Chapter 29
“Um, more importantly, Jeremy, did you happen to read the letter I sent you?”
Chloe, feeling a bit awkward at this new side of her youngest brother whom she had thought was so innocent until now, changed the subject.
“A letter?”
“Yes. I wanted to talk with you, so I sent a letter two days ago by the fastest mail. But judging from your reaction, it seems you haven’t read it yet.”
At Chloe’s words, Jeremy tilted his head to the side.
“If it was the fastest mail, it should have arrived yesterday at the very latest…… but I haven’t received any letters until I got here.”
“That can’t be. I clearly sent it under the name Bianca Lloyd.”
“Hmm, sometimes letters go missing. I’ll check with the post office once I arrive at the temple.”
“Alright. And if you find out anything, send a letter to me immediately. Just address it to Bianca Lloyd of Viscount Lloyd’s household.”
Chloe wrote down the address of Viscount Lloyd’s manor on a memo pad and handed it to him. Seeing her handwriting, Jeremy chuckled.
“Seeing this terrible handwriting, I am certain it is Sister Chloe.”
“What, were you still doubting me?”
And terrible handwriting, no less. As Chloe narrowed her eyes and put her hand on her waist, Jeremy said with a laugh.
“Rather than doubting you, it’s such an unbelievable thing that I keep having to confirm it. The Sister Chloe I know is a beauty with dazzling bright blonde hair and a haughty charm, and that woman isn’t her.”
“Ugh, don’t say things like that anywhere else. Your sister will get insulted.”
As Chloe grimaced and waved her hand, Jeremy broke into an even brighter laugh.
“Are you returning to Viscount Lloyd’s manor now?”
“Yes. I can’t stay here forever, so I should get going soon.”
Chloe said with a bitter smile. If she had it her way, she would have wanted to stay here forever, but she couldn’t in Bianca Lloyd’s body.
“Then, I’ll escort you to Viscount Lloyd’s manor, let’s go together.”
“No, that’s alright. I also came by carriage, so there’s no need for that.”
“It goes against a gentleman’s code to send a lady back alone, so I will escort you.”
While it was funny that Jeremy, who was only 15, was talking about a gentleman’s code, it was also endearing, so Chloe gladly accepted her brother’s offer.
As she stepped out of the mansion, escorted by her youngest brother who, though still a boy, was trying to act like an adult, she saw someone climbing the stone steps of the mansion.
It was Ian MacMilden. Chloe, who had absentmindedly been about to call out to him, stopped herself and swallowed her words, realizing she was currently in the form of ‘Bianca Lloyd.’
“It is a pleasure to see you again, Young Duke.”
In the meantime, Jeremy greeted Ian. Unlike Aaron, who had called Ian by his name affectionately, he maintained an appropriate distance.
“It’s good to see you again, Young Master Jeremy.”
Ian, who also maintained a distance in his greeting, shifted his gaze to Chloe. When their eyes met, Chloe drew an awkward smile on her lips and greeted him.
“It’s been a long time, Young Duke. How have you been?”
“…….”
The warm greeting was met with an indifferent nod. There was no typical reply like “I’ve been well” or “How have you been?” He simply left a parting greeting for Jeremy, saying he’d see him again later, and strode up the remaining steps.
“Ugh, has his temper not changed at all with age?”
As Chloe shook her head and clucked her tongue, Jeremy let out a small laugh.
“Even so, it seems the Young Duke MacMilden is very fond of you, sister.”
What kind of utterly baseless nonsense was this? Chloe would have retorted that he was spouting nonsense if it had been anyone else, but since it was her beloved brother, she lowered the intensity of her rebuttal as much as possible.
“That can’t be. There’s no way that guy likes me.”
“What? But the Young Duke visits you every morning and evening while you’re ill. There’s no way he would visit a woman he doesn’t like that often.”
“That’s probably because he can’t have a match with me until I wake up. We promised to take the Imperial Knights Exam together in May.”
“……The Young Duke is a bit pitiful.”
As Chloe answered with a voice full of certainty, Jeremy muttered to himself while looking down at the ground.
“What did you just say?”
“Nothing at all.”
Jeremy smiled as if nothing had happened and took Chloe’s hand again.
“Let’s go back before it gets too late, sister.”
* * *
Rustle. The sound of paper brushing together brought her hazy mind back to reality. As her blurry vision brightened, the first thing that caught her eye was a notebook filled with black-and-white photos. Seeing the newspapers scattered messily around it, it seemed the photos were clipped from newspaper articles.
Where am I this time?
Chloe slowly looked around her. Piles of luggage haphazardly stacked, a low ceiling that would hit her head if she stood up, and a creaking wooden floor. The moon visible through the single window felt closer than usual.
An attic? Why am I here?
As she looked around, feeling bewildered, Chloe picked up the notebook with the black-and-white photos. She now saw that they were all photos of Ian. Below them were descriptions of the photos.
Ian MacMilden entering the Academy, Ian winning the Academy Fencing Tournament, Ian on his 16th birthday, Ian receiving baptism at Basilock Cathedral, Ian attending his coming-of-age party, and so on.
Chloe could not look at the notebook all the way to the end and closed it again. This was too much like a stalker. No, it was definitely a stalker.
Who did this?
As she was deep in thought, Chloe suddenly recalled that her former classmate, David Harman, had once told her that a stalker seemed to be following Ian.
Could the stalker David mentioned be this person?
If so, she felt she needed to find out who the culprit was, so Chloe opened the notebook again. People usually write their names on the first or last page, so she intended to check there.
Just then, there was a knock.
The rough wooden door looked strangely familiar. When she didn’t answer, the person knocked again. The sound was quite a bit louder this time.
Only then did Chloe get up, holding the notebook in her hand. Her head just barely didn’t touch the ceiling. She was about to ask who it was, but for some reason, no voice came out. Only a strange croaking sound emerged.
While a flustered Chloe was dithering, the door burst open. A pink-haired woman in pajamas was standing in front of the door.
Chloe felt like she knew who the woman was, but the memory wouldn’t come, and she frowned. The woman strode up to Chloe, who was standing still, and snatched the notebook from her hands.
“You have everything.”
Anger and resentment were heavily embedded in the voice that slipped between her teeth.
“You have everything…… do you have to steal mine too to feel satisfied?!”
The woman, who had been glaring at Chloe as if to kill her, grabbed her by the collar and, with a voice full of rage, pushed her against the wall without giving her a chance to resist.
* * *
Thump-
“…….”
Woken up by hitting her head hard on the bed’s headboard, Chloe winced and clutched the painful spot. Cold sweat on her forehead soaked the pillowcase. It was still early dawn, and the room was dark.
Once the pain had subsided to some extent, Chloe looked around. The still-tacky and dirty wallpaper, the worn-out sofa and table for a noble lady’s use, the stained carpet, and so on—it was only after she confirmed it was Bianca Lloyd’s bedroom that her sense of reality returned.
“……Was it all a dream?”
Annoyance and relief crossed paths. Chloe let out a deep sigh and got up. Her pink hair, which was stubbornly curly, was tangled messily from sleeping and fell over her shoulders.
They say people usually don’t remember what they dreamed about after waking up, but this was not the case for Chloe. Everything was vivid, from finding the notebook full of Ian’s photos to hearing strange things from the pink-haired woman.
That woman in the dream was probably…… Bianca Lloyd.
Then did Bianca make that notebook? Is Ian’s stalker Bianca Lloyd?
“Ah, my head.”
As she kept thinking about what she saw in the dream, her head started to ache. As the faint pain gradually grew stronger, Chloe held her brow and stopped thinking. Then, as if by magic, the headache subsided. It seemed that was indeed the cause.
She didn’t know why thinking about that incident gave her a headache or why she had that dream, but one thing was for sure.
Bianca Lloyd liked Ian MacMilden in an abnormal way. Didn’t she say something nonsensical before about wanting to get together with Ian even in Rumonie?
Could it be that the woman targeted me because she mistook me for Ian’s woman? So she wants me to seduce Ian with this body or something?
Judging from Bianca Lloyd’s behavior so far, it was a very real possibility, and it sent shivers down her spine. Chloe embraced her goosebump-covered arms and shivered.
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