“Episode 17”
Nothing seemed to yield a clear answer. Whether they had turned the answer upside down so it couldn’t be guessed, or whether they had turned the correct answer upside down again and again. The more Diana thought about it, the more her head hurt.
After that day, Diana refrained from going out again. There was no particular place to go even if she didn’t refrain. There were a few parties she could attend as the duchess, but she didn’t even consider going to those.
Since there was no one besides the nobility of the highest rank, the duchess, who could summon her to a party not held at the palace. Therefore, Diana was having a leisurely tea time in her room.
But as always, her time like that didn’t last long.
“Duchess Mama.”
It was around the time when she finished drinking the first brewed tea.
“What’s wrong?”
Beta, who had slightly opened the door and went out to answer someone’s visit, came in.
“A guest… has come to see you.”
“A guest?”
Seeing Beta hesitate, Diana smirked and shook her head.
“Who could it be?”
Almost all the guests had been refused entry by her. She even refused the former duchess, Hysteria.
“It’s someone staying at the Star Palace…”
“…Could it be Hadeia?”
Beta looked at Diana’s reaction and nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
It was natural for her face to stiffen.
“He’s come to see me.”
She thought they would meet someday. But she thought it would be about a year later when she left this place. By then, as a normal person, not as a duchess, she thought she could support the future of the two with her own name.
But it wasn’t now. Even though she said she was fine, she couldn’t bring herself to talk and laugh with her, the culprit who caused all this.
“Send him away. I don’t want to see him.”
Among the servants of the ducal family, no one was unaware of the guests staying at the Star Palace. The duke’s hidden lover. The government. Even the word spread in the ducal family that Diana was a stand-in because of her similar appearance. It was a situation where Diana, who was staying still because of her, was also getting scolded. So Beta was at a loss.
“Understood.”
As Beta, who faithfully followed her as her maid, left, the moment her footsteps faded away, Diana’s voice echoed.
“Oh, no, you can’t!”
As soon as the door opened and Beta went out, Diana’s surprised voice was heard. Diana’s gaze naturally turned to the sound.
At that moment.
Silver hair, as if filled with starlight, flowed out through the crack in the door.
“… Oh, hello!”
Seeing Diana looking bored, Hadeia smiled innocently. As if that wasn’t enough, she boldly entered, holding out a bouquet of mismatched flowers picked from the garden to Diana.
“It’s a gift! It doesn’t seem polite to meet you empty-handed.”
Looking at her cheerful demeanor like a child, Diana felt her stomach churn. What does she want from me exactly? What am I supposed to do? Diana found herself staring intently at the girl in front of her.
She wanted to ask if she was doing this on purpose, if she had come all this way to torment her, but her instinct stopped her. Shouting at her and causing a scene wouldn’t bring back the dead child.
She had wanted to stop tormenting Hadeia out of love for Lysio, not wanting to take him away. She no longer loved him so deeply. Therefore, Diana accepted the flower she offered.
“I’ll take it… thank you!”
“I’m just giving it to you. It doesn’t have any special meaning. So don’t expect too much.”
She spoke calmly, like a duchess, only concerned about the welfare of the ducal family, without any emotion. But Diana only felt the desire to crush the flower underfoot.
She wanted to show her that this is how I feel about you, so don’t come looking for me. Diana wanted to do that. But she couldn’t repeat the past anymore.
“I… am not someone who lives in the past, but someone who lives for the future.”
Diana placed the flower Hadeia brought on the table.
“Come to think of it, you two… really resemble each other.”
She remembered the flower Lysio had given her last time. A single lily.
