En Travesti - I Became a Fake Prince - Chapter 10

“Stop!”

“Lord Gaien! You mustn’t!”

Leticia hung like a sack on the large middle-aged man’s shoulder.

The upside-down scenery flashed past her eyes.

Behind the rapidly running man, people shouted.

“We’ll tell Grandmother!”

The middle-aged man flinched at the echoing cry of the boy, but he succeeded in entering the forest he had aimed for.

Leticia, who had been hanging on his shoulder, was already unconscious, but he paid no attention and moved towards the lake in the middle of the forest.

The dry trees became greener as they got closer to the lake.

The man reached out and grasped a green leaf. He could feel it slowly withering from the tip, but he didn’t open his clenched hand until he reached the lakeshore.

Finally arriving at the shore and putting down the child, he opened his clenched hand.

The dried leaf fell onto the child’s forehead.

At that moment, the brown withered leaf seemed to tremble slightly and then began to turn green.

“…!”

The man, Gaien Basilinte, couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the sight.

“Ha, haha…!”

His child had chosen a very proper sacrifice.

***

“Leti, congratulations on your debut!”

Leticia, with flushed cheeks, received the bouquets given by her older sisters and brothers.

The red and yellow bouquets were incredibly fresh and beautiful.

“Our troupe’s youngest genius actor! You know you can’t take the mascot position of Borba and then go to another troupe, right?”

The older sisters hugged Leticia so tightly that their makeup might rub off, rubbing their cheeks against hers, while the older brothers lifted her high and spun her around.

Though the older siblings had been drinking, Leticia, who hadn’t had a drop of alcohol, felt she understood what they meant by feeling excited and happy.

“Congratulations, Leticia.”

Even Count Borba, the troupe leader, patted her head and praised her acting skills for a long time, telling her how amazing she was.

“Th-thank you, F-Father.”

“I’d be even happier if you called me Dad.”

Count Borba, who was said to have secretly acted as a nobleman in his younger days, still smiled charmingly despite his age and urged Leticia.

“Didn’t I say that you and your older sisters and brothers are all like my own children? So won’t you call me Dad?”

“…D-Dad.”

“Yes, Leti. Congratulations on your debut.”

Amidst the congratulations of her family, Leticia smiled with tears in her eyes.

The Borba troupe was Leticia’s family. Here, she was no longer an orphan.

After putting the bouquet she received as a debut congratulatory gift in a vase, Leticia prayed that days like this would continue forever.

As if answering her prayer, the bouquet stayed fresh for over a month.

But one day, when she returned from the stage, the flowers in the vase had disappeared.

Surprised, she asked what had happened, and Count Borba presented her with a beautifully dried and flattened bouquet in a frame.

“You seemed to cherish it so much, so I dried it separately before it wilted. This way, you can keep looking at it.”

Leticia was overjoyed at Count Borba’s words about it being a surprise gift.

She was so happy that she thought she’d like to live like this here forever.

‘But that’s impossible now.’

Even though Leticia had woken up from her dream, she kept her eyes closed, immersed in the lingering feelings of the dream.

Although it had happened just last year, it felt like a dream from a very distant past.

As she lay still like that, she suddenly heard the Grand Duke’s low voice in her ear.

“…We can’t just kill recklessly, Father.”

“I can’t wait any longer.”

“What if you fail?”

“The situation could worsen while we wait. Surely you’re not unaware that the lake’s area is shrinking more and more.”

“We’re searching for water veins. We need more water to avoid failure. It’s not possible right now.”

“What if that skeleton-like prince escapes in the meantime?”

It seemed there was a difference of opinion on whether to kill her immediately or a little later.

“We need to be more cautious, Father. If something goes wrong…”

“Astrid will die. But what does that matter?”

“……”

A quiet silence followed.

However, Leticia felt as if someone was speaking to her. It seemed like whispering, or perhaps humming.

Leticia slowly opened her eyes.

Dense leaves obscured the sky. In the sunlight pouring through the leaves, transparent hair fluttered like an illusion.

Leticia sat up and grasped that transparent hair.

At that moment, the Grand Duke’s belated response broke the silence.

“It doesn’t matter if Astrid dies. As long as the forest remains after her death.”

“Then kill me, Ferik.”

Leticia was startled by the unfamiliar woman’s voice that flowed from her own mouth.

However, Leticia’s expression showed no sign of surprise, just calmly gazing at the Grand Duke.

The Grand Duke whispered in disbelief.

“Astrid?”

Leticia smiled brightly. It seemed that the presence inside her wanted her to do so.

Leticia opened her mouth gently as the presence wished…

“Let’s divorce. You trash.”

And then collapsed with a thud.

Leaving behind the two trashy men.

***

Leticia blinked.

She was now standing in the backstage waiting room of the Borba troupe. It seemed to be a dream.

‘Is this some kind of lucid dream?’

Leticia clearly remembered the previous situation, so she immediately recognized that this wasn’t reality.

Besides, this waiting room was always bustling with people, not empty like this…

“Oh my!”

A black-haired woman strode over and scooped her up in a hug.

“You’re so handsome! Just like my son! You’re already an actor at this age? Well, I didn’t think the imperial family would send a real prince anyway.”

The woman’s bright blue eyes shone towards Leticia.

Faced with a gaze full of goodwill, Leticia cautiously asked.

“Could you be… Duchess Astrid?”

“Just call me Astrid. We’re going to divorce anyway. You heard that, didn’t you?”

Astrid said cheerfully as she sat on the sofa.

Leticia, sitting on Astrid’s lap, asked.

“Is this… a dream?”

“No, I’ve just briefly entered your subconscious.”

“Is that possible for a magician?”

“It’s only possible because I’m half-dead. Possession is a very tricky magic. Even now, it’s only because my soul has already left my body that I could briefly enter you.”

Astrid smiled and cupped Leticia’s cheeks with her hands.

Strange patterns began from Astrid’s arms, extending to her fingertips, and then onto Leticia’s cheeks.