“Right. So you’re saying you’re truly wronged? Then why don’t you hold out your hand? That bracelet you’re wearing. I have a magic tool that detects mana. If we test it with that, we should be able to prove your innocence.”

“What?”

The eyes that had been brimming as though tears might fall at any moment flickered almost imperceptibly. It felt like seeing her real emotions for the first time.

Fully certain now from that reaction, Luna pressed her harder.

“Why? If you’re truly wronged, wouldn’t it be better to get tested quickly and clear your name? Hold out your hand, Yuriya.”

Yuriya hesitated for a moment, then extended her arm.

Luna yanked Yuriya’s arm toward her, impatient with the way she dragged her feet as though reluctant, and began slowly moving the magic tool over the bracelet on her wrist.

A brief silence passed, and the magic tool, which had been slow to react at the door handle, quickly began to glow red.

It seemed the magic tool responded differently depending on the amount of mana present.

So the culprit really was Yuriya.

Luna’s eyes went wide, and at the same moment,

Thud!!

Her body crumpled to the floor with a dull impact.

Struck in a vital spot by Yuriya in an instant, Luna couldn’t make a single sound and clutched her own abdomen. She had to call for help, and fast.

“Someone, the culprit is… mmph!!”

But Yuriya moved swiftly toward Luna and clamped her mouth shut tight.

“I thought you were a stupid little fool. You’re actually quite sharp, aren’t you? If I’d known it would come to this, I should have locked the door back then and left you to die.”

Despite appearances, Yuriya’s strength was abnormally great.

Come to think of it, someone who had infiltrated the estate as a spy could hardly be ordinary.

Luna regretted that she had been too hasty. She struggled to break free from Yuriya’s grip, but only found herself pinned down more firmly.

“Go ahead and try calling for someone. This time it won’t end with just a beating. I’ll put a hole right through your stomach.”

With those low, flat words, Yuriya’s hand moved quickly.

The dagger she drew from inside her clothes gleamed, and the sharp metal pressed against Luna’s back.

“Shut up and stay still. Unless you want to die.”

At Yuriya’s chilling warning, Luna gave up resisting and gave a small, reluctant nod.

Fighting back against her had been out of the question from the start.

The gap in strength between Yuriya, trained as a spy and capable of handling magic tools, and Luna, who had been nothing more than a maid, was the difference between heaven and earth.

She had even surpassed the strength of a grown man, it seemed, having clearly undergone proper training. With Yuriya’s hand still clamped over her mouth, Luna’s breathing grew ragged and her vision began to blur.

‘Is she trying to… knock me unconscious like this…?’

She should have called for help sooner… Regret came crashing over her in waves, but it was already too late. Luna grabbed Yuriya’s wrist, the one pressing her mouth shut with brute force, and twisted her body. It was the last struggle she could manage.

But the pressure bore down harder than before, and dizziness swept through her. At this rate, she really was going to…

Bang!

Just then, the study door was flung open and Caesar appeared.

Behind him, armed soldiers poured in all at once and surrounded the room.

Caesar, his face drenched in sweat, barked at her.

“You’re surrounded. Release the Grand Duchess and surrender quietly.”

Several soldiers with drawn swords slowly closed the distance.

A look of dismay crossed Yuriya’s face.

Her expression showed she had grasped in an instant that the situation had turned against her.

But she pulled her hand from Luna’s mouth, then pressed the dagger in her other hand to Luna’s throat and issued a threat.

“Don’t move!”

The tip of her blade drew close enough to graze the skin.

Cornered, Yuriya used Luna as a shield and threatened the soldiers to keep them from approaching.

“If you don’t want to watch the Grand Duchess die, you’d better let me walk out of here.”

Luna’s entire body had already gone limp.

The moment the hand blocking her breath disappeared, ragged gasps tore out of her in a rush. Before she could even collect herself, Yuriya was threatening her life again.

Caesar and the soldiers, swords drawn and Yuriya surrounded, had no choice but to hold their ground.

With a hostage involved, they could not move recklessly.

Yuriya, blade still at Luna’s throat, inched backward toward the window little by little, then suddenly hurled Luna to the floor and threw herself boldly out through the window.

“Pursue her!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

At Caesar’s command, dozens of soldiers poured out of the study all at once and gave chase after Yuriya.

“Cough. Cough. Hah…”

Collapsed on the floor and lying face down, Luna gasped for breath over and over.

Her chest heaved without pause, and her vision kept swaying in every direction, leaving her dizzy.

“Adelia. Are you all right?”

Caesar came running to her side in an instant.

His voice carried an urgency she had never heard from him before.

“I, I… the culprit…”

“You don’t have to say anything. I believe you.”

“Ugh…”

And here he had been so suspicious. Now, of all times…

Caesar’s face, watching her with worried eyes, was the last thing Luna saw before her consciousness slowly faded away.

* * *

‘Miss Adelia.’

There had been a time when Luna had envied her.

A perfect appearance, parents who spared nothing in their support, and the solid standing of being a marchioness’s daughter on top of it all.

There were times, when she would occasionally sit in on the lessons held for noble young ladies while standing in as Adelia, that she had felt a quiet pride in playing the part of a noble lady, almost like a role in a play.

It had felt unfamiliar at first, but she gradually grew used to those hours, and at some point she had even begun to secretly look forward to them.

The world paid little attention to someone who was nothing more than an orphan and a lowly maid.

Always carrying out her assigned duties from behind someone else. That was Luna’s place.

Adelia, by contrast, had seemed to shine as though she had everything, only to vanish without warning one day. Almost as if to mock Luna for having admired her.

Far in the distance, the back of Adelia’s figure was visible.

“Miss Adelia. Where are you going…?”

Her voice rang out into the empty air, scattered into nothing before it could ever reach her.

If you leave like this, what am I supposed to do…

Even to Luna’s desperate question, no answer from Adelia ever came.

Her retreating figure only grew more distant, drifting somewhere beyond reach.

Luna slowly opened her eyes in the haze.

Through the spreading light, the first thing that entered her vision was Caesar’s face.

“Adelia?”

“Yes…?”

“You were calling out a name in your sleep.”

“I was?”

Ah… it was a dream.

At the same moment, Luna realized her hand was being held by Caesar.

Startled, she pulled her hand away and said, “Wh, why are you holding my hand?”

“You were the one who grabbed mine first.”

“Oh…”

She felt a little embarrassed. Caesar, who had kept his composure even at her reaction, opened his mouth slowly.

“The physician said there’s fortunately nothing seriously wrong. Even so, you must have had quite a fright, so rest well for a few days.”

“I understand. That aside… what about Yuriya?”

“She used a scroll to escape. We’re tracking her now.”

From the moment she had thrown herself out the window, it had seemed like no ordinary feat.

Luna’s face stiffened slightly as she registered that something unsettling was unfolding at House Valenstein.

Perhaps reading her grave expression, Caesar added briefly, seemingly to reassure her.

“Don’t worry. Security has been reinforced. The procedures for bringing people in have all been overhauled as well.”

“Ah, yes…”

Knock knock.

The door opened shortly after, and a tray laden with food was brought in.

“I had them prepare things that wouldn’t be hard on your stomach.”

Centered around a soup, light dishes were arranged neatly. Perhaps because she hadn’t eaten properly in some time, the moment she caught the savory aroma, hunger hit her all at once.

Caesar picked up the soup that was closest to him and set it on the bed table. It was a soup simmered gently with a large abalone inside.

Luna picked up her spoon and began eating in hurried bites.

Only when warmth spread through her stomach did she feel like she could breathe again.

Once she had emptied the bowl, Caesar slid another plate toward her.

It was a gently steamed fish dish. Whatever seasoning had been used, the depth of flavor was extraordinary.

As Caesar continued to watch her eat the whole time, Luna grew gradually uncomfortable under his gaze and asked, “Why do you keep staring?”

“I’ll leave once I see you finish.”

His words left her feeling somewhat uneasy, though it was an unease that was somehow not unpleasant.

His eyes had also changed from before. They had grown noticeably softer, and her chest seemed to flutter in turn.

Under his steady gaze, Luna’s face grew warm on its own. Caesar then reached over with a serious expression and pressed his hand to her forehead.

“Are you all right?”

“What?”

“I wondered if you had a fever.”

Luna hurriedly batted his hand away and said,

“I, I’m fine.”

They had shared far more intimate contact than this, so why was her heart pounding so loudly over something so small. She couldn’t help but feel flustered by the string of behavior from him that was so unlike his usual self.

And so Luna finished her meal only after emptying the sweet pudding as well.

Caesar, having confirmed she had swallowed the very last bite, seemed to hesitate for a moment before leaving the room with a word to rest well.