“Oh my, now that I look at you—your complexion doesn’t seem well,” the princess remarked.
“Are you alright, Lady Burkell?”
As the princess examined her condition, Vanessa wiped her forehead and found it damp with cold sweat.
It wasn’t that she was sick—she had simply tensed up too much all of a sudden.
Should I just say I’m feeling unwell and leave?
Avoiding this dangerous encounter altogether seemed like the better option. Pretending to be sick and returning to the mansion was the safer choice.
Yes, I should go.
She forced a strained smile.
“I’m not sure why, but I don’t feel too well. I was fine just earlier…”
Without even looking at her, Vanessa addressed the princess.
“Forgive me, but may I excuse myself?”
“Of course. Please go, Lady.”
The princess nodded with concern on her face.
Ah, I can finally breathe.
Having received the princess’s permission, Vanessa stood and walked away with effort. She was acting like a truly sick person now, but once she returned to the ducal estate, she’d be walking around just fine again. It was all part of the act.
She was in the middle of giving her finest performance when—
“Marie, help Lady Burkell to her carriage,” the princess offered kindly.
“Why not rest in the palace before you go?” the First Prince suddenly suggested from where he’d been sitting quietly.
Why…?
Vanessa reluctantly turned her head toward him.
“No, that’s alright. I’m fine.”
“You’re walking like a slug. Wouldn’t it be better to lie down and rest?”
A slug? Really?!
This was not the kind of concern she had asked for. She wanted to avoid him and return home.
“At that pace, even getting to the guest wing will take you forever.”
The First Prince stood up and strode toward her.
Don’t come any closer. Don’t come!
“Ahh!”
Her vision suddenly tilted. The First Prince had lifted her into his arms.
“Kyaa!”
He must be insane!
This was far too close. She felt terrified.
“Don’t worry, I won’t drop you. Laura, prepare a guest room.”
“Yes, Brother!”
Apparently, he thought she had screamed simply because she was startled. The conversation between the siblings ended swiftly.
Please, someone save me…!
As she looked into the wide eyes of the surrounding young ladies, she screamed silently.
____________.𖥔 ݁ ˖𓆰♕𓆪 ֶָ֢. _________
The First Prince really did bring her to the princess’s palace.
“Rest for now,” he said, placing her gently onto the bed. Then, as if this had been his only purpose, he left the room.
Shortly after, one of the princess’s ladies-in-waiting entered.
“Shall I call for the royal physician?”
“Oh, no. I’ll feel better after some rest.”
Since she wasn’t actually sick, there was no need for a doctor.
“Then please rest well, my lady.”
The maid closed the door behind her, leaving Vanessa alone.
Just like that, she ended up resting in the princess’s palace. She had claimed a nap would help, so she figured she should at least pretend to sleep.
I wanted to go home, not lie here and rest…
She sighed deeply and closed her eyes.
She hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but at some point, she must have dozed off. She was eventually awakened by faint voices.
“How sick was she to warrant staying in Her Highness’s quarters?”
“It’s not a bother. Her face was completely pale.”
It was Milan and the princess’s voices.
Milan’s here?
The sound startled her fully awake. When she turned toward the voices, she saw the two of them speaking.
“I’ll take Lady Vanessa back with me. Thank you for your concern, Your Highness.”
As she watched in silence, Milan turned and looked at her.
“Vanessa?”
“Oh, you’re awake.”
Did she call Milan to fetch me?
Even without being summoned, she would’ve returned just fine in the carriage. This really made her seem like a sickly person.
Is he going to scold me for dragging him all the way to the palace over this?
But contrary to her worry, Milan’s voice wasn’t sharp.
“I was worried when I heard. Are you alright?”
“Ah… yes.”
Is he only acting sweet because the princess is here?
Milan had never said he was worried, not even when she nearly died in front of him. It had to be an act.
“You were worried about me?”
He hadn’t said a word when their sister stopped breathing and revived—so this had to be fake.
At her question, Milan furrowed his brows.
“Of course I was. You’re my sister, and I heard you’d collapsed again.”
“You should’ve seen how concerned Count Techel was for Lady Burkel,” the princess added with enthusiasm, reinforcing his sincerity.
His words were so surprising, they felt foreign.
And yet, hearing them spoken in that face and voice left her with a strange feeling.
After all, he looked just like her real older brother. That face expressing concern for her—it felt almost too real.
Her Milan had always looked at her that way, not like this cruel version.
I miss them.
She missed her loved ones from the other world so much more now. If she ever saw them again, she might just burst into tears. She missed them all dearly.
“Let’s go home, Vanessa,” Milan said gently, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Maybe because she saw her brother’s face in his, she responded as she would have to her own sibling.
“Yes, Brother,” she said with a soft, familiar smile.
And the moment they got into the duke’s carriage—her brother vanished.
“What did you even do to collapse like that?”
Gone was the gentleness. His face turned cold again, like always.
Right. There’s no way this Milan would ever be kind to me.
She actually felt sorry for mistaking him as her real brother, even for a moment. He was nothing but a phony.
“Is there a single peaceful day in your life? Do you know how shocked I was to get a message from the palace?”
“I was being good! I only left because I didn’t feel well, but the First Prince stopped me. I said I was fine, but he insisted on taking me to the princess’s palace.”
She pouted in protest. Milan raised one brow.
“The First Prince? Why would he do that?”
As if I know.
She wanted to ask him the same question.
What was the First Prince thinking?
Normally, she would have welcomed such kindness. But after spending time in this strange world, she’d learned to be suspicious of everything.
“You don’t think the First Prince found out about you?”
“No. From what I saw, he was suspicious of Lady Benky. A young noblewoman with black hair, he said.”
Even if he investigated her, he’d find nothing. After all, she was the one who had gone to the auction that day.
“Was she the only noble lady with black hair?”
“No, there were others…”
Now that she thought about it, there had been a few.
So why had he targeted Lady Benky?
What made her stand out?
“Perhaps he didn’t press further for fear of putting the princess in an awkward position,” Vanessa suggested.
“As if the First Prince would care about that.”
Milan scoffed, just as Vanessa realized something.
Oh no. Why did I only notice now?
Lady Benky had green eyes.
Black hair and green eyes. The First Prince had remembered the color of her eyes.
____________.𖥔 ݁ ˖𓆰♕𓆪 ֶָ֢. _________
He remembered even the color of my eyes.
Was he testing me?
Even after returning to the mansion, she couldn’t shake the thought.
Hair could easily be changed with a wig—but eye color?
When he said she looked familiar, she’d definitely panicked.
She had brushed it off, saying she was unwell, and managed to escape. But still…
If the First Prince comes after me, Father and Milan would hand me over without hesitation.
That fear grew stronger because of her family. But strangely, the prince remained quiet. So much so that she began to wonder if she had been wrong.
Still, she couldn’t let her guard down just because he was silent.
“Vanessa. You still haven’t recovered your memory?”
It had been a month since she awoke in this body. Her family’s quiet pressure was starting to show.
She couldn’t believe a family dinner could feel so uncomfortable.
Memories weren’t something one could force to return—especially since she wasn’t the one who had lived them.
All she could say was:
“…No. I’m sorry, Father.”
“That’s taking quite a while,” he said with disappointment.
Father… I’ll never get those memories back.
She was living with only the memories of her own life. The world mirrored her own enough that she had no trouble adjusting—but that was all.
As she remained silent, Milan spoke to their father from across the table.
“What did I tell you, Father? Vanessa’s just stalling, waiting for you to let this go.”
What a conniving little snake…
She couldn’t keep quiet anymore.
“Even without my memories, I can still investigate, can’t I?”
“What?”
“I’ll look into it myself. In my own way.”
“We’ll be lucky if you don’t cause more trouble. Just stay out of it.”
Milan scowled as though she were a nuisance.
But if she stayed silent, they’d just keep pressuring her. And no matter how many times they asked her to remember something she’d never done…
All I can say is, ‘I don’t remember.’
So she’d spend her life walking on eggshells.
Which is why I have to investigate this myself.
Even if she didn’t find anything, at least pretending to try might soften her father’s attitude.
The next day, she called her knight to the drawing room.
“I heard the family is handling the search for my mother’s tiara internally. Is that true?”
“Yes, my lady. Though we haven’t uncovered anything significant yet.”
Sir Hans was not only her personal escort—he belonged to the family’s knightly order and thus knew how the investigation was progressing.
“You probably know I’ve had some memory problems.”
She chose her words carefully.
“Before I collapsed, where had I been going? Can you tell me what you remember?”
She was going to try tracing the other Vanessa’s steps.
The conversation with Sir Hans lasted less than thirty minutes. Since most of Vanessa’s suspicious activities had been done alone, there wasn’t much he could say.
Back in her room, she noted down what little he’d told her.
“I barely spent any time at the estate.”
Apparently, she had spent most of her days out in the shopping district—buying dresses, shoes, bags.
No wonder this version of her had such an extravagant wardrobe.
None of those places are going to help me.
What she needed was a more… unusual location.
There was one.
Baroness Lumina’s salon.
