The Klein Daughter
No, if only I had been born into this family from the very beginning.
Even that felt unbearable. I should never have been born into that cursed viscount’s house in the borderlands. I should have been born right here as Tiara Marietta Klein, the daughter of the duke—someone no one could ever touch!
Then none of this would have happened at all!
Her head tilted slightly to the left as a wave of fury surged through her. The Klein Duchess’s voice trembled with unmistakable tears.
“You were Dorothea from the start…? No, that’s not it, is it?”
“Pardon…?”
What on earth was she talking about?
Startled, Dot looked up—and saw something astonishing.
The Klein Duchess was weeping openly behind her black veil.
‘D-Don’t tell me…’
Back when she had accidentally discovered that Morigana’s belongings had come from the Klein estate… when she matched the timeline of the story with the disappearance of the duke’s daughter… the chill that had run down her spine when she realized Morigana and the Klein daughter were likely the same person.
‘Even then… even then it was the same. After I was declared the daughter at the Temple of the Gods, the only person who embraced me and sobbed was the Klein Duchess. But it’s still too early—I haven’t revealed anything yet. How does she know?’
Unable to be completely certain, Dot remained silent. This was not the moment to speak rashly.
The Klein Duchess toyed with the small flower ornament on her veil.
“This hat was sent from my family home. It was quite some time ago. They told me to forget already… *hic*… and to bury the matter of our Tiara, since no news had come.”
Dot’s tightly pressed lips twitched.
“But I simply couldn’t. After His Grace received the oracle from the Saintess of the Temple saying we would find Tiara, I was overjoyed… though the waiting felt endless…”
At the end of the duchess’s endless lament, her tone shifted into something sorrowful and tender. It made Dot uneasy.
Could it be…?
“……”
When Dot continued to stay silent, the Klein Duchess could bear it no longer and rose to her feet. She retrieved something from a sandalwood box and held it out.
“This belongs to you. If you remember how you came to possess it, tell me. All right?”
Good heavens! It was Morigana’s silk robe—the one she had hidden deep inside her own wardrobe so no one would ever find it!
And now it was clutched in the Klein Duchess’s hand? How? She had never told anyone where it was!
Though stunned, the cunning Dot forced herself to remain outwardly calm. Inside, however, she was terrified beyond reason.
‘If she found this on her own, then my plan to strike at the perfect moment is ruined!’
If simply possessing the daughter’s belongings was enough to claim the title, she would have casually mentioned it to a servant she had grown close to after arriving. But that wasn’t how it worked.
The Temple of the Gods…
With her current position, she had no immediate way to pass their verification. How was she supposed to lure Morigana here? She didn’t even know where the girl was, and Morigana already suspected her of stealing the robe!
‘This is insane. I’m in no position to act right now… No, it’s already too late. Even if I confess that this isn’t mine but Morigana’s, she won’t protect me.’
Even though Dot was clever, she had no useful cards left to play. What should she do? What could she do? Her mouth went dry as she recalled how poorly she and Morigana had parted.
‘Once she becomes the daughter, she’ll have every right to cast me out of my position as Eina. Ha!’
She had always disliked Morigana, but now the hatred burned hotter than ever.
Why did you have to return to the past and keep getting in my way at every turn?
The memory of that wretched Morigana approaching her in the shabby state before she could even enter the Arcadian Hall, asking if she was Dot…
‘Pull yourself together, Dotricia Karis. I’ve already been forced onto a burning carriage—there’s no getting off now.’
Just like before, she would have to overcome this crisis with her own strength.
‘Then I have no choice but to keep running forward! If I don’t want to live forever as Dotricia, fleeing from everyone, then I’ll carve my own path to become Tiara Marietta Klein!’
Dot’s mind spun furiously, weaving a desperate lie to escape the situation.
“Oh, that is… First, you must promise me something. Promise you won’t reveal what I’m about to say to anyone outside.”
“Hm?”
Standing at this second critical crossroads, Dot clenched her small fists and recited the same words she had once spoken before—carefully avoiding any mention of the second item that wasn’t present.
One wrong word here, and she would fall straight into ruin.
“It… is my belonging. I believe it’s something I used when I was young, though I’m not entirely sure. It was lying beside me when I collapsed after injuring my head.”
“You injured your head when you were young?”
The Klein Duchess squeezed her eyes shut.
On the ground swept by cold wind, not a single strand of poor Tiara’s hair remained. Only the bloodstains that must have come from her head, a few small footprints leading from the carriage, and the horrific marks where she had tried to drag herself away across the earth.
Oh, my poor Tiara! Where did you run to escape the thief’s blade? Stop wandering now and return to my arms. Your mother has grown weary of waiting.
“Yes. I don’t remember much of the past because of the injury. The memories aren’t whole. It’s such a dark story, and I don’t want others gossiping about it, so please… keep it secret, just as I’ve told you…”
“I see… So that’s how it was. Very well. Leave the rest to me.”
“So I… am… ugh!”
Thud.
A shadow fell over her from behind, and a knight lightly struck her back. When Dot, who had collapsed on the spot, opened her eyes again, the place had completely changed. She was lying on the soft bed inside the Temple of the Gods—the same one she had visited before—and her head throbbed dizzily.
The Klein Duchess, who had been waiting for her to wake, rushed forward and embraced her, weeping.
“Oh, my beloved Tiara!”
“What…?”
She had called her Tiara, not Dorothea? She was addressing her?
“It’s all right now, my child. Everything is over. Good heavens, to think I had my precious daughter right beside me and failed to recognize her at all! I have no right to call myself a mother.”
A chill ran down Dot’s entire body.
“Can you still forgive me? You are my one and only daughter!”
What on earth was happening?
Only after the maid brought her water—bowing deeply at a perfect ninety-degree angle—and she had drunk it along with some simple soup and bread did Dot begin to grasp the situation.
She wasn’t sure exactly how it had come to pass, but after losing consciousness that day, she had been brought to the Temple of the Gods and declared the Klein daughter.
The reason the duchess kept apologizing so earnestly included the fact that she had forcibly rendered her unconscious. She had done it because she wanted to know the truth as soon as possible, and she begged for understanding.
Dot also received a useless promise that it would never happen again, but her heart continued to churn uneasily.
‘Back then, I was clearly asked through the Truth-Reading Statue whether the silk robe and ruby pendant were mine. I used a clever trick to have Morigana answer in my place from the next room.’
Unlike before, the situation was no longer unfolding according to Dot’s own schemes. Things she had only laid the groundwork for were suddenly exploding ahead of schedule, and she couldn’t make sense of any of it.
‘But… is Morigana here at the Temple right now? That can’t be. I was brought here completely unconscious, so how…!’
Dot was gripped with fear.
What if Saintess Capia of the Temple came and declared that the statue’s reading had been wrong, that this girl had no connection whatsoever to the Klein daughter?
She would be tortured until she revealed the origin of the silk robe, and then executed for identity forgery!
She had only wanted to buy time—why were things happening completely beyond her control?
Though Dot trembled at the enormity of the lie she had told, no such disaster occurred.
When she asked in a timid voice whether this was where the Saintess resided, she was only told that Saintess Capia had been away for several days on a modest pilgrimage.
“It’s all right now, Tiara. Let’s go home. I’ll make sure you enjoy the luxurious life you were denied for so long—every single day, to your heart’s content. I’m truly sorry for making you suffer through the burdensome role of an Eina. From now on, there won’t be a single sad day in your life.”
“Y-Yes…”
The Klein Duchess gently draped her shawl over Dot’s shoulders and helped her into the carriage.
The splendid carriage sped away from the Temple of the Gods as if it never wished to return.
Upon returning to the Klein estate, Dot received a lavish welcome.
There were silk dresses far lighter and smoother than any she had worn before, and a blue sapphire bracelet tenderly fastened around her wrist.
The duchess smiled brightly.
“Hehe, Cassel is the commander of the Blue Rose Knight Order, after all. I hope this will help the two of you build a stronger sibling bond. Cassel seems rather busy these days, but when he returns, I’ll be sure to speak with him properly.”
“To Lord Cassel?”
“Lord Cassel? He’s your older brother now. You should forget all the unpleasant things that happened until now. Blood is thicker than water, after all. There’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“Ah… Yes.”
The jewels were, of course, wonderful.
Yet the thought of Cassel’s perpetually cold face made her stomach twist uncomfortably.
The verification had somehow passed, so things would work out, wouldn’t they? Please… they had to. If there was only one stroke of luck in her entire life, it had to be this.
The belongings she had used while staying at the Selpia House had mostly been disposed of, and Dot was given the very same room that had once been assigned to her when she was recognized as the daughter.
Because everything had been decided in haste, most of the furniture was plain and newly painted white—quite different from before.
“Just endure a little longer. Furniture made in a rush during winter tends to use poor paint and deteriorates easily, so it’s better to order new pieces with proper care next year. I’ll have your room perfectly furnished by next spring. For now, let’s prepare winter dresses and cloaks first.”
Dot shamelessly pulled the duchess into an embrace.
“It’s already perfect as it is. I still can’t believe I’m truly the daughter of this house… Really… truly?”
“Oh, my Tiara! No matter what anyone says, you are my daughter—the noble daughter of the duke.”
“…Um, and there’s one more favor I’d like to ask.”
“Say anything you wish.”
At the duchess’s words, Dot’s wild greed stirred.
Should she coax some gold coins right away and set her plan in motion?
Starting a fire in the dry winter to destroy Grace Monastery once more was the most urgent task.
There was no need to kill many—just Beryl and her daughter would suffice. The rest could live or die as they pleased. Of course, her old rural family who knew her real name would also have to die cleanly, wouldn’t they?