CHAPTER 56……………………………………………….
After a while, the carriage rattled along, but no one spoke first.
Red eyes turned toward me, cold and piercing.
“So.”
The one who broke the silence was Damien. Of course—it was always Damien who would be impatient, not me.
“Where is the real April?”
“The real April…”
The words felt strange, even a little odd.
To everyone in the Rise household, I was a fake—but to Damien, I was the real one. That notion felt unfamiliar.
He, like Persephone, could tell me apart.
“You say you’re the real April…”
To Damien, Irina Devin would be the “real” one, while I was nothing more than a stand-in.
“I wonder what you’ll do if the one you’re looking for turns out to be the fake.”
“……”
“The only person who will ever call her ‘real’ is you, Damien.”
I spoke slowly, without a trace of amusement.
I only resembled the daughter in face. In bloodline, I was not connected; I could never truly be recognized as the ‘real daughter of the Rise household.’
“What will you do if the one you seek hides because she’s a fake?”
Once everything ended, the fake me would disappear too.
I could never be the true daughter of the Rise household—and I had no desire to be.
“You say the most useless things.”
He frowned, visibly displeased.
At that moment, the carriage arrived in front of the Valstein estate. Damien flung open the door and replied:
“I don’t care whether the girl who disappeared is of the Rise bloodline or not. It doesn’t matter. Not important.”
I was about to ask why he called me “real” then, if he didn’t care about her at all, when he spoke again:
“To me, the one who spent time with me is the real one.”
A single, clear statement resolved all doubts.
As certain as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, this was an unquestionable truth for Damien.
Even if he had known the real April’s name, he would have called her that name; unable to do so, he called me “the real April.” If he had known, he would have left fake me behind and sought her.
“I see.”
‘…I am the real one.’
Unlike when he first questioned my identity, he showed no emotional reaction.
His calm, steady acknowledgment was unfamiliar, and Damien slightly frowned.
Had the carriage accident changed him somehow?
This composed demeanor wasn’t the one I had seen over the past three years. It was, in a way, closer to the true April whom he knew.
What a crazy thought.
“I’ve heard enough. Let’s go, Sir Valstein.”
Through the closing carriage door, I caught sight of…
“…What?”
A smiling April.
“Lately, have you been catching fewer wild animals?”
The leather shop owner spoke as Alicia set down the wild boar she had brought with a thud.
“Irina will never come back to the village?”
Irina, who once worked at the village bakery, had long been absent from the village.
“Now that she lives alone, she catches fewer animals.”
When Daniel and Irina lived there, living expenses had been higher, but now only Alicia resided in the small forest cabin. She didn’t need much money.
Moreover, since Irina had gone to the capital, she had been sending regular support, so Alicia had no need to earn more.
Though she hadn’t used the money yet. One day, when Irina planned to leave the Daus Empire and travel far, she would receive it.
Just as Irina considered herself family despite sharing no blood with Alicia, Alicia thought of Irina as her sister.
“She went to the capital? Did she get a good job?”
In a rural village, news of someone moving to the capital was always welcomed, and the shop owner clapped happily.
It was essentially a good job, considering she had returned to ‘that’ ducal household.
And only because Alicia didn’t know the full details could she genuinely offer congratulations, even if only in words.
“Is anyone in there?”
A knock on the wooden door drew the attention of the two pairs of eyes inside the shop.
“Who is it?”
The owner tilted his head at the two visitors. Their appearance didn’t suggest they were there to buy anything.
With neat attire and refined speech, they seemed like people from the capital.
Expecting the owner to speak, Alicia grabbed the money from the counter, ready to leave.
“I’m looking for someone. I need your cooperation.”
A single word from the stranger halted Alicia in her tracks. She stared at them, tense, holding her breath.
Who could they be? Their identity was hard to discern.
They seemed like people from the capital. The two in the shop eyed them warily, typical of a village cautious of outsiders.
“Where are you from, and who exactly are you looking for?”
The stranger cut off the owner’s question abruptly. Alicia froze, realizing immediately who these people must be—most likely from the temple.
She had to remain calm; if she said nothing, no one would suspect anything.
“We are from the temple.”
Showing their identification, the owner’s attitude softened immediately.
“Oh my, there are so many people named Daniel in this village.”
Even now, there was one young man named Daniel and two children. It was a common name, so the owner waved dismissively.
“You’d better cooperate properly.”
A chilling, level voice made the leather shop owner hesitate. Another man added:
“The Daniel we seek has silver-white hair and blue eyes.”
Daniel. The shop owner still shook his head, unfamiliar with him.
Naturally—Daniel had lived behind the village mountains for years, never coming to the village. His wife, Bernice, had long passed; he wouldn’t be looking for anyone here.
“Have you heard of him?”
The question turned to Alicia.
“…I don’t know.”
She barely parted her lips to answer, tension visible.
Unsatisfied with the answer, the two men clicked their tongues. A person with silver-white hair and blue eyes was rare; everyone would know.
“Maybe he uses the surname Devin… Is there anyone with the surname Devin in this village?”
A hush fell. Alicia bit her inner cheek, glancing nervously at the leather shop owner.
Please, just pretend you don’t know. Don’t say the name Irina…!
Unaware of her plea, the shop owner casually replied:
“There is a girl named Irina.”
“There is?”
Damn it! Alicia muttered under her breath, closing her eyes tight.
The villagers whispered that the leather shop owner lacked common sense—and this was why.
“Where does she live?”
The owner looked at Alicia for an answer.
“She lived with Alicia. Now she’s gone to the capital.”
“She went to the capital?”
“Yes. Ask her for the details.”
“……”
“We want the full story. Show us the way.”
The order-like tone made Alicia bite her lower lip and nod.
“…Follow us.”
