~Chapter 11~
He pretended to be calm, but in reality, he wasn’t calm at all.
Litya and Erias were so alike that Latryne wondered if he was dreaming.
It wasn’t just their appearance. Even their voice and actions constantly reminded him of Erias, which drove Latryne crazy.
When blood began to flow from Litya’s body, Latryne didn’t show it, but he was almost losing his mind.
Carrying Litya to the bedroom had been almost instinctual for him.
Latryne sighed and thought to himself.
‘She’s clearly a different person, but mistaking her like this is disrespectful…’
Of all people, why did it have to be someone who was being discussed as a possible marriage candidate for me?
When Litya called Sertien by a nickname instead of his full name, it made him feel a strange emotion.
No, I shouldn’t think too much about it.
But was she really a completely different person?
They look so much alike… could they be related?
Unable to shake the doubts in his mind, Latryne sat in the study, lost in thought.
I knew Latryne Priscillia was polite, but I didn’t expect him to be this polite and formal.
He was a duke, which meant he was actually in a higher position than me.
Yet he treated me as if I were the higher-ranking person.
‘Then again, if I had taken over the family from my brother, we might have been equals in rank. I was the one who turned down the inheritance when my brother offered it.’
“What are you thinking about so much? Don’t you have any questions?”
As I stayed silent, lost in my thoughts, Ered, who had been watching me from the side, asked.
But I couldn’t help thinking about many things.
Considering Latryne’s role in the novel, I couldn’t feel entirely comfortable, and in the novel, there was never any mention of Latryne having a son.
Of course, there was mention of his ex-wife.
Latryne had originally been a loyal servant to the male lead, Phaedris. But later, he betrayed Phaedris, plotted a rebellion, and endangered the female lead and Phaedris, eventually leading to his own death.
One of the reasons for Latryne’s actions was his ex-wife.
However, the novel didn’t provide detailed information about the ex-wife, only vaguely referring to her as “the ex-wife,” so I couldn’t gather much.
And there was no mention of whether they had a son or not.
Even without focusing on his ex-wife, Latryne was a well-developed villain with a lot of backstory.
There were so many details to his backstory, and he was described as being as handsome—if not more so—than the male lead. Because of this, more people liked Latryne than the male lead when the novel was serialized.
After thinking it over, I spoke.
“Is the person named Erias his ex-wife?”
“Yes, she’s his ex-wife.”
“…And she looked similar to me, didn’t she?”
“Yes, to be honest, she looked so similar to you that it’s hard to believe you’re not the same person. That’s why Sertien followed you around, calling you ‘Mom.’”
“What happened to Erias? From the way you talk, it sounds like she’s no longer with us.”
“That’s correct.”
“…”
As I fell silent again, Ered asked,
“What’s wrong? Does it bother you that you look like someone who’s already passed away?”
While some people might feel uncomfortable about it, I honestly didn’t mind at all.
In fact, confirming it only made me feel sorry for Sertien, who must miss his mother.
“No, I’m not upset about it.”
“You’re a very understanding commander.”
Hearing this conversation reminded me of the photo I had picked up earlier.
I hadn’t meant to, but with everything happening so fast, I ended up bringing the photo with me.
It was still in my pocket.
I had thought it was a picture of me, but if Erias looked that much like me, then it was likely that the woman in the photo was Erias, not me.
Considering I had found it in Latryne’s villa, it made sense.
But if that was truly Erias’s picture, how could someone look so identical to me?
How could two people resemble each other so much?
I carefully put the photo back into my pocket, making sure Ered didn’t see.
“I just find it curious. If she looked that much like me, it’s strange that I’ve never heard anyone mention someone who looks just like me before. Especially considering she was the wife of a duke.”
At my comment, Ered hesitated, as if unsure whether to answer.
After a moment of hesitation, he finally spoke.
“There’s a reason for that. Latryne’s family wanted to hide Erias’s existence.”
“Why?”
“I don’t really want to go into it. If I explain more, we’ll be diving into some deep stuff that I’d rather not discuss.”
“Okay, then don’t.”
“You’re no fun.”
It seemed like there were some complicated family issues involved.
Since I had no interest in prying into other people’s family matters, I responded that way.
I could feel my body starting to get tired.
Noticing this, Ered suddenly stood up.
“Where are you going?”
I asked as Ered, stretching as if his shoulders were stiff, answered.
“Now that you’re awake, I’m going to the palace for a bit. I’m sure the king, who cares about you so much, is worried sick. Plus, I need to report on what happened. I’ll be back soon.”
“Are you planning to come back? Why not take me with you?”
“You’re still not fully recovered, so moving around too much could strain you. Once I’m done, I’ll either come to get you or send someone. I could even ask Latryne to bring you. In the meantime, get some rest.”
“Alright…”
I could feel myself growing more and more sleepy.
Despite my efforts, my eyes closed on their own.
Just before I drifted off, I heard Ered muttering.
“The rain is really coming down. The trip to the palace is going to be tough. At least the fire’s out… that’s a relief…”
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed.
I opened my eyes once again.
My body seemed to have recovered somewhat, and I felt more refreshed than before.
I looked out the window to check the time, but I couldn’t see anything clearly. The sound of heavy rain pouring down was louder than before.
It was so dark that I couldn’t see exactly what was outside.
From how dark it was, it seemed not much time had passed since Ered left.
Although my body still hurt, I had slept too much and couldn’t fall asleep again.
I tossed and turned in pain, and suddenly, a flash of lightning lit up the window, followed by the sound of thunder.
The weather seemed to be getting worse.
As I worried about whether Ered had made it to the palace safely, I heard the sound of the door opening.
Thinking it was either Latryne or Sertien, I sat up, but it was someone I had never seen before.
“Oh, you’re awake,” the man said.
He was a middle-aged man wearing a brown coat.
Noticing my confusion, the man kindly explained.
“I apologize for the late introduction. I am the personal doctor of His Grace Duke Priscillia. I treated you when you were brought here unconscious at His Grace’s request.”
“I see. Thank you for treating me.”
“There’s no need to thank me. It was His Grace who asked me to treat you. When you first arrived, your condition was very bad, so I decided to check on you again… Fortunately, you seem to be doing better.”
I was grateful that he had come back to check on me.
Since he was already here, the doctor asked if he could examine me, and I told him it was fine.
He examined me quickly, not rushing, but with the speed of someone who had done this many times before.
After checking my condition, the doctor said, “You’re quite remarkable. Your recovery rate is impressive. It hasn’t been long, but your condition has improved significantly.”
“I often hear things like that. You seem to be very experienced with patients yourself,” I responded.
The doctor seemed puzzled by my comment.
“Do I seem that way?”
“Yes, you seem very experienced.”
For some reason, after I said that, the doctor hesitated.
“I haven’t seen that many patients… but I have had many occasions to examine people.”
“What do you mean?”
“As I said, I’m the personal doctor of His Grace. In fact… until recently, the Duchess was frequently ill, so I often had to check on her. I didn’t realize my behavior made that obvious.”
“Are you talking about a person named Erias?”
“Do you know about her, ma’am?”
“…No, I don’t know her personally…”
The moment I mentioned Erias, the doctor seemed eager to ask me more questions.
“Actually, I’ve been wanting to ask you something.”
“Uh… what is it?”
“Do you really have no connection to the Duchess? I’ve known her for a long time, and I must say, you look so much like her. I know it’s rude to say this, but you resemble her too much.”
“I’ve heard that a lot lately. But I really don’t have any connection to her, so I’m not sure what else to say.”
“I see… It’s truly strange. To think that someone could look and even sound so similar to the Duchess, and yet have no relation… As a doctor, I have to say your physical structure is also remarkably similar. At first, I almost thought the Duchess had returned to life.”
Yet, despite saying that, it didn’t seem like the doctor thought I was actually Erias, so I asked.
“You don’t think I might be the same person as Erias? From what I’ve heard, we look exactly alike… If that’s the case, wouldn’t it make sense to think we’re the same person?”
The doctor shook his head.
“I know for sure that’s not possible.”
His gaze was full of certainty.
“Not only do you look exactly like her, but even your body is the same. However, I personally witnessed the Duchess’s death with my own eyes, and I was the one who confirmed it. Moreover, the Duchess was naturally frail and could never recover as quickly as you. It would be impossible unless she was reborn.”
