episode_0108
by fnovelpia
“Isabel?”
It’s my first time hearing that name.
It is an unfamiliar name that I have never encountered in the novel before being possessed, and it is a name that I have never heard in this world after being possessed.
“Who is that?”
“……”
I really don’t know, so I’m asking again.
“Is the person with the Duke in this photo by any chance Isabelle?”
“That’s right.”
I stared intently at the woman in the photo, Isabel.
“You’re beautiful.”
I’m just expressing my feelings.
“A beauty… Yes, she was a beauty. The word beauty really suited her. Not only her appearance, but also her heart.”
“……”
Ah, it’s definitely the Duke’s first love.
The setting of the novel suddenly came to mind.
The reason the duke doesn’t get married is because he can’t forget a certain woman.
The woman in the photo, Isabel, is probably that woman.
“Were you the Duke’s lover?”
As far as I know, Director of the Intelligence Service Lewis also liked this woman.
So Louis and the Duke were both best friends and rivals.
I wondered who would have been the winner between the two. Maybe Isabelle was so great that she met two men at the same time?
“Huh, what a bold question.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I can’t stand being curious.”
The peacock laughed softly.
I answered with a cold expression. Like a foolish noble lady who was interested in love and romance.
No, if I had to be specific, it’s because I’m that kind of noble lady. I didn’t really ‘pretend’ to be. I just answered naturally.
“I was a coward back then.”
“?”
“Looking back now, it’s clear that I liked and admired her. I denied it at the time, though.”
“Why?”
I wanted to take this opportunity to learn about the peacock.
Because to me, the Duke is no longer an enemy, but rather a confidant of the sword and perhaps even a father-in-law…
Aight, if you’re already thinking like that…
Suddenly, I had an embarrassing thought and shook my head.
The Duke looked at me strangely and then continued speaking.
“I was foolish. I lived my life thinking that the perspective I had developed in my small world was wisdom. That’s why I couldn’t be honest with her.”
“Was Isabelle a commoner?”
“……”
Silence fell.
It was somewhat expected.
It was obvious why the imperial nobles would hesitate.
Difference in status.
The silence created by the peacock staring intently into my eyes did not last long.
He sighed and answered.
“It would have been really nice if I was a commoner…”
“Yes?”
“Oh, no. I made a slip of the tongue.”
He smiles as if he finds it complicated and then speaks again.
“Yeah, he was a commoner. That’s why I hesitated.”
“Ah.”
“Despite being from a commoner background, she was never intimidated by anyone. She was truly an ideal student fit for the Imperial Academy. A free woman, not bound by class or background.”
“You must have been so talented that you could surpass everything?”
“No children of noble families or successors of the magic tower could match her magic.”
You were a wizard.
It’s really rare for a wizard to come from commoner background.
“There was only one reason she brought me to the student council. It was for the tea.”
“?”
The peacock pointed to the teacup I was drinking from.
“Beatrice, Isabel also enjoyed the tea you drink.”
“I see.”
“But no matter how excellent she was, it wasn’t an easy car to get.”
“So, the Duke?”
“That’s right. They simply chose me to supply cars to the student council.”
“Ah.”
It’s ridiculous.
Is it because I’m on the student council?
The Imperial Academy Student Council prides itself on its image as an object of tradition and admiration…
You’re arbitrarily recruiting new members just for the sake of a car?!
Isabelle…
How delicious could this woman have been?
I was cursing at a woman I had never even met in my head.
“I was so shocked that Isabelle shamelessly asked for the car as if she was looking for something she had left behind.”
“……”
“Well, that was her charm.”
“Attraction?”
“Yeah, I was dumbfounded, disgusted, and instantly fell for the arrogant commoner woman.”
The duke confessed his true feelings to a priest as if he were confessing to him.
“…I thought the moment when I could peacefully deny that feeling would last forever.”
From the bitter smile on his face, I guessed that this love story would not end well.
Now, the sight of the duke living without getting married is proof of this.
*
The busy lunch at the Manor House passed by in a flash.
Peace returned to the mansion after sending away its distinguished guests.
The duke was walking alone in the mansion garden as early evening approached.
At that moment, Louis came, making a rustling sound.
“So… how was it?”
“What does it mean?”
He asked back in an uncharacteristic way. Normally, he would have known what Louis meant, so maybe he was just pretending not to know.
“You’re acting boldly, which is unusual for you. Wasn’t it because you had something to point out?”
“……”
Louis asked again with an unusually serious expression.
“You made me wear Isabelle’s dress and took me to the study to have a private conversation, but you didn’t do that even when you suspected Alana?”
The two recalled when they had rescued Carl and Alana from the colony island just before Alana became a saint.
During the time that Carl and Alana were staying at the Manor Manor, the Duke suspected that Alana might be the princess. The child of Isabelle that he had been searching for.
“The mysterious power Alana had, her hair color that resembled Isabelle’s, and her beauty that was impossible to take my eyes off of… I was suspicious.”
“Now?”
“It’s the same now. It’s just confusing.”
The peacock passed by the artificial fountain in the garden and sat down on a suitable stone and said:
Louis was watching the peacock from under a shady tree.
“Huh… You’re right. I’ve never tested Alana like this before. I never gave her Isabelle’s dress, told her about Isabelle, or showed her a picture of my senior.”
“What?! You showed me the picture?”
“Yeah, I just wanted to do that.”
Louis, with a look of exasperation, stamped his feet.
“Why would you do something so reckless? What if Lady Beatrice was a princess, the daughter of that damned emperor?”
“……”
“The moment I realized you were floating, I might have killed you, or maybe I might have controlled you with that dirty power.”
“I know.”
“But why?!”
The duke had a bitter smile on his lips.
“I told you. I just wanted to do it.”
“Ha.”
Louis, who wanted to ask why this person was acting like this, or had he lost his mind, barely suppressed his frustration and asked.
“So… what was the result? Did you make any money?”
“…not at all.”
I don’t know whether to be thankful or to blame that nothing happened after doing such a reckless thing.
“Not at all?”
“He didn’t even flinch when he saw Isabelle’s picture, as if he was seeing her for the first time.”
“Are you sure?”
“She was impulsive, but she wasn’t blind. She didn’t know Isabelle. No, she didn’t know. Until today.”
The peacock paused for a moment, looking at the artificial fountain with water gushing out.
“Beatrice de Dahlia. She was just like any other noble young lady.”
“Oh, right.”
“I don’t know anymore. Rather than having Carl investigate the girls of the Academy, it seems like it would be quicker and easier to just arrest Unknown.”
“That must be a pretty easy path.”
“It’s a simple path. If you guys try hard.”
“Well, if this body comes out, something will work out.”
“Yes, I believe it.”
The Duke readily acknowledged Louis’s brilliant ideas.
Because of that, Louis didn’t like the atmosphere that was trying to get heavy again.
“Then, you allow it?”
“What?”
So I wanted to tease the peacock.
“The relationship between Carl and Lady Beatrice.”
“……”
“Taking the saint Alana as a daughter-in-law is not an easy task, and the church will not stay still. And for a saint to meet a man…”
“Lewis…”
“Isn’t it better to be a foreign noble lady? I don’t know how she’ll turn out in the Kingdom of Primira, but isn’t she?”
“Don’t make assumptions.”
The Duke looked at Louis, who was smiling brightly, as if he found it ridiculous.
“As far as I know, Carl isn’t really interested in women other than Alana.”
“Was it like that before you entered the academy?”
“……”
“Is that because I didn’t see you yesterday?”
Louis smiled with confidence, as if yesterday’s events were vivid.
“Well, we’ll find out if we wait and see.”
“Who will be the daughter-in-law?”
“…The future of the sword, who will be Isabelle’s daughter?”
The peacock smiled hollowly.
“How funny. I thought I lived my life only for the oath, but now I have to worry about the future of the sword.”
“That’s right. Who knew we’d end up like this?”
“I really didn’t know.”
He mutters softly.
“You really don’t know what happens to people…”
The sunset that had been illuminating the garden was fading away.
*
“Beatrice.”
Julia sat across from me in the carriage and called out to me.
“Huh?”
I was staring blankly out the window at the street.
I finally turned around to hear Julia’s pretty voice calling me.
“Somehow at the Manor Mansion…”
“Oh, something happened yesterday.”
Julia’s gaze never left the dress I was wearing.
Come to think of it, he looked flustered from the moment he picked me up at the Manor Mansion in his carriage.
“Oh, I see. By any chance, that dress…”
“I borrowed it for a short while because of some circumstances. The academy uniform was torn and torn, so I threw it away. The Duke said he would buy me a new one.”
“Is that him?”
Julia referred to the Duke in a wary voice. ‘That guy.’
“Yes, this dress was also given to me by the Duke.”
“……”
She couldn’t hide her extreme discomfort.
Even though I was right in front of him, I was constantly trying to control my expression.
“I’ll have to get some rest when I get back.”
“A message has arrived from Matthias. The formation of the Imperial Regular Army is on track.”
“Imperial regular army…”
The force depicted as a rebel force in the novel was a revolutionary force to us.
Imperial soldiers trying to reclaim the throne.
But now that kind of thing…
“The time has come, Your Majesty.”
“……”
He looked at Julia, who bowed her head in respect, with sad eyes.
Because there are things I can’t help but hesitate to say.
“Julia.”
“Yes, Beatrice.”
I smiled bitterly and took a deep breath.
I see purple eyes staring at me.
I see the beautiful eyes of Julia, who always supports and cherishes me with the same gaze.
Finally, I took a deep breath and opened my mouth.
“What if, what if I give up?”
“…Huh?”
“If you just… If you just want to live a normal life, and you don’t want to fight anymore and you don’t want to hurt people…”
“……”
I feel embarrassed at the sight of purple eyes opening wide in surprise.
I feel sorry for the eyes that were full of expectations toward me, thinking that all that’s left is to turn them into disappointment.
“If you want to continue living as Beatrice de Dahlia, not the princess.”
Thud-
A teardrop ran down her eye and fell onto the hem of her dress.
“So… if I were to ask if it’s okay to just stay like this, just like this.”
Before I knew it, tears were flowing and flowing, wetting the dress I had just put on.
“Oh, my gosh… Julia, can you still stay by my side?”
Saying words that might be a farewell.
I looked at Julia, sobbing.
For a long time, her purple eyes stared at me until they finally became blurred by tears.
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