Count Florette and Giyet hurried after Wot, keeping their footsteps as quiet as they could. Because she was too busy holding back her coughs to properly check her surroundings, they were able to get close to her without much trouble.
It was when Count Florette was just about to step forward and confront her. Wot twisted her body this way and that, then stopped behind a deserted building and…
“Cough, cough!”
Suddenly started hacking up blood, loud enough to echo.
Count Florette froze mid‑step, taken aback.
“What on earth are you doing, Count Florette? Wot’s sick. We should hurry and get her some medicine or something….”
“B‑Being sick is important, sure, but…” Count Florette’s expression twisted halfway into a grimace. “T-That’s face… that’s Countess Sehera…”
How could he ever forget the faces of a couple who were such close friends of his? Especially that face, which looked exactly like his friend’s!
“I taught that count artist a lesson for daring to toy with vulnerable people. Just killing them would’ve been boring, don’t you think? Hoho.”
“My wife is right. So how did you teach them a lesson?”
“I showed them illusion magic that made them suffer right up until the moment they died!”
“Y-You know how to use illusion magic?”
“Strange, right? It just worked when I tried it.”
She was an amazing person who could suddenly use illusion magic she’d never even learned. She acted righteously for the weak, and she was especially gifted at messing with people while smiling as if butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. How could anyone forget such a kind person? Even if other people couldn’t clearly remember Countess Sehera’s face because she so rarely went out in public, he could recognize her easily.
At the words ‘Countess Sehera,’ Giyet, flustered, fell silent and ducked back behind the building. Count Florette shot him a sidelong glance, then walked over to Wot, who had just barely stopped coughing, and asked, “You. Who are you?”
“Ah, y-you scared me…. Cough!”
Just then, Wot, whose coughing had seemed to calm for a moment, suddenly sprayed blood from her mouth with a noisy splutter. In the brief pauses when the blood stopped, she kept hurriedly chugging potion in a bizarre little routine. This level of coughing up blood was something you only saw in terminal patients.
Looking at her with pity, he held out a handkerchief. “Here. A handkerchief.”
“Thank y… cough!”
Only after the racket of her coughing fit finally died down and she’d drunk her potion and settled a bit did Count Florette look straight at Wot again. His gaze was colder than before, almost icy.
“I heard your name is Wot. But what relation do you have to Countess Sehera? Judging by how much you look like her, you must be at least distant relatives by marriage.”
“Distant relatives by marriage are basically strangers.”
Even the way she snapped back so crisply was just like Countess Sehera!
Convinced in his heart, he reached out to take his handkerchief back from Wot, only to accidentally grab her by the wrist instead.
“Aah. Hey! How about you let go of my hand, and then we talk.”
…It was truly strange. Not only her looks, but even her way of speaking, oddly resembled the real Countess Sehera. In an instant, his heart softened, and his grip slackened.
“Well, where should I even start with this story… Ah, I didn’t know this face was Countess Sehera… This is a problem.”
Just as she ran a hand through her hair with a troubled look, something at Wot’s neck caught Count Florette’s eye.
“Uh… huh?” He hadn’t seen it earlier. It must have slipped out when she was coughing so violently. A necklace was now sticking out over her collar.
The moment he saw that necklace, Count Florette’s eyes went wide all over again. That necklace is one of Count Sehera’s keepsakes, the one I gave to Giselle. What on earth…
Realizing his gaze was fixed on the base of her throat, Giselle hastily shoved the necklace back under her clothes and muttered awkwardly, “…Ah, my necklace was hanging out.”
Count Florette’s eyes were clouded with confusion.
“You know, it’s a bit late to be saying this now, but…” At that moment, Wot lowered the handkerchief from her mouth and continued. “It’s me, Giselle. Count.”
“…W-What did you say?”
“Let’s save the long story for later. For now, please keep this a secret from the Kalinos family.”
Seeing Count Florette’s eyes grow even wider, Wot, no, Giselle shrugged. She hadn’t expected to get found out by Count Florette in such an anticlimactic way, but it didn’t really matter. Since she had the same face as her mother anyway, it was only a matter of time before Count Florette figured it out. But still—
Thud. From the doorway of the building came the sound of something slipping from someone’s hand and hitting the ground.
“…Giyet?”
Even from a distance, Giselle could see Giyet’s eyes shaking violently as their gazes met.
“Ah, sh*t… so it wasn’t just one person who followed me?”
She had absolutely no idea what on earth was going through his head, but his eyes were already brimming with tears of emotion.
* * *
It was about ten minutes later. After making sure no one was around, I took off the disguise necklace and proved right in front of Count Florette’s eyes that I really was ‘Giselle’. And then came the time for Giyet, whose eyes were puffed up like a goldfish from crying, to give his report to the count.
“S‑sniff, h‑hic, sniff, sob. That’s how incredible Wot, I mean, Lady Giselle was. Her spirit was just unbelievable.”
“And you’re saying the reason she’s coughing up blood right now is she used up all her strength trying to save people?” Count Florette was looking at me with a deeply worried expression when he added, “Are you absolutely sure? She’s not terminally ill, or anything like that?”
Thankfully, Giyet jumped in to help. “Of course not! She even travels to remote regions to do medical volunteer work. Imagine how hard that must be. She exhausted every last bit of her healing power. That’s why she’s coughing up blood. Her spirit of self-sacrifice is truly extraordinary…”
“What! She even went out to do medical volunteer work in remote regions…? Absolutely not. You have to take care of your body!”
“I’m telling you, I never did any volunteer work. And I only saved Her Majesty because I had my own personal reasons…”
“And you’re modest on top of it? Giselle, you…” Count Florette suddenly grabbed my hand, and then, like someone who’d never said anything like this in his life, he muttered awkwardly but with real sincerity. “You’re starting to seem better than your own father.”
The moment Count Florette avoided my gaze, I realized it. That was the highest praise he was capable of!
All I’d meant to do was steal all of Duke Reshaniel’s credit. But maybe because so many misunderstandings had already piled up, before I knew it, I’d somehow become an incredible angel in white who goes around saving people while hiding her identity…
But I didn’t even have time to correct the delusions of Giyet and Count Florette. As if things weren’t bad enough, I could hear someone in the distance calling for “Docter Wot!”
* * *
“By the way… why is Count Florette here, of all places?” In the parlor where the emperor, empress, Count Florette, and I were all seated facing each other, the emperor was shooting awkward glances at Count Florette, who had planted himself there like he owned the place.
Just then, Count Florette solemnly declared, “I am this kid’s—”
…Seriously, this man! I hurriedly cut him off and let out an awkward laugh. “Gu-Guardian. Yes. The count has been sponsoring me, so I went to him personally and asked if he would honor me by joining me for this important occasion.”
“Oh, I see! As expected, Count Florette has an eye for people. Still, I didn’t think you’d actually throw aside an imperial council meeting and come running for your ward.”
“Well, the current council session is in recess for a while anyway.”
The emperor sneaked a look at me, then casually probed, “So… did Duke Kalinos and Duke Reshaniel go back? Or are they still…?”
“They’re probably still in the council chamber. The atmosphere between the two of them was pretty murderous. It’s probably because of the bill that was brought up earlier.”
“You mean… the bill that would allow citizens of the empire to take concubines.”
…Is that guy insane? Wait, is that his way of saying he wants to take me as a concubine or something?
The moment that filthy little suspicion started to sprout, Count Florette, who’d been wearing an expression like he wanted to tear someone limb from limb, suddenly hesitated. “Yes, that’s right. I beg your pardon for saying so, but after the recess, wouldn’t it be wise to conduct a thorough re‑examination of that bill’s validity…? There were a number of opinions worth taking into account.”
“What! Re‑examine it?!” The emperor barked the words out with a look of sudden anger.
Just as Count Florette and I tensed up and fixed our eyes on him, the emperor’s expression shifted to one of pure relief, like a bad tooth had finally been pulled.
“A bill like that has no place in this empire. Absolutely not.”
Watching the emperor, who looked as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, the empress opened her mouth. “Since one of your worries seems resolved, shall we discuss compensation for Doctor Wot, Your Majesty? I’ve been giving it some thought… You know that treasure ship that vanished about a hundred years ago and was recently discovered, raised, and brought to the harbor.”
“Ah, yes. The archaeologists reported that there was a considerable number of jewels and artifacts aboard.”
“I’d like to let her take as many of the precious artifacts excavated from that treasure ship as she wishes. What do you think? At the moment, those are the most valuable items we have.”
But I wasn’t all that interested in such precious artifacts. They were gifts from the emperor. There was no way a mere commoner like Wot would dare to sell them off. They were essentially just ‘display pieces’. I don’t have much interest in jewels that don’t turn into money.
I was looking at them rather coolly, about to voice my refusal, when the empress spoke again. “Every noble under the sun has been petitioning His Majesty to let them into that treasure ship, to the point that it’s practically paralyzed state affairs. Duke Reshaniel was especially curious about it.”
At those words, my eyes widened. A treasure ship so incredible that even that mosquito b*stard is drooling over it?
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