Chapter 82
82
"I don't know what you mean..."
Then you shouldn't be shaking your eyes like that.
I stepped away from her and smiled brightly.
"I'm okay. You too, right?"
"...Yes."
I looked at my family.
"We're both fine, so don't worry."
With that, the fight was settled for the time being.
Returning to my room, I immediately contacted the Chairman. The Chairman, who had heard about what happened in the herb garden, let out a hollow laugh.
[Valua, is it.]
"It seems so."
[You should inform Your Excellency.]
"There's no proof."
I didn't know what trick she had used, but she had the silver hair and blue eyes that were the symbol of Dubled, and she looked very much like the Duchess.
Moreover, the Magic Bureau Chief judged that the aura of Dubled flowed from her.
In this situation, for me to say, "Mireille is a fake!" would only be cutting my own flesh.
[We cannot perfectly believe that the Magic Bureau Chief will be loyal to Dubled in this life just because he was loyal to Dubled in the Baby Bird's previous life. People can change depending on the situation.]
"I'll have to call Veronica to the castle. She's a better magician than the Magic Bureau Chief, so she'll be able to reconfirm."
[Yes, I will investigate the Magic Bureau Chief and those around Mireille.]
"Also, the vassal who found Mireille. And I'll formally introduce Veronica to you tomorrow, so come into the castle."
[Yes.]
After ending the communication, I immediately wrote a letter to Veronica.
The next day, in the afternoon.
Veronica came to the castle. She grabbed my hands with a very excited face and shook them up and down.
"Thank you for inviting me! It's my first formal invitation, so I was really excited."
"No, I'm glad you came. Shall we go to my room?"
"Yes!"
I held Veronica's hand tightly and went up the stairs.
Just in time, we ran into Mireille, who was coming down. When she saw me, she flinched and quickly turned her head away.
Veronica and I passed by her. After we had gone quite a distance, Veronica glanced back.
"Is that the child? The one I need to check."
I had briefly explained it in a letter, so she understood the situation. I nodded.
"As secretly as possible. Can you do it without a Catalyst?"
"Of course. If you just give me time to run into her, I can do it without the person being examined even knowing. I'm especially good at backroom dealings..."
She said that and smiled shyly.
'She's definitely a talent suited for Dubled.'
I grinned.
Then we went into my room together. Since a guest had come, the maids were standing by the wall to attend to us.
"You can go out."
"But..."
"We're going to talk about secrets here."
When I deliberately whispered, the maids blinked.
"Secrets, you say..."
"What are you asking? If it's a secret that we have to do alone, there's only one thing."
When Uni said with a sly smile, Dahlia, who had been blinking and thinking about something, covered her mouth and said, "Oh my, oh my!"
"Spring for our Baby Bird?!"
"Shh, shh."
Uni drove the maids out of the room and laughed.
"Have a good time."
The maids' excited voices leaked from outside the room.
"You have no tact. You should pretend not to know about things like that."
"By the way, who could it be?"
"Could it be one of the young masters she met at the tea party?"
"I heard that the eldest son of Baron Misengke is quite handsome."
The maids who said that squealed softly. It seemed that they were talking secretly among themselves, but I could hear everything.
At that moment, Veronica's eyes sparkled.
"Come to think of it, doesn't the Baby Bird have a man she likes?"
Imagining holding hands with little kids my age and saying, "That star is my star, this star is your star," gave me goosebumps.
I stroked my arms and shook my head firmly.
"Absolutely not."
"What a pity."
I looked at the gloomy Veronica with hazy eyes.
"I'm not interested in men."
"You might feel that way at the Baby Bird's age."
"Don't you feel that way at Veronica's age?"
"I always dream of love. But there's no inspiration that suits my taste..."
I sometimes flinch when I realize Veronica's age.
At that time, there was a knock.
'It must be the Chairman.'
"Come in."
The door opened, and the Chairman came in. Veronica stood up. She seemed to be about to greet him.
The moment she raised her head, I saw it.
Eyes that sparkled hazily in a different way than when she looked at me.
"...Veronica?"
"Ah! Y-yes!"
"He's the Chairman of the Dubled Council."
She spread her skirt wide and lightly bent her knees.
"I'm Veronica Dubois. I've only heard of you, it's my first time meeting you."
"I'm Jean-Marc Nuanok. It's a pleasure to meet you."
The Chairman explained the situation in detail, as we had discussed in advance, except for the fact that I had regressed three times and that I could summon demons.
"I suspect the Valua Dukedom. So I'm conducting an investigation, and if the Lady of the House confirms Mireille..."
"..."
"Lady Dubois?"
"Ah, y-yes!"
That's the second "y-yes!" I looked back and forth between the two with an uneasy face.
On the outside, a girl and an old man. In actual age, Veronica was about twenty years older than the Chairman.
I couldn't support either of them.
While Veronica was in the bathroom, I pulled on the Chairman's clothes.
"Do you happen to like women twenty years older than you?"
"What are you talking about..."
"Then what about girls?"
"I think all adult men who target girls deserve to die. And also old men who dream of romance with young women."
Those are wise words.
While I was nodding, Veronica came back.
Sitting down, she asked.
"So what am I supposed to do?"
"It's almost Mireille's snack time. She'll come out to the terrace, which is about 10 meters away from my room's terrace. Can you check from that distance?"
"Of course."
Looking at Veronica, who was smiling confidently, I smiled brightly. I really chose the right person.
The Chairman, who had become acquainted with Veronica, left the room, and we decided to wait for Mireille on the terrace.
Veronica looked at the Chairman passing under the railing and let out a moaning sigh, "Haaa..."
"Um, Veronica..."
"Yes, Baby Bird."
"Do you perhaps like the Chairman?"
When I asked with an uneasy face, Veronica quickly said.
"How did you know?"
I clutched my skirt with a look of dismay, and Veronica continued with a dazed expression.
"He's the perfect middle-aged man to put among my dolls!"
"...Dolls?"
"I collect dolls that look exactly like people. He'd be perfect to play the grandfather of the new child I just got! Ah, I wonder where I can get a doll like the Chairman? Should I commission a doll maker to make one with a similar feel?"
Looking at Veronica, who was covering one cheek and tilting her head, I let out a sigh of relief.
'That's a relief.'
I almost packed a lunch box and went around trying to stop her.
While I was thinking that and nodding, I heard voices from the terrace of Mireille's room.
'It's snack time.'
I winked at Veronica and hid inside the room. If I was there, Mireille would quickly leave.
For a moment, I heard Veronica and Mireille's voices.
"So young, and yet you're the head of Dubois? Amazing!"
"I'm younger than the Young Lady thinks."
"Still. Oh, where did Sister go?"
"The Baby Bird has stepped away for a moment."
"Leaving a guest behind. How rude. Hey, Veronica. Why don't you come over here and have a snack with Mireille? You know, Mireille had something upsetting happen. Yesterday, Sister..."
While Mireille was chattering alone, Veronica was silent.
'She must have started the check.'
And about 3 minutes later.
"It seems the Baby Bird has returned. I'll go in now."
"Really? What a pity... Next time, let's play together in Mireille's room."
Veronica, who had returned to the room, closed the door tightly and lowered her voice.
"I've confirmed."
"How was it?"
Veronica frowned and said.
"Even I would have said it's the aura of Dubled, like the Magic Bureau Chief."
"What do you mean?"
"I can't say for sure that it's the aura of Dubled, but it felt very similar to the aura of the Eldest Young Master."
"Yohan?"
"I was summoned by the predecessor as soon as the Eldest Young Master was born and appraised his magic power. It's almost the same feeling I felt then."
"There was no appearance-altering magic?"
"No."
Then could it really be that Mireille is the real Baby Bird?
While I was pondering, I suddenly remembered the conversation I had with Veronica.
'Dolls?'
Dolls...
The pieces that had been tangled in my head were completed.
I bit my lip tightly.
Deep night.
A figure that popped out of the darkness ran quickly down the hallway.
The figure, who secretly passed through the courtyard and out to the outside, headed to the treatment plant that had been created near the forest to dispose of sewage and garbage from the territory's castle.
The figure, who had reached the treatment plant with a foul smell, disposed of the garbage and grabbed the huge water container that had been set up to wash their hands.
They put their hand into the small gap between the water container and the wall and groped around. But the thing that should have been there was not there.
"What..."
The flustered figure lit the lamp they had brought to illuminate the water container.
It was then.
"Looking for this?"
A small voice came from right next to them.
The figure, startled, stepped back and dropped the lamp. When the fire attached to the wick moved to the grass, small feet stomped on the embers.
The figure who saw the face illuminated by the dim lamplight covered their mouth.
"You...!"
"You shouldn't play with fire at night. Leah will scold you... Mireille."
Mireille clutched her skirt, flinching at the smiling LeBlaine.
"S-Sister, why, why are you here..."
"I thought you'd be looking for this, so I came to return it."
LeBlaine threw something onto the grass. Mireille took a deep breath when she saw the object rolling around.
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