself, and if he happened to get erased in the process...?
“Haa.”
Camilla quickly erased the plan from her mind.
Chapter. Those Not Listed in the Register
“Where is Rania?”
The Duke of Sorpel, who had come to the dining hall for breakfast, spoke with a puzzled expression.
Rania’s seat was empty.
“Ah, Rania didn’t come back last night.”
“She didn’t come back?”
“I’m sorry. Father came home late yesterday, so I didn’t get the chance to tell you.”
“She stayed out?”
“Yes.”
“So where is she now?”
“She said she met a childhood friend.”
“A friend?”
“Yes. She asked me to tell Father that she’ll be staying at their house for a few days.”
“Hm.”
“She said she knows the parents there very well too.”
“Even so....”
A faint frown creased his brow.
Even if they were friends, staying at someone else’s house for several days didn’t sit right with him.
“Rania will handle herself well.”
“...Fine.”
He let out a short sigh and finally took his seat.
“Father.”
Pause.
The Duke’s hand, which had just picked up his spoon, stopped dead.
Why...
Goosebumps crawled instantly over his entire body.
He didn’t understand why he felt this way just because Camilla called him.
“Do you have something to say?”
Was he just too on edge lately because of Rania?
He exhaled quietly and forced his voice into a calm tone.
“I don’t see Brother Ludville.”
“You didn’t hear?”
Instead of the Duke—whose expression had stiffened slightly—Ravi answered.
“He said he was going into training for a few days starting today.”
Ravi’s brow creased faintly.
He had clearly heard Ludville tell Camilla so yesterday.
Did she forget that quickly?
“Did he?”
“Why?”
“I don’t see him, so I was curious.”
Her eyes curved gently.
“...Hey.”
“Hm?”
“Why are you smiling like that since earlier?”
Ravi scolded her, watching her keep a pleasant smile on her lips as if by habit.
She did usually smile in front of their father, but today it was unusually constant.
“I’m just in a strangely good mood today.”
Instead of snapping back—something she would normally do—her smile only deepened.
Ravi’s eyebrow twitched again.
What was wrong with her today?
She’s really just letting this go?
Normally if he scolded her, she’d throw something twice as sharp back.
He expected her to ask if smiling was a crime.
“Enjoy your meal, everyone.”
Regardless, Camilla lifted her spoon and scooped a full spoonful of stew, bringing it to her mouth.
Still wearing that bright smile.
“Arsian!”
Arsian, who had just finished sword-training and was roughly rinsing his hair at the fountain, snapped his head up at the familiar voice.
“Here’s a towel.”
Camilla smiled as she held it out to him.
“What are you doing? Your clothes will get soaked.”
“...Yeah.”
Arsian accepted the towel and began drying his wet hair—very slowly—while staring directly at her, forgetting even that water was dripping down his face.
“It’s really hot today, isn’t it?”
“......”
“Training swordsmanship in this weather must be exhausting.”
“Phew.”
A long sigh escaped him.
“Is it that tiring?”
“Yeah, a bit.”
“Should I go buy you a cold drink?”
Without waiting for his response, Camilla told him to wait and scurried off.
“...F**k.”
Only then did Arsian lower the towel covering his face.
A harsh curse spilled out between his teeth.
His expression was twisted beyond recognition.
“What the hell happened?”
A surge of killing intent nearly burst out of him, but Arsian steadied himself with another long exhale.
“Arsian.”
Camilla came running back with drinks.
He frowned again, then forced his expression into something neutral.
“Here, drink.”
She offered him a fresh fruit juice.
“...Yeah.”
He only pretended to sip it, staring at her the whole time.
“What did you do yesterday?”
“Yesterday?”
“I heard you left early and skipped classes.”
“Ah... I had something to do.”
“What thing?”
“I went to meet someone.”
“Who?”
“Just someone I know.”
“How do you know them? Where did you meet them?”
“Huh?”
“...I was just curious.”
Arsian had raised his voice without realizing it.
Seeing her puzzled look, he let out another long breath.
“Anyway—oh, Petro.”
Camilla suddenly spotted someone and popped up from her seat, hurrying forward.
Petro, who had also just finished sword class, was walking toward the fountain.
“Lord Petro!”
He blinked in surprise at her call.
Then the corners of his eyes curved and his usual soft smile settled on his face.
“It’s really hot today, isn’t it? Would you like this? I haven’t had a sip.”
“Well now...”
His smile deepened.
He glanced between the drink she offered and the hand holding it, then spoke again.
“You’ll have to compensate me.”
“...Pardon?”
“For making my heart flutter even for a moment.”
“What...?”
“The price may be a little high, though...”
SWISH! FWT-WT-WT—
“It’s not a wig, it seems.”
“......!”
Thud.
Camilla dropped the drink straight to the ground.
Her eyes trembled.
Petro had drawn his sword in an instant and sliced off a lock of her hair.
The situation was so sudden she couldn’t even scream.
“What are you?”
Petro’s voice and expression remained calm and unhurried.
“Why are you pretending to be her?”
“W-what are you talking ab—”
“Recently, she hasn’t called me with such warmth, so I was briefly moved.”
“Lord Petro, what are you saying—!”
Sssk—
Her voice cut off abruptly.
“I’ll ask again. What are you?”
His sharp blade pointed precisely at her throat.
His gentle smile—unchanged from moments ago—only made the scene more chilling.
“Hey!”
A voice cut between them.
It was Arsian.
“Arsian!”
Tears welled in her eyes.
She thought he was coming to help her.
“Lord Petro...!”
“You think I’m enduring this because I don’t know how to lose my temper? We need to find out where the real one is! The fact that this thing is wandering around means something happened to her!”
But with Arsian’s next words, her face hardened instantly.
“A piece of trash that harms others should be disposed of. Why should we hesitate to clean up trash?”
“What if it refuses to talk? How do we find where Camilla is?”
“There are plenty of ways to make it talk. Torture, for example. We torture it. We keep torturing it.”
“...Hey.”
This was exactly why he hated him.
Arsian clicked his tongue hard.
Everyone else thought Petro was calm and gentle, but Arsian had known from the first moment.
The madness hidden behind that smiling façade.
He gave not a single shred of mercy to those he deemed harmful to society.
He never hesitated to use his sword.
An even crazier bastard than me.
Even I only beat people half to death—barely—I rarely kill them outright.
“W-what are you two even talking about....”
“Shut up.”
“......!”
“Don’t you dare spit out words with her voice.”
A ferocious killing intent slammed into her like it would tear her apart.
Leaving the pale-faced impostor trembling behind him, Arsian turned to Petro.
“How did you know? That it’s fake.”
“She doesn’t smile at me these days.”
“You crazy bastard. That’s it? What if it had been the real Camilla?”
“It was strange that you just stood there and let her approach me.”
Petro let out a light chuckle.
“The way she walks, her gaze, her gestures... none of it resembled her.”
