Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Only Those Who Know the Truth Can Understand
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The tea in the teacup I held in my hand rippled slightly.
Before posing my next question, I took a sip of tea and mentally sorted through my final list of inquiries.
My counterpart was the empire's infamous villainess who dominated high society, and someone presumed to be a possessor like Roselia, or perhaps a regressor.
I judged that simple questions wouldn't uncover her true intentions, so I needed to converse in a casual, everyday tone as naturally as possible.
In a way that would make her unwittingly spill the information she knew.
"By the way, according to the maids, you seem quite knowledgeable about the north's geography, Lady. From the distribution of monsters you encountered on the way here to the layout inside Kaltstein Castle. Almost as if you've lived here before."
"Isn't thoroughly researching places that interest you basic etiquette? Besides, I'm quite clever. I memorize maps after just one look."
"I see. Then where did your certainty that I'd be interested in the Titan King's bones come from? The Baldinmar family must have plenty of famous swords and treasures suitable for trade that rival it."
"I told you. Investigating your counterpart is essential before sitting at the negotiation table. Everyone knows the duke is a pragmatist."
"...".
She slipped away like an eel.
And with such elegant, skillful grace.
Even when I wove in questions laced with imperial politics or military knowledge, she answered without hesitation, like someone who knew the model answers by heart.
It even felt like she was reading my intentions and picking only the responses I wanted to hear.
As if she were someone who'd conversed with me countless times, fully grasping my thought patterns.
'She's no ordinary player.'
In the end, even after the promised twenty minutes elapsed, I hadn't gleaned a single decisive clue about her identity.
All that remained was the fact that she was exceptionally intelligent and adept at handling situations.
And the possibility that she was a regressor who knew the original story, rather than a mere possessor like Roselia, gained a bit more weight.
Having gained nothing from this, I set down my teacup and let out a light sigh.
Moreover, at this point, beating around the bush felt like a waste of time.
So, for my final question, I decided to ask the most fundamental one I'd wanted to pose all along.
"Time's up. Just one more question to finish."
"Yes, go ahead."
Leonier regarded me with her usual relaxed smile.
"So, exactly how do you plan to use me to escape the crown prince's grasp? And..."
I paused briefly, then voiced a perfectly reasonable curiosity.
"Once everything is resolved, when do you plan to leave Kaltstein?"
"...Pardon?"
The moment my question ended, the perfect, leisurely smile on Leonier's face shattered like glass.
As if an arrow from an utterly unexpected direction had pierced her heart.
Even her red eyes trembled violently.
"...Leave?"
"Yes. You can't stay here forever. As you mentioned earlier, you'll need to return to Baldinmar and become the family head. I need to know roughly when our contract ends so I can prepare accordingly, don't I?"
I had merely stated the obvious.
Ours was a relationship bound by transaction.
Once the goal was achieved, parting ways was the natural course.
Yet her reaction was like that of a woman receiving a breakup notice from her lover.
"......".
Leonier trembled her lips but couldn't utter a word.
I could see moisture gathering in the corners of her eyes.
Hurt.
Yes, the emotion etched on her face could unmistakably be called hurt.
"Pl, plans..."
After a long while, she finally managed to open her mouth.
Her voice quivered precariously, as if it might break at any moment.
"I... haven't made them yet. However..."
She bowed her head deeply, avoiding my gaze.
The back of her hand, clenched tightly on the tablecloth, had turned deathly white.
"I'll... prepare as quickly as possible. So I won't be a burden to you, Duke..."
"Lady?"
"I'm sorry. I suddenly feel unwell... I'll take my leave first."
Leonier bolted from her seat as if fleeing.
And without a backward glance, she hurried out of the study.
Just before the door closed, I glimpsed her profile, flushed red as if on the verge of tears.
Slam.
The door shut, and silence once again enveloped the study.
I stared blankly at the closed door, furrowing my brow.
'What did I do wrong?'
I pondered the situation from start to finish, replaying it in my mind, but there was nothing amiss in my words.
I hadn't been rude or sarcastic.
I'd merely asked about future plans as a partner—why react like that?
"Can't figure it out..."
They say a woman's heart is like a reed, but a possessor's is a typhoon, apparently.
I shook my head and rose from my seat.
Though I wanted to chase after her and ask the reason, it was time to depart for Drakenspitze with Roselia.
"Sigh. I need to prepare before our feisty possessor lady loses her temper..."
It was then.
As I picked up my coat draped over the sofa and took a step.
"Ugh...!"
Suddenly, a thudding shock hit one corner of my chest, as if it had sunk.
It wasn't ordinary pain.
A throbbing ache, like someone squeezing my heart.
At the same time, an inexplicable sense of loss and sharp pain wrapped around my entire body.
"Kuugh... What is this?"
I clutched my chest, breathing raggedly.
Is something wrong with my heart? No, my aura flow is perfectly normal.
Then why?
And it wasn't just pain—Leonier's retreating figure from moments ago kept flickering before my eyes.
"Hah... Hah..."
I stood there rubbing my chest for a long while before forcing myself to move.
I had no time to be hindered by pain of unknown origin.
But as I left the study, my footsteps felt far heavier than usual.
The carriage jolted so violently each time that I sorely missed the car I'd driven on Earth—it felt like it would shatter my spine.
The view outside the window was nothing but endless white snowfields, but the hoofbeats of the knights escorting us from outside were quite loud.
On the surface, this was the imperial princess and duke's "secret date" to a nearby villa near Drakenspitze, so we'd kept the escort to a minimum.
Normally, no escort would be needed, but I couldn't risk any variables harming Roselia, my bundle of information.
At least I'd brought about fifty of the most trusted from Kaltstein, those who'd been with us the longest, so it should be fine.
"...".
I leaned against the carriage wall, staring blankly out the window.
One corner of my chest still ached dully.
The heart-squeezing pain had subsided, but the heavy foreign sensation lingered.
It was then.
"Duke."
Roselia, who had been sitting across from me, staring intently at my face as if analyzing it for a while, finally spoke.
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Are you unwell? Your complexion looks terrible."
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Don't tell me... you were up late with Seria even the day before the trip... doing that? Even if you're young, you need to manage your stamina."
"......".
"I'm kidding, kidding. Loosen up your expression."
Roselia giggled and waved her hand.
Normally, I'd brush it off or ignore it lightly, but today I wasn't in the mood.
Yet because of that, I suddenly wanted to ask this other possessor ahead of me.
Why I was feeling like this.
Why Leonier had reacted that way in that earlier situation.
After a brief silence, I abruptly asked her.
"Your Highness."
"Yes?"
"By any chance... do you know much about women's psychology?"
"Hmm, well. Probably better than you, a man, right? Why? Trouble with Seria?"
"Not Seria... Right before departure, I had a conversation with Lady Leonier Baldinmar."
I got straight to the point without preamble.
For some vague reason, I felt that she, another possessor who shared a subtle connection with Leonier, might know the answer.
"I asked a few questions to gauge her identity and goals. At the end, I inquired about her future plans and when she intends to leave Kaltstein. A perfectly reasonable question between partners, no?"
"Mm, sure. It's a transactional relationship."
"But the moment she heard it... the lady bolted out with a look like she was about to burst into tears. As if I'd inflicted some grievous wound. Did I make a mistake?"
"Why would she...? Asking her to leave Kaltstein..."
As she replayed my words to pinpoint the issue, she suddenly covered her mouth with both hands in shock.
"No way, this can't be..."
"What's wrong? Was I rude after all?"
"No, it's not that..."
Roselia faltered, her pupils trembling violently.
She knew.
That Leonier was a regressor, and that in her previous life, she'd loved Noxion more than anyone.
She'd lost everything to return to the past for the man she loved, yet here he was, oblivious, asking when she'd leave.
Roselia couldn't even imagine how cruel a dagger that must have been.
'She's insane... really insane. Is Leonier's mentality okay?'
Roselia screamed inwardly.
She desperately wanted to shout, "That woman loved you as much as Seria did before her regression, and despite being a lady, she wanted to stay by your side even as a concubine—a pure maiden! You oblivious duke!"
But.
Please don't tell him until he figures it out himself later.
That final plea from their first meeting sealed her lips.
So after much agonizing, Roselia slowly, awkwardly opened her mouth.
"W-well... I don't really know."
"...".
Roselia acted as if she'd realized something, then suddenly averted her gaze, feigning ignorance with clumsy acting.
"As you said, Duke... there didn't seem to be anything odd. Maybe the lady was just tired... or sensitive about the crown prince. Haha..."
"...".
Normally, I'd see through that awkward performance and press her relentlessly.
But right now, I lacked even the energy.
The pain and fatigue crushing my chest dulled my thoughts.
"...I see. Understood."
I replied curtly and leaned deeply back into the seat.
The inexplicable frustration persisted, but I had no strength left to dig deeper.
"I'm... a bit tired. May I rest until we arrive?"
"Ah, yes! Of course. Sleep well. The journey's quite long."
Roselia answered in a voice thick with relief.
I closed my eyes.
Feeling my consciousness slowly sink into darkness.
Hoping that in my dreams, those red eyes filled with sorrow would not appear.