MSOW l CH 03

Chapter 3

But that kind of pressure was nothing to Kallia.

She had already learned, in her past lives, what real fear was.

“Mm…”

Sitting on the sofa, Kallia adjusted the sleeping Veronica in her arms, then stared sharply at the man across from her.

Pitch-black hair, eyes as red as fresh blood.

This was Noctis, the Grand Duke of Creatore—the “fiend of the battlefield.” Normally, she would never be sitting face-to-face with him like this.

Even late at night, Noctis greeted Kallia perfectly.
Meeting his gaze, Kallia smiled.

Noctis stayed silent since Kallia didn’t speak first.
After a long moment, he finally opened his mouth.

“I heard you destroyed the front gate.”

“Yes. So get engaged to me.”

“…”

Noctis’s eyebrow twitched. It was a tiny reaction—as if to say, That’s not an answer.

Kallia’s lips curved.

“I know there are non-human beings living in this Grand Duchy.”

“Lady Kallia, you’ve been taken in by nonsense rumors.”

He cut her off, but he did not relax.
Because of a curse placed on the bloodline of Creatore, Noctis had the ability to tell the truth from lies.

And that ability was telling him Kallia wasn’t bluffing.

“On my way here, I saw something interesting. Looked like you were preparing some kind of festival.”

Kallia spoke softly while stroking Veronica, who burrowed deeper into her arms as if she were the most precious thing in the world.

“Imagine—beastfolk walking around without even trying to hide. Is that why the Grand Duchy is so closed? Because if you’re found out, the Empire will expel you?”

“…Lady.”

“It’s Kallia. Second daughter of House Herelda. I’m sixteen—still a minor—but I’m old enough to get engaged without my parents’ permission.”

“All right, Lady Kallia. Do you understand how absurd what you’re saying sounds?”

Noctis met her steady eyes.
Kallia didn’t look away; she only lifted one shoulder.

The sofa was soft, and the journey here had been hard enough to exhaust even someone trained like Kallia.

She wanted to lie down and forget appearances, but instead she held Noctis’s gaze.

Sometimes silence says more than a hundred words.

“…What are you, exactly?”

In the end, Noctis surrendered first.

Good, Kallia thought, hiding her satisfaction.

“Curious how I know all this? Rumor has it the Grand Duke of Creatore has a special power—he can tell truth from lies.”

“You know quite a lot.”

“If you live in society’s circles, you hear everything.”

Seeing his face still saying this is ridiculous, she pressed on.

“Oh, and everything I’ve heard, I heard before I returned.”

“…Pardon?”

“This is my third life.”

As surprise spread over Noctis’s face, Kallia felt a strange thrill.

“By the way, in case you misunderstand,” she added.

Noctis tensed again, waiting for the next bomb.

Kallia’s red lips parted.

“I said engagement—not marriage.”

“…What?”

“I don’t want to marry you. Not now.”

***

“Soft and fluffy…”

The blanket was so soft—like the freshly washed ones in the lady’s—no, in my sister’s—room.
No, even softer, lighter.
It felt like a cloud around my body.

Back with the maids, my blankets always had holes.

I fiddled with the covers and thought about yesterday.

Sister blasting the iron gate away—she looked amazing.

‘Did you hear? I’m Kallia Herelda. This is Veronica Herelda. My sister.’

Her voice, calling me her real sister, echoed in my ears. My whole body felt ticklish, and I wriggled, hugging the blanket.

Huh?

Why am I alone under the blanket?

Since we “ran away at night,” my sister was always beside me.
She said we’d always be together.

Is the pretend “lady” play over now?

I mean, there’s no way I could really be a lady…
Even if Sister called me “Veronica Herelda”…

Rustle.

I sat up, sulking a little.

“Gasp!”

A woman was standing there—I don’t know since when.

She looked older than the head maid back at House Herelda.

Ah! She must be the head maid here!

If she thinks I’m lazy on the very first day, what do I do?

I could only open and close my mouth in shock. The woman spoke gently.

“Did you sleep well, my lady?”

“Uh… um…”

Slide.

The bed was so high that instead of jumping down, I half-slid to the floor and bowed quickly.

“G-good morning, Head Maid! I’m V-Veronica!”

“Yes, Lady Veronica. I’m Dolce. I’ll be serving you. I’m the head lady-in-waiting of the Creatore household.”

“Eek!”

A lady-in-waiting is way above a maid.
They even keep noble ladies company in conversation.

I’d heard the maids whisper that Sister was supposed to become the Princess’s lady-in-waiting.
My sister hated the idea.

“I—I’m s-sorry—no, I apologize…”

Clinging to the half-pulled blanket, I tried to fix it neatly.

If I made the bed well, maybe they’d let me work as a maid here?

Wait.

Why is she speaking politely to me? And calling me my lady?

Sister did say I would be a lady, but…

“Lady Veronica. You don’t need to tidy that.”

“Huh?”

I looked up. Warm brown eyes looked down at me.

While we stared at each other, Head Lady-in-Waiting Dolce picked me up in one smooth motion.

“Ah!”

“It’s all right. You looked so tired yesterday that I didn’t wake you… Are you hungry?”

Grrrr—

Before she even finished, my stomach growled loudly.

Back at Herelda, the maids would have snapped that I couldn’t work but always knew when it was mealtime.

I tried to cover my tummy with both hands and shook my head.

“N-no! I’m not—”

Grr— gurgle—

“…hungry.”

My face burned hot.

Oh no.

A maid who oversleeps and loves food—that’s no good.
Even if I’m only six, I should work well and eat just a teeny bit…

I peeked at Lady Dolce. She smiled at me.

“Come now. Our head chef prepared something special for our hungry young lady. And it’s mealtime anyway.”

We stopped in front of huge doors.
Where… is this?

Mealtime?
And why does she keep calling me my lady?

Two servants stood straight on either side.
When they opened the doors, I saw a long dining table and—

“Finally awake. Finally.”

Sister sat at the hostess’s place.

Seeing her calmed all my worries. I wanted to run to her right away, but a new voice spoke:

“This way.”

It came from the man in the seat of highest honor. I’d never seen him before.

“…?”

I looked from Sister to the black-haired man, then back to Lady Dolce.
As if it were only natural, she seated me across from Sister.

“Uh? Uh?”

“If you’d slept any longer, I’d have assumed you were dead, Bell,” Sister said, pretending to scold me.

“S-sorry…”

“No more ‘sorry.’”

“Yes.”

I nodded quickly.

“Oh, and this is the master of House Creatore. Bell, greet him.”

“…Huh?”

What did Sister just say?

“I am the Grand Duke of Creatore,” said the black-haired man, as if it were obvious.

My mouth fell open.

Am I… eating with nobles right now?

Plop.

My sister popped a piece of soft white bread into my open mouth—the perfect bite size.