The small letters on her wrist glimmered faintly.
Why is this reacting again all of a sudden…?
Unlike last time, no information from the original story surfaced alongside it.
Still, she doubted it would react for no reason at all.
All I did just now was check the tea leaves and think about placing a new order.
…Wait.
Tilting her head in confusion, Janette suddenly whipped around and stared at the cupboard.
A short while later.
Janette left the kitchen and briskly headed somewhere else.
Her destination was the northern library built for the servants.
Philosophy section. Fifth shelf. Third from the back.
Ah, there it is.
She pulled out an old book titled The Mark of Calling and quickly flipped through the pages.
Flap, flap—thud.
Her fingers stopped at one particular page that caught oddly against the others.
Tucked inside was a small note, almost like a bookmark.
Janette removed it and checked the memo.
Behind Lady Julieta’s annex. Left path in the northern forest where the grounds connect.
After committing the location to memory, she took out a pen, added the date and time to the note, then slipped it back into the book.
“Done.”
This was the method Kendrick had taught her for arranging meetings with the Illinia hidden inside Ludwig.
“It’ll be difficult to meet outside every time, so whenever you need something, communicate through the Illinia hidden within Ludwig.”
“There are Illinia members hiding inside Ludwig too?”
“Illinia exists everywhere.”
To avoid looking suspicious, Janette borrowed another random book before leaving the library.
Or rather, she tried to return to the annex—
“…A butt?”
Her steps halted in front of the pitch-black annex nearest to Julieta’s residence.
A tiny rear end sticking out from the bushes radiated an astonishing presence.
This is supposed to be Lord Kendrick’s annex… Lady Julieta’s twin brother.
Oh. It’s wiggling.
Janette hesitated for a moment.
Should she pretend she hadn’t seen it, or acknowledge it?
It wasn’t hard to guess the owner of the butt.
There was only one child in Ludwig who freely roamed the estate while dressed in obviously expensive trousers.
Jeron Ludwig.
The Grand Duke’s youngest son, born late in life.
He’s seven this year, wasn’t he?
Information about him had also been scribbled in the Ludwig Reference Notes.
The child born between the Grand Duke and a widow.
Like all the women who had borne the Grand Duke’s illegitimate children, she apparently hadn’t known his true identity at first.
She’d simply thought he was a handsome, strong middle-aged man.
And so, unaware of anything, she gave both body and heart to the Grand Duke who soothed her loneliness, and Jeron was born from that relationship.
His birth mother is supposedly recuperating in a rural estate.
It seemed giving birth at her age had badly damaged her health afterward.
Or perhaps she had been devastated after discovering the man she loved already had a family.
What a complete trash man.
It was hard to believe the head of this magnificent household was such scum.
Meanwhile, the wiggling butt slowly began retreating backward.
Shuffle, shuffle.
The child crawled out of the bushes like a creeping animal.
“Huff!”
He suddenly pushed himself upright and let out a small breath.
His hazelnut-colored hair was a complete mess, littered with leaves.
Whether they had stuck there from crawling through the bushes or were part of some disguise attempt, Janette couldn’t tell.
She was still seriously debating what to do when—
“W-waaah!”
The child, who had been staring only at Kendrick’s annex while gasping for breath, finally noticed her.
Startled, Jeron shrieked and lost his balance.
Just before his body toppled backward, Janette darted forward and caught him.
“Are you alright?”
Blink. Blink.
The child stared at her with wide eyes.
After silently meeting her gaze for a moment, he slowly nodded.
“I’m glad you’re alright.”
As Janette smiled warmly, the child’s small mouth fell open.
“…Who.”
“Yes?”
“Y-you… who are…?”
Mid-sentence, he lowered his head deeply. He seemed terribly shy.
“I’m Janette Graham. I’m Lady Julieta’s new maid.”
Gasp.
The child’s eyes widened as he turned in shock toward Julieta’s annex standing beside Kendrick’s.
“…!”
Judging by the fear written all over his face, Jeron apparently knew the terrible rumors surrounding Julieta as well.
“Her Ladyship isn’t as frightening as the rumors say. She’s kinder than people think… and cuter than you’d expect too.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. Really.”
The child looked adorable while deep in thought.
He furrowed his brow as though trying to judge her sincerity, then tilted his head this way and that.
Eventually, he gave a tiny nod and fidgeted with his fingers.
“…Mm.”
“You believe me?”
Nod.
“Thank you. That makes me happy.”
Janette clasped her hands tightly together.
Otherwise, she felt like she might instinctively reach out and pat his round little head.
“So what brings you here? Didn’t you come with your nanny or someone else?”
At her question, the child stiffened.
Like a child caught doing something wrong, he fumbled helplessly before his shoulders drooped.
“I-it’s… secret…”
“Ah. A secret, then. I suppose I shouldn’t pry any further.”
“…Really? Y-you won’t ask more?”
“No. It’s your secret, Young Master.”
A child’s secret ought to be protected.
“Still, next time, it’d be better if you came with an adult.”
No matter how safe Ludwig’s estate grounds were, the place was simply too enormous.
If things went wrong, someone could genuinely end up with a missing child incident inside Ludwig.
“….”
But instead of answering, the child only pouted slightly. The timidness showed clearly in the way he fidgeted with his trousers.
“Um…”
“Yes, Young Master?”
“…Today… secret too…”
He trailed off and cautiously peeked at her.
Catching on immediately, Janette nodded.
“Yes. I’ll keep it secret that I met Lord Jeron here.”
Only then did the darkness lingering over his face brighten a little.
Jeron stubbornly shook his head when Janette offered to escort him back to his annex, insisting on going alone.
I’m worried, though.
In the end, Janette quietly tailed him from a distance until she confirmed he safely returned to his annex before heading back herself.
More importantly, why did he even come all the way here?
She thought hard about it, but nothing came to mind.
Whatever the reason was, she found herself hoping they’d meet again.
The image of Jeron’s squirming little butt kept replaying in her mind, making soft laughter escape her lips.
The following evening, after sunset.
Janette headed toward the meeting place.
Behind Julieta’s annex. The left path in the northern forest where the grounds connected.
Is it here?
After walking along the path for a while, she spotted a black handkerchief tied around a tree.
Feeling it must be some kind of marker, she quietly waited nearby until she soon heard footsteps accompanied by a greeting.
“Have you been waiting long?”
Janette turned around and blinked in surprise at the approaching figure.
A servant?
The man wore a comfortable gray shirt and black trousers—the standard uniform of Ludwig servants.
Ah. So he was hiding as a servant.
Thinking that, she was just about to greet him when—
“……”
Janette’s expression abruptly turned serious.
“Hm?”
Seeing her tilt her head as though desperately trying to figure something out, the other man became flustered instead.
What exactly is she thinking about?
And then—
“…Theo?”
The name that left Janette’s lips made the man—Kendrick—feel his heart drop.
How did she recognize me?
At the moment, he was disguised using a magical artifact.
Naturally, he had also been disguised when meeting Janette before, but this appearance was completely different.
Brown hair. Brown eyes.
A gentle impression.
The disguise artifact Kendrick used was an item possessed by him alone in the entire Empire.
Not only could it alter hair and eye color, it even changed the distinct aura unique to each individual.
On top of that, layered perception-disturbing magic had been cast over it several times, making people unable to remember Kendrick’s face the moment they turned away from him after speaking.
It created the vague sensation of:
What did that person look like again?
Only those personally permitted by him could distinguish his true face.
