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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Searching for the Corpse (2)
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“He didn’t come today either?”
“That’s right.”
“Hmm.”
Princess Rainy subtly furrowed her brow, thinking of Sei-an, who hadn't stepped foot in the Imperial Palace for the past few days.
“What, do you miss him?”
“…You’re not serious, are you?”
“I am serious.”
“Brother!”
“Heh.”
Prince Idis chuckled softly, watching Princess Rainy.
It was amusing to see the girl who always displayed the epitome of haughtiness in front of men revert to a girl her age in front of Sei-an.
“And you, Brother, you’ve been in the library constantly these days.”
“What about it?”
“You weren’t someone who visited the library every day.”
“……”
“Aren’t you the one waiting for him, Brother?”
“Perhaps.”
Maybe so. Rather than waiting, he was merely curious what was going on since the person who used to come every day suddenly stopped.
“……”
But after a moment, Prince Idis subtly furrowed his brow, seemingly displeased with the very fact that he was curious about such a person.
“By the way, have you heard the rumor?”
“What rumor?”
“That Sei-an, he lost his memory.”
“…! What?”
Princess Rainy told Prince Idis something she had recently learned.
She had done a little investigating to find out what kind of person Sei-an was, given how insolently he acted towards her.
And she had uncovered an unexpected fact. She had obtained information that he had lost his memory in an accident a while ago.
“Lost his memory? Are you sure?”
“It came from the Count Shurayton’s family, so it must be true.”
“……”
Could someone who lost their memory be so unaffected?
Prince Idis thought of Sei-an, who always appeared calm and indifferent to everything, and couldn't easily believe Princess Rainy’s words.
He had never seen someone who had lost their memory, but he felt that if he were to lose his, he wouldn't be able to remain so calm amidst the frustration and bleakness.
“An accident, huh. What kind of accident did he have?”
After a moment, Prince Idis asked Princess Rainy again. He was curious what kind of accident Sei-an had suffered to lose his memory.
“Are you curious?”
“……”
But in response to Prince Idis’s question, Princess Rainy only smiled faintly, showing no sign of easily answering him.
“If you’re curious, find out for yourself.”
“What?”
“Hmph! Do you think I’d easily tell you, Brother, after you’ve teased me so much?”
With those words, Princess Rainy rose from her seat and quickly exited the library.
She had no intention of easily telling Prince Idis, who had teased her so much, the fact she had discovered.
“……”
After Princess Rainy left, Prince Idis, left alone in the library, furrowed his brow and fell into deep thought.
“An accident, huh…”
Then, after a moment, he too quickly got up from his seat and exited the library.
Now that he was curious, he intended to find out about Sei-an himself, just as Princess Rainy had suggested.
‘Damn it!’
But his expression as he headed outside wasn't bright. He didn't like that he kept worrying about Sei-an.
Yet, Prince Idis still didn't stop his steps as he set out to learn more about Sei-an.
***
Bang!
“Sei-an!”
“…My house door is sturdier than you think, so you don’t need to test it like that.”
Sei-an, who was leisurely drinking tea in his residence for the first time in a while, subtly furrowed his brow at the sight of Cliff rushing in, opening the door as if it would break.
“Just as you said, Jestin is back!”
“I know.”
“He really came back!”
“Yes.”
“How… how… could that be?!”
“I told you not to ask questions or argue, didn’t I?”
“Is he really not the person I know?”
“Yes.”
“……”
Currently, Cliff was in a state of great confusion. Although he had been forewarned by Sei-an, he hadn't imagined someone so identical would really appear.
Even as he confirmed it with his own eyes, he couldn't believe them.
“How can he not be that person, yet be so identical? Then who is this who appeared? Answer me!”
“……”
Sei-an felt dizzy from Cliff grabbing his shoulders and shaking him while barraging him with questions.
Thwack!
“……”
If it weren't for the hand that stopped him at that moment, he might have just punched Cliff and knocked him out.
“Stop it, Cliff. Sei-an is struggling.”
Lucian, who had entered at some point, grabbed Cliff’s hand, pulling him away from Sei-an, and spoke in a low voice.
“……! Ah, sorry!”
Realizing his mistake from Lucian’s reproachful gaze, Cliff quickly apologized to Sei-an.
“But…”
Still, this was too strange. He couldn't understand it with his common sense without an explanation. How could such a thing be possible?
“Let me say it again, I said I won’t allow questions or doubts about this matter.”
“……”
A while ago, Sei-an suggested a method to find the culprit who killed the child Jestin.
First, he asked Count Devilran, who couldn't get up from his bed, to draft a will containing specific content.
It stated that all of the Count’s family fortune would be bequeathed to Jestin, and if he didn't appear, everything would be reverted to the state.
Count Devilran initially refused, saying he couldn't draft such a will, but when Cliff persuaded him, saying it was all a method to find Jestin, he eventually listened.
Drafting that will was also an act done with emphasis on the possibility that Countess Devilran, Elajan, might be the one who killed Jestin, as Sei-an had pointed out before.
Of course, even if that wasn't the case, he was certain there would be some movement if the motive of Jestin’s killer was the Count’s family fortune.
‘And if Elajan was the culprit, Jestin would return to the Count’s estate, he said.’
Sei-an had said that if Elajan was the culprit, Jestin would return to the Count’s estate a few days later.
And he had added that it wouldn't be Jestin, but another person in his form.
At first, he couldn't understand what that meant. He couldn't understand what it meant for someone to be in Jestin’s form but not be him.
But Sei-an’s firm attitude that he wouldn't accept any more questions left him no choice but to observe the outcome.
And today, after confirming the return of Jestin to the Count’s estate, Cliff’s head was extremely confused about how to accept this situation.
“There’s no need to overthink it.”
“……”
Sei-an spoke in an indifferent voice to Cliff.
“Just think about the conclusion.”
“Conclusion?”
“The goal is to find out why the soul hovering around you died, who killed it, and to ensure that soul is safely guided to the Grim Reaper.”
“……”
“Regardless of the process, now is not the time to question such things.”
Cliff couldn't say anything to Sei-an’s words.
As he said, what was important now wasn't the identity of the unknown being in Jestin’s form who appeared at the Count’s estate, but finding the culprit who killed the real Jestin.
“And this is a warning.”
“Hmm?”
“One more time…”
“One more time?”
“If you come in from outside and touch me without washing your hands, I will make you regret it, absolutely.”
“……”
And at Sei-an’s subsequent words, Cliff had to stare at him with a blank expression for a moment.
Then, he had to let out an incredulous laugh at Sei-an vigorously brushing off the shoulder he had just touched.
‘His personality changed, but…’
Sei-an certainly didn't look at him and Lucian with venomous eyes as he used to, and even showed some decent aspects, but Cliff thought he was still just as annoying in a different way.
***
‘The more I look, the more amazing it is.’
Elajan couldn't hide her sense of wonder as she looked at Jestin, who was sitting quietly before her.
‘I never thought it possible, but they could make it so identical…’
It was something she had done with a hopeful thought in a desperate situation.
When the will was announced, and she felt that all her plans had gone awry and didn't know what to do, someone secretly sought her out.
It was the person who had created the doll currently before her eyes.
How they knew to come, she didn't know, but they had offered to create a living doll exactly as she wanted.
‘I thought it was impossible.’
Of course, she didn't believe it from the start.
Although the person who sought her out exuded a mysterious appearance and aura she'd never seen before, and showed a strange persuasiveness, a living doll! Believing that itself would be a laughingstock.
But no matter how much she thought about it, no other method came to mind.
If Jestin didn't appear, all the fortune would be reverted to the state, and she couldn't just watch that happen.
Nor could she bring the dead Jestin back.
Ultimately, thinking she had nothing to lose, she sought out the strange man who had visited her.
Then, she showed him a portrait with Jestin’s face drawn on it and commissioned him to create an identical, living doll.
As a result, the outcome was sitting before her eyes, and the product was very satisfactory.
“How can it speak and be identical to a living human?”
She guessed all of this was a type of magic, but the more she looked, the more miraculous it was.
“Mo… Mother.”
“……”
At that moment, a voice calling her flowed from the mouth of Jestin, who had been sitting silently.
Elajan’s eyes widened in surprise, and she looked at him with trembling eyes for a moment.
“Don’t call me that when people aren’t around. It’s unsettling.”
Even knowing it was a doll, when that voice called her from its mouth like this, goosebumps rose all over her body.
How could even the voice be identical? It was as if the dead had truly returned alive, and she couldn't help but be startled.
“Mother…”
“I told you not to call me that!”
“…Why did you do it?”
“…What?”
Elajan yelled angrily in a loud voice at Jestin, who kept talking to her, but his voice didn't stop.
“To me… why did you do it?”
“……”
“Mother…”
“Wha… What are you talking about!”
And at his subsequent words, Elajan shot up from her seat and began to slowly back away with trembling eyes.
“……”
“……”
Then, as tears flowed drop by drop from Jestin’s eyes, Elajan’s eyes widened beyond measure.
“It’s… a doll…”
Tears? How could a doll shed tears?
This was absurd. Goosebumps rose all over her body again.
“Mo… Mother.”
“……”
Elajan could no longer bear it and backed away, then quickly fled the spot as if escaping.
And even though it was already very late, she, who had hastily left the Count’s estate, began to move her steps towards somewhere.
