CHAPTER 66…………………………………………..
It was a seemingly plausible piece of gossip, but one couldn’t help but wonder: who?
There was no family in the empire that was hostile toward the Rize ducal house.
Politically neutral, no one opposed them, nor was anyone unusually close. Unless someone specifically wanted to bring the Rize house over to their side…
Even so, messing with Princess April would gain them nothing. If they wanted her favor, they could have offered gifts. And those who disliked April… probably only Damien.
“No significant findings, then.”
“At least we’ve got this. Last time, we found nothing.”
“So someone asked about Princess April last time as well?”
Teran immediately covered his mouth at Persephone’s slip of the tongue. That mouth of his was a menace.
I had a strong urge to smack him on the head, but with him right in front of me, it wasn’t possible.
Even if I realized, who exactly wanted that information? He wouldn’t ask me either.
“Anyway, I’m still investigating, but it’s not easy to find anything.”
“Even if it’s difficult, work as hard as you did for Sidévan’s eyes.”
“…Yes.”
The young man was already proving to be strict and unyielding.
“Oh, and there’s a misunderstanding going around.”
“A misunderstanding?”
“Yes. People say the Duchess coddled Princess April, but apparently she wasn’t like that near the end. She was strict and harsh.”
Since the deceased duchess couldn’t be asked directly…
Persephone rose from her seat. Teran nodded in agreement, and Persephone continued.
“Look into the servant who was kicked out three years ago.”
“Look into?” The phrasing carried an authoritative tone.
“His tongue should be intact, right?”
“Well, yes. Understood.”
Moreover, three years ago coincided with the period when April was slowly changing.
Anyone inside the ducal house would have known a lot. Normally, it’s forbidden to talk about internal matters, but since the person no longer worked for a noble household, and royalty wanted the information, it could be disclosed.
Persephone tightened her robe as she left the guild.
The autumn night air was as cold and sharp as an early winter morning.
“Though we’ve had better luck than before…”
“Last time we found nothing.”
Who had requested information on the Rize ducal house and April before?
Persephone hadn’t asked, but she had a rough idea of who it might have been.
“Damien.”
There was likely no one else in the empire.
Just as she noticed something was off, Damien probably sensed something unusual about April too.
He might have felt that something had changed—or that April had started acting like the April he knew.
Although it was late, Persephone wanted to enter the royal palace, but she also wanted to speak with Damien.
Perhaps if she spoke honestly, she could help him find April.
They could be excellent allies for each other.
Persephone’s steps took her to the grand ducal estate in the capital.
Though it was dark, light still spilled from the windows of the estate.
The guards standing in front blocked her.
“State your identity.”
Persephone slowly pulled down the hood of her robe.
She had no official badge, but her presence itself proved her identity.
“Gasp…!”
“P-Prince Royal!”
Her golden hair shone brightly in the darkness, and her gold eyes reflected sunlight itself—proof of her status.
“I am here to see the Grand Duke. Show me in.”
The firmly closed doors of the estate slowly opened.
“So…”
After receiving a firm confirmation that he would grant my request, Damien looked at me with a stern gaze.
“What on earth is going on, April?”
Of course, now that I had revealed my identity, he had many questions about me.
I wanted to answer everything, but I didn’t know where to start.
I kept rolling my eyes nervously, trying to avoid speaking, when Damien sighed.
“Don’t think about returning to the ducal house until you’ve properly explained.”
“…Seems like something the heir of a noble house shouldn’t say.”
If anything, at this late hour, the heir should have been offering to escort me home.
Seeing Damien stare at me stubbornly, it was clear… he wasn’t letting me go.
Worried that the grand ducal house might come after me if I tried to leave, I spoke up.
“You realized, didn’t you? That I’m just a stand-in for the real April.”
Damien’s eyebrows twitched sharply. Did the word “real” bother him, or was it something else?
I licked my dry lips.
Though I had told him I was the “real” one, no matter how much he accepted it, a fake doesn’t become real.
“About ten years ago, when the ducal house said they had found their lost daughter, the one they brought was not the real one—it was me.”
“….”
“As you know, I look exactly like Miss April.”
We looked so alike it could almost be mistaken for twins.
The only differences were slight variations in personality or voice. Subtle vocal tones, however, usually go unnoticed.
He hesitated, as if he wanted to ask something but couldn’t.
I could guess what he wanted to ask.
Since I said they brought someone who looked exactly like me, he likely wanted to know about my real parents.
Was I an orphan, adopted, or abandoned by my birth parents?
“The late Duchess purchased me from my father. He was very ill.”
There was no need to explain that the temple had caused him to sell me.
Regardless of my birth father’s motives, the fact remained that the duchess had bought me.
Damien’s face crumpled as he covered it with one hand, as if he didn’t want me to see his harsh expression.
“…Damn it.”
“You don’t have to be angry. I volunteered because of the medicine costs, too.”
“Still, the ducal house forcibly took you. And you…!”
He gritted his teeth.
“The fact remains that the ducal house abandoned you when they found their real daughter.”
“Yes.”
Just three years ago, that fact had caused me pain and anger… but now I had settled.
Not because the anger disappeared entirely, but because Damien’s words, spoken as a friend who truly cared, felt comforting.
I reached for the teacup we had left for the chess game.
I sipped the tea to soothe my parched throat and looked at him. Damien’s face looked like he was about to cry.
It was a face I had seen often—when I was cast out of the ducal house and sent to Alisha, she would cry in my place like that.
“Damien, it’s okay.”
“It’s not okay.”
“….”
“I’m not okay, and you…”
He exhaled sharply and lowered his head, unable to look at me further.
“It’s impossible to be okay.”
“….”
“Why didn’t you say anything? Why… didn’t you come to find me?”
“….”
“We’re friends.”
Perhaps it was the guilt from three years of silence that made the word “friend” feel so heavy.
I bit my lower lip as I faced Damien, who was waiting for my answer.
“…I just… couldn’t bring myself to say it.”
I didn’t know how to reveal that I had lived as a stand-in, not the real daughter.
If Damien decided he didn’t want me as a friend because I wasn’t the real daughter, I would collapse all over again.
Being abandoned once was enough.
“I thought if I took the ducal house’s name away, I’d have nothing left.”
“Thought you were smart, but you’re a complete fool.”
“Right. If I’d known you were going to look for me like this, I would have told you sooner.”
Damien, with his eyes reddened, washed his face and looked at me.
“You said the ducal house kicked you out, and you came here…”
“….”
“No need to ask; the situation is obvious.”
He must have needed me, he muttered softly.
He exhaled heavily and nodded.
“Who should I protect?”
