Actually, I was the Real One

Erez: “Hmm…”

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Erez narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance.
Soon, when his gaze reached the target, he took a step back in surprise.

A woman Keira’s age was smiling brightly.
Her white dress and friendly smile was just perfect to win the favor of those around her.

Erez: “Uh, she seems to have an unusual fashion sense.”

Although it was a dress with a clean and sophisticated design, it was definitely not the style one would see in a banquet hall like this.
It was like someone who didn’t care about what others thought.

Erez thought that maybe she was the same kind of person as him, and so he took a look closer at the woman Keira had pointed out.

And at that moment, his face hardened.

Erez: “F*ck[1].”

Words Keira had never heard before came out of his mouth.
She tilted her head, puzzled.
What was that?

Keira: “F*ck? What does that mean?”

Erez: “Uh, no, I mean, that’s…”

It was an unfamiliar word to Keira, who had lived only knowing and speaking the aristocratic language.
But, judging by the way Erez reacted, she could only guess the word meant something bad.

Erez: “It’s just.
Right, well, it’s an exclamation you say when you see something surprising.
As you can see, it’s not the kind of attire one would see at a banquet like this…”

Keira: “I’ve never heard of it before.”

Erez: “Pfft, it’s because it’s commoner slang.
It’s not a word aristocrats use.”

She tilted her head and turned in Cosette’s direction.
She still had that smile on her face as she chatted with the people around her.

It’s amazing that she could still smile like that even after the Grand Duke rejected her.

Erez: “By the way, who is that silver-haired woman?”

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Keira: “She claimed to be the Grand Duke’s biological daughter.”

Erez: “The Grand Duke’s biological daughter?”

He raised his gaze upward as if thinking of something for a moment.

Erez: “Does that even make sense? The prophecy said there would only be one elementalist, and that elementalist is you, the Lady of the Parvis Grand Duchy.”

Keira: “She wants to claim that I’m fake, and she’s real.”

How shameless.
Keira gripped the wine glass.

Erez: “So, is that why the party’s atmosphere is like this?”

Keira nodded.
She hated that the woman appeared, but it was heartbreaking that she ruined Zeke’s coming-of-age celebration.

Keira: “Do you know her?”

Keira’s sharp eyes twinkled.
Before she returned from the past, she had Cosette investigated.

Her past was immaculate.
No, it was more accurate to say it was blank.

Cosette claimed it was thanks to the protection of a couple living in the deep mountains.

The Marquis of Edinburgh did not refute the accusation that he would have killed Rowena Weinberg if she had not lived in hiding and that he would have killed Cosette as well.

Given the circumstances, no one would question Cosette’s explanation.

Scratching his head, Erez said.

Erez: “No, it’s not that… This is my intuition as a wizard.”

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His intuition as a wizard… Keira was hearing those things for the first time.

Didn’t wizards at the tower show interest in nothing but magic? It would have been more reliable if Erez said it was his intuition as a human being.
Keira’s eyes narrowed.

Either way, Erez continued with what he had to say.

Erez: “This might sound a bit ridiculous, but as a young wizard, I’m pretty sure I have some mastery of mystical powers.
Be careful.
I’m getting a very sinister feeling from that woman.”

Keira: “Even if you don’t say that, I’ll be careful.
There’s no reason not to be careful.”

After all, she’s someone who dared to take Keira’s place.

The day after the coming-of-age celebration, Robert went to Keira and delivered a message from the Grand Duke to come to his office for a moment. 

Unlike her usual excuses to delay meeting the Grand Duke, Keira told Robert that she would go straight to him. 

There were a couple of things she wanted to ask.

Why didn’t he accept Cosette? How would he treat her… and why was he acting differently than in the past?

‘I can’t really ask the last question.’

As Keira got up from her seat, Rose worriedly asked.

Rose: “Why would His Grace call for you?”

Keira: “I have a rough guess.”

Rose: “…is it because of the unknown woman Count Weinberg brought in?”

Rose had not attended the banquet, but there was no way she could not have heard the rumors that had already spread to the capital.

And she wasn’t the only one who heard what happened at the party.
Even the maids and knights in the estate were buzzing. 

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Because of that, the atmosphere in that house has been somber the past few days.

Nevertheless, Keira behaved as usual.
Calmly, as if nothing had happened.

Keira: “Well, maybe.
There was such a commotion; he couldn’t act as if nothing happened.”

Rose: “A-are you alright? I heard she looks so much like the Grand Duke.
The Grand Duke doesn’t mean to accept that fake, right?”

Keira: “How can I know his will?”

Rose: “My lady!”

Rose pounded her chest in frustration.
So did the butler who came to deliver Ludwig’s call and Emily, who followed them.

Emily spoke carefully.

Emily: “I wasn’t assigned to work at the banquet that day, so I didn’t see her face… but the maids who were there told me she looked startingly similar to the His Grace.”

Keira: “You mean like Lira and Miranda?”

Emily: “Y-yes?”

Emily flinched when Keira correctly guessed the maids in question.

Keira: “As their friend, you don’t have to worry.
I have no intention of punishing them.
They’re not spreading malicious rumors.
They just told you what they saw firsthand.”

Rose: “My lady… are you really alright?”

Rose asked.
She seemed to want to silence the maids before things got worse. 

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Keira: “Are there only one or two people who witnessed that scene? There’s no point in silencing the employees if we can’t do that to the nobles outside.”

Keira had gone through the trouble of doing that once anyway.
And it was better to face the issue head-on than to avoid it.

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If she had the maids in the house silenced, she would really look like someone who had something to hide.

Instead, it was more effective to act nonchalant about it. 

With a faint smile, Keira said to Emily.

Keira: “And I trust my mother.
She’s not one to commit adultery.”

After Keira said that, Emily put her hands together, and her eyes twinkled.
Even Robert looked a little impressed.

Still, Robert knew Emily’s propensity to gossip, especially when it’s a particularly juicy story.

Keira: “So I’m not worried about useless tricks.”

Rose: “Well, you should.”

Rose still looked restless.

Rose: “It’s well known in society that the Weinberg family and Edinburgh family are at odds with each other.”

Keira: “Well, actually… I understand that to some extent, Count Weinberg regards grandfather as a thorn in his side.”

Rose: “Still, to cheat the blood of an elementalist! It’s bound to fail.”

Keira: “The truth is bound to come out one day.
How he can handle the punishment for him, that’s what I’m more concerned about.”

Keira reassured them and left.

As she made her way to the Grand Duke’s office, she pondered what conclusion Ludwig might have reached.

Three days have already passed since Zeke’s birthday.
So what was he thinking, and what conclusion did he come to during those three days?

And Keira realized it not long after.

If Ludwig had decided not to accept Cosette, there was no reason to call Keira.