FPML 113

Chapter 113

“Your Majesty.”

Marien puffed out her cheeks and then continued.

“I think I understand why you said I should have at least tried to deny it once. I’m quiet and gloomy. You fixated on that one line, didn’t you?”

It had been a trap based purely on intuition. Odette had said that if she hadn’t fixated on that part, she would have burned the secret letter.

“I was a bit hasty,” Marien admitted.

“Next time, try holding out at least once.”

“Yes, I will.”

“Not in front of me, though. Only if someone else interrogates you.”

Odette explained why she had said that.

“I’ve already completed a background check on you.”

“Ah.”

Marien smiled brightly.

“So it’s an interrogation after gathering evidence. That makes sense. My decision to confess immediately was the right one.”

“Is it really something to be this happy about…?”

“It is! If it were someone I know, they would have brought all the collected evidence into this sunroom just in case the person being questioned tried to deny anything. Just like you had me read that book.”

Odette fell silent, while Marien simply beamed with delight.

“You even know my activities from two days ago. About taking the carriage you granted to visit the Imperial Academy. Actually, I was already investigating the original body owner myself. But now that you’ve finished collecting evidence!”

Marien clapped her hands lightly.

“No matter how much I run around, I can’t compare to Your Majesty’s information-gathering skills. So… if I may…”

She placed her carefully clasped hands under her chin.

“I would be very grateful if you could show me the evidence you’ve gathered.”

Odette, who had been silently observing Marien, moved. Marien waved her hands, saying Odette could just tell her where the materials were, and she would fetch them herself.

“Oh, you can just make me do it. Such a precious body…”

“I left it under this chair.”

Odette slipped her hand under the chair cover that reached the floor. Marien nodded in understanding with an “Ah,” and knelt back down.

The file Odette pulled out was thick at first glance. Marien was certain it contained high-quality information.

After all, it wasn’t just anyone—it was the Emperor of the Empire, Odette, the heroine of this world, who had collected these materials.

Had she known, she would have gone straight to Odette instead of making the unnecessary trip to the academy.

‘I unintentionally just scared the teachers,’ she thought.

Marien reached out with both hands to receive the materials. Just as she thought Odette would hand them over obediently, Odette suddenly gave her a sharp look.

“The Marquis knows my behavior patterns.”

“What do you mean? Ah, by the way, I’m still a Marquis, right?”

Does that mean there’s still hope? Maybe she could avoid the labor camp ending and actually touch 4.4 million gold.

“I mean the fact that I brought the evidence all the way here.”

“Yes, that’s exactly something Your Majesty would do. But why bring that up?”

Marien, caught up in her excitement at still being a Marquis, asked brightly, but when she met Odette’s sharp, rose-colored gaze, she quickly snapped back to reality.

“You’re annoyed that I figured it out, aren’t you?”

“And you’re the stubborn type who has to say it out loud.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment, Your Majesty.”

“By whose permission?”

Marien laughed so hard her eyes curved into crescents.

“Do you think just because I’m a Byers I can get away with anything when I laugh?”

“My loyalty, at least, is real. So please, Your Majesty, show me the materials. My arms are going to fall off.”

Odette intended to take back the file to see if her arms would actually fall off.

However, perhaps feeling her arms were getting tired, she handed the file over to Marien instead.

“Thank you!”

Marien quickly skimmed through the activities of the previous Marien Didi.

To her surprise, Odette’s investigators had even thoroughly examined Marien Didi’s biological parents.

They had gone so far as to track down neighbors who had moved to a different area over ten years ago and obtained their testimony.

They had also naturally approached Marien’s aunt and uncle, the Moritz couple, to extract information.

According to Mrs. Moritz, the niece, who preferred playing to studying, suddenly announced she would go to the Imperial Academy but never revealed the reason for her decision.

At that point, Marien kept many secrets to herself, and they respected it, assuming it was the onset of adolescence.

The night before Marien Didi left for the Imperial Palace as the Third Assistant of the Chancellor’s Office, she left a request: never open the old wooden trunk in the attic. Only to be opened if Marien herself came for it.

After confirming the last piece of material, Marien closed the chestnut-colored cover.

“Why isn’t there an investigation report on the contents of the trunk in the attic?”

“Because it was instructed to only be opened if Marien herself came for it.”

“Really, is that the actual reason?”

Odette furrowed her brows.

“It would be simple enough to send you to your aunt’s house anytime. But as an emperor, I can’t go rummaging through a civilian’s home just to get the information a few days sooner.”

“You sure follow principle in odd places. But you already extracted all the info you could from my aunt and uncle…”

Odette gave her a sharp glare. Marien playfully tapped her own mouth in mock punishment.

“Anyway, if you’re not the original owner of this body, the real Marien Didi must be somewhere else.”

“Probably…?”

Marien added, uncertainly.

“At the time of possession, I was spinning in a chair with a book held high above my head. The original body owner was attending the Chancellor’s assistant meeting. Usually, possession occurs in accidents or dramatic situations like death. It’s strange because both sides were safe.”

In any case, the original Marien Didi’s soul must not have vanished.

It likely entered the body that was spinning. Perhaps, like the men and women in the Shablid region mentioned in the book, their souls had swapped.

When Marien shared her guess, Odette offered another possibility.

“Perhaps your soul, having taken control of the body, forced hers into the subconscious.”

“Took control of the body? I’m not a villain. I was living my life until suddenly being possessed.”

Odette raised an eyebrow.

“So you’d want to return to your original body, the one you were living in?”

At first, yes. But after accepting Baileon’s confession, her plans fell apart.

Every moment spent with him as his lover was joyful. She had grown attached to Baileon’s family.

She was also curious about the decisions Odette, now on the throne, would make—and hoped to witness them firsthand.

Marien admitted that, for some time, she had been avoiding the fact that she needed to return to her original place.

Odette, noticing Marien’s lack of immediate response, was certain.

“You… aren’t from here, are you?”

Marien said she didn’t quite understand the question. Odette instantly saw through the lie.

“So if you’re not from here, does that mean you came from another world not on the map? Why do you think so? Maybe it’s just that your original form isn’t as cute as Marien Didi, and you don’t want to return to that form…”

“If I told Byers about the possession, he’d be confused. But in the end, he’d choose the ‘real you.’ And since I, the Emperor of the Empire, am here to help you, what’s there to hesitate about?”

Titles or wealth aren’t a problem. If Marien returns to her original body, she could be granted a title equivalent to Marquis Rischern.

Even if she lives on the opposite side of the Empire, Odette said she could send a ship to bring her safely.

“But you still want to remain in Marien Didi’s body. That means your real body must be somewhere unreachable.”

“……”

“Your mother told me when she still lived in the Kingdom of Haman that she saw such a person. That person’s original body was poisoned and could not return.”

“So possession really happens in the book… like a story within a story?”

“Yeah, what did you say?”

“Nothing. Just nonsense, as usual.”

Marien quickly brushed it off. Odette, unfazed, stared steadily at her.

“Who are you?”

“Ah, well…”

She was at a loss for words. Would Odette believe her if she said her memories outside the book were hazy?

They were so hazy that she couldn’t even recall her original name.

‘Even I think this is absurd.’

Second week of April, four years ago. That was when the cheerful and healthy Marien Didi suddenly complained of a headache.

Marien tried to recall those blurry memories. What was she doing during that time four years ago?

‘Marien Didi must have been asleep all weekend from her headache…’

Her hand unconsciously went to the side of her head.

‘I think my head hurt too…’

When she opened her eyes, she was in a hospital. She didn’t clearly remember whether the first to greet her was her older sister, younger sibling, or friend. That person immediately called the medical staff.

“Do you remember why you’re here?”

“No…”

“You collapsed at home after drinking too much. You hit your head during the fall and lost consciousness.”

“Drinking too much?”

“Yes, you drank quite a bit. Mixed various liquors.”

“I’m underage, and I drank alcohol? Who sold it to me?”

“…Do you remember your age?”

“Yes.”

“How old are you now?”

“Eighteen.”

As soon as she answered, her friend, who had been observing the conversation, gasped in disbelief.

“Wait, after hitting her head, the jokes she makes… Teacher, is something wrong with her?”