The Extra Decided to be Fake

Episode 42

The person holding the gossip magazine was reading it with an amused expression while also showing genuine interest. The magazine contained an interview with Lillian.

[―How did you find out about your birth?

I found out about my birth thanks to a pendant I had. The pendant contained portraits of Duke Maynard, my father, and my mother. At first, I thought they were just portraits of my parents, so I kept it with me… but I happened to discover that the seal on this pendant belonged to the Maynard family. That’s how I found out.

―It must have been a real stroke of luck! You must have had help. Did the others at the orphanage not know about your noble status?

Since I never mentioned it to anyone, nobody knew. Perhaps the headmistress or the teachers might have known if they recognized the seal on the pendant as belonging to the Maynard family. But the other children didn’t know at all. They were all so surprised.

―I can imagine. I would have been surprised too! By the way, I heard that Duke Maynard started sponsoring the orphanage where you spent your childhood. Did you request that from the Duke?

No, but my father did it for the children who lived with me. My father had experienced losing me, so he said he sympathized with the children who were in a similar situation as me. I hope they all become happy.]

The journalist conducting the interview skillfully summarized it. In the interview, Lillian appeared as a typical happy child who had found a loving family by luck. Kind and bright, she seemed like a child who would always smile without a wrinkle.

“I don’t remember Lillian being this kind of kid.”

He chuckled and folded the gossip magazine, handing it to his servant. It happened to be because the carriage had arrived at its destination.

“Should I dispose of this, sir?”

“What nonsense. Why would you throw it away? Keep it; I haven’t finished reading.”

He responded coldly and walked inside, leaving the servant behind.

As he descended the stairs and walked a bit, the sound of footsteps began to echo.

A damp, cold, and nauseating smell of death emanated from the underground passage. At the end of it, he found the person he had come to meet, separated by iron bars.

“Winston Bernauser.”

After a few clanks of chains in response to his words, a man hurriedly emerged from the dimly lit corridor. He was once the director of the Maryfield Orphanage.

He confirmed his visitor and displayed a cautious demeanor.

“W-Who… Who are you?”

“Depending on your answer, I might be the one who can get you out of here.”

He smiled faintly at Winston. That tender smile sparked a glimmer of hope in Winston’s eyes.

‘For a while, I thought I’d be stuck here without moving!’

The past few days spent here had been the most humiliating and painful days of Winston’s life. The hard, bare floor made sleeping a chore, and even then, he had to wake up with a scream every time the rats crawled over his flesh.

The black bread they distributed was so hard that it felt like tearing his esophagus with each bite, and there were always dead insects floating in the water. Despite being a fallen noble, Winston had lived by embezzling funds from the orphanage as its director, but every minute and every second here was an agonizing ordeal.

But there was something even more unbearable.

‘Those damned guards…’

This place was a prison, and naturally, Winston’s treatment was the same as that of ordinary prisoners. The guards ignored him and often mocked him, still unable to let go of their pride.

– There are no white bread loaves fit for nobles here, so if you don’t like this bread, you can starve.

– You’ll get used to sleeping in a bit colder place and become stronger. Haha!

How dare those commoners, who couldn’t even meet my eyes properly outside, show such an attitude towards a noble like me!

Winston had shouted with all his might in frustration, but now he had no energy left for that. All he could do was endure the humiliation and clench his fists.

And silently curse those who had put him in this situation.

‘When I get out of here, I will definitely kill them. Lillian, and Duke Maynard!’

Winston didn’t even consider the possibility of receiving a death sentence. Because he was a noble, and he believed that this insignia would surely reduce his charges.

But just being in this prison was disgraceful enough, so he yearned for the day he could leave it behind.

And now, someone had come to release him!

‘As expected!’

Winston quickly offered a silent prayer of thanks to whoever had come.

Although he had never donated to a temple in his life, at this moment, he could only see it as divine intervention.

“What should I do, then? Are you really going to let me go?”

“I’m the only one asking questions here. You just have to answer.”

When the smile disappeared from the face of his interlocutor in an instant, Winston panicked and fell silent.

The quiet Winston seemed to please his interlocutor, as they spoke after a while.

Their request was simple.

“Tell me everything you know about Lady Maynard, Lillian. Then, I will let you out of here.”

* * *

Winston told everything he knew.

From the fact that Swan was the real lady to Lillian’s disappearance along with the pendant after Swan’s death.

“…So, Lillian stole the pendant and ran away. Swan, who was undoubtedly the real lady, must have told her about it. Otherwise, there would have been no way for her to know about the existence of the pendant.”

“I see. The owner of the pendant passed away, and Lillian, her friend, stole it to become the lady.”

“Yes, yes! That’s right.”

Winston vigorously nodded his head. Then, his interlocutor seemed to think for a moment and suddenly asked a question.

“How did you find that pendant?”

“…What? Well, of course.”

Winston quickly tried to recall. It had been a long time, so he didn’t remember much, but he did have some vague memories of that time.

– Director, I found this in the nursery room. It seems like one of the children brought it.

– What? You found this? Where, where?

The teacher who brought the pendant didn’t recognize the Maynard family seal on it. It was natural. Commoners wouldn’t know noble family crests. But Winston, who was a noble, recognized the seal right away and also realized that the portraits inside were of Duke Maynard and his wife, whom he had only heard about.

– Here it is. It was lying here.

So Winston went to the place where the teacher had found the pendant. It was the cradle room where newly arrived infants were placed in the orphanage. And the place where the pendant had fallen was between the cradles where Lillian and Swan lay.

“So you found it lying on the ground. But how did you become so sure that Swan was Lady Maynard?”

“If you had seen Swan’s face, you would have known. She really resembled the Duchess!”

After discovering the pendant, Winston observed the children in that cradle room carefully.

He looked at the hair color and eye color of the growing children.

“Among them, only Swan had the characteristics of the Maynard Duke and Duchess. I’m sure of it!”

“Well… interesting.”

His interlocutor nodded, seemingly convinced that Winston wasn’t lying.

“It would have been better if you had seen her in person.”

“I have a portrait!”

“What?”

“In the orphanage director’s office, there’s a portrait of Swan.”

He had drawn it with the intention of taking it away at a high price after delivering Swan to Cedric. Since Cedric hadn’t seen young Swan, he thought it would be a good deal to sell the painting.

“If I get out of here, I can bring that portrait…”

“Oh, you don’t need to do that. Thanks for letting me know.”

After all, even without you, I can take the painting.

With those words, the servant standing behind his interlocutor approached. In his hand, the blade glinted sharply.

Tears welled up in Winston’s eyes as he sensed what was coming.

“Why… Why did you… You said you would let me go…”

“I never said I’d let you go alive.”

His interlocutor, Damian, smiled gently. The white hair covering his forehead fluttered softly.

“Secrets are only valuable when few people know about them.”