The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 49

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 49

In the end, from now on, she had no choice but to gradually test and observe Hanna in various ways.

‘I don’t know the principles of the return process. So if I stimulate her wrong and the return fails, it’s all over.’

If that happened, even the handful of sanity he had left would shatter completely.

Gid knew well what would happen to him if he broke down any further here. There was an excellent example in ‘Pascal’.

‘First… let me check for Oaths.’

If what Ethan saw was indeed magic gunmanship, then Hanna would be in a state of Oath awakening.

There were already cases where memories related to Oaths returned first and they used their abilities without knowing anything. Oli Pascal had been like that.

Gideon gestured to Hanna.

“Ri… come here for a moment.”

He almost said “Rita, come here.” Seeing only her reddish-brown hair and back made her look even more like Rita.

“Y-yes…?”

Hanna approached him with a response that was unclear whether it was an answer or a question. Her trembling face was pale.

‘She’s quite timid.’

For a moment, he understood Ethan’s feelings. No matter how enormous the difference in status, being this frightened and trembling wasn’t like Rita Pascal.

‘Even without memories, her personality should remain the same.’

All the comrades who had returned so far were like that. Just watching their behavior for a bit would make you naturally say, “That’s definitely them.” Even without trauma or habits stemming from memories, their fundamental nature remained unchanged.

Hanna, who had approached and stood before him, had a face on the verge of tears from fear. She even flinched when he extended his hand.

‘If she were an ordinary maid, this reaction would be understandable.’

But thinking of her as Rita made it too unfamiliar. No wonder Ethan said it was confusing and felt like false hope.

With complicated feelings, Gideon lightly touched his fingertips to Hanna’s forehead. Then he saw Hanna turn not just pale but blue, gripping her dress tightly.

“I just need to check something briefly. Don’t be afraid.”

Seeing a face resembling Rita filled with terror made him speak gently, regardless of how unlike Rita it was. At least his sanity hadn’t completely snapped, so he maintained his princely tone.

Gid gently flowed Oath energy into Hanna’s body. It was one of the methods to confirm if someone was an Oathbinder.

Ethan didn’t know how to inject Oath energy lightly without harming the other person. His Oath energy as a reinforcement-type Oathbinder was filled with killing intent like its master, making such delicate manipulation impossible.

If it were someone else, he would have knocked them unconscious and used drugs for examination or pressured them with force, but there was no way Ethan could do such things to someone who might be Rita. If he had actually tried to do such a thing, Gid would have half-killed Ethan.

So this kind of verification had to be done by him.

Concentrating extremely in that brief moment, Gid soon carefully withdrew his Oath energy and removed his hand.

“…”

His expression became subtle. Hanna watched his reaction with her whole body stiff.

“Ah, Crown Prince, Your Highness?”

“…You may go now. Thank you for your hard work.”

He turned around and headed toward the table where his jacket was spread out. As the Crown Prince turned away, Hanna rubbed her forehead where he had touched with a bewildered expression, then gathered up the remaining salt and carbonated water.

Gideon folded up his jacket with wet sleeves while hiding his troubled expression.

‘There are no traces of Oath energy. She’s not an Oathbinder.’

Then was what Ethan saw not magic gunmanship but some other magic or unusual technique?

‘She didn’t use magic gunmanship, her personality is different, and her atmosphere is different too.’

Most importantly, his intuition was strongly rejecting it. The countless experiences of failure accumulated so far declared it.

This woman is not Rita.

Rather, that noblewoman he briefly saw earlier seemed more like Rita. Her face didn’t resemble her at all, but her eyes were similar.

‘…Not this time either?’

He didn’t know how many times his hopes had crumbled now. His already precarious mental state wavered dangerously. He could hear ‘Pascal’s’ laughter. He gritted his teeth.

‘No, there’s still a possibility. A possibility… since she resembles her this much, if I observe a bit more…’

There was a clicking sound behind him. Hanna seemed to be leaving the lounge. As the door opened, Gid’s keen hearing caught the commotion from the ballroom.

It was a ball, but the music had stopped. He could hear people murmuring.

Something strange seemed to have happened.

* * *

People forgot about dancing and stopped to murmur among themselves. The orchestra had no choice but to stop playing as well.

Everyone was whispering in a noble manner, but they were highly excited and there were countless such people, so the murmuring filled the hall.

This was partly due to the many young nobles in their late teens to early twenties who were young rather than mature. Innocent girls who couldn’t even be twenty held both cheeks and let out small screams of “Kyaa!” while some boys whistled frivolously before receiving glares from the parents who accompanied them.

At the center of all that noisy attention were today’s protagonist, Noblewoman Lillieta del Nisa Raskail, and Prince Joseph del Duirebourg Adickl.

Prince Joseph, with curly black hair and murky golden eyes that proved he inherited royal blood, was kneeling on one knee on the marble floor.

He raised his voice in a thoroughly theatrical pose, with one hand on his chest and the other raised forward.

“Oh, do you think this is a joke? Would the bloodline of the great black dragon kneel for mere amusement? I am confessing with complete sincerity, Raskail Noblewoman. Please do not doubt my intentions.”

His attitude seemed intoxicated with himself. Indeed, his eyes were somewhat hazy too. He looked up at Lillieta before him with eyes clouded by seething desire and ambition.

“Since you suspect it’s a joke, let me say it once more. I fell in love with you at first sight. Therefore, I, Joseph of Adickl, formally wish to propose to Lillieta of Raskail!”

At Raskail Noblewoman’s debutante ball, Adickl’s prince fell in love with the noblewoman at first sight and immediately proposed.

Just proposing so suddenly like this was an incident worth discussing in social circles for ages, and the status of both parties was tremendous. Moreover, Raskail Noblewoman had been missing for ten years before returning, so all sorts of speculation was circulating.

It was truly a major incident.

The hot-blooded boys and girls let out low screams again, stamped their feet, or clapped their hands. This time, even their parents’ glares were useless. The adults themselves couldn’t keep their composure and were whispering among themselves.

At the center of those gazes, Lillieta thought she wanted to kick Joseph in the face.

Leonhardt, who was beside her, and Richard, who was a bit further away, had similar thoughts.

Only Duke Raskail and the Countess, who were calming their reddened eyes, had different thoughts. The Duke wanted to shoot that bastard in the head, and the Countess wanted to pour an entire bottle of wine on him.

Although the Raskail family had warm dispositions unbecoming of great nobles, they had noble cultivation and manners, so such thoughts remained only in imagination.

Richard, who had lived as a cripple for years and become twisted, was an exception. He was approaching through the crowd with nearly mad eyes.

Lillieta quietly pressed down her twitching foot. Fortunately, her dress was voluminous. It was also really fortunate she hadn’t brought her revolver.

‘Here, I am not Rita Pascal, I am Lillieta del Nisa Raskail, the other party is a civilian and I am a duke’s daughter…’

She recalled the etiquette lessons she had received and barely managed to create a ‘troubled smile’ before opening her mouth.

“Isn’t proposing when we’ve just met today for the first time a bit too soon, Prince?”

“Ah, of course I don’t intend to demand an answer right away. I simply want you to know, beautiful Lillieta, that there is a suitor who fell in love with you at first sight.”

Joseph tried to kiss the back of her hand. Lillieta quickly pulled her hand back and stepped back before he could grab it.

‘The other party is a civilian, the other party is a civilian, if I seriously hit him he’d di… but with my current body, even if I hit him he might not die? No, I am a noblewoman, Noblewoman Lillieta…’

While Rita took a deep breath, Leonhardt clenched his fists and belatedly noticed Richard approaching.

He quickly blocked his brother’s path and glared at Joseph with a smiling face.

“The Prince seems quite intoxicated. I’ll escort you to the lounge.”

“Ah, I am intoxicated indeed, by the Noblewoman’s beauty! But Young Duke, my mind is clearer now than ever before.”

Joseph smiled broadly, then stood up from his kneeling position and shouted in an exaggerated tone.

“Of course, I know well that a sudden proposal is rude! But I simply could not bear this moment without confessing these feelings! Ah, I am a sinner of love who could not contain his surging passion!”

The Prince clutched his chest and bowed his head. It was like watching a scene from an opera.

Rita thought blankly.

Could this be some trend among nobles that I don’t know about? Is this kind of thing common in the capital’s social circles? Is this the original culture here?

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