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Chapter: 33
I was so stupid. How could I not have realized it!
Looking back, there were so many strange things.
And on top of that, with my life at stake, I got caught with such an important notebook, which I had gone out of my way to hide, only to drop it!
No one could be this careless unless they were as clumsy as my sister.
“Baek Mina, you idiot. Where are you right now!”
I flipped roughly to the next page I hadn’t read yet, wanting to grab her by the collar and shake her violently.
As soon as I released the quill that had been immobilized, it started writing.
[Anyway, my story ends here, so I’ll go now.]
[Yes. We’ll definitely find the old fox.]
[What are you talking about, Sis! The old… no. How on earth are we supposed to find Mona White!]
[Exactly. Unless Mona White shows up on her own, it’ll be difficult.]
[That will never happen! Got it? Never! Really!]
[Both of you, quiet. Didn’t you hear me? I told you I’m going now.]
[Ah, yes. We’ll disappear right away.]
[Sleep well, Your Highness.]
[Wait. I have one last question.]
[What is it?]
[Yes, Your Highness.]
[…Do I smell bad?]
What is the Crown Prince doing now?
Still worried about that.
[Can I be honest?]
[Go ahead, Sir Isdan.]
[I think there’s a little smell! Well then, I’ll be going!]
[….]
[…Your Highness. He must be lying to tease you. Don’t worry too much.]
[Why would Sir Isdan tease me?]
[…Exactly.]
After that, the quill didn’t move for a while. In the awkward silence, neither of them spoke.
Soon, Sis spoke again that she would go, and before long, the quill began moving busily.
It felt like meeting Raphel once again.
[Haha! Did you hear that just now? He said he smells. Did he get a harsh scolding from the deputy commander or something?]
[Maybe. But what are we going to do? Your Highness is looking for Mona White.]
[What do you mean what are we going to do? We’ll just have to pretend we can’t find her until the end.]
In the original story, it was Bin who revealed Raphel Isdan’s identity.
But now that the two of them had fallen out, Bin wasn’t part of this closest group.
So finding Mona White would be impossible unless the Crown Prince did it himself.
I didn’t know whether to feel relieved or not.
If the Crown Prince couldn’t find the treasure, he wouldn’t be able to kill me—but neither could he destroy the Brilliante on the Emperor’s neck.
As long as the Emperor lived, he would try to kill the Crown Prince until he died. Could the Crown Prince realistically avoid that forever?
Probably not.
Then, is it really right that Irillin Header, who was supposed to die, survives, and instead the Crown Prince dies?
To survive at the cost of someone else’s life… isn’t that too selfish a choice?
My chest tightened.
“Why are you just standing there?”
Not long after, Sis came into the dormitory… my sister asked me.
I sat up on my sister’s bed.
Then, without hesitation, I grabbed her by the collar.
“Where on earth have you been, Baek Mina!”
About three years before I entered <The Crown Prince’s Lover>, my sister had gone missing.
Now seven years had passed—it had been a full ten years since I last saw her.
I had forced myself to deny the vague possibility of her death and suppressed the baseless hope that I could meet her again. Ten years.
Baek Mina. I hadn’t uttered those three syllables in ten years.
Tears burst out all at once, like a dam breaking, becoming a pitiful wail.
“Uwaaaah… Sister—Sister…”
And it was the same for my sister.
Even Sis Header, who always seemed indifferent, had tears streaming down her face.
“Why did you make such a foolish contract! Huh, and where were you when you went missing!”
“…….”
“Why aren’t you answering, Baek Mina!”
“I can’t tell you anything… nor can I ask…”
I could feel from her fiercely shaking gaze and voice what she wanted to say.
She had so much she wanted to tell me, so much she wanted to ask—but she couldn’t.
“Ugh—Baek Mina, you idiot fool…”
I buried my face in her chest, even letting my tears and snot flow.
She patted my back quietly… or rather, no.
“…Your snot’s all over me. Can you move away?”
She pushed me away with a face full of disgust.
…Right. Even if I hadn’t known whether she was alive for ten years, sisters are still sisters.
That realization made the tears stop.
But I still couldn’t believe it.
Why was my missing sister in front of me? And why had she ended up inside the story she wrote?
Because of that damned contract, I couldn’t even ask. Damn it.
The more I thought about it, the more absurd it seemed. A doppelganger trying to steal someone else’s sister?
“Sis.”
“…….”
“Ah, you keep your conscience so clean! Hey, Sis Header!”
“Yes.”
“……Tie my hair.”
“Suddenly?”
“Suddenly? You used to do it every day back then. Now, hurry up!”
I turned and presented the back of my head to her insistently.
Sighing at my audacity, she sat behind me, making a clattering sound.
Curious, I turned slightly—surprisingly, there were combs, hairpins, and various hair tools.
“You ever had long hair? Why do you have all this in your room?”
“No. Never. I just… bought them after you came in.”
Until high school, I couldn’t tie my hair myself. My sister had tied it every morning without fail.
Then came three years of her disappearance, plus seven years living as Irillin Header.
I had learned to tie my hair well on my own ages ago. And yet she thought I was still that child needing her help. Ridiculous. My throat tightened in disbelief.
“What style should I do? Ponytail? Half up? Or braid?”
“Do it in my favorite style.”
“…….”
There was a brief silence. Soon after, she began moving her hands busily.
Though she claimed she’d never grown her hair as Sis Header, her skill was still amazing. Even better than mine, who had been tying my hair recently.
“All done.”
She handed me a mirror from behind.
Even though I had seen her face for seven years, the reflection looked strangely unfamiliar.
It wasn’t her original hair, damaged from frequent dyeing—but her fine, blue hair, done in my favorite half-up style.
Yet despite everything that had changed, her skill made me smile naturally.
And that felt good.
“Ah, I want to eat ramen!”
“That’s your comment on my hair?”
“Looking for praise all of a sudden?”
“No. If I hear it from you, I’d probably throw up, so don’t.”
“See! Anyway, I want ramen!”
“There isn’t any here.”
‘There isn’t any here?’
That strangely meaningful comment made me smirk.
Seeing my sister smile a little in response, I thought,
‘Damn doppelganger. You’re dead in my hands now.’
“I am Raphel Isdan, Commander of the Imperial Knights. I’ve been transferring prisoners from Serom, so I haven’t had a chance to greet you. I’ll be participating in today’s training as well, so take care of me.”
As soon as I got to work, I saw that damned doppelganger.
I wanted to rush over, grab him by the collar, and shout, “Know your place, you doppelganger!”
But before being a doppelganger, Raphel Isdan was my superior.
If I did that, I wouldn’t just be fired; I’d likely end up back in prison.
So I had no choice but to put my anger aside for now.
“By the way, where is our deputy commander, and why is Your Highness here?”
Raphel asked with a cheerful smile. The Crown Prince answered calmly.
“I’ve given him a punishment. I’m filling in for him.”
“That doesn’t even make sense… No, ha. Your Highness, shall we step aside and talk for a moment?”
Seeing their suddenly grim expressions, I lost all will to grab anyone’s collar.
…So I too become scary when angry?
“…How dare you… my subordinate… cancel… immediately.”
I could hear faint words from a distance.
The fight that had been dragging on seemed to end with Raphel’s one statement.
“Your Majesty… it appears so.”
Finally, the Crown Prince ground his teeth and left.
“It’s been a while.”
Our deputy commander had returned.
Unfortunately, no one was happy about his return.
“Then, let’s start training immediately. Begin with twenty laps around the training grounds. Go.”
For new knights, whether it was the Crown Prince or Bin, it was equally terrifying.
With the Foundation Festival approaching, training had become much more intense.
Our assigned duty as new knights was to maintain order outside the palace.
Even with this tedious task, everyone trained with full effort.
Why? Because only the top three new knights would get the chance to provide security at the banquet.
In the dense crowd, neither the powerful nor senior knights could be seen easily.
But at the banquet, the influential, the senior knights, and even potential future partners might be present.
Many opportunities awaited.
No wonder everyone wanted it.
And I was certain this opportunity would come to me.
Even without dueling, it was clear I was the best among them.
