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"Doesn't she seem listless? She's not even looking for sweets."
"Not only that. She's become very quiet. I wonder if she's ill?"
"Hmm, or could it be because her close maids have disappeared?"
"If that were the case... wouldn't she be looking for them? Right, Duchess?"
The maids' gazes turned to Julia.
"Shall I prepare some nourishing food?"
"...I don't think so. I'll have a talk with her."
Julia said in a subdued voice. She knew very well why Evelyn had been so quiet lately.
She could feel Evelyn was watching her.
'I don't have many people I can trust in this world. I think one of them is Julia, you.'
A voice drained of strength. Eyes drooping lower than usual. The sincerity with which he had persuaded Julia over several days.
None of it was like Cerden. Moreover, the honesty with which he revealed his innermost thoughts, as if exposing his bottom line.
'I'm entrusting Evelyn to you. If Julia, you, can be a source of strength for Evelyn, I think I can rest easy.'
At first, it was shocking.
To think that Evelyn, whom she had believed to have the intelligence of a child, was actually of sound mind.
She felt sorry for Evelyn's life, where she had to survive even in that way, and at the same time, she was saddened by the thought that she had been deceived.
Having these feelings probably meant that she had unknowingly given Evelyn a lot of affection.
And among the complex emotions, the one that bothered her the most was.
'Can I do well? Or will I just be a hindrance?'
That was the thought. Evelyn was in a special situation right now. She wouldn't be able to confide her true feelings to anyone, and she wouldn't be able to trust anyone.
Even Evelyn's blood relatives were in that state. When she even heard that there were circumstances of her being abused by Duke Spelman, her heart seemed to sink.
Evelyn was truly alone.
'What if Your Highness gets hurt because of my mistakes? What if he gets hurt because of my carelessness? I don't trust myself, but does Your Highness trust me?'
'If you make such mistakes, others will make even bigger mistakes.'
The pressure weighed heavily on her shoulders. But Julia decided to take courage. She had thought carefully and made a decision over the past few days.
"Don't worry too much. Your Highness is stronger than you think."
If she weren't strong, she wouldn't have been able to endure until now. Cerden had told her that Evelyn had come to her senses after the marriage.
She had been hiding and preparing for months.
How scary it must have been. It must have been like waking up after being asleep for a long time.
Julia couldn't possibly understand the depth of that heart and patience.
* * *
Still, he thought it would be less difficult since it was the second time.
Since Cerden had already found out, he thought it wouldn't be difficult to tell Julia either.
But it wasn't.
It was different again. It wasn't being found out, but revealing it directly, and waiting for her to accept it was still a painful thing.
Julia came in alone with a tray.
"Ahem."
There were very occasional moments like this when the two of them were left alone, and then he didn't know what to say. Especially since he found out that Cerden had told Julia his secret.
Julia doesn't seem to care much about me. She's still calmly arranging the table and preparing refreshments.
Didn't he say anything? That Cerden deceived me.
But then again, the refreshments were too ordinary. There was coffee in my place that wasn't there before, and there were no more cookies on the plate.
As soon as Julia paused and turned around, their eyes met.
"...Are you going to keep following me around like this? Even Rodrick and Ria don't follow me around this much."
"Ah... ahem."
Come to think of it.
Without realizing it, he had been following Julia around. Ever since Julia came into my room.
He paused and stared blankly at Julia. Julia smiled as if she couldn't help it.
"You can sit comfortably. It seems like the owner of this room has changed."
What should I say?
"The owner of this palace is Your Highness. Please sit comfortably and speak comfortably. What am I... why are you watching me?"
At those words, his shoulders slumped.
Since possessing this body and waking up, had there ever been a time when he didn't watch someone's face? Now it had become a habit.
Thinking about other people's feelings and emotions before my own.
What if my identity is revealed, and I end up dying because of it?
He didn't know it was so difficult to be told to be comfortable.
"...Aren't you angry with me? I deceived Julia."
At my words, Julia burst into a small laugh. Julia, who met my eyes, shook her head.
"I'm not angry. I haven't been Your Highness, so I don't fully understand. But I can see what efforts Your Highness is making."
He stared blankly at Julia.
"I think I know why you had to do that. I think I can understand how lonely you must have been."
"...Julia."
Those words felt like they were hitting his heart.
Lonely. He didn't know why tears suddenly flowed when he heard those words.
He rubbed his face to wipe away the moisture.
"Ah, why tears..."
"I'm not sure if I'm strong enough to be of help."
Julia handed me a handkerchief.
It was just such a time.
It was an ordinary tea time, and he thought that maybe Julia would reject him.
He had come here alone originally, so he comforted himself that he could somehow overcome it as he always had.
He comforted himself that it was okay because Cerden was still on his side. But he never thought he would hear these words.
He took Julia's handkerchief and twisted it around his fingers. Even the smooth feeling of it felt unreal.
It was a moment when silence spread through the room like a wave.
"But if you need me, I'll do my best."
He couldn't even speak and nodded his head greatly like a fool. He really made a friend.
"...Thank you, Julia."
Julia turned her head and sniffled. The warmth that had been rising like smoke from the teacup had disappeared, but his heart was warmer than that.
He's not alone.
* * *
At that time.
Augustine got out of the carriage and glared at the villa, which had a somehow eerie atmosphere.
"Ha."
Augustine's teeth gnashed roughly as he clenched his fist.
"Augustine, what's wrong?"
A dull voice was heard from inside.
Augustine ignored the question as if he didn't need to turn his head. Throughout the journey to the west, he had to endure that woman.
She was a woman who was completely different from Marquis Raymond's second daughter.
She had no will, was stupid, and only knew how to eat. It seemed like all she could say was, 'Aren't you hungry? I'm hungry...'
She was like some kind of food-eating bug.
So that food-eating bug of a woman probably doesn't even know what this place means.
"Damn it."
He couldn't accept the fact that he had been exiled. He had done his best for Spelman all along, but now he was in this state instead of his father.
"Augustine?"
A woman like a huge frill lump crumpled up in the carriage got off with a whimper. Augustine didn't even think about catching the woman.
She was the eldest daughter of the Eschilde count family, who had squandered their fortune in the central region and fled to the west in the middle of the night.
They were plausibly attaching the name of the count family, but they sent their daughter to a relative in the imperial capital in order to get a dowry even by selling her daughter.
And that woman became Augustine's.
"Augustine?"
Augustine felt nauseous at that dull voice. He barely managed to hold back the scream he wanted to let out.
Augustine's plan to marry Raymond, solidify his position in the central region, and escape from his father's shadow was beautifully thwarted.
"Augustine!"
"Shut up! You food-eating bug!"
He could see the woman pausing, but who cares. A woman he doesn't even know the name of.
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