Elaine knew she needed allies, but was Mariam trustworthy? She had her doubts. The original Estella only had a vague understanding of the girl's past before her current position. From what she heard, Mariam came from the empire's southern border. Her village used to belong to a tiny kingdom Étoile conquered one hundred years ago. Similar to many of the empire's past conquests, it forced the kingdom's inhabitants to assimilate and abandon their culture. They stripped those who resisted their citizenship and sold them as slaves—a dark history for one of the continent's most prosperous empires.
However, at the moment, Mariam's background was the least of Elaine's worries. Her primary concern remained on surviving until Estella's fateful death.
But how? Even surviving a meal without getting poison was a problem.
Knock, knock.
"Milady, the duke and duchess summon you." Two loud knocks emerged outside the antechamber, followed by a man's voice.
They finally came. Elaine knew she could not avoid the consequences of Estella's actions forever. However, she did not expect them to summon her so soon.
"Milady, please allow us to prepare you." Mariam and two other maids stopped their duties and advanced toward her.
Elaine nodded.
Nobles did not dress themselves. Estella, too, was no exception. Although she was still unaccustomed to having servants dressing her, Elaine did not want to raise suspicion.
Despite choosing a simple outfit, the preparation process still took almost an hour. Elaine exhaled in relief when the maids released her. She felt exhausted and admired those women who could spend hours a day perfecting their looks with no depletion.
"Please follow me, milady." In his late thirties, a tall man dressed in black greeted her from behind the door. The man led Elaine through a long hallway, passing many rooms and several servants. The servants dropped when they glided by, and she noticed their terrified expressions and trembling hands.
Was Estella that scary? How much did this little girl terrorize them in the past? Or was it someone else?
She glanced at the man walking beside her. If memory served her well, the man was one of the duke's main butlers, Yusef. Estella had seen him several times before, like a shadow, always two steps behind his master. Yusef's face was never without a warm smile, but other servants labeled him the smiling devil in secret.
Besides his regular butler's duties, Yusef was also an enforcer. A role tasked with the disposal of unruly individuals inside the dukedom. Those he targeted disappeared and was never seen or heard from again—a fearsome reputation for such a friendly face.
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Elaine shuddered. People in this world all hid behind a camouflage. Nothing was as it appeared.
"Is something wrong, milady?" Yusef raised his brows and seemed to catch Elaine's slight movements.
"It's nothing. Let's hurry." Elaine picked up her pace, not wanting another second alone with the smiling devil. What if he realized she was an imposter? What would he do to her?
They went down the staircase and exited the building. Unlike Estella's younger brother, Armes, she did not live in the main manor but in a smaller structure, similar to her father's mistresses and illegitimate children, within the vast estate. But she could no longer withstand her mother's flagrant favoritism and requested to relocate to her current residence.
Good. Since Estella lived by herself for two years, few people will recognize her switched soul. If possible, Elaine would like to bury this secret forever. Even though magic and mystical creatures were common, necromancing and soul switching were taboo and forbidden by the temple and the magician association. They deemed those discovered practicing the art as heretics, tortured, and sentenced to death.
"Milady, we've arrived." Yusef gestured ahead.
Elaine looked up, and a magnificent architectural structure came into view. A manor shrouded in pinnacles and sharp spires, embellished colonnades formed pointed arched doorways, accentuating high masonry walls supported by flying buttresses. The manor's outer walls were decorated with sculpted statues of gods and saints placed beside large rose windows filled with elaborate tracery.
"A true beauty!" Elaine exclaimed. Estella's memories of the place did not remotely compare. She wondered how much time and wealth, not to mention efforts, Estella's ancestors must have consumed constructing such a masterpiece.
"This way, milady."
The knights guarding the palace entrance knelt as they approached. Their expressions were stoic and grim, and Elaine could feel intense bloodlust emanating from their bodies.
The house of Croix's knights were no flowers in the garden. Chosen since childhood through strict criteria, they experienced intense training and fierce battles. To ensure the knights' absolute obedience, they were all taken from the orphanage, with no family to miss and nowhere to return. Each granted a Croix symbol embedded in their chest, signifying honor and loyalty.
Each year, Étoile engaged in frequent expeditions against neighboring kingdoms and "savage land" to stabilize the empire and expand its territory. Along with other dukedoms, they placed the house of Croix and its knights on constant standby, ready to participate.
Elaine glimpsed a young man kneeling in the far corner as she entered. A handsome young man with hair that resembled the morning sunlight and two different colored eyes.
Heterochromia, why did this description sound so familiar? Elaine was unsure where she knew him from, but he piqued her interest.
"You in the far back. What is your name?" She pointed at him.
A couple of seconds flew by, yet the young man's expression remained stoic, and he did not answer her question. Elaine's face started turning red from the awkward silence.
"My sincerest apology, milady, but he cannot speak without prior approval from his superior." An older knight in front of the formation explained and turned toward the young man. "You can answer the princess."
“My name is Cecil, Cecil de Ascania, milady.” The young man looked up, displaying his chestnut and ocean-colored eyes.
Cecil de Ascania!
Elaine's eyes widened. How could she forget such a significant character? Cecil was a highly skilled knight and one of the female protagonist's suitors.