‘It’s here.’
The documents were hidden by the physician who had assisted with the Duchess of Valencia’s childbirth twenty years ago.
After digging a little deeper, she found a bundle of documents neatly wrapped in cloth, about half the thickness of her knuckle. Rachel quickly dug them out, tucked them inside her dress, and began filling the hole back in.
She was out of breath from the unfamiliar labor.
She had dug up and filled the spot before, so the color of the soil was slightly different.
“Well, the Duke will be coming to check it soon anyway.”
Not particularly concerned, Rachel simply tamped down the soil and stood up. Her dress was covered in dust.
After dusting herself off as best she could, she returned, and Becky approached with a worried expression and tidied her dress.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
After putting away the shovel as well, she walked toward the knights. Her dress felt slightly heavier.
Sir Hoffman stared at Rachel for a moment but said nothing. Instead, he held out a hand, seemingly thinking that she had fallen.
“Would you like to take my hand?”
“I’m fine.”
He had a keen eye. He had noticed the traces even though almost nothing remained.
‘I don’t know whether this will work in my favor or against me.’
Blinking, Rachel left the rear garden. The Valencia servant, who had been fooling around and only belatedly noticed Rachel approaching, jumped in surprise.
“Bring the carriage.”
“Yes, understood!”
It was time to leave.
She had found what she needed.
She had planned to give the letter to the butler when he came to see her off, but just then, she heard the sound of the main gate opening with a clank. Rachel turned her head casually, only to freeze for a moment.
The carriage bore the emblem of the Valencia family.
A magnificent procession of a carriage drawn by four horses, accompanied by what appeared to be more than a dozen escorting knights and servants.
Thump, thump—
She heard the ominous pounding of her heart. The butler, who had been coming out to see Rachel off, gave her a brief bow before standing in front of the entrance and straightening his clothes.
The carriage stopped, and Wayne, the Duchess’s personal escort knight, opened the door and extended one hand.
A white hand was placed upon it.
Then gray hair came into view. A face filled with an arrogant yet elegant dignity.
“Welcome home, my lady.”
The butler bowed deeply. The gaze of the Duchess of Valencia, who had stepped down from the carriage, turned toward Rachel.
“Oh my, Lady Rachel.”
“……Hello, Your Grace.”
Rachel barely managed to open her stiff lips and greet her. Even as memories came rushing back after meeting the butler and recalling the past, she somehow managed to pull up the corners of her lips.
The woman who had deceived the Valencia family for more than twenty years while pretending to be its duchess.
The former Marchioness of Savanio, who, once Paris’s true birth was exposed through the ritual just as she had feared, had fled with her lover without looking back.
The very root of everything that had ruined Rachel’s life was walking toward her with a smile.
“What brings you here, Lady Rachel? I didn’t receive any notice that you were coming today.”
Looking at the knight, Wayne, who followed behind her like a shadow, Rachel lowered her gaze.
“……While arranging the wedding venue, I suddenly thought I’d like to look around the Valencia ducal residence. I hope I haven’t been rude by coming so suddenly.”
“Of course not. You’ll soon be part of the Valencia family, after all. What could possibly be wrong with you coming to look around the residence for a little while?”
Despite having a nineteen-year-old son, her still-beautiful face formed a smooth smile.
“If you’re not busy, how about having a cup of tea, Lady?”
“I appreciate the offer, but I think I should get to the wedding venue before this old man disappears.”
“Ah, I understand that feeling. Then let’s postpone the offer until next time.”
The Duchess nodded with a smile before turning toward the residence. Rachel lowered her head.
She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, then opened them.
When she raised her gaze, the butler was standing in front of her.
“Your carriage is ready, my lady.”
“……All right. Could you deliver this to the Duke? It’s urgent, so I’d appreciate it if you could give it to him today.”
“Of course. I’ll make sure it reaches him.”
Since she had entrusted it to the butler, a reply should come quickly.
Rachel accepted the escort knight’s assistance and climbed into the carriage. Once Becky had gotten in as well, the butler closed the door.
“Have a safe journey, my lady.”
“…….”
Rachel did not look back. She had been so focused on finding the evidence that she had not realized it before, but after facing the Duchess, everything about Valencia made her stomach churn.
The butler who had taken the lead in tormenting her.
The Duchess of Valencia and the knight Wayne, whom she had never been able to catch before her regression.
Even the residence itself, which she never wanted to lay eyes on again.
“We’ll be departing.”
At Sir Hoffman’s declaration, the carriage set off. Rachel fidgeted with the bundle hidden beneath her skirt, trying to calm herself.
When that was not enough, she reached for the power of her ability that she could feel within her heart.
‘It’s all right. I’ll break off the engagement soon.’
Once she broke off the engagement, she would never even look toward Valencia again.
Once she married and left home, her parents would no longer be able to interfere with her, and she could say goodbye to everything in the past.
“……This time, I have to live well.”
Muttering softly, she turned her gaze toward the window. Becky was watching her anxiously.
After returning home, Rachel ate dinner in her room again that day. Once she dismissed everyone and was left alone, she took out the bundle she had hidden in the bedside table and placed it down.
The first page of the small stack of papers was the physician’s confession of conscience.
「I betrayed the Valencia family I served. Even if my family’s lives were at stake, even if they offered me a great deal of gold, I should never have done it…
I will soon be killed by the Marchioness of Savanio. I am leaving these documents behind in preparation for the day when the Marchioness’s affair and her son’s birth are revealed.」
The fact that the physician deliberately referred to the Duchess of Valencia by her pre-marriage title, the Marchioness of Savanio, conveyed his determination.
This was evidence that could originally be obtained through a message the physician had left for his academy classmate, Billy.
He had told Billy that if someone came looking for him or if something serious happened to the Valencia family, he should tell them about this evidence.
Twenty steps from the end of the southern wall of the physician’s quarters.
Ultimately, the Archmage and Lady Aisha Labelin of House Labelin followed that message and obtained the evidence, revealing the truth.
In the process, the true biological son of the Duke of Valencia also appeared, allowing him to take revenge on the Duchess of Valencia and her fake son, who had driven his mother away under the pretext of being pregnant.
The punishment even extended to the fake son’s wife, who had known nothing about it.
The physician’s confession of conscience could truly be said to have been written perfectly.
“……”
Rachel tightly closed her eyes, then opened them and checked the evidence beneath it. The contents were exactly as she remembered hearing before her regression.
The revelation that Paris’s biological father was Wayne, the Duchess’s personal escort knight.
A journal directly documenting the Duchess’s condition and the number of weeks she had been pregnant, which differed from what had been reported to the Duke.
Even the records of a bloodline verification test secretly conducted on Paris.
“……”
Rachel thought blankly. These were things she could obtain so easily.
‘Why didn’t I know about them back then?’
Perhaps even she had thought similarly to the Valencia family.
Who would dare deceive the Valencia family about their bloodline? They even possessed the ‘Ritual,’ an automatic bloodline verification system.
This was the result of that arrogance.
Their only heir was actually the son of a knight who had once been a slave.
If, by some stroke of luck, the Ingrave family’s ability, which had been dormant for centuries, had not suddenly manifested.
If she had failed to meet the conditions required to activate it.
Rachel would have died in confinement long ago. Her current regression was an opportunity created by one stroke of luck upon another.
“……”
She lowered her gaze.
She did not know whether she would ever fulfill the conditions for activating her ability again.
But after breaking off the engagement, she thought it would be a good idea to investigate as well.
Finding records of past ability users kept within the family would not be particularly difficult.
Knock, knock—
Just then, a knock broke through her thoughts.
“My lady, it’s Becky.”
“Come in.”
She wrapped the evidence back up in the cloth and pushed it aside before raising her gaze. Becky carefully entered the room, holding two letters in her hands.
“These are letters from the Duke of Valencia and Prince Paris.”
The Valencia seal was stamped into the red wax.
Rachel picked up only the one from the Duke of Valencia.
After a formal greeting, it contained a message granting her an audience tomorrow at noon. It seemed the butler had delivered her letter quickly.
Rachel nodded and gestured for her to bring writing paper and a quill.
“Becky, I’ll have to go to the Valencia family tomorrow at noon.”
“Yes. I’ll make the preparations. But……”
Becky hesitated before setting down the remaining letter.
Paris Valencia
The name, written in elegant handwriting, immediately caught her attention. After staring at the letter for a while, Rachel slowly broke its seal.
「To my dear fiancée」
“……”
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