Chapter 1 – I Woke Up and It Was 5 Years Ago (5)

What caught Chloe’s eye was a man wearing a monkey mask with his hair wrapped in a bandana.

‘The pickpockets conspired and wore the same masks with their hair wrapped.’

Etienne’s story echoed in her mind again. Because the pickpocket gang dressed identically to mislead people about who the culprit was, reports from victims who couldn’t find the real thief despite being robbed never ceased. Initially dismissed by the guards, they began to reinforce security when complainants recited the same attire.

As things she would later learn unfolded before her eyes, Chloe felt her mouth go dry. 

Could this really be the past…?

“Rabi.”

Chloe mumbled, tightening her grip on Mirabelle’s arm.

“Etienne said those guys wearing bandanas were pickpockets.”

Etienne was supposed to tell this story at the dinner table a few days later, but he had mentioned it, so it counted. Mirabelle turned her head to follow Chloe’s gaze, looking intrigued.

“Should we follow him?”

At Mirabelle’s playful voice, Chloe hesitated for a moment.

She still wanted to confirm it. It was hard to believe.

On the other hand, perhaps due to the satisfaction of embarrassing the Uniform Man, a sense of heroism was rising within her… But the feeling that it wasn’t her place to intervene didn’t go away.

‘If you confirm it and it’s true, what then?’

Sooner or later, security would be tightened, and there was no room for a noble lady to exert influence there. It was a matter for those who made up the cogs of society to handle according to their functions.

Chloe had never had a role in such matters. She was meant to cultivate her manners and appearance under the love of her family and the care of servants, and then manage the household of the family she would marry into when the time came.

‘But it did feel satisfying.’

It was a kind of emotion she hadn’t felt even when she graduated second in her class from Ridote, the cultural academy under the Senate for noble children, or when she successfully made her debutante.

Chloe came up with a small compromise.

“Sir Dee.”

The familiar presence reappeared at her low murmur.

“Follow that man in the bandana and hand him over to the guards if he does anything suspicious.”

“Stay here.”

Dee, who had already heard Chloe’s conversation with Mirabelle, disappeared into the crowd without a word. He cast a brief glance at Mirabelle with his uncovered eye, as if to give a warning.

‘Right, there’s no more need for me to intervene. This is the best course.’

“Loi, doesn’t this bead look just like an amethyst?”

While waiting for Dee, Chloe and Mirabelle decided to browse a nearby handmade accessory stall. The items were made with beads the same color as the Eight Hearts of Erd, the gemstones symbolizing the Eight Apostles of Erd. During the festival week honoring the blessing of the main god Erd, trinkets using these colored beads often trended as one- or two-day souvenirs.

“Not that light green one? Your guardian apostle is Ridote, isn’t it?”

“No, my mom.”

“Oh, right. The Baroness’s guardian apostle was Esis…”

“Yes, fitting for the Pilgrim Esis, she’s on a pilgrimage now, so it’s been a while since she visited the festival marketplace. It’s tough on Mom because of Dad… Loi, are you listening?”

“Oh, yes. Of course.

Even as she answered absentmindedly, Chloe’s eyes were busy scanning the market. Situations she knew from Etienne began to catch her attention again.

‘I now understand why everyone makes such a fuss about the festival week. There are so many bizarre people. Some walk around with large masks hiding stolen jewelry inside, and some dress in priest robes to lower people’s guards.’

People dressed like the one she had Dee follow, as well as those wearing large masks or dressed as priests, were acting suspiciously near those engrossed in accessory browsing.

These were things she wouldn’t have known if she hadn’t heard Etienne’s stories. Watching the shady characters that kept catching her eye, Chloe felt as if she were being tested.

“Rabi, you know…”

Chloe gently tugged on the hem of Mirabelle’s robe as she was browsing the stall. Mirabelle, noticing the small gesture, put down the thread bracelet she was holding without hesitation.

“That person in the clown mask seems strange.”

“Why?”

Mirabelle, having moved to a slightly quieter spot, followed Chloe’s gaze to the person in the clown mask. Unlike the usual masks that only covered the front of the face, this one enveloped the entire head and was fastened at the neck.

“Why is the mask so big? Isn’t it suffocating? It must be a nuisance to passersby.”

“It’s not that… Doesn’t the chin part look too heavy?”

Chloe tried to subtly draw Mirabelle’s attention. Although it wasn’t obvious at a glance, it seemed slightly weighted forward, presumably reinforced at the bottom.

“Now that you mention it, it does seem to wobble a bit…”

Mirabelle tilted her head in curiosity.

“Did Etienne say something about that too?”

“Um, well…”

“Huh?”

Just as Chloe was pondering whether to lie with the same repertoire, Mirabelle let out a surprised sound. The hand of the person bending over as if to look at accessories brushed the vest pocket of a boy standing beside him and slipped into the mouth of the mask. It happened in an instant.

“Is he a pickpocket…?”

Mirabelle realized that Chloe’s ‘strange’ comment referred to what she had just witnessed, as Chloe’s grip on her robe tightened.

“Shall we take him down?”

Mirabelle looked at Chloe, who was slightly shorter than her, and said. In the green eyes visible through the mask’s holes, there was a complex emotion that Mirabelle found hard to read.

‘Why is she interested in this all of a sudden?’

Though she occasionally mingled with commoners at her insistence, Chloe was undeniably a noble lady. Her family had governed the capital Gotiue for generations, and her maternal family was one of the five Ducal families. Having grown up mingling with the children of dukes and the direct line of the Imperial Family, Chloe often acted as if the outside world was something she shouldn’t concern herself with.

‘Since Young Sir Demi had a fiancée from a young age, did she maintain strict self-discipline, viewing herself as a product for the arranged marriage market?’

Unaware of Mirabelle’s puzzled gaze, Chloe tightly held Mirabelle’s arm and glared at the man in the clown mask.

Behind that mask, there were emotions swirling that Mirabelle couldn’t even imagine.

Witnessing things she knew would happen made her want to intervene, despite knowing it wasn’t her place.

‘Even though I know it’s not my role.’

The thought of contributing to the eradication of injustice made her fingers tingle with excitement. Though she hadn’t yet told Mirabelle, Chloe, who had recently experienced that sense of accomplishment for the first time, was caught up in a kind of exhilaration she hadn’t felt in her twenty-five years.

Chloe’s gaze finally turned to Mirabelle.

“Can we do it…?”

“Just say the word, Miss.”

Mirabelle, who would have already shown her skills if Chloe weren’t there, grinned beneath her mask.

‘I don’t know what wind blew her way.’

While she was often restless when she couldn’t meddle in others’ affairs when with Chloe, who sought impeccable conduct, it was a welcome relief not to have to hold back in the face of injustice.

Mirabelle glanced at Chloe as if to say ‘watch this,’ then approached the man in the clown mask from behind. By then, he seemed to be moving to find another victim.

‘Perfect timing.’

Mirabelle pretended to walk in the same direction by chance and swiftly struck the back of his knee with her own. It was a concise move that anyone would admire.

“Ugh! What, what the…?”

The man in the clown mask, caught off guard by the sudden impact, collapsed onto one knee. The people gathered nearby quickly cleared the area.

“Oh? Sir, I’m sorry.”

Despite wearing a robe that was obviously of high quality, Mirabelle feigned being a commoner.

“What, what?”

“Ahaha, I tripped over your foot…”

“Tripped over? Who would believe… Wait, did you do it, Miss?”

Considering the pain, it seemed like the work of someone well-trained… The man in the clown mask, unable to comprehend the situation, looked up in frustration. The unnatural movement, perhaps due to the contents inside the mask, gave Chloe final confirmation. With her heroic spirit soaring since embarrassing the Uniform Man, Chloe instinctively stepped forward in front of Mirabelle.

“Aren’t you Mr. Luc? The shepherd who visited Amber Village in Lazure County…”

“Huh? Who are you, Miss?”

The appearance of another person dressed in fine clothes yet pretending to be a commoner reached the peak of the man’s bewilderment.

“Mrs. Rosie missed you so much. Aren’t you Mr. Luc? Can I check your face?”

“What nonsense is this? I’ve never even left Gotiue in my life…”

“Oh, the voice is the same too! What do you think, Pompom?”

Mirabelle, referred to as Pompom, was bewildered by the unexpectedly cute behavior of her milk sister, with whom she had grown up for twenty years.

‘What’s gotten into her today?’

It wasn’t so much strange… No, it was strange, but it was more fun than usual, so it was both enjoyable and suspicious.

‘Did she suddenly change overnight? Since yesterday…’

“Pompom. Doesn’t it seem that way?”

“Oh, Jules, yes.”

At the urging, Mirabelle quickly picked the name of another maid, Pompom’s partner.

“I thought it was Mr. Luc too! Mrs. Rosie said he borrowed money and ran away, so she really wanted to catch him!”

“Right, isn’t that so?”

Chloe, picking up a situation that might appear in a romance novel she read as a child, was delighted as Mirabelle cleverly played along.

‘This is the Rabi I know! Even if this is truly a dream, it’s fine. It’s so wonderful.’

In her excitement, Chloe instinctively grabbed the man’s clown mask with both hands.

“So could you please take off the mask, sir?”

“No, I mean, I’ve never been to Lazure even once…”

“It’s okay, sir. Mrs. Rosie just wants to know if you’re alive.”

“No, that’s… Let go, please!”

“Ah!”

“Loi!”

As the man, holding tightly to his mask to prevent it from being removed, turned his head sharply as if to shake Chloe off, Chloe lost her balance and staggered.

Just as the murmuring of the surrounding crowd grew louder,

“What’s the commotion here?”

At the sudden voice, everyone turned to look. The owner of the voice appeared through the path cleared by people stepping aside.

Chloe, knowing the voice all too well, almost rubbed her eyes in disbelief, forgetting she was wearing a mask.

“Loi, what’s going on?”

“Demi…”

The Demetrian, whom she thought would never be at this marketplace when she encountered the Uniform Man, stood there.