Me, a Princess? My Lord! - Chapter 74

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 74

“But are you really Count Haizen?”

Even after letting Deshion into her house, Cecilia Nardin asked hesitantly, as if still uneasy. Deshion nodded.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Cecilia narrowed her eyes.

“…’That’ Count Haizen.”

“As far as I know, there’s no other Count Haizen besides me. Why do you ask?”

At Deshion’s question, Cecilia shook her head.

“Just wondering. You’re famous in many ways, aren’t you.”

“…”

“Please, have some. It may not be as fine as the tea you usually enjoy…”

Deshion took the teacup and sipped it.

“It has a lovely fragrance. Thank you.”

At Deshion’s words, Cecilia’s expression softened just a little. She sat down on the sofa and spoke.

“I was surprised you called me Cecilia. Very few people know that name.”

“Did you change your name?”

“No. Everyone just calls me Cissy. No one uses the name Cecilia.”

Cecilia said.

“I heard once before. That Count Haizen goes around looking for people who used to live near Schuhights Castle.”

“…”

“I thought someday you might come looking for me too. I sincerely, truly hoped we would never meet.”

Deshion asked.

“Why didn’t you want to meet me?”

At those words, Cecilia let out a small laugh.

“I’m not a fool. I know very well what you’re pursuing. And how dangerous it is.”

“What am I looking for?”

At Deshion’s words, Cecilia crossed her arms and said.

“Memories from around the time the princess was born. Isn’t that right?”

“Do you remember?”

“Nothing at all.”

At Cecilia’s answer, Deshion’s lips curved upward slightly.

“If you truly knew nothing, you wouldn’t have had reason to dislike meeting me, or to live in hiding, avoiding people.”

“…”

“You do know. And seeing as you let me inside, you clearly have some intention of telling me.”

Cecilia looked straight at Deshion. A faint rebelliousness flickered in her large eyes.

“There was a great fire at Schuhights Castle. You know that, don’t you.”

“Of course I do.”

“They say everyone who was staying at Schuhights Castle when the princess was born died. The lord’s family, of course, and even the few servants who remained. Did you know?”

Deshion nodded.

“I know that too.”

“It might just be village gossip, but something felt unsettling about it. So I kept my mouth shut and lived like I was dead. The fact that I had been there.”

Cecilia anxiously pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders. She lowered her voice to a whisper.

“Then recently I saw a newspaper article.”

“What article was it?”

“An article about Princess Anastasia and Princess Heidi, of course. You can guess…”

Cecilia pressed her forehead as if troubled.

“The moment I saw it, all the fragments of memory fit together like a puzzle. It made sense.”

Deshion leaned forward in his seat. A strange light flickered in his red eyes.

“Please tell me. I want to hear what you remember from that time.”

* * *

After hesitating for quite a while, Cecilia finally opened her mouth only after emptying her teacup twice.

Young Cecilia had been close to Madame Schuheitz, who was her aunt, and loved visiting there.

Beginning with the story that she would spend a month or two there every year, she closed her eyes tightly as if searching through distant memories.

“…There was a baby.”

At Cecilia’s statement, Deshion immediately asked.

“A baby? Do you mean the princess?”

Cecilia opened her eyes and shook her head.

“No. From before the princess was born.”

Cecilia scratched her cheek.

“I think it was the wet nurse’s baby. A very small baby. I’m certain it was only a few weeks old. It was the first time in my life I’d seen such a tiny baby.”

“Wet nurse?”

At the unfamiliar term, Deshion tilted his head. Cecilia immediately explained.

“A maid who nurses in place of a noblewoman. They look for women who gave birth not long ago.”

“Was she part of Her Majesty the Queen’s entourage?”

Cecilia’s eyes narrowed.

“Hmm… I don’t remember clearly, but I don’t think so. I remember they urgently searched for and summoned her, but I can’t be certain.”

Deshion nodded.

“I understand. I’ll just take it as reference.”

Cecilia smiled slightly and continued.

“While everyone was looking at the newborn princess, I was in another room looking at that baby. I remember it was a very pretty baby.”

“…”

“I had a feeling right away when I saw the newspaper. Ah, that’s when the babies were switched.”

Deshion cautiously stepped back.

“It’s just a possibility. It’s all circumstantial evidence.”

“A possibility… That’s right. It’s not certain.”

Cecilia straightened her back.

“But I’m convinced.”

Deshion gazed at her eyes intently. Her light brown pupils looked back at him steadily without wavering.

‘It’s only circumstantial evidence, but the possibility is high. My intuition says so too.’

Deshion changed the subject.

“Were there any distinctive features about the baby’s appearance?”

“Why would a baby be called a baby? At that age, they all look pretty much the same.”

At Cecilia’s grumpy words, Deshion readily agreed.

“That would be the case, of course.”

Judging there was nothing more to ask about, Deshion stood up. He offered polite thanks.

“I apologize for the intrusion. This was very helpful. Thank you.”

“I trust you’ll protect my identity.”

“Of course.”

It was when Deshion was about to open the door and leave.

“Ah.”

Cecilia spoke as if something had occurred to her. Deshion turned around.

“A large mole…”

Cecilia met Deshion’s eyes.

“There was a large mole. On the baby’s instep. I remember often looking at it because the tiny feet were so cute. I’m certain.”

* * *

“A mole on the instep…”

Returning to the Haizen Estate, Deshion headed straight to his study without even changing clothes.

Today had been fruitful. It was a day when he had taken a step closer to the truth of that day, which had remained tantalizingly out of reach for years.

‘It won’t be easy to check for moles on Anastasia’s body, but if the location is the instep… it might be possible.’

The instep is inevitably exposed when wearing shoes, and it’s a part that shows glimpses when skirt hems are slightly lifted. If he observed carefully, it would be a feature he could definitely discover.

‘The wet nurse seems to be the key….’

Deshion rubbed his roughened cheek with his palm.

He had already checked the list of royal attendants who had followed The Queen long ago.

Most of them were dead. The Queen’s lady-in-waiting had died from a worsening chronic illness, and the maids had all passed away as well. Among them, some were natural deaths from old age, and there were also suspicious accidents.

Just one person. There was one who hadn’t died.

Deshion opened his notebook and picked up his pen.

「Norbert Albett」

He was the coachman who had driven the carriage at that time.

But even he was ambiguous to consider alive. Because no one knew of his whereabouts.

「Missing…」

Deshion, who had been dotting points repeatedly, let out a “hmm” and caught his breath. He wrote a new word below it.

「Governess」

Deshion drew thick underlines and put down his pen.

‘Who on earth is this woman?’

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————