[CHAPTER 57]
“Wh-Who are you… to me…?”
“Do you really want to know?”
A heavy voice pressed down with authority. The chairman’s shoulders flinched.
Still, as the head of the association, he was not entirely oblivious. Instinctively, he sensed this was someone he shouldn’t confront.
“Ah, n-no! I’ll go now!”
“Wait.”
“Y-yes…?”
The chairman, frozen by the chilling call, hunched his shoulders.
“You must answer before leaving.”
“Ah… a-alright! I won’t interfere anymore! I’ll stay completely out of it from now on!”
Satisfied, the man nodded as if granting permission to leave.
The chairman bowed ninety degrees and hurried away without looking back.
Aizen kept his gaze fixed until the fleeing figure completely disappeared.
After a while, when no one returned, he relaxed and turned his head. Jenna could be seen laughing with the guests.
It was good I came.
Last time, he had only sent disguised knights to help her when she got into trouble, which wasn’t enough. This time, he acted personally.
Fortunately, today no one else bothered her except the chairman.
Still, Aizen remained hidden in the shadows of the alley until the end of business, making sure Jenna was safe.
After confirming Jenna and Greta had returned home safely, he moved on himself.
At a secret meeting place with Victoria, she was playing chess alone.
“Sold out.”
Victoria smiled knowingly, understanding immediately without explanation.
“To succeed a day in advance… the duke’s fake wife is clever and resourceful.”
“…Next time, do not unnecessarily test people like this.”
Aizen frowned and sighed, having witnessed how hard Jenna worked. Success alone didn’t make him entirely happy.
“The one being tested is the fake wife, but would it bother the duke? Someone might think he’s the real husband.”
“……”
Sensing the sting hidden in the joke, Aizen remained silent.
Victoria moved her chess piece leisurely and spoke dryly.
“I hope nothing unfortunate happens, like falling for the fake wife.”
“……”
“You are the Duke of Callard. Once your frostbite heals, you should marry formally, start a family, and further prosper the house.”
Her words were true, making him feel even more uneasy. Aizen’s expression momentarily grew complicated. Victoria leaned back in her chair, wearing a mischievous smile.
“And who knows… maybe she has another lover. Perhaps it isn’t you, and her true husband waits anxiously somewhere.”
For a moment, Aizen remembered the note Jenna left before losing her memory.
‘The one I love…’
Thinking someone existed made it impossible to maintain his expression. He preferred family to lovers. Even with family, a husband was not ideal.
Victoria clicked her tongue lightly at his wavering face.
“The scariest variable is always a person’s emotions.”
She muttered quietly and placed her piece down. Checkmate.
* * *
“Greta, wait.”
On the way back after selling out at the extravagant event, I spotted a dessert house sign through the window and stopped the carriage.
On such a happy day, I have to blow out candles!
Approaching the bustling shop, a small, tucked-away dessert house caught my eye.
Huh?
Why did I suddenly want to go there?
Drawn as if it were my own regular spot, I turned toward it.
“Madam, where are you going?”
“I want to go to that shop over there.”
“This place is bigger and more famous.”
“I still want to go there.”
Greta obediently changed course. We entered the quaintly decorated dessert house.
Though smaller than the first, the desserts were just as beautiful and appetizing.
As I smiled and looked around, I suddenly needed to use the restroom, so I excused myself.
After quickly finishing, I bumped into someone.
“Ah, sorry.”
A young woman I had never seen grabbed my arm when I tried to move on.
“…?”
She looked completely flustered as she met my eyes.
“Miss Esther…?”
I was Jenna. Panicking, I gently pushed her hand away to correct her.
“I’m Jenna Kreutz.”
“…Jenna Kreutz…?”
“Yes, I think you have the wrong person.”
“Ah…”
Her grip loosened briefly, but she grabbed me again, denying it.
“No, it’s Miss Esther. I’m sure it’s you. There’s no one else who looks like this…”
“I’m really Jenna Kreutz, not Esther.”
Finally, the woman let go.
“Right, it can’t be. Miss Esther already…”
Mumbling incomprehensibly, she soon bowed politely.
“I’m sorry. You resembled a lady I served before. Please forgive my rudeness.”
“Ah, yes. That’s alright.”
“Thank you. I’ll be going now.”
She bowed again and left.
Suddenly, I recalled the suspicious man Nell I met earlier. He had also said I looked like someone he knew.
Could my doppelgänger be in the capital?
Sighing, I rubbed my arms and returned to Greta. I tried to focus on the cake and dismiss it as a simple coincidence.
Why am I so bothered?
Meeting two people who mistook me for someone else left me uneasy.
Even if both were mistakes, at first they were convinced I was someone else.
No matter how similar, could that be possible?
I checked my face in a hand mirror. As the woman said, it was rare to look like this.
Even while bringing the cake home, unease lingered. It remained until Aizen lit the candles on the cake.
“Madam, aren’t you blowing the candles?”
“Of course… huff…”
The weak breath barely extinguished the candles. Aizen removed them and cut the cake, placing it before me.
Yet my thoughts were still on today’s strange events.
How could someone look so much like me? Could it be my sister?
Did Jenna even have a sister? I only know she had no parents…
Though it was my body, I knew nothing about myself.
My thoughts deepened, and I did not hear Aizen’s call.
“Madam.”
“……”
“Madam.”
“…Yes? Did you call me?”
He held my shoulder, and I looked at him.
“What’s wrong? You’ve been serious and distracted from your favorite cake.”}
“Ah…”
Instead of explaining about Nell and the woman, I asked a question to resolve a new realization.
I realized I knew too little about myself.
“Aizen, where is my original family from?”
“…Why ask that suddenly?”
“I realized I don’t know the family I was born into, whether I have relatives besides my deceased parents, or how I met you and married.”
Even if you know your enemy, if you don’t know yourself, you can still lose.
I stared at Aizen. He avoided my gaze and poked the cake with his fork.
“We just met through matchmaking and married quickly… Your family disappeared after your parents died. There were no other relatives.”
So that’s why he always avoided answering questions about Jenna…
I understood his reactions were to protect me. Since I wasn’t the real Jenna, I only felt pity for her, not deep sorrow.
“Still, I want to know the family name.”
Who knows, there might be someone named Esther in a branch of the family who looks like me. I want to know where I came from, even if nothing remains.
“…Let’s celebrate first.”
Aizen ignored the question and brought the cake to my mouth.
Is he feeding me now?
Grateful, I wished he would tell me my family name first.
“Ah, eat.”
“…Ah.”
“Delicious?”
“Yes, but my family name…”
“Then eat more.”
Swallowing one bite, the next piece came immediately. He also made sure I drank enough to avoid choking.
I could only eat, unable to ask.
That day, I never got an answer. But two days later, he told me my original family name was ‘Rogers.’
I learned it was a fallen baronial family of minor nobility. After everyone else died, no trace remained.
Listening to Greta’s investigation, I had only one thought:
Something feels off.
Though I couldn’t specify what, I simply thanked her.
Then, I went with Aizen to meet Vicki, the caravan owner in Triunfar.
