Chapter 65
<67화>
Slap!
“Lady Aisha! Are you alright?”
When I slapped my plump cheeks to snap myself out of it, May jumped in surprise, looking at me with concern.
“Yes. I just realized something.”
“Realized what?”
“Just how terrible the price is for comparing myself to a goddess.”
I lifted my head toward May. As a penance, my flushed, red cheeks were proudly on display.
“Ah, I see…. Anyway.”
But despite my atonement.
“As I thought, the Duchess and Lady Aisha look so much alike!”
May smiled brightly and pointed a finger at the portrait.
“Th-that’s rude to the Duchess!”
Boing!
I was so shocked that my pigtails practically sprang toward the ceiling.
“Ah, I’m sorry. But even when I went to fetch you earlier, I couldn’t help but think how much you resembled her.”
“She’s right. Actually, we thought so too! The Duchess loved white dresses, and seeing Lady Aisha in a white one makes the resemblance even stronger.”
“I-I told you to stop!”
Now even the other maids were joining in. As I shouted in embarrassment—
“You say stop, but why are the corners of your mouth twitching upward?”
Flinch.
I used my fingers to push down my rising smile.
“Because human greed knows no bounds, and we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes.”
“Oho.”
Well then, time to make another mistake.
I twisted my body shyly and murmured a question.
“…But do we really look that much alike? Actually, looking at it from a 100% objective perspective, I did think we looked a liiittle bit…”
“You do!”
“You really do.”
Gasp.
“…Hehe…”
My body was gradually—
“Heehee… Hee…”
Turning into a literal puddle of mush.
“I suppose so, right?!”
To think I resembled such a beautiful woman. In the end, a wide grin broke across my face.
Just then.
“…Aisha?”
A cautious voice called out from behind me.
Startled, I spun around to find Lucas standing there.
He was dressed in a crisp, well-pressed tailcoat, as if he had just finished preparing for the banquet.
His golden eyes, visible through the calm black hair covering his forehead, were wide like a startled rabbit’s.
“Why… are you here…?”
His somewhat lukewarm reaction made me freeze instantly.
Was I not supposed to be here?
‘Ah, right…. I’m adopted, after all.’
No matter how close we had become recently, I wasn’t their flesh and blood.
‘Why can’t you go on the family trip? Well, it’s overseas, so it costs too much. We’re going with just the immediate family, excluding relatives.’
It was the same in my past life.
No matter how long we lived together, a line was always drawn between me and my relatives simply because we weren’t blood-related.
And that was only right. I had no intention of trying to cross that line.
I had to be grateful just for being accepted. That was my place.
So, looking at the Duchess’s portrait like this might have been an intrusion.
“I’m sorry for looking without permission.”
My heart hammered against my ribs.
Feeling happy about resembling the Duchess just moments ago felt like a distant memory. I tried to hurry away, but—
“Aisha. Where are you going?”
My wrist was suddenly caught.
“Why are you trying to run away as soon as I show up? Do you hate me?”
I looked up to see Lucas with his eyebrows arched and his lips pouting like a duck.
“…Huh?”
I thought he would be angry, but I never expected him to be sulky.
My eyes darted around.
“It’s just, I thought you might dislike it….”
“Dislike what?”
“Me coming to see the Duchess….”
“Why?”
“…Because we’re…”
I stole a glance at him.
“…not actually related by blood….”
“?”
As I muttered while fiddling with my fingers, which were small as a hamster’s paws, the mouths of Lucas and the surrounding maids fell open.
And then.
“A—Dad—! Emergency—!”
Lucas let out a sudden lion’s roar, summoning Calips.
Three hours before the banquet. Duke Calips’s dressing room.
“Is everything ready?”
“Yes. The informants are already on standby at the Royal Castle. I have made arrangements so the nobles will discover them the moment you give the word.”
A white banquet suit, the symbol of the North.
The medals sparkling on Calips’s left chest reflected his life as the hero of Frozen.
He sighed and shoved a hand into his trouser pocket.
‘What use are these medals?’
What he needed wasn’t past glory. It was the safety of his children in the present.
He had told them not to bother pinning them on because it was a nuisance.
The servants, who had insisted on pinning even the very last medal, bowed and left the room.
Knox, who had paused for a moment, finally spoke.
“Thanks to the help of Queen Consort Grace, the intelligence department should be able to remain on standby without issue. Now, the important thing is Lady Aisha’s safety.”
Standing behind Calips, who was in front of the full-length mirror.
Knox, who had been looking down at a report, raised his gaze to meet the Duke’s eyes.
“Do you absolutely have to take Lady Aisha with you? Since she hasn’t had her debutante yet, it wouldn’t be unusual if she didn’t attend.”
It was a valid point. But.
“He needs to learn his place.”
Calips’s low murmur was accompanied by a subtle tilt of his gaze.
As his terrifying eyes were revealed from the shadows, Knox, who had been meeting his gaze unguarded, quietly swallowed hard.
“This is the ninth time he has sent a spy to the Duke’s Castle to kidnap Aisha. Those bastards crossed the line long ago, starting with the monster stampede.”
Calips took a step forward and put on the white gloves resting on the side table.
“I will settle this at the banquet today.”
“…….”
“Whether we set an execution date or carry it out on the spot.”
Calips had been steadily gathering evidence for this day.
In truth, he could have made this public as soon as the monster stampede occurred. However, doing so would have meant the incident ended as something that simply happened in the North.
Calips could not allow the Duke of Pose to find an excuse to escape while a trial date was lukewarmly set.
He wanted certainty.
As of today, the Duke of Pose would commit an unthinkable crime.
A crime so heinous that he wouldn’t even be able to stand trial.
“And there are currently too many rumors surrounding Aisha. From now on, I will make her mark on high society and ensure she is recognized as the Lady of Crost so that no one dares utter a word.”
“…I see. Understood.”
Faced with the Patriarch’s sharp response, Knox merely nodded without adding anything further.
Calips was certainly sensitive when it came to his family.
On the positive side, serving a family-oriented master was better than serving the scumbags who spent every night carousing. But.
‘I hope things don’t escalate too much because he gets emotional.’
Though a slight worry crossed his mind, Knox soon concluded it would be fine.
This wasn’t a solo action by Calips; it was a plan everyone had worked on. As long as things went according to plan, there would be no failure.
It was then.
“Your Grace. I have a… report. They said it’s an emergency….”
A knight bowed hesitantly.
However, Calips shook his head as he slightly loosened his constricting tie.
The life of the Duke of Pose depended on this banquet.
“The banquet is more important. If it’s anything ordinary, have the Knight Commander handle it.”
“Th-that’s… not it…”
“What is it then?”
The knight swallowed hard and spoke again after a moment’s hesitation.
“Lady Aisha was looking at the Duchess’s portrait in the Great Hall, and when Young Lord Lucas found her, she apologized. She said she was sorry for looking at the portrait since they aren’t related by blood….”
“……?”
Calips’s movements as he straightened his clothes came to a dead halt.
The same went for Knox. It truly was an emergency.
“Knox. This is a state of emergency.”
“Yes. Please give your orders.”
“Immediately place a plush sofa and cushions in front of that portrait, and tell the chefs to prepare a basket of desserts. The target is Aisha.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Chime.
Knox’s monocle flashed with a white light full of loyalty before he vanished.
And once he was gone.
“You, lead me to where the children are.”
“Ye-yes!”
Calips turned sharply and commanded the knight. The severely nervous knight stuttered and threw a salute he didn’t even need to give.
“Let’s go, quickly.”
“…Yes!”
The knight swallowed hard as he glanced back at Calips, who was following him with long, heavy strides.
‘He didn’t even look this terrifying during the monster subjugation.’
“We are here, Your Grace!”
And when they arrived at the Great Hall, the knight opened the doors with the mindset of a man entering a battlefield.