5. Betrayal  

“Ho……!”  

She clamped her mouth shut, just about to shout “home.”  

“To see Judy.”  

‘I swapped bodies with Asilly.’ She wanted to blurt it out right away, but she forced herself to hold back. First, she had to confirm perfectly whether Asilly’s soul had truly entered her body, and above all, she was afraid the person hearing something like that would think she was crazy and turn away from her.  

“Could you possibly take me to Judy’s house?”  

Even just to make this request, Judy could not afford to be turned away by Wesley.  

“Of course. I was on my way there anyway, because I’m worried about my fiancée.”  

So he was worried about me, too.  

Watching Wesley carefully escort her so she could climb into the carriage with ease, Judy could not shake the feeling that the emotion she had just felt had cracked a little. No matter how close the two were, Wesley was excessively kind to Asilly.  

But right now, that was not what mattered. Judy was still confused by “today,” which was different from “yesterday,” and her head was getting complicated as she tried to figure out how to overcome this situation.  

So, without realizing it, she let out a deep sigh.  

“Is something troubling you so much, Miss Leroni?”  

Wesley, sitting beside her, asked in a gentle tone, then suddenly glanced outside, checking if anyone might be watching in the otherwise empty carriage. And then……  

“……!?”  

He carefully reached out the hand beneath and took hers. No—this was not Judy’s hand. He was secretly holding Asilly’s hand.  

“If it’s because of Judy, don’t worry. You saw her yesterday too. She was fine.”  

“Earl Wesley……?”  

Perhaps he did not notice her aghast expression, because Wesley leaned in, and soon blew hot breath against her ear.  

“We agreed you wouldn’t call me that when we’re alone.”  

Watching Wesley brush a light kiss against her cheek and pull away, it felt like her heart was freezing over. Judy, struck by a shock so great she could hardly breathe, let out ragged breaths, and only then did Wesley seem to sense that something was off.  

“My love, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”  

At the unfamiliar sight of Wesley worrying as he brought a hand to her forehead, Judy felt as if her blood was rushing backward. It was a side of him he had never shown her when she was his fiancée. Of course, he had been kind to her too, but not with this sincere tenderness.  

The fact that the relationship between the two was not simply a sibling-like closeness from childhood, but the most intimate secret affair, was as hard to believe as the fact that Judy’s soul had entered Asilly’s body. No—maybe it was something she had been able to predict well enough. She had, after all, been endlessly jealous of their relationship……. And yet, she could not believe it. Because she did not want to believe it, she did not want to accept it.  

“……How can this be…….”  

It was a line Judy, devastated by crushing heartbreak and shock, muttered as if it slipped out of her.  

“Hm? What did you just say?”  

Wesley leaned in to hear her better, but Judy turned her head away, barely holding back the urge to bite at his ear in betrayal.  

“Is your complexion bad because you’re jealous?”  

What kind of novel nonsense was that now.  

“I’m not going because I’m truly worried about Judy. It’s just for appearances. So don’t feel hurt, alright?”  

“…….”  

“You know having to marry Judy Grant is hard for me too. I can’t back out. The amount of money I took was so large.”  

The amount of money he took? What did that mean? Who did he take money from—and what money?  

“Still, I should’ve searched to the end for the beast I caught that day and given it to you as a gift. It’s a shame.”  

As she sat there, dumbfounded, opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish, he reached out again as if to soothe her. Now that she knew what he truly was, she hated even being touched by the hand she had always wanted to hold.  

“No!”  

It was just as Judy, without realizing it, shrieked and pulled away to the other side. The carriage she was riding in with him came to a stop in front of the Grant Marquisate.  

“Asilly, why are you really…….”  

Judy did not even listen to him. She flung open the carriage door and jumped down. It was too much—confusion, sorrow, unbearable things crashing down all at once. The thread of her reason snapped, and her emotions spilled out just as they were.  

Judy cried. She cried until tears soaked her delicate cheeks—yet she did not stop running.  

She entered the garden through the large iron gate, which was likely thrown wide open to receive Earl Wesley’s carriage. Passing through the wide, neatly arranged garden with familiar ease, she stepped into the grand mansion.  

“Miss Asilly?”  

The one who recognized her—face smeared with tears, breathing rough—was Gianna.  

“Gianna!”  

To Judy, Gianna had been like a mother when she had no mother, and at times like a sister. It was hard to believe how glad she was to see her. Forgetting entirely that her body was Asilly’s, Judy threw herself into Gianna’s arms.  

“Gianna, I’m really having such a hard time.”  

“……I don’t know what happened, but if you run here like this, I think anyone would be exhausted.”  

That was an expression that was neither truly empathizing nor truly not empathizing.  

Gianna slid Judy out of her embrace with an awkward air. But the strength was so forceful that Judy did not even dare try to hug her again.  

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think it will be possible for you to see our Miss today.”  

At Gianna’s cold gaze—one Judy had never seen before—Judy could not bring herself to say, ‘I’m Judy.’  

“No. I absolutely have to meet Asill…… no, Judy.”  

“She absolutely needs stability right now. I will separately let Miss Judy know that you came to visit, Miss Asilly.”  

“Just for a moment. Really, just a moment. Please…… I’m begging you, Gianna.”  

Judy grabbed Gianna’s arm and pleaded. Again, Gianna sighed deeply with an expression that said this was troublesome and tiresome, then nodded as if conceding.  

“Then I’ll ask Miss Judy, so please wait here.”  

“Yeah. I will.”  

Watching Gianna climb the stairs with a slow, dragging pace that suggested she had nothing to lose, Judy clasped her hands tightly together. She prayed Asilly was awake, and that she would allow the meeting.  

“Asilly!”  

It was then that Wesley—whose presence Judy had briefly forgotten while waiting for Gianna—came up beside her. He closed the distance at once, hurriedly checked the surroundings again, and pressed in close.  

“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden, seriously? You never said anything even when I was getting along with Judy. You even said it was fun. That it was thrilling.”  

Judy glared at Wesley resentfully. To have a lovers’ quarrel with Asilly so openly, even at her own house—it was unforgivable. Even if this were a dream, it would still be disgusting. Just as Judy resolved that if he said one more word, she would humiliate him whether people were watching or not, Gianna’s voice came.  

“Miss Judy says to escort you straight to her room, Miss Asilly. Oh? Earl Wesley, you’re here too.”  

“I’m going in as well.”  

“I’m sorry, but Miss Judy said only Miss Asilly is to enter.”  

Gianna firmly blocked Wesley, then immediately guided Asilly to the room. As they walked down the corridor, Judy tried desperately to swallow the rage rising until her body trembled.  

When the door opened and she stepped inside, “herself,” seated on the bed, turned her head to look at her. Wearing a similar expression to the one Judy had been making that morning.  

Only after the door closed again and they were left alone in the space did she part her lips.  

“……Judy, h-how did this happen?”  

“Are you Asilly? You really are Asilly?”  

It might have been a stupid question, but this was what Judy most needed to confirm. The other nodded. At last, Judy understood. She did not know why, and she did not know how they had swapped—but in any case, her soul had switched with her friend’s.  

“Why did I become you, and why did you become me?”  

“……I don’t know either. But one thing is certain—your body and mine have switched. And…….”  

After confirming that much, Judy immediately opened her lips again to confirm something else. She was so calm it surprised even herself. When a person faced something too absurd, she realized, reality might not register properly—and she might become rational like this instead.  

“That you’re having an affair with my fiancé, Earl Wesley.”  

“……Judy!”  

Judy, who had been hit by shocks all day long as if by a torrential downpour that might swallow her whole, strode toward Asilly without hesitation. Toward the friend who had betrayed her, she lifted her hand high, fury surging—yet she could not bring herself to slap her own face.  

Noticing Judy’s hesitation, Asilly hurried down from the bed and dropped to her knees.  

“I was so sad when I heard that Earl Wesley, whom I’d loved from afar for so long, was getting engaged to you. So without realizing it……. I repeated it in my head thousands of times that I shouldn’t do it, but I couldn’t stop my heart from going where it wanted.”  

“…….”  

“I’m truly sorry. I committed a sin worthy of death. I know it’s shameless to even ask for forgiveness, but still—please forgive me. Please.”  

Asilly—wearing Judy’s face—was on her knees, begging desperately. It felt so strange. Asilly was the one who had done wrong, yet it felt like Judy was the one begging for forgiveness. In this overwhelming, inexpressible situation, the door suddenly slammed open with a loud bang.  

“What are you doing right now?”  

A familiar voice cut through the space and struck Judy. Theo’s gaze, as he looked back and forth between Asilly kneeling and Judy, hardened colder and colder.  

“Oh my, Miss!”  

“Lady Grant!”  

Gianna and Wesley appeared one after another, shocked. Then Theo strode in, closed the distance, pulled Asilly up, and lightly shoved Judy aside with his shoulder.  

“Ah!”  

Unable to withstand even that light shove, Judy staggered and fell with a thud, landing hard on her backside.  

“Theo!”  

She was in pain as it surged up—but no one stood by her side. Everyone was by Asilly’s side. No, by Asilly who was in Judy’s body……. The feeling was strange.  

“Are you okay?”  

Not knowing anything, Theo asked kindly—to Asilly in Judy’s body.  

“Huh? Y-yeah. I’m okay.”  

So even though all these people were gathered around “Judy,” none of it made her happy at all.  

“Theo, listen to me.”  

“‘Theo’? How dare a mere Baron’s daughter be so rude and lacking in manners?”  

The murderous gaze with which he looked down at her was something Judy had never seen in her life. At that unfamiliar look he had never once shown her, Judy flinched, forgetting even that he had been her close friend.  

Theo stood at the very front as if to block Judy from approaching Asilly in Judy’s body, while behind him Gianna soothed the sniffling Asilly, and Wesley, looking confused, pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed.  

Everyone had turned their backs on Judy. The resentment would not settle, and she blurted out the truth—without any proof—exactly as it was.  

“Theo, it’s me. I’m Judy.”  

“……Is that crazy thing for real.”  

Toward Gianna, standing behind Theo and glaring at her with the worst expression, Judy shouted.  

“I’m really Judy. Gianna! You can’t recognize me?”  

“You’ve always envied Miss Judy from before……. What on earth happened to you?”  

Gianna’s reaction was no different. As for Wesley, Judy did not even want to appeal to him.  

“Theo, why can’t you recognize me? Yesterday too……!”  

Judy grabbed Theo’s forearm, trying once more to explain the situation. But he violently shook her off, and Judy stumbled again.  

“Anthony!”  

As if she was no longer worth speaking to, Theo shouted toward outside. At his call, the door opened, and his knight, Anthony, entered.  

“Drag this madwoman out of the room right now.”  

“Yes, Young Duke.”  

The knight, loyal to his master, began dragging Judy out with ruthless strength. No matter how she struggled to stay, it was useless. There was only one thing the weak her could do.  

“Asilly, you tell them. You! Tell them right now—tell them our bodies switched!”  

There was nothing else but to beg Asilly—who was occupying her real body—to confess the truth…….