Chapter 67

Smack!

“Lady Aisha! Are you all right?”

When I slapped my plump cheeks to pull myself together, Mai jumped in alarm and began fussing over me.

“Yes. I’ve just realized something.”

“What is it?”

“How horrifying the price is for comparing myself to a goddess.”

I lifted my chin toward Mai, proudly displaying the cheeks that had turned red from my punishment.

“Ah, yes, I see... Anyway.”

But despite my attempt at atonement—

“Lady Aisha, you really do look so much like the Duchess!”

Mai smiled brightly and pointed at the portrait.

“Th-that’s disrespectful to the Duchess!”

Boing!

I was so startled that my twin tails nearly shot straight up to the ceiling.

“Oh, I’m sorry. But even when I came to escort you earlier, I thought you looked remarkably like her.”

“That’s true. We thought so too! The Duchess loved white gowns, and now that Lady Aisha is wearing a white dress, the resemblance is even stronger.”

“I-I said stop!”

Now even the other maids were joining in. When I raised my voice in embarrassment—

“You keep telling us to stop, but why are the corners of your mouth rising higher and higher?”

Ouch.

I pressed my raised lips back down with my fingers.

“Because human greed knows no end, and we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes.”

“Oh?”

Which means I should make the same mistake again.

Twisting bashfully from side to side, I muttered under my breath.

“...But do I really look that much like her? Even from my one-hundred-percent objective perspective, I did think there might be the tiniest resemblance...”

“You do!”

“You truly do.”

Gasp.

“...Heh...”

My whole body slowly began to—

“Heehee... Heh...”

—curl up like a squid.

“I knew it!”

To think I resembled someone so beautiful. In the end, I could no longer stop myself from grinning from ear to ear.

That was when—

“...Aisha?”

A cautious voice came from behind me.

I spun around in surprise and saw Lucas standing there.

He appeared to have finished preparing for the banquet as well. He wore a neatly pressed tailcoat.

His golden eyes, visible beneath the calm black hair falling over his forehead, had widened like a startled rabbit’s.

“Wh... why are you here...?”

His strangely awkward reaction made my entire body freeze.

Was I not supposed to come here?

Ah, of course... I’m adopted.

No matter how close we had become lately, I was not related to them by blood.

“Why can’t you come on the family trip? Well, it’s overseas, so it’ll cost too much. We’re leaving the relatives behind and going with only the immediate family.”

It had been the same in my previous life.

No matter how long we lived together, there had always been a line drawn between my relatives and me simply because we did not share blood.

And that was only natural. I had never tried to cross it.

I should have been grateful that they had taken me in at all. That was the extent of what someone in my position deserved.

So perhaps even looking at the Duchess’s portrait like this had been disrespectful.

“I’m sorry I looked without permission.”

My heart hammered wildly.

The joy I had felt moments ago at being told I resembled the Duchess now seemed impossibly distant. I hurried to leave the room, but—

“Aisha. Where are you going?”

Someone suddenly grabbed my wrist.

“Why are you trying to run away just because I showed up? Do you hate me?”

When I looked up, Lucas was glaring with raised eyebrows and his lips pushed out in a duck-like pout.

“...Huh?”

I had expected him to become angry, but I had not expected him to sulk like this.

My eyes rolled uneasily from side to side.

“Well... I thought you wouldn’t like it.”

“Like what?”

“Me coming here to see the Duchess...”

“Why?”

“...Because we...”

I glanced away.

“...aren’t related by blood...”

As I fidgeted with my tiny hamster-paw fingers and mumbled, both Lucas and the surrounding maids dropped their jaws.

Then—

“F-Father! Emergency!”

Lucas immediately unleashed a roar and summoned Calypse.

***

Three hours before the banquet.

Duke Calypse’s dressing room.

“Are all preparations complete?”

“Yes. Our informants are already standing by at the royal castle. At your command, everything has been arranged so the nobles will discover them immediately.”

Calypse wore white formal attire symbolizing the north.

The medals gleaming across the left side of his chest reflected the life that had earned him the title of hero of the Frozen Kingdom.

He sighed and slipped a hand into his trouser pocket.

What use are these worthless medals?

He did not need the glory of the past.

What he needed was the safety of his children in the present.

He had told the servants not to bother pinning them on because they were annoying, yet they had insisted on fastening every last one.

Once finished, the servants bowed and left the room.

Knox, who had been silent for a moment, finally spoke.

“Thanks to Her Majesty Empress Grace’s assistance, the intelligence division should be able to remain on standby without difficulty. The important matter now is Lady Aisha’s safety.”

Behind Calypse, who stood before the full-length mirror, Knox lifted his gaze from the report and met his eyes.

“Must you bring Lady Aisha with you? She has not yet made her social debut, so there would be no issue if she did not attend.”

He was right.

However—

“They need to learn their place.”

Calypse’s gaze tilted subtly as he spoke °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° in a low voice.

The shift revealed the chilling eyes that had previously been hidden in shadow.

Knox, who had carelessly met his gaze, swallowed in silence.

“This is already the ninth time they have sent a spy into the estate to abduct Aisha. They have gone far beyond the line ever since the monster frenzy.”

Calypse took a step forward and pulled on the white gloves resting on the side table.

“I will end this at today’s banquet.”

“......”

“Whether that means setting a date for the execution or carrying it out on the spot.”

Calypse had accumulated evidence piece by piece for this day.

In truth, he could have made the matter public as soon as the monster frenzy incident occurred. But if he had done that, the entire matter would have ended as nothing more than an incident in the north.

Calypse could not tolerate a lukewarm trial process that gave Duke Pose time to manufacture an excuse and escape.

He wanted certainty.

By the end of today, Duke Pose would commit an unthinkable crime.

One so monstrous that there would be no need even to bring him to trial.

“And there are already far too many rumors circulating about Aisha. From this moment onward, she must establish herself in high society so thoroughly as Lady Aisha of the Kreutz family that no one will dare question it.”

“...I understand.”

Faced with the sharp response of the family head, Knox offered no further argument and merely nodded.

Calypse was undeniably sensitive whenever his family was involved.

Viewed positively, serving a devoted family man was still preferable to serving one of the worthless men who spent every night roaming around outside.

However—

I only hope he does not become emotional again and turn this into something even larger.

Knox felt a flicker of concern, but soon concluded that everything would be fine.

This time, it was not Calypse acting alone. Everyone had helped formulate the plan.

As long as they followed it, there was no reason for failure.

Just then—

“Your Grace. There is... something I must report. They said it was an emergency...”

A knight bowed awkwardly.

Calypse loosened the tie constricting his neck and shook his head.

Duke Pose’s life was at stake at this banquet.

“The banquet takes priority. Unless it is truly serious, have the captain of the knights handle it.”

“Th-that is... not the issue...”

“What is it?”

The knight hesitated, swallowed, and finally continued.

“Lady Aisha was looking at the Duchess’s portrait in the grand hall. When Young Lord Lucas discovered her, she apologized. She said she was sorry for looking at the portrait when she was not related to the family by blood...”

“......?”

Calypse’s hands stopped in the middle of adjusting his clothes.

Knox froze as well.

This truly was an emergency.

“Knox. We are now in a state of emergency.”

“Yes. Give me your orders.”

“Place a soft sofa and cushions in front of the portrait immediately. Tell the chefs to prepare an entire basket of desserts. The objective is Aisha.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Chime.

Knox’s monocle flashed with a white light brimming with loyalty before he disappeared.

Once he was gone, Calypse turned to the knight.

“Take me to the children.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

Calypse snapped his head around and glared at him as he gave the order.

So nervous that he could barely speak, the knight threw up an entirely unnecessary salute.

“Move.”

“...Yes, sir!”

The knight marched ahead on long legs, glancing back at Calypse following behind him with heavy, deliberate steps, and swallowed hard.

I have never even seen him make such a terrifying face during monster subjugations.

“We are here, Your Grace!”

When they reached the grand hall, the knight opened the doors with the grim resolve of a soldier entering battle.