/
Lyna strode forward, almost as if she were running, and entered the study. The door creaked loudly as she opened it, and she sank into the sofa.
As usual, her father didn’t ask anything, but there seemed to be something slightly different.
She vigorously shook her head, knowing she wouldn’t be able to meet his expectations no matter what he wanted from her.
Even if Ainar was with her, she wasn’t sure what the outcome would be.
During their first time together, when the statue collapsed in the temple, her misfortune overshadowed his fortune to some extent.
Tak.
Lyna glanced at the teacup with rising steam and spoke up. “Tell Emma to come in. Please clear some space.”
“Yes.”
Lyna rubbed her stiff neck and laughed dryly as she waited for Emma or Becky.
“I ended up voluntarily putting my foot in the door for something I didn’t want to interfere with,” she said.
It was a strange situation even for herself, but not a bad one. She felt good about it, partly because she didn’t feel the compulsion to succeed no matter what, like she did before her regression.
Ainar’s whisper flowed into her ear. “I wasn’t next to you before your regression.”
Knock knock.
Unconsciously, Lyna smiled as she heard a knocking sound.
“Miss, it’s Emma,” the voice called from outside the door.
At the time when the fact that Lyna had changed her mind about attending the hunting competition was not yet known to the public, Hans was wriggling and jolting in front of Jane, who was looking down at the ground without saying a word and with a deeply sunken face.
“J-Jane,” he said, trying to comfort her, his big body trembling. “I’ll find out if there are other places. If not, I’ll steal from anywhere…?”
However, before Hans could finish his sentence, Jane gave a cold response. “If it were that easy to find, I wouldn’t have bothered preparing to go into that forest for the hunting competition.”
“Well, yeah, but…”
“Hans.”
Hans tried to say something else, but at Jane’s call, he closed his mouth and shrugged his shoulders. He had spent the night making weapons to protect Jane from the animals, but he couldn’t even finish it, so there was nothing more to say.
Normally, Jane would not just stand by and watch someone who was trying to help her with all their might like this, even if she was not feeling well. Even if it was not okay, she would pat their shoulder and say that it was okay or say something for their sake.
But now Jane didn’t even look at Hans.
She was too busy trying to control her boiling anger inside.
For her, not exploding her anger towards Hans was enough to praise herself.
The corners of her eyes trembled, and her tightly clenched fist showed the popping veins as she lowered her gaze.
“Hans.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t pace around in front of me.”
Although it was a sharp voice, to Hans’ ears, it sounded like a voice filled with anxiety. To him, Jane was just a pitiful person.
“I’m sorry,” he said, shrinking more than before, and left as cautiously as he could, almost crouching when Jane’s sighs echoed openly.
When the annoying person who had been wandering around in front of her disappeared, Jane’s sharpened nerves softened a little.
Her teeth grinding together, she raised her fingernails and scratched the smooth teacup, making a terrifying sound. But her bloodshot eyes didn’t even blink.
She was annoyed that the road to get the essential flowers needed to make the poison that would return her to her original place was blocked.
But most of all, she was angry at the situation itself that didn’t go according to her plan.
She couldn’t express her anger as she pleased, so her fury only fermented inside her.
“Hu, hu-huu.”
Jane took a deep breath and let out a short exhale.
Unknowingly, Hans, who was also lingering outside the door, had been clinging to the door and listening intently in case she would cry, and he exhaled at the same time.
Jane lifted her head, which she had been bowing down until now.
Despite the boiling turmoil inside, her face had a faint smile. “I have to find another way. Jane, think of something. You can do it,” she said to herself, her voice calm and collected.
Although there were red veins in her eyes, she couldn’t give up on restoring her entire life back to the way it was.
Jane’s life was turned upside down by the final words of her mother, or rather the woman who had been pretending to be her mother.
“You, you’re not actually my daughter. You’re the daughter of a duke….”
Without finishing her sentence, the woman closed her eyes, but Jane knew what she was about to say. She realized that her own suspicions were true; she was indeed from the Bolsheik family. The characteristic blue eyes and red hair were exclusive to the Bolsheik family.
“Mother, mother! I heard that only the Bolsheiks have blue eyes and red hair! I also have red hair and blue….”
“Dye it.”
The woman, or rather the woman who she thought was her mother, told her to dye her hair, and even after learning the truth about her background, Jane continued to do so.
Knowing that no one would believe a powerless commoner like her was actually from the Bolsheik family and that the woman who had taken her place became the Duchess, Jane took a great risk and made a plan.
She did everything in her power to leak her existence to the Bolsheik Duke. After her efforts, she had even heard a hopeful story a few months ago that she might be able to return to the Duke’s house.
And then she met her in the temple.
“She was lucky.”
The woman who had taken her place and eaten her food all this time.
“Your hair is dyed too, isn’t it?”
Jane was adamant that Lyna’s striking red hair was a result of dyeing. She couldn’t recall Lyna’s crystal-clear blue eyes, which were so clear they were almost transparent.
Anything that didn’t align with her preconceived notions was considered false in Jane’s mind.
When Jane was young and still had a clear memory, the woman she refused to acknowledge as her mother sighed and said looking at her with concern.
“Just because you want something doesn’t mean you can have it all. Just because you want it, it doesn’t make fake real. It would be nice if the foolish thoughts remained as a child’s dream… … Why did you leave the parts that weren’t good for your daughter, sister?”
The woman’s words, who Jane rejected as her mother, were lost in the darkness forever since Jane, the only one who heard them, erased the memory.
Jane ceased nervously pulling at her hair. “That can damage your hair. A Duchess shouldn’t do that,” she reminded herself, taking a deep breath and blinking.
If there are no teeth, she’ll have to chew with her gums.
If she can’t find the necessary flower for the poison in the forest where the hunting competition takes place, she’ll have to find someone to get it for her.
“Becky, Becky Graham,” Jane muttered the name of her prey, staring fiercely at the Duke mansion.
While Jane contemplated how to kick Hans out and make better use of Becky, the latter was biting her lip and struggling to maintain eye contact with Lyna.
Becky had lost track of the number of times she had been alone with the lady she served. So when Lyna called her unexpectedly, Becky was anxious and racking her brain to determine why she was summoned.
Becky frantically tried to recall if she had overstepped her boundaries while attempting to secure the permit. However, she could only think of having pestered fellow servants of similar rank who might participate in the hunting competition.
Lyna casually crossed her legs before Becky, who was deeply engrossed in her thoughts.
“Becky Graham, tell me your story.”
Becky’s head snapped up at that moment.
The name that flowed out from between Lyna’s lips, which were redder than ripe roses, was Becky, not Emma.
Despite seeing Becky’s cheek bleached white without any color, Lyna didn’t offer any comfort.
And she didn’t seem to care that Becky wasn’t answering.
Becky tried hard to think of something, but her head just creaked.
“Don’t make that face. You didn’t say your real name, Becky, when we met this morning.”
Becky barely managed to swallow the words ‘How did you know?’ at Lyna’s words.
However, right now, there are more important things than that kind of question.
Lyna seemed to read Becky’s thoughts as she spoke up, “Right. The correct answer was not to ask how I knew. What’s important now is…”
Pausing for a moment, Lyna leaned her back against the chair.
“Tell me. How did you end up in front of me with the name Emma?”
She had considered leaving Emma, or rather Becky, who had worked as Jane’s associate before her regression, alone.
There was no need to worsen the situation by sticking her nose in Becky’s secret.
So she tried not to interfere with Jane until she left the family, but the situation changed.