When she spoke, I immediately stood up. Simone, with a peculiar expression, said,
“Every time you were left alone with a woman, something bad happened.”
“…This time will be fine.”
Well, I did recall the incident with Elisabetta, but at least Princess Angela didn’t seem to be on Eva’s side.
And no matter how crazy this world’s god might be about deranged women, surely they would add at least one normal woman, haha.
The place she led me to was the study. The study of the Lithman Dukedom was as grand as one in the royal palace.
“Lady Viviana, could you share what you know?”
Soon, I started the same story I had shared with the other male protagonists, excluding Simone. I omitted the fact that I wasn’t the original Seraphina and that I had possessed this body.
In short, I told her that I had originally been unnaturally devoted to and close to Princess Eva.
Then, at some point, I discovered the truth about her and, after that day, lost my memories but retained my diary.
I also explained what was written in my diary. Lastly, I mentioned that she had been chasing me.
“You know how dire the current situation is in the Kingdom of Boleno, right? It seems she’s been implementing strange policies while controlling the country.”
“Yes… That’s why I went into hiding. I was too scared to go outside… I kept having hallucinations of her chasing me.”
“I understand how you feel.”
After hearing my words, Princess Angela’s eyes welled with tears. Her expression showed she deeply empathized with me.
It was a face that couldn’t exist without experiencing the same fear.
“Alright, then I’ll tell you everything I know.”
“Yes, I’m listening.”
“My sister is three years older than me. My memories begin when I was five years old. Back then, I got along really well with my eight-year-old sister. Normally, siblings fight when they’re young, but we didn’t. We were really close because she was so kind to me…”
Recalling those times, Princess Angela’s eyes grew misty.
“My sister was a genius inventor even as a child. You know, the Kingdom of Boleno owes its advanced development to her. I was proud of her.”
“Princess Eva was indeed a brilliant inventor.”
“But my sister started acting strangely around her fifteenth birthday.”
As Princess Angela said this, her face turned pale.
“On her fifteenth birthday, she locked herself in her invention room. She didn’t come out for days.”
“Yes.”
“And finally, when she emerged, I went to find her to celebrate her birthday, even if it was late. I asked if she had invented something again… and she replied like this.”
Princess Angela trembled as if recalling something terrifying and spoke.
“I no longer need trivial inventions made by humans.”
“What does that mean?”
Confused by her words, I tilted my head. Princess Angela, her face still filled with fear, replied.
“I don’t know. But what’s important isn’t the words themselves, but what happened afterward.”
“Afterward?”
“After that, my sister began acting strangely in some inexplicable way.”
“What exactly happened?”
I tensed up as I asked her, sensing an ominous story was about to unfold.
“One day, she killed all the horses in the royal stables with her own hands. Another day, she gave away all her gold and silver treasures to the servants. Sometimes, she would dress up beautifully and kiss one of the royal knights. She even whipped a servant until they limped because they spilled tea. Once, she pushed a servant into a lake for no reason and just watched. And then there were times she prepared healthy meals and personally served them to our parents.”
The actions of Princess Eva, as described by Angela, were completely inconsistent.
Could it be…
“Do you think perhaps… Princess Eva’s body housed multiple souls? Coexisting but distinct individuals?”
The first thought that came to mind was dissociative identity disorder.
Then, I considered the possibility of another soul possessing her body, just like I had possessed Seraphina’s.
However, Princess Angela shook her head.
“No, it was definitely all done by the same person. Despite the lack of consistency, there was one common thread in all her actions.”
“What was that?”
“She was observing people.”
Princess Angela’s expression hardened coldly.
“It seemed like she was experimenting to see how people would react to her actions, adjusting her behavior accordingly.”
“So, you mean…”
“In other words, it was as if… some non-human entity was trying to understand what it meant to be human.”
“Aaagh…!”
A scream escaped my lips. No, my life’s genre was turning into a thriller again. I just wanted to remain the heroine of a romantic comedy.
“And then, it seemed like my sister eventually found the balance. At some point, she began behaving perfectly like royalty, and all the servants followed her orders as if they were bewitched by her.”
“That sounds just like the old me….”
“Perhaps my sister truly has the ability to captivate people. That’s why her bizarre behaviors in the palace never leaked outside. At some point, our parents also fell ill. In the palace, I was the only one who wasn’t enchanted by her.”
Now, I understood why Princess Angela had been forced to get engaged at such a young age to someone she barely knew. She had no choice but to run away.
“I don’t know what my sister’s true identity is. Or whether she is still my sister at all. I don’t know if someone took her place by wearing her guise, or if she gradually changed over time.”
In the end, even Princess Angela didn’t know Princess Eva’s true identity. It was disappointing.
“But why did Princess Eva leave the Duchess alone?”
“I think my sister found me amusing. She seemed to enjoy watching me tremble in fear whenever I looked at her.”
“Ah…”
Imagining the isolation Princess Angela must have felt in the palace, I couldn’t help but feel pity for her.
“But I wanted to live. So I wrote a letter to an unmarried nobleman from the Cassan Empire. That man turned out to be my husband, Duke Lithman. At first, he rejected my proposal for engagement. But I wrote to him again, pleading that I simply wanted to survive.”
Oh, this sounded like a classic plot from a romance fantasy novel.
“In the end, my husband accepted me and sent me an engagement proposal. I took that proposal to my sister, begging her for permission to get engaged to someone I loved. I promised that I would leave for the Cassan Empire and never return here.”
“Thankfully, she accepted it.”
“Yes. I had no intention of opposing her, only begging her to let me escape. My sister smiled at me and granted my request for engagement. At that time, she was acting as regent because our parents were ill. As soon as the engagement was approved, I fled here.”
It made sense now why she never set foot in the Kingdom of Boleno after her engagement. Agreeing to leave was practically a life-or-death promise made to Princess Eva.
“What exactly is Princess Eva’s identity…?”
“I don’t know. Even here, I’ve tried investigating by reading books, but I couldn’t find anything. So, I’ve just tried to ignore any news about her and live my life.”
Princess Angela, with teary eyes, looked at me.
“I never thought there’d be others who also discovered the truth about her….”
