Episode 5
She quickly turned her head.
Her gaze landed on the desk placed facing the window. It looked used, not quite new, but too clean to have come from storage.
As if possessed, Ranje opened the drawer.
Inside, letters were organized in chronological order.
“Dear… to Erna.”
Reading the name written at the top aloud, Ranje froze for a long moment.
Unlike her body, her mind was racing. She quickly pieced things together.
They drove Erna out.
They took Erna’s room and gave it to her.
They must’ve been in such a rush they didn’t even check the desk drawers.
Then… what about that girl?
Though Ranje had lived her life without much interest or resentment toward her half-sister, she couldn’t shake off a chilling thought. Somehow, it felt only right to look for her, so she quietly slipped out of the room.
Even if I ask others, they probably won’t give an honest answer.
She had no idea where to even begin searching.
After pacing from one end of the hallway to the other, staring down the line of doors, she suddenly heard movement. Ranje quickly hid behind a column.
A door on the other end flung open, and a woman strode out. It was her cousin, Alix.
“How can they even say that?”
Unaware of Ranje’s presence, Alix was complaining loudly.
“My lady…”
The maid who followed her made a hushing gesture, pointing toward Erna’s door. Apparently close, Alix obediently lowered her voice.
“Right. We’re close, so she might hear… Was her name Ranje? She must be just as confused right now.”
She was right—but the real Ranje was right there in the same hallway. Alix and the maid didn’t know that and continued their conversation.
“So, where did Erna go?”
“I’m not sure… maybe the ones who cleaned the room might know. Should I ask?”
“…No. They were probably told to keep quiet. Don’t stir things up.”
Alix headed toward the stairs. Ranje peeked out slightly and watched them walk away.
At least it’s certain she’s not on this floor.
She thought about using a detection spell, but there weren’t any clues to anchor it to, and she was still inside the mansion—it might be guarded like the vault last night.
So Ranje headed to the room she had stayed in last night. If Erna had been relocated, that room was the most likely.
But even after checking all the other rooms throughout the morning, she couldn’t find a single strand of Erna’s hair.
Ranje’s search ended around midday.
“My lady, there you are.”
A servant came to find her, as she hadn’t appeared for the meal.
“…I left something behind.”
It was a poor excuse, considering all she had with her was her clothes, a hand mirror, and a spear that looked like a strange knife to others. But no one questioned her.
Eventually, Ranje gave in to frustration and asked without much expectation.
“By the way, where is Sister Erna?”
She had even deliberately used an unfamiliar term of address, and the maid was visibly shocked.
“Th-that… I don’t really…”
The maid backed away in a panic.
“I’ll go find out! But how about eating first?”
Of course, she never came back.
Instead, a pile of gift boxes and another servant appeared. This time it was a maid Ranje recognized—a loud one from the kitchen. Ranje had taken various instructions from her before. Unlike before, the maid now spoke with almost ticklish kindness.
“My lady, the Count has sent more gifts. Why don’t we look at them together this afternoon?”
They had probably sent someone familiar just so she wouldn’t be suspicious.
They’re avoiding any chance for me to meet Erna.
So, Ranje had no choice but to waste the afternoon.
First, because her thoughts were a mess. Second, because the maid blocked the exit, as if stationed there on purpose.
Today was a bust.
By now, it was pitch black outside. Though the watch on her movements had loosened, she was too tired to sneak around looking for Erna.
Ranje gave up and lay down.
She has to be somewhere in the mansion. No one else has left except Uncle.
It wasn’t until the next morning that she realized something was seriously wrong.
Maybe asking about Erna’s whereabouts had been a mistake—now she had someone shadowing her.
With a maid tailing her, Ranje wandered the garden from early morning. She hoped to spot some clue from the windows.
She saw the commotion after scanning all the east-facing windows of the main building.
“You’re changing your story now? I already transferred the other patients…”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect things to turn out this way when I accepted the request…”
A man—probably a doctor, judging by the stethoscope poking out of his bag—was arguing with the steward near a side door.
That’s not the Count’s usual doctor.
Come to think of it, famous physicians had often visited to treat Erna’s illness. They’d never seemed much help, but this was the first time Ranje had seen one turned away so abruptly.
The doctor only stopped protesting after checking a check the steward handed him.
The steward sighed in relief and finally noticed Ranje. She didn’t take her eyes off the departing doctor until he disappeared, then stepped forward.
“That man—he was here for Erna, wasn’t he? Why did you send him away?”
“My lady…”
The steward looked troubled but didn’t offer any excuses.
His reaction was better than the other servants from the day before, but that was it. Ranje was sure she wouldn’t get any answers from him either.
I’ll have to confirm it myself.
Ranje didn’t hesitate.
“I need to speak with the Count.”
Contrary to her grim expectations, the steward guided her to him right away.
The Count was in his study, reading a letter. He looked delighted to see her.
“Erna, come in, my dear.”
“I’m Ranje.”
Has his mind gone so fuzzy he can’t tell people apart?
But her suspicion was quickly dismissed. The Count of Swanhilde was perfectly clearheaded.
“‘Erna’ is the name taken from your maternal grandmother. Now that the truth is known and everything’s back in place, your name should reflect that too.”
He gestured for her to sit and added,
“But if you’re uncomfortable, you may continue using the old name.”
Though it sounded like permission, Ranje was offended. She couldn’t even begin to understand what he meant by things being “back in place.”
“The room you gave me—that used to be Erna’s, didn’t it?”
Not wanting to beat around the bush, Ranje cut straight to the point.
“It was always meant to be yours. Did it upset you?”
“No. That’s not the issue. If you gave me that room… where did Erna go? I just saw a doctor turned away too.”
The Count frowned. He wasn’t just displeased by the question—he seemed genuinely confused.
He couldn’t understand why Ranje would ask about Erna. In fact, he was baffled by the near-frantic urgency in her voice, which bordered on anger.
Ranje had her life ruined because of Erna’s mother, and everything Erna had once owned had always been Ranje’s by right. The Count saw all of his actions as justified.
He didn’t bother to hide his thoughts.
“I’m not sure there’s any reason you need to know where that child is.”
Ranje could barely breathe.
He’s this unreasonable?
She didn’t even have the energy to get angry at the continued nonsense.
“Everyone has their place, their role, and what they’re entitled to.”
The Count tried to soothe her in a gentle tone.
“You’ve regained yours. That child merely returned what was never rightfully hers. There’s no need for you to worry or feel guilty.”
If the world really ran on logic like that, there’d be no conflict.
Even as she thought this, Ranje gave up on arguing. She ended the conversation and left.
She returned to Erna’s room and collapsed onto the bed, completely drained. The soft blanket still felt unfamiliar.
When she was young, it had been the attic. After that, a dormitory or a military camp. Sometimes she had slept without even a roof over her head. She had endured those years—not because of some special patience, or the logic the Count was spouting.
“Entitled” my ass.
She endured because she had a partner by her side. Because it had been her choice from the start.
That’s not something others get to decide.
She had taken her cousin’s place, stood in for her sick sister, defended the country… because she had believed in the worth of those things, and decided to do so.
After her convictions wavered, she got by watching Renart. He had always been here in the present. As long as she was with him, it was better to think of the future than cling to the past.
But now, even he was gone. So was the choice she had once taken pride in.
The Count had gone out of his way to deny all of it.
“This won’t do.”
Ranje suddenly sat up.
She took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. Nothing about her current situation was worth enduring.
She immediately left the room.
The servants had been dismissed after her meeting with the Count. As long as she deliberately kept quiet, slipping past their notice wasn’t hard. Until now, she had been worried that escaping their attention would cause more trouble—but now, she didn’t care about the consequences.
She still remembered where the family kept their travel trunks for trips to the capital.
She fetched a suitcase, chose the simplest clothes, and even removed the buttons from discarded coats.
They’ll fetch a good price.
She bit one of the shiny buttons—it was gold. She stuffed the suitcase with sellable items like jewelry and mirrors until it was nearly bursting.
“Alright. This should do.”
Her escape had been delayed when the Count caught her, but she couldn’t start a new life in this suffocating place.
She didn’t know why she’d returned to the past, but it certainly wasn’t to learn the truth about her birth or enjoy the Count’s sudden change of attitude.
She could figure out the reason later. For now, she just didn’t want to stay here.
Leaving at night or at dawn would be best.
Feeling slightly relieved, Ranje glanced toward the annex.
Judging by the Count’s words and the strange lack of any trace in the main building, the most likely place Erna had been moved to was the annex.
…Could it be… my old attic?
Yes, yes it is