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Chapter – 03
“Don’t coddle your sister so much. If there’s a mistake, it’s my job to correct it.”
Lazette frowned slightly. He averted his gaze from me, who was smiling at him. I had to look at my father as he sighed in mild reproach.
“There’s nothing to correct because there’s no mistake, Father.”
“…The doctor has been called, so you should know why you fainted. Ah, he’s here.”
A knock came at the door. A doctor, accompanied by a butler who seemed to have guided him in, stood outside.
The doctor checked my pulse while I sat on the bed and asked the usual questions.
“Have you felt dizzy suddenly?”
I thought I had felt a little dizzy before fainting.
“A little?”
The doctor continued to ask questions, and I answered as best I could by peeking into Lizhen’s memories.
“Your current condition is not normal. You’re thinner than during your last examination, and your pulse is weak.”
My father listened with his arms crossed.
“I suspect it might be a side effect of the medication.”
Medication? As I tried to recall which medication the doctor meant, I realized the truth myself.
Lizhen had been taking a drug to endure reality, one that dulled her mind and erased depressive thoughts when taken.
“All medicines have side effects. In severe cases, this drug can even cause fainting. Have you recently abused this medication?”
Both my father and the doctor seemed curious to hear my answer.
I didn’t know whether I had abused it. As I racked my brain, a sudden realization struck me—but before I could speak, an unexpected visitor interrupted.
“Abuse?”
A woman in a black maid’s uniform entered the room. She must have overheard our conversation, as her voice was firm.
“The young lady always takes the medication in the prescribed amount.”
“So she gives the medicine to my daughter?”
This maid, under my father’s instruction, managed my medication. If the person administering it hadn’t misused it, the cause of my fainting must lie elsewhere. The sudden appearance of the maid drew everyone’s attention away.
I frowned slightly.
‘What a liar.’
I could guess that the fainting was indeed a side effect of the drug. I had been trying to recall if I had overused it when the doctor asked, and I had found the answer.
The maid who had just entered, Amy, my personal maid and a fearless one at that, had abused Lizhen’s medication.
‘Take this and stay still. Don’t bother me with trivial matters, understand?’
In Lizhen’s memories, Amy found Lizhen troublesome. Being able to control an abandoned noble girl gave her a sense of immense power. Lizhen, prey to her inferiority complex, was an easy target.
When I glanced up, Lazette’s eyes met mine. He had been watching us all along. Expressionless, he alternated his gaze between me and Amy.
After a moment, his eyes moved away. He quietly turned his head, showing a strong intent not to intervene.
‘Pretending not to know…’
Lazette knew that this maid repeatedly ignored and threatened me with the medication.
But it made sense for him to feign ignorance. He disliked Lizhen, and with no evidence that the maid threatened me, staying out of it was also wise.
“Then I’ll see you at the next check-up.”
The doctor, having finished recording the reason for my fainting, left the room.
My father approached me suddenly.
“The doctor said it might be a side effect of the medication. You’ve been taking it for a while, so side effects are possible. But Lizhen…”
His voice was calmer than I expected for someone who seemed angry.
“Has your sister ever stolen your medicine?”
Why did the conversation go this way?
According to both my memories and the original story, Lazette had never secretly taken Lizhen’s medicine.
“It wasn’t Calib.”
The one who exploited Lizhen’s fondness for medication was the maid. My father seemed completely unsuspecting—he suspected Lazette, but not the maid. Amy clearly had his trust.
After a moment of thought, I chose not to expose Amy’s misdeeds. My father hardly paid attention to his daughter, and even if he heard the truth, he might dismiss it.
“Calib isn’t involved. Leave him alone.”
My father turned away, and the butler followed. The door closed soon after.
“What happened? Are you okay?”
“Don’t worry about me.”
I nodded at Amy, who was pretending to worry. Even though I didn’t expose her, I had no intention of staying silent forever—I was just waiting for the right moment.
“…Calib.”
I dealt with Amy and then called Lazette, who was in my sight.
“Come here.”
Putting the maid aside for now, I needed to handle the current situation. Peeking into Lizhen’s memories confirmed that my deductions were correct.
‘You’re not Calib!’
Lizhen sometimes had breakdowns whenever Lazette acted differently from Calib.
He had been pretending to be her younger brother after Lizhen’s real brother died, and she would despair whenever Lazette didn’t behave like Calib.
It had been one of those situations just now.
When Lazette tried to start a conversation, Lizhen’s face gradually stiffened.
‘Dog?’
‘Yes, cute.’
‘Calib hates dogs. He’s too scared to even approach, so cute?’
‘…Sis.’
‘You’re not Calib! Calib wouldn’t do this—!’
I stopped the mental replay there.
Later, the body I was inhabiting asked its name and then fainted.
I couldn’t imagine how bewildered Lazette must have been.
“Come here.”
Lazette, still stiff, trembled slightly and then climbed onto my lap.
I froze, spreading my arms.
‘I never said to hug me…?’
Seeing him make a displeased face while clinging to me was absurd—but I had to apologize for startling him.
“Sorry about earlier.”
“….”
Lazette looked at me, puzzled, as if he couldn’t understand my words.
He knelt on the floor, holding my waist from the bed, tilting his head.
“Sis, what is it?”
Was he pretending not to know?
Then it wouldn’t make sense for me to ignore it too.
Earlier, I had shouted that he wasn’t Calib, yet now I was acting as if nothing happened—he might find it confusing.
“You made me angry, but shouting and scaring me like that…”
I wanted to say it was wrong, but I, in Lizhen’s body, wasn’t in a position to lecture.
He might even mock me for being hypocritical.
I chose to trail off.
“It’s not your fault anyway.”
“…Sis, you’re kind.”
I sighed inwardly as I watched my fake little brother speak.
I hugged his shoulders, lost in thought.
“Calib, how old are you now?”
“Huh?”
Perhaps noticing my sudden question, Lazette repeated,
“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“I just… wanted to check if what I remember is correct. Just to be sure.”
I wanted to know how long Lazette had been living as the ghostly younger brother in this household after leaving the orphanage. That would tell me roughly when I would die and how much he resented me.
Lazette hated Lizhen. And with good reason.
With his uncommon black hair and green eyes like Lizhen’s, he had been made to impersonate Calib.
“I’m two years younger than you.”
A vague answer.
“And soon, it’ll be your fifteenth birthday.”
I realized Lazette thought I was testing him.
He wanted to see how well he could mimic Calib.
“You remember well.”
I smiled, signaling that he passed.
In truth, I had asked to gauge the timing, but I had to act somewhat like Lizhen.
“Oh.”
Lazette seemed to realize it late and smiled sheepishly, as if hiding embarrassment.
“Wrong.”
