As our group departed—
“Ha ha, well—that was certainly a lively exchange, Your Grace. If you’ll excuse us, we really must be—”
“Yes, yes, we were just leaving as well—”
—the nobles who had been clustered around Duke Foss began quietly peeling away, one by one, until he was standing alone.
“Ha.”
The duke, who had maintained his polished smile through everything, finally pressed one hand over his face.
“So then, Aisha. You’ve chosen to betray me after all.”
When his hand dropped, the smile was gone entirely. Through the gap between his fingers, his eyes burned.
________________________________________
________________________________________
Meanwhile, in a quieter corner of the palace—a terrace where the crowd had yet to reach.
“Ahh—I can finally breathe. Don’t you think so too, Papa? Why was everyone in there staring at us like that?”
Lucas let out a long sigh, rose onto his toes, and draped himself dramatically over the balustrade.
“Come away from there. That’s dangerous.”
“I must say, that’s a rather unimpressive warning to give someone who came back from the dead at Ahili Circus.”
“Do that in front of your tutor and she’ll be adding another demerit sticker to your chart.”
“—what?”
Lucas’s eyes went round. He dropped from the railing and landed lightly on both feet with a definitive thud.
We had slipped out to the terrace for a moment’s respite—the weight of everyone’s attention had become oppressive, even to me.
Though if I’m being honest, it’s mostly because of me.
I was quiet, feeling vaguely guilty, staring out over the garden—
…Hm?
While behind me, Calypse and Lucas had already resumed their bickering as though nothing had happened.
“Papa. Are we in a classroom right now? This is real life. These are real stakes.”
“Which is exactly why I’m telling you to behave. Look at your little sister—composed, refined, every inch a noblewoman, standing perfectly still without making a sound.”
My father and brother were thoroughly absorbed in each other. Neither of them was paying me the slightest attention.
Which was when my gaze, moving entirely of its own accord, began quietly tracking a figure moving through the garden below.
The grounds had been arranged like a small maze. A cluster of noble ladies strolled the winding path, their laughter drifting upward in bright bursts. Attendants followed at a respectful distance.
And among those attendants—a woman.
Hair the color of spun gold thread, coiled and pinned neatly at the back of her neck.
Why does she feel…familiar?
I shifted in Calypse’s arms, inched my face forward, and narrowed my eyes.
I wanted to see her face—but she was turned away from me, and the distance made my chest tighten with something close to frustration.
I wasn’t certain enough to say anything to Calypse or Lucas. But something in me had already decided.
Because the moment I’d laid eyes on the back of that woman’s head, my heart had dropped straight through the floor.
Human instinct was strange that way.
Some things ought to slip by unnoticed—
“…”
And yet.
The portrait I had stared at so intently before the banquet—
“…!”
As the attendant turned to follow her mistress inside, the line of her profile, glimpsed in that fraction of a second, matched Ariena’s face exactly.
She was going inside.
If I moved now—if I cut through the hall and ran for the main corridor—
“P—Papa. Come quick!”
“What?”
“No, wait—there’s a—a duchess over there—no, that’s not—”
If I told Calypse I’d spotted Ariena, he would go still. Just for a moment—just long enough to lose her entirely.
I didn’t have a moment to spare.
“Papa, just a second. I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you—”
Before he could finish the sentence, I had wriggled out of his arms like a startled hamster and hit the ground running.
“Aisha.”
Calypse’s voice dropped an octave.
But—
“You and I made a promise, remember—”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I really need the bathroom—ten minutes, I’ll be back in ten minutes!”
I cut him off mid-sentence and bolted across the main floor of the hall, Kai clutched against my chest.
“Oh—is that the princess?”
“What a darling child—”
Nobles called out from all sides, but I couldn’t afford the social niceties—couldn’t even manage the reflexive smile.
The important thing was: if this really was Ariena—
Why is she working as a servant?
I burst out of the hall and into the corridor beyond—darker than the banquet room, stretching endlessly in both directions.
The main entrance was to the left from here.
I already had the palace’s rough internal layout memorized—old habits—and I turned the corner without hesitation.
“Our young lady has gone inside, so we’ll wait here for now.”
“Of course.”
A soft exchange of voices. And at the far end of the corridor, lit by the dim glow from the windows—
A woman with golden hair, smiling at her colleague.
The same warm, crescent-eyed smile as the woman in the portrait. And she was standing right in front of me.
“…”
Shock severe enough to stop a heart. I know because mine stopped.
She wore the deep violet uniform of a palace attendant, her hair twisted and pinned to one side, and she looked far plainer than the woman in the portrait—no white gown, no husband standing proudly at her side.
Just a pair of low, sensible flats. A woman waiting patiently through a dull stretch of duty.
Why. Why is the woman my father has been searching for, why are you—
Should I call her Ariena?
I wasn’t certain enough. Not yet. So I tried the only name I had any right to use.
“…Miss.”
My voice came out rougher than I intended, the words clumsy in my throat.
She heard me anyway, and turned with wide, startled eyes.
“…Yes, my lady? Is there something you need?”
She smiled—open and ready to help, for a noble she’d never met before.
“…”
Looking directly into golden irises, I was certain.
This was Ariena. The woman from the portrait. The Duchess of House Krost.
But—and this was the thing that made my chest ache—she wore no recognition of that fact whatsoever. She moved like someone who had never been anything other than what she appeared to be now.
Whatever had happened to her, she didn’t remember.
She doesn’t know.
The grief that welled up was almost too large to hold. I crossed the space between us and stopped just before her.
“Do you not remember…?”
“I’m sorry…? I’m afraid I don’t quite understand.”
Ah. Amnesia.
I closed my eyes for a moment and pressed my lips together. The priority right now was getting Ariena in front of Calypse. Everything else could wait.
“Miss—would you come with me to the hall? Just for a moment?”
“Is something the matter?”
“Nothing’s wrong, I just—please. I’m asking as a favor. Whoever you’re serving tonight—if they hear it’s a request from the Krost princess, I’m sure they’ll allow it.”
Unless she served one of the royal family—in which case, things became more complicated. But the ladies I’d seen in the garden hadn’t been royalty. Which meant their rank fell below House Krost.
“Oh…”
Ariena’s eyes went wide again as she blinked, visibly flustered. She fell silent.
And then—
“Of course. I’d be glad to help. But I should ask my mistress’s permission first—could you wait just a moment?”
And she began moving—not toward the hall, but somewhere else.
“W—wait!”
Without thinking, I reached out and caught the hem of her sleeve.
I was terrified of letting go. Afraid that if I so much as blinked, she’d dissolve into thin air like a hallucination.
“…Yes?”
Ariena looked down at the small hand gripping her sleeve, then at me. She clearly wanted to ask me to release her, but was too polite to say so outright.
“Then—then I’ll come with you! To ask your mistress’s permission!”
“Ah…”
“I’m the Krost princess. You know House Krost, don’t you, Miss?”
Ariena smiled—soft and gentle, like something slowly melting.
“Of course I do. It’s one of the great high noble families of the kingdom.”
You are the duchess of that house!
This was painful. I wanted desperately to just say it. But—she’d be in shock. She needed to be handled carefully.
No sudden revelations. Keep her safe first.
I swallowed the impulse and made my most winning argument.
“If I accompany you to see your mistress—and if your mistress ends up speaking with Duke Krost—your mistress would be absolutely thrilled, wouldn’t she?”
“Hmm…”
Ariena considered this. And then, at last, gave a small nod.
“Then shall we go together?”
Yes!
“Yes!”
Justice prevails. Or rather—patience pays.
If I can bring Ariena to Papa…
I took her hand firmly in both of mine, making absolutely sure not to let go. And then, with tremendous personal satisfaction, I let my imagination run.
After finding Lucas Oppa, this golden seed has now located the duchess as well.
After this, all that remained was finding the eldest young lord. Oh—and the missing daughter too, come to think of it.
But regardless.
“Miss—where were you born?”
I pulled myself back to the present and looked up at Ariena. I wanted to understand how much she’d lost.
But Ariena answered with an apologetic smile that made the question feel clumsy.
“That’s…”
________________________________________
