The Return of Lilietta

Episode 16

“……Yes, yes, Miss…….”

“Did you meet anyone strange that day?”

“No, I, as soon as my mother passed away, I, I came into the Duke’s house and never left the Birch Tree Castle. I never met anyone except the people in the castle. It’s true, believe me…….”

“Then do you have any idea how that voice came to be in your head?”

Hannah hesitated with a tearful face and answered sobbing.

“Ugh, Miss, actually, after I regained my memory last night… I’ve been thinking about that all night, up until now. What on earth could it have been, why did I have that, why did I have that….”

Tears poured down her face. She held her head with a face that said she was going crazy.

“But, ah, no matter how much I think about it, I don’t know. I have no idea, really, I’m sorry……. Ugh, this might sound like a lie, but I really don’t know anything……. I, it just suddenly turned out like this without any warning or trigger…… I’m sorry, I’m sorry, miss…….”

“Okay, I understand.”

Rita answered concisely, turned around, and sat back down on the sofa.

‘My nightmare that night had no foreshadowing or trigger. Pascal is a great wizard who can manipulate people’s memories, so he must have used magical methods that are difficult for ordinary people to notice.’

She didn’t particularly resent Hannah.

I wasn’t so angry that I had to take it out on a 12-year-old child who was being manipulated by the Archmage.

Honestly, right now she felt more suspicious than angry or betrayed towards Pascal.

‘I don’t understand. Why on earth?’

Why would the author, the so-called Great Wizard, kidnap a child from another world with whom he had no connection or favor and turn him into a weapon? And in such a complicated and inefficient way?

And how on earth was this possible?

‘Is it a coincidence that I am possessed by the body of a child named Dorothy who resembles Hannah in that world?’

What exactly is the relationship between Hannah and Dorothy? Are they just look-alikes? Or are they somehow related?

At least until she figured that out, she had to keep Hannah in her sights.

‘Besides, I don’t know how Pascal was able to possess Hannah’s body… … but if he possessed her once, doesn’t that mean he can do it twice?’

Perhaps Hannah is Pascal’s only connection to the other world.

‘What should I do with this kid?’

If the truth from 10 years ago is revealed, Hannah will at least be sentenced to death. Even if it was not intentional, the young princess of the Duke’s family was kidnapped by a commoner orphaned maid. It’s a crime for which she would be lucky to die a peaceful death.

‘There’s no way Hannah didn’t know this. If she wanted to live, she would have run away somehow as soon as she regained her memories.’

But instead of running away, she came to Lilietta on her own two feet and confessed everything.

She threatens him with a shard of mirror, and even strangles him during a fit, but he never shows any resentment or blame for it.

If you look at it this way, she is a very honest and loyal maid.

‘… … But there’s a possibility that this is all a fabrication. He was an accomplice from the beginning, and he took the initiative to avoid suspicion as soon as he heard that I had regained my memories.’

Of course, given the clear circumstances that Hannah was a child who had lost her single mother at the time, the likelihood that she was an accomplice was not high.

‘But the probability is not zero. If Pascal had continued to possess Hannah whenever necessary, Hannah could have unintentionally become an accomplice… or even been persuaded or brainwashed by him to become a real accomplice.’

It’s not the first time I’ve seen someone who seemed good and innocent betray or turn into a devil. I always had to be prepared for the worst.

Which one? What should I do?

Rita touched the corner of her mouth and thought about it for a while before finally deciding what to do with Hannah.

“Hannah.”

“Ugh, yes, Miss…….”

“I heard the whole story.”

“Then, uh, punishment…….”

“No, you will continue to work as my maid.”

“Huh?”

Hannah looked up in surprise. Rita thought as she received the look of disbelief.

We can’t let someone who could be a crucial clue die or be banished. It’s better to just watch from the sidelines.

‘If he was really innocent and was used by Pascal, but he confessed and admitted his guilt, then he is someone who should be brought in as an ally. On the other hand, even if he is an accomplice, the conclusion is the same. He should be used as a link to Pascal.’

Rita opened her mouth blandly.

“Hannah, you told me you were sorry?”

“Yeah…… Ugh.”

“Then you will be loyal to me to that extent.”

“……!”

“I will believe you when you say that you didn’t kidnap me because you wanted to, and that you don’t even remember what happened until yesterday.”

“You believe me? Really?”

“Yes, I trust you, Hannah.”

I don’t actually believe it.

You shouldn’t trust people blindly. However, if you show signs of being suspicious, even people who wouldn’t have betrayed you in the first place will betray you.

“Why did you just do that? Rita, no matter what the situation is, it’s better to just say you believe it. There’s no good in expressing your doubts. But don’t really believe it either.”

It’s good for bad guys because they’ll feel safer because you trust them, and it’s even better for good guys because they’ll be touched that you trust them.

If it’s the former, you can get solid evidence, and if it’s the latter, you can get valuable talent.

“―That’s what Gid said.”

Gide Pascal was good at dealing with people. That’s why when Gide and her created the Beacon Squad together, Gide became the squad leader and she became the second in command.

miss you.

He, and his comrades from the Beacon Squad.

‘There’s no chance of us meeting here again… … I guess. Everyone will be safe.’

Rita looked at Hannah, who had a moved face, after carefully putting away the thoughts that suddenly occurred to her.

“I will trust you, so apologize by being loyal to me from now on.”

“……Yes! Yes! Thank you, Miss! I am truly grateful! Since you have forgiven and saved my life, I will definitely offer it to you! I will serve you with my life!”

Hannah burst into tears and fell down before her. Rita sighed softly and thought.

‘First, let’s investigate Hannah while investigating the traces of the slipper fragments and the coffin fragments. In the meantime, I should have her do something. Since you said you trust her… … Should I assign her some simple information gathering? But it has to be something that can be cross-checked.’

She, who had been worrying, opened her mouth.

“Well then, I have something I want you to do first.”

“Yes, tell me anything!”

“Investigate and organize what happened at Birch Castle after I went missing and bring it to me. What has changed compared to ten years ago, and what happened to our family? You’ve been working here all along, so I’m sure you can do a good job, right?”

“Of course! Just leave it to me!”

Hannah clasped her hands together in excitement. Rita smiled at her faintly.

‘Hannah, who has lived here for ten years, can easily verify the facts and it’s not that secret information. That should be enough.’

Plus, I wanted to hear more about what happened to her family while she was missing, from someone other than her family.

Lilietta was the youngest daughter of the Laskail family, young and weak. Her overprotective family was unlikely to say anything bad about her after she had been missing for ten years and finally returned.

‘Leon in particular is not the type of person to give a hard time to the youngest. But I need to know everything.’

Rita thought back to the stories she had heard from the butler, the maid, and the gardener, and Richard who had come to see her drunk, and the Duchess who had jumped into the lake in the middle of the night.

‘… … Everyone needs to recover.’

I wanted to fix all the parts that were broken because of my disappearance. I thought that only then would I feel like I had returned ‘home’.

* * *

The Duchess, who had taken the medicine and fallen asleep, woke up in the afternoon.

As soon as Leonhard and Lilietta heard the news and entered the room, the Duchess jumped out of bed and ran towards them.

“Lily!”

And the eldest son, standing next to her, held onto his daughter as if he was invisible.

“It wasn’t a dream, it wasn’t a dream!”

The Duchess’s body, which had been as dry as a withered flower, became lively. She caressed Rita’s face without stopping.

“LiLi, you’re back. You’re back, God… No matter how many years have passed, there’s no way Mom wouldn’t recognize you. She knew you at first sight. She knew you the moment she saw you. Didn’t she? My daughter, my angel, my fairy….”

Lilietta answered, leaning her cheek gently against her hand.

“Yes, Mom. It’s me, Lilietta.”

“iced coffee…….”

The Duchess whispered, tears streaming down her face.

“Lily, where have you been all this time?”

“It’s very far from here. I didn’t know how to get back, so I couldn’t come back.”

“Far away? How did you live there? Did you have any difficulties or hardships?”