WAV 25

Shaaahhh—!

At the same time, several streams of water shot up from the floor.

The Duke had used his ability!

The wildly swirling streams surrounded me, their ends sharpened like drills.

What is this?! Why all of a sudden…?!

I froze stiff, unable to understand what was happening.

The Duke glared at me fiercely.

“An illusion ability? Or appearance replication? I’ve never heard of such a power.”

“W-What…?!”

“Were you sent by Sephirot?”

Just then—

Crash!

“D-Duke! Wh-What are you doing right now?! No matter what, this is too much…!”

With a sharp shattering sound, the aide who had gone to fetch tea rushed in breathlessly.

“Langton! Good timing. I’ll hold her here, so go call Ethan and the knights immediately! There’s an intruder wearing Edith’s shell!”

“An intruder…?”

At the Duke’s words, Langton turned to me with wide eyes.

“I don’t sense any ability fluctuations… What is your basis for this, Your Grace?”

“She said ‘I’m sorry’ to me.”

“What?!”

Langton gasped.

“Are you certain? You didn’t mishear?”

“I heard it clearly with my own two ears!”

“I’ll summon the knights at once!”

After confirming again with the Duke, he looked ready to dash out immediately.

“W-Wait a moment!”

I had been standing there blankly, unable to follow their conversation, but now I hurriedly spoke up.

“Are you… suspecting me just because I said I’m sorry?”

“Our young lady has never once said anything remotely like that since she first learned to speak!”

In a calm tone, Langton explained how utterly ruined Edith’s personality had been since childhood.

Well… that does sound suspicious…

I almost nodded without thinking, but the closer sound of rushing water snapped me back to my senses.

Suspicious my foot?!

Thinking about earlier, I had probably been too polite from the start.

I lifted my chin and chose words Edith would likely say in an arrogant tone.

“I suppose I must not have done anything wrong.”

“…!”

“If there’s nothing to be sorry for, why should I bother saying it?”

Flinch.

Both of them stiffened as if splashed with cold water.

“…Judging by how brazenly you speak, you’ve analyzed my daughter quite well.”

The Duke, who had been studying me with unfamiliar eyes, tried to sound indifferent.

But his pupils were already trembling slightly.

The murderous aura that had been prickling my skin had faded before I knew it.

I let out a long sigh at this absurd situation.

“You both seem to have forgotten that I lost my memory.”

“T-That’s classified information! How do you…?!”

“Exactly. How do you think I know?”

I gave Langton a self-mocking smile and began listing everything that had happened over the past two days.

“I know I was forbidden from going out, sneaked out through the back gate wearing a maid’s uniform, took a healer’s carriage to Tolen, got caught, and was dragged back here to be scolded. What should we do about that?”

No spy, unless they had followed me personally, could know the details of my trip to Tolen this precisely.

And certainly not with such a genuinely exasperated expression and tone.

The Duke and his aide knew that as well.

“Edith…? Are you truly Edith?”

“Well, considering Count Frederick didn’t kill me and brought me back here, I suppose I’m still this household’s daughter.”

When I answered indifferently, Langton nodded.

“Indeed. If she weren’t truly Lady Edith, the Count wouldn’t have failed to notice…”

Dylan had served me for a long time, so in a way he was the most reliable witness.

I’m not sure whether to feel happy about that or not…

A solemn silence filled the room for a moment.

Watching the two avoid my gaze with a dry expression, I addressed the Duke.

“If your suspicions are cleared, could you please remove this? It’s rather frightening and uncomfortable.”

“…”

The Duke glanced at me with a strange look and waved his hand.

Shaaahhh— splat!

The water streams that had been fixed like solid spikes lost their shape and collapsed onto the floor.

He must have controlled them carefully; not a single drop splashed on me.

Instead, his office became a sea of water.

Breaking the silence, Langton cautiously asked,

“Th-That memory loss… was it truly real?”

“Was I the kind of person who lied habitually?”

“…”

There was no answer again.

Even without knowing the past, it was easy to guess that Edith wasn’t someone who told lies habitually.

She wasn’t that cunning, and as a noble lady raised doted upon by her grandmother, why would she need to lie?

She could simply insist she was right or throw a tantrum.

In any case, the commotion about me being an intruder impersonating Edith seemed to be roughly settled.

So this is what happens when you get transmigrated into a novel…

It was absurd, but honestly, I had been quite startled.

For a moment, I thought the Duke had instantly realized I wasn’t the real Edith.

I calmed my pounding heart and brought up what I had prepared to say.

“Anyway… I’ve been reflecting on this incident as well. I know it was reckless and dangerous to act like that so soon after waking from a coma.”

“…”

“I’ll make sure nothing like this happens again.”

Though I felt a bit wronged, a mistake was still a mistake, so I admitted it cleanly.

The Duke and Langton looked at me as if I were something bizarre.

The real Edith would never have said such things.

Before coming here, I had thought deeply about my relationship with the Duke.

In stories where someone transmigrates into another’s body, do they usually try to improve relationships with those around them?

I wasn’t the protagonist, so I didn’t need to get along with the male leads.

But the Duke was directly tied to my food, clothing, and shelter.

And he was Edith’s biological father.

It feels like meeting a friend’s father.

I knew their father-daughter relationship had long been ruined, but I didn’t feel comfortable acting recklessly like Edith had.

I’m already a thorn in his side. If I irritate him further, I might really be kicked out with nothing.

Since I had conveniently lost my memory, it seemed like a good opportunity to redefine my relationship with him.

But when I tried to think about how to get along with the Duke…

Nothing came to mind!

Sadly, I had never once had a good relationship with my own father either.

It’s not like I can suddenly act close… I’m literally here to be scolded right now, damn it!

Thus, my “Let’s get along with the Duke” plan was immediately scrapped.

I wasn’t the type to deliberately approach someone warmly anyway.

So only one option remained.

Treat him like a superior at work—maintain proper manners and just avoid getting on his bad side!

That was all I intended…

“Langton.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Does memory loss… usually change a person’s personality entirely?”

“I’m not sure. I can hardly believe the young lady just said those things…”

I didn’t expect them to gossip about me right in front of me.

Excuse me? Say that when I’m not here!

When I stared at them in disbelief, they avoided my gaze again.

“I-I’ll clean up the broken things and bring fresh refreshments!”

Afraid of being caught in the crossfire, Langton quickly fled.

Now only the Duke and I remained in the office.

“Ahem! Ahem!”

Embarrassed by what had happened, the Duke coughed repeatedly, his face reddened.

After a long silence, he finally spoke.

“…Why did you go to Tolen?”

“Tolen is Eston’s destination. I was actually planning to go to Ezenia.”

“Ezenia? Why there…?”

“I wanted to recover my memories. Nancy told me I used to visit the villa there often.”

It wasn’t unreasonable; he nodded.

Then he suddenly frowned.

“Even so, you should have informed someone before leaving! You just survived death and yet recklessly went there without fear…!”

“I’m sorry.”

When I apologized obediently, he once again looked at me strangely, then cleared his throat and changed the subject.

“…Ahem! Nothing serious happened, I assume?”

“No. Except that I ran into Count Frederick by chance and fainted.”

“Tch. Of all people to meet…”

He seemed just as uncomfortable with Dylan, Edith’s former attendant.

“What was the healer doing, not treating you immediately?!”

“What could healing power do about fainting?”

Healing could close wounds and slow illness, but it couldn’t restore stamina.

Clicking his tongue with an annoyed expression, he finally said what I had been waiting to hear.

“Since nothing serious happened, I’ll let this pass just this once. Refrain from going out for the time being. Even at home, mind your conduct.”

“Yes.”

“Edith.”

Suddenly, he called my name in a grave voice.

“The situation is turning ominous. Do you know that the Purifier has disappeared from the Imperial Palace?”

“I’m not entirely sure. A few days ago, Viscount Leandro came asking me about the Purifier’s whereabouts…”

“I’ll ask just in case—this time, you truly have nothing to do with it, correct?”

He scanned my face sharply, as if unwilling to tolerate even the slightest lie.

I felt wronged.

“I’ve only been awake from my coma for four days, Father.”

“No one cares about that, Edith.”

But unexpectedly, the Duke snapped coldly.

“Whether you truly kidnapped the Purifier or not doesn’t matter. Simply drawing suspicion from Grand Duke Belnac could be enough to brand you the culprit and have you executed. This time, it was brushed aside thanks to your funeral…”

“…”

“No matter that you’re a noble lady—an unawakened noble’s position is always that precarious.”