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Chapter 05
Leonhardt stared at his younger sister’s resolute face, a tangle of emotions churning within him, before finally speaking.
“If you want to return to how you were, I’ll actively cooperate toward that goal.”
“You mean you’ll help me find a way back?”
“We want to get the real Lilieta back as well. I think it’s an offer that benefits you, too.”
Rita’s brows drew together. Resting her chin in her hand, she fell into thought.
Maintaining as neutral an expression as possible, Leonhardt recalled the discussion from the night before.
He had insisted that she was the real Lilieta. Richard hadn’t believed it.
The duke trusted his eldest son, but he also felt Richard’s doubts had merit. There were simply too many strange points to wholeheartedly rejoice at his daughter’s return.
In the end, they decided to watch Lilieta a little longer. No matter what, her body was undeniably Lilieta Rascaille’s.
And although she denied it herself, if her soul truly was Lilieta’s as well… they couldn’t afford to lose her again. Never.
However, after losing their daughter, the duchess had become too fragile. They couldn’t reveal this situation to her, so for the time being they decided to keep Lilieta’s existence a secret from her.
“Brother, I don’t believe that excuse about her not knowing what happened to herself. If that woman stole Lily’s body using something like black magic, I’ll get it back no matter what it takes.”
Unlike their cautious father, who hadn’t met Lilieta yet, or his suspicious, teeth-gritting younger brother, Leonhardt was actually almost certain.
Father will realize it soon if he keeps watching. Because we’re family. Richard will know too, eventually.
Still, since she firmly insisted she wasn’t Lilieta, he couldn’t force that identity on her or make it obvious right away.
Until Lily realizes it herself… let’s just treat her as Rita Pascal.
Lilieta thought for a long time. Leonhardt waited quietly.
Following the rising sun, the light gradually filled the room, pushing back the shadows. Bathed in the full morning sunlight, she finally nodded.
“All right. I’ll accept that proposal.”
After eating a simple breakfast in her room and having the physician Leonhardt had sent treat the wound on her hand, Rita followed a maid down the corridor.
Though she had agreed to play the role of “Lilieta,” she had no idea what exactly she was supposed to do, so Leonhardt explained it to her step by step.
“First, just live here thinking of this estate as your home. I’ve told the servants that you returned with amnesia, so treat them comfortably. If they ask where you’ve been, just say you don’t remember.”
“Father and my younger brother know that you’re ‘Rita Pascal.’ But we haven’t told Mother anything. You understand what that means, right?”
“Once you can properly play the role of Lilieta, we plan to tell Mother that you’ve returned. Until then, be careful not to run into her.”
“See that detached building behind the garden over there? Mother is staying there. Being in the main house kept bringing back memories of Lilieta, and she couldn’t endure it. She rarely comes out, so as long as you avoid the area near the garden, you’ll be fine.”
“I’ve already instructed the servants to keep quiet. You’re confused and need time to adapt, and Mother also needs stability, so we’re keeping this secret for now. Everyone saw her collapse at the funeral, nearly causing a disaster, so they’ll all be careful.”
“As for the rest… yes, just live as the duke’s youngest daughter, ‘Lilieta,’ and adjust. Try to live with the mindset that you truly are Lilieta.”
Until she could properly play the role of “Lilieta” in front of the duchess, she was to live in the estate as Lilieta and adapt to life as a noble lady.
Rita accepted Leonhardt’s proposal like a mission objective.
I’m terrible at pretending to be a civilian or acting. That was Is-senpai’s specialty.
She didn’t even properly know what nobles were, and now she was supposed to act as a duke’s daughter. Her head throbbed.
Even the instruction to “think of this place as your home and relax” felt difficult.
Rita Pascal had never had a home. She’d lived wandering battlefields and ruins with her squad. You couldn’t really call a temporary campsite a home.
So… if I don’t know what to do, for today I’m supposed to put on a dress and look around the estate, right? They’ll be hiring an etiquette tutor soon, so until then, just…
Understanding the layout and terrain of where you stayed was basic camping protocol.
Deciding that today’s objective would be to learn and memorize the layout of this estate—no, this place called the “Birch Castle”—Rita felt a little calmer.
“Um… m-miss. W-we’re here. Th-this is it.”
The maid’s trembling voice pulled her out of her thoughts about what tools she might use to draw a map of the estate.
Only then did Rita realize that the maid attending her—Hanna—was still terrified.
“Um…”
“Y-yes, y-y-yes!”
When Rita called out carefully, Hanna responded as if startled. Rita swallowed a sigh and spoke as gently as she could.
“You were surprised earlier, right? I’m sorry. I… lost my memory. This place felt unfamiliar, so I was overly on guard. I scared you, so I—”
“I-it’s okay! M-miss apologizing to s-s-someone like me—!”
The maid, practically jumping in place, hurriedly changed the subject.
“L-look! Th-this is the dress room where madam collected all the dresses made for you, miss!”
As Hanna pointed to the antique wooden door, her expression suddenly turned wistful.
“Madam said that there had to be clothes ready whenever you returned, miss, so every year on your birthday she had a dress made for you…”
Rita, who had only been told by Leonhardt to follow the maid and change into a dress, flinched in surprise.
Is it really okay for someone who isn’t even the real Lilieta to wear those clothes?
As she swallowed the question she couldn’t voice, Hanna wiped at her eyes and murmured,
“They were made each year to fit the average build of girls your age… sniff, madam said that the young lady in the photographs never grows, but your dresses keep growing and growing. You were this small, and now you’re already all grown up…”
“……”
Rita’s heart grew even heavier, leaving her unable to say anything. Sniffling, Hanna turned to her and clasped her hands together.
“Your return is truly, truly a miracle, miss! Every time I cleaned this room and saw all those dresses without an owner, my heart ached. Ah, how happy madam will be… I wish we could tell her about your return as soon as possible.”
“……”
“So you really don’t need to feel sorry to me over a small mistake from feeling unfamiliar, truly! Just the fact that you exist is something I’m so grateful for!”
Rita couldn’t bring herself to look directly at the maid, whose eyes brimmed with tears of gratitude. She averted her gaze slightly and managed a reply.
“No… still, threatening a civilian—no, um, threatening you was definitely wrong…”
“I’m really fine! I was a little startled earlier, but now I’m not scared at all! You’re Madam’s daughter—how could you be frightening? Do you know how excited I was to become your personal maid?”
Overflowing with emotion, Hanna pressed both hands to her chest, her eyes shining.
“I hope you’ll treat me comfortably, miss! I’ll serve you with all my heart as your dedicated maid, so from now on, please think of Hanna as your own hands and feet!”
“Y-yeah… th-thank you.”
Overwhelmed by her enthusiasm, Rita barely managed to nod. Now fully recovered, Hanna beamed as she opened the door to the dress room.
“Then, miss, the dress—”
The moment the door opened, Rita caught a scent.
The raw smell of earth after rain, or of charred wood. A sharp, bitter odor that stabbed at the nose.
A familiar, ominous smell.
The aura released when a monstrous beast that had just devoured a human digested human flesh.
For that presence to be so strong that even a human nose could detect it meant the existence of an especially powerful named monster.
The finale of countless tragedies and disasters, the overture to a desperate, brutal struggle.
Her body reacted instinctively to the nightmare scent etched into her bones.
She yanked the civilian in front of her back behind her, lowered her body, and stilled her breathing. At the same time, the hand that moved to draw a weapon grasped at empty air.
There’s no gun. Damn it.
There was a way to fire magic bullets barehanded, but that required the ability to manipulate Od.
And now she was alone, with no comrades to fight alongside her—and a helpless civilian in tow.
This is the worst.
