The Villainess Duke Lady Hides Her Identity - Chapter 25

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 25

“Want to play Hide-and-Seek?”
“Hide-and-Seek?”
Reponya’s eyes lit up for a moment. But she reined in her excitement, keeping it from showing on her face as she spoke.
“Ahem. So… yes, everyone except the Seeker hides, and when they all call out that they’re hidden, the Seeker finds everyone?”
Reponya explained the rules of Hide-and-Seek, trying to keep her composure, but while she managed to rein in the excitement spreading across her face, her body swayed side to side with such enthusiasm that she gave herself away entirely.
Pelrenss stifled his laughter and nodded.
“That’s right. Hide and seek.”
Reponya bounced on her heels, shaking with anticipation.
It was a game she’d desperately wanted to play when she was younger, but she’d never been able to manage it alone.
There was no one to seek her, and no one to search for.
She couldn’t ask her peers to join either. The peers she knew saw her not as family or a friend, but only as a rival.
“Yes!”
Worried that Pelrenss might change his mind, Reponya nodded eagerly. She’d answered too loudly and felt embarrassed, but she tugged at Pelrenss’s sleeve to hurry him along.
“So it’s just you and me, then? Who’s the Seeker? When do we start?”
Pelrenss covered his mouth with his palm, suppressing his laughter.
“We’re a bit short on players with just the two of us.”
“Huh? Oh… oh, right?”
Wait, didn’t Hide-and-Seek work with just two people? Reponya let go of his sleeve, embarrassed by her mistake.
Smiling, Pelrenss took her small hand in his and scanned the surroundings. Then he called over Buddy and Becky, who were waiting nearby, and a few of the training knights.
Soon they had enough players.
Among them was a deputy-class knight that Duke Creytan had tried to assign as Reponya’s escort before.
‘Up close like this, he looks even bigger than I remembered.’
He was about the same height as Pelrenss, but his build was so much larger that the pressure he gave off was no joke.
Thank goodness Pelrenss took over the escort duty. If this knight had been assigned to her, she really would have been terrified.
Reponya stole a glance at the knight. Their eyes met.
“Young Lady.”
“Oh, um?”
Reponya flinched at the knight’s call.
“The Duke said he was planning to assign me as your escort, but I hear it was canceled.”
“Oh? Um, yes… that’s… right.”
“Did I not meet your approval?”
Reponya swallowed hard. She’d seen and endured rough things from childhood, and normally wasn’t afraid of much at all.
But being intimidated just by looking at someone—that was a feeling she hadn’t had in a long time.
‘Sc-scary.’
Reponya hunched her shoulders. Noticing her fear, Pelrenss stepped behind her and gently soothed her tense shoulders as if to say she shouldn’t worry.
The moment she registered that Pelrenss was behind her, her tension melted away completely.
‘Am I really finding reassurance in the fact that this second troublemaker is here?’
As Reponya was bewildered by her own reaction, the knight held something out.
“I’d prepared this for you, Young Lady. Since I wasn’t able to give it to you, I’ve been carrying it with me hoping to meet you someday.”
What he offered in his deadpan voice and stern expression was a Rabbit String Doll, smaller than the knight’s own palm.
“I’ve been carrying it around, so it’s gotten a bit dirty. My apologies.”
It was grimy, just as the knight said. Reponya accepted the Rabbit String Doll almost without thinking.
It wasn’t something store-bought—there were spots where the string stuck out, visible knots in places, and sections where the string was woven together clumsily.
“…Did you make this yourself?”
The knight’s large frame flinched.
“My skills are still lacking. If you’ll give me the chance, next time I’ll make one so perfect it’ll be indistinguishable.”
Wait, he really did make it!
Reponya stared in disbelief, alternating her gaze between the small Rabbit String Doll and the large knight.
Pelrenss stepped in with a smile.
“Canwell. When you give gifts to our little one, you have to ask permission first. Didn’t you hear that rule?”
“I didn’t hear it.”
“Of course you didn’t—I just made it up. From now on, I’m the one looking after Reponya, so if you want to give her a gift, you need my permission.”
“Understood.”
“Reponya, don’t worry. Even though Canwell looks like this, he really loves cute things. I bet when he heard he’d be your escort, he was so pleased he made that right away.”
Reponya stole another glance at Canwell. Canwell nodded as if to confirm it. Now that she looked, despite his expressionless face, his eyes seemed to sparkle.
“Of course. I’ll take good care of it.”
Reponya hugged the doll awkwardly to her chest. There was a doll in the Bedroom too, but she’d never so much as touched it, convinced it belonged to the “real Young Lady,” not to her.
‘Since I received this one, it’s all right for me to keep it, isn’t it?’
Reponya stroked the Rabbit String Doll she held. At the sight of it, Canwell’s mouth twitched faintly at the corners.
Pelrenss watched her too, a smile playing across his face.
“You won’t even touch the doll in your Bedroom. Do you really like the rabbit that much? Ponya.”
He already knew that much. She couldn’t very well explain that the one in the Bedroom belonged to the “real Young Lady” and she was afraid to touch it, so Reponya simply nodded.
“Mm, mm-hmm.”
“This is the first time you’ve said something made you happy.”
Was it?
Pelrenss watched her tilt her head in confusion and smiled with satisfaction.
“Shall we play Hide-and-Seek now?”
Reponya’s eyes sparkled as though she’d been waiting for exactly this. Pelrenss raised his hand.
“I’ll be the Seeker first.”

* * *

The fourth round of Hide-and-Seek.
Reponya ran off with fierce determination, clutching the little Rabbit String Doll to her chest.
Pitter-patter-patter-patter.
The sound of small feet striking the ground as she sprinted rang out cutely through the air. The servants and knights around her melted watching Reponya bound forward so earnestly, dirt smudged across her cheeks as she scanned the surroundings.
“Our Young Lady is really putting all her heart into hiding.”
“But that’s the same place she was found before—she’ll be caught again if she hides there. So adorable.”
“Ah, I just want to help her find a good spot.”
Feeling their gazes, Reponya whirled around. She met the eyes of the smitten servants and knights, then solemnly raised a finger.
She brought it to her small lips.
“Shush.”
At this precious display of discretion—as if to say that passing through here was a secret—they all pressed their fingers to their own mouths and nodded enthusiastically.
Of course, focused as she was on the game, Reponya paid no attention to their reaction whatsoever.
‘I’ve been caught three times already.’
She’d hidden three times and been discovered all three times.
A complete defeat.
For Reponya, who had spent her life evading the eyes of others, concealing her presence, and eluding pursuit, those three discoveries came as a genuine shock.
‘There’s barely anywhere to hide here.’
Reponya bit her lip and struck the innocent dirt with her small fist.
Since they’d started the game from the center of the Garden, her hiding spots amounted to little more than the flower beds and shrubs scattered throughout.
Canwell had climbed high into the trees to hide, and the servants had disguised themselves as if they were still working, but Reponya could do neither of those things.
‘If I still had my real body, I’d climb trees easily! I’m good at disguising myself, too!’
Of course, if she still had her original body, she wouldn’t be playing Hide-and-Seek with everyone like this in the first place.
‘Where should I hide?’
Determined not to be caught this time, Reponya swiveled her head about rapidly.
The Annex came into view.
‘Is it okay to go all the way over there?’
But no one had said she couldn’t go there, had they?
She didn’t deliberate long. Evading Pelrenss’s watchful eye, Reponya bolted—pitter-patter-patter—toward the Annex.
Slipping past everyone’s notice, Reponya quietly slipped through the Annex door.
Click.
She’d ventured to the entrance before when searching for treasures, but had turned back after seeing how thickly dust had settled—clearly no one came here.
If the Duke had been using this building, that accumulated dust would never have remained.
‘Since no one else goes here, Pelrenss won’t find me in this place.’
Reponya smiled inwardly with triumph and ventured deeper into the Annex.
The further in she went, the heavier the air became—thick with moisture and the stale, dusty smell of neglect.
The familiar mustiness mixed with the pungent reek of accumulated dust filled everything.
Clearly, this place had been abandoned for a very long time.
‘Why would they just leave this building like this without maintaining it?’
Not a single candle was lit, so she had to rely on the light filtering through the high windows to see her surroundings.
‘Yet it’s furnished with some really fine things.’
From the Carpet spread across the floor to the Chandelier and interior materials, even down to the decorative pieces, everything was of the highest quality. Moreover, the way the interior had been designed showed clear care and attention.
‘What on earth is this place?’
Having forgotten all about Hide-and-Seek, Reponya tilted her head curiously as she slowly climbed the stairs before her.
The darkness held no terror for Reponya, trained from childhood to survive in the sunless Basement, to evade wild beasts and return alive. This was nothing.
Small feet climbed the stairs. After a few steps, a large Family Portrait came into view, hanging straight ahead.
Reponya lifted her head.
In this Annex where all time seemed to have stopped, only this Family Portrait remained pristine—not a speck of dust upon it.
“This is…”
“A family portrait painted when the Duchess was with child, Young Lady.”
Reponya turned her head toward the voice. The Butler was descending the stairs above, dry cloth and candle in hand.
“It has been a long time since we last saw you, Young Lady.”
Reponya bowed in greeting, her sharp eyes sweeping over the Butler.
The place had seemed abandoned for ages, yet the Butler moved through it freely.
‘What was he doing here? And what’s with the cloth?’
The Butler smiled and stepped closer to Reponya’s side.
As the candle drew near, light spilled across the canvas, and the portrait—until then a blur—became vivid.
Reponya tilted her head, following the light, and studied the image.
Young Havelian in his childhood, and Pelrenss grinning mischievously beside him. And the Duke in his youth, wearing a gentle smile.
At the center stood a woman.
‘That person…’
Reponya held her breath, transfixed by the woman’s face. Lustrous, wavy platinum hair and brilliant crimson eyes that gleamed as though set with precious gems—they captured her gaze entirely.
“Laila Creytan.”
The Butler spoke the name.
‘Laila?’
The name was familiar. It was the very name the Duke had called her by when he first saw Reponya.
“The mistress of this Mansion and mother of the two Young Masters. The Duchess—the Duke’s one true love.”
Even as the Butler spoke, Reponya could not find a single response.
‘She… looks like me.’
Laila Creytan.
The face of the Duchess, mistress of this Mansion, bore a striking resemblance to Reponya.

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