Chaptert 45 ……………………………..

45

Tears began to gather in the pale blue eyes that resembled hydrangea petals.

The only person who knew my parents’ past naturally made me think of my father. And my late mother as well.

My father had never once talked about my mother’s death. Not how she died, nor why.

The only thing I remembered clearly was the day he pointed to a small grave and told me it was my mother’s.

And the look in his eyes as he stared at that grave.

“I’m under the Duke’s family, so it’s okay.”

That was why I wanted to reveal a side of myself I normally wouldn’t show.

The priest Tamitarte looked at me with a confused expression, clearly not understanding why the duke’s family had suddenly come up. I slowly removed the artifact hanging around my neck.

“I’m sorry for deceiving you, Priest.”

My orange-tinted hair turned to a light beige color, and my eyes returned to a blue-gray shade.

Tamitarte, whose eyes had been filled with tears, stared at me in shock as my appearance changed.

I smiled reassuringly at Allen, who seemed anxious that I had revealed my identity like this, and then looked straight at Tamitarte.

“Y-Young Lady…?”

“I’ll introduce myself properly.”

I grabbed Tamitarte’s hand as he staggered slightly in surprise and steadied him. Our hands ended up clasped together as if in a handshake, and I tightened my grip.

“I’m Irina Devin.”

Hearing the name Irina Devin spoken from the face of April Hill Rise, he looked utterly bewildered by the situation.

“So… you’re saying you became a stand-in simply because you looked exactly like the real young lady of the duke’s family?”

He asked again with a face that clearly couldn’t believe it, and I nodded with a smile.

Seeing me smile while confirming it made Priest Tamitarte look like he wanted to shout, ‘This is not something to laugh about!’

“And since childhood, you’ve been doing that all this time?”

“Yes.”

“Sir Daniel… what in the world was he thinking to do something like that…!”

Tamitarte, who had been speaking angrily, suddenly cut himself off.

Our conversation, which had started in the village square, had now moved to a shop without a signboard.

Allen brought tea and sat beside me. His wariness had lessened compared to when we first met, but since Tamitarte was still a priest, he clearly didn’t fully trust him.

“I think I understand why he sent you to the duke’s family.”

“……”

“If you’re the child of fugitives, then your child would end up living like them too…”

“Lady Irina, are you sure it’s alright to tell him everything?”

Allen asked with a slight frown. I nodded.

“It can’t be helped. When the real young lady returns, the priest mustn’t make a slip of the tongue.”

“You can trust me. If I had intended to betray you, I wouldn’t have spoken about the temple either.”

You heard that, right? I asked Allen with my eyes, but he still looked displeased.

“I didn’t know my father was connected to the temple.”

“To be precise, Sir Daniel wasn’t actually a priest.”

“Then?” I tilted my head slightly.

Tamitarte’s face looked darker than the night outside.

“You lived with Sir Daniel, so you must know. That he possessed divine power and healing ability.”

“…Yes.”

“There was no one in the temple with as much divine power as Sir Daniel. I also have some divine power… but compared to him, it’s like a drop in the ocean.”

This was the first time I had heard such direct information about my father, so I listened intently.

“What set Sir Daniel apart from the other priests was his own self-healing ability.”

“……”

“And when Sir Daniel was there, the orphanage was subjected to fewer experiments.”

That meant the experiments that should have been conducted on the orphanage had instead been directed toward my father.

“I never saw it myself, but I’ve heard many stories about how incredible Sir Daniel’s healing ability was.”

“……”

“Usually, those from the orphanage were divided by gender and age group for experiments. But the experiments meant for men in their twenties were all done on Sir Daniel.”

“……”

“That’s also why the Daus Empire became famous for its medicinal treatments.”

The foul smell of medicine seemed to sting my nose again. I still remembered the smell of disinfectant… and the smell of blood.

“Whenever the temple developed a new drug, they tested it on Sir Daniel to see its side effects and problems.”

“……”

“The temple conducted all kinds of experiments on him. Basic drug testing, experiments with unfamiliar poisonous plants, and…”

Allen suddenly covered his mouth and jumped to his feet, unable to keep listening.

Overcome with nausea, he hurried outside. I tried to follow him, but he waved his hand as if telling me not to.

As if Allen’s reaction was perfectly understandable, Tamitarte sighed lightly and continued.

“Sir Daniel was able to endure drug experiments that would have killed others several times over because of his healing ability.”

And that was the same ability Irina possessed.

Irina knew that, unlike others, her wounds healed easily.

She had first realized it when she was bitten by a leopard raised in the imperial palace by Rozian, and again after an accident during her academy days.

The scar that was supposed to remain from the leopard’s bite had completely disappeared.

“He had both divine power and healing ability. The temple kept him under strict surveillance in case he ever harbored other intentions.”

This was something I had never heard before.

The father I remembered was always smiling kindly.

He welcomed my mother with the warmest smile in the world, and he was always by my side.

“And the one who helped Sir Daniel escape from the temple… was Lady Bernice.”

No one knew how the two had met, how they had fallen in love, or how they escaped.

But one thing was certain: Bernice loved Daniel enough to risk her life to help him escape.

“The temple was continuing human experiments. Was there no way to ask for help?”

If something had remained this secret—so secret that not even rumors spread—then someone powerful must have been protecting the temple.

And it meant someone more influential than a mere high-ranking noble.

Irina quickly began running through possible nobles who could be backing the temple.

The first one that came to mind was the Rise ducal family, but having lived there for nearly ten years, she knew they weren’t particularly close to the temple.

Then perhaps the grand ducal Valshtein family?

If not them…

After thinking for a long while, Irina asked carefully,

“Who is backing them?”

“…You already know.”

At those words, one person immediately came to mind.

Yes—the one who had supported the temple for a long time.

“The person in the imperial palace… doesn’t age, do they?”

Not a noble, yet someone with influence equal to high nobility.

“Why do you think they don’t age?”

The emperor’s consort—one of the only people in the imperial palace with power rivaling Perphone.

“…Rozian Stariyeu.”

At Irina’s quiet murmur, Tamitarte nodded.

“Why do you think that person donates such vast sums to the temple?”

Tamitarte gave a bitter smile.

“Because the temple is creating medicine so that he will never grow old.”

*

At dawn, the guild master Teran frowned slightly when a male visitor suddenly appeared at the guild saying he had a request.

“The duke’s daughter of the Rise family?”

Teran looked at the man standing before him, wrapped tightly in clothing.

“Yes. Everything about the duke’s daughter.”

Though his face was hidden, the golden eyes visible in the darkness shone brightly.

Since the request concerned real information, Teran let out a short hum.

People occasionally came asking for information about high nobles, so that itself wasn’t surprising. What made him hesitate was something else.

About three years ago, someone had also come asking for information about the duke’s daughter of the Rise family.

And unfortunately, they hadn’t been able to uncover much.

“Is it possible?”

Perphone didn’t have much time.

If Lervian discovered that he had left the imperial palace on his own without attendants to do something like this, he would surely panic.

With dawn approaching, he had to return before the servants came to his bedroom.

Just then, as Teran scratched his head—

“For the request fee, let’s start with this.”

Seeing the guild master hesitate, Perphone placed the bracelet he was wearing onto the table.

It was clearly a valuable ornament, but Teran thought it wasn’t enough to sway him.

Then Perphone opened his mouth.