TL: Zimming
âI donât know what youâre talking about. This isnât mine.â
âBut youâre the only one who uses it in the castle.â
Leblaine smiled and picked up the stuff.
âI mean the dye.â
âI donât know what it is!â
âDonât you know what the dye is? You really donât know?â
When Mireille hardened her face, Leblaine said,
âThen shall I let you know?â
âNo thanks.â
âItâs used to dye clothes.â
âIâll goââ
As soon as she tried to escape and run away, Leblaine grabbed Mireilleâs hair.
âItâs also used for dyeing peopleâs hair.â
Her face dropped in an instant.
Leblaine, who looked at Mireille, opened her mouth again.
âLike when you dye your hair to deceive Dubbled.â
I stared at Mireille, who avoided my gaze.
That hair, a symbol of Dubbled, was the result of dyeing.
I saw Minaâs red hair grow black when she moved to dimension. When people asked what happened, Mina said,
âI had my hair dyed. Itâs bleaching, to be exact.â
Thatâs when I found out that a personâs hair can be colored.
But it was a basic knowledge to know that we can dye our hair.
âA puppet makerâ
Puppet makers who make ball jointed dolls often dye itâs hair to meet customersâ needs.
It was easy to guess that Mireille had used it because I once designated the color of the doll hair and pupils when I bought the ball jointed doll through the chairman.
Minaâs world dye seemed mild, but our worldâs dye did not.
Itâs a very strong dye, so itâs used only for things that arenât alive.
Mireille dyed her hair for a long time so her hair was not in a good shape
âYou found someone who resembles Risette and dyed its hair, right?â
ââ¦â¦â
âItâs really lucky to found a doll who resembles Risette.â
ââ¦â¦â
âYou fake.â
âNo!â
Mireille shouted.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âI have the energy of Dubbled! How would you explain that!â
âItâs not the energy of Dubbled, itâs the mana of Johann.â
ââ¦â¦!â
âWhen Johann was attacked, it was for this purpose. You were trying to take his mana!â
As I shouted, Mireille fell down.
I gritted my teeth and grabbed her shoulder roughly.
âDo you know how long Dad waited for the fourth child? Do you know how hard Javelin worked to find the child, and how sorry Lea was to her?â
ââ¦â¦â
âYou should have been real. You should be the real fourth child!
ââ¦â¦â
Mireille shook me off roughly.
âI just did what they told me to do because they said I could live here comfortably! They only said that if I dye my hair in time, Iâll be able to enjoy good food for the rest of my life.â
It was then, the surroundings became bright.
âThey arrived.â
Mireille looked at the countless employees and the people standing in front of us.
Dad and brothers, Lea, Javelin, and Chairman.
***
As the chairman said, heâll bring many people to a meeting to discuss her identity.
We were able to time it because we shared our progress through the communication device.
Me and the chairman summarized the story by saying, It was the chairman who was suspicious of her, and at the request of the chairman, me, whose room is next to Mireille, watched her.
Mireille was immediately taken to the castle. As soon as the frightened child was caught, she gave every information she had.
We found out that Mireille was twenty-one years old, not nine years old. She was also a prostitute.
She wasnât the daughter of the couple who said they had raised her. Her parents didnât own an inn, they were farmers.
She worked together with her fake parents.
The inn owner couple were brought to work with Mireille.
Her real parents were also tortured and soon answered our question.
âMr. Wen came to see usâ¦and he said heâll make my daughter a Ladyâ¦â
âYes, if we do as we are told, he will give us a fortune to live comfortably for the rest of our life.â
Dad looked at the frozen Mireille from the side.
âWhat happened to your body?â
âI donât know that! Iâm telling you the truth! I went with the manâs guide with my eyes covered, and after a terrible pain, I became like this!â
âThey used a golden liquor.â
I wasnât the only one thinking that way.
Nos looked at the mage.
âWhy couldnât you have noticed her if she used the golden liquor?â
âIt doesnât have any relation to the energy, because only her body was changed with that.â
The mage looked at Mireille.
âYou will have to pay the price soon.â
Mireille raised her head in surprise.
âThe price?â
âIf we can regain our youth, who in the world will not use it? They are reluctant because there is a risk.â
âWhat is thatâ¦â¦â
âIn a short period of time, your bones and flesh will melt away.â
Mireille cried out at his words.
âNo way! Youâre lying!â
âStupid.â
âPlease fix it. Help me! Everyoneâs counting on me. Pleaseâ¦!â
She crawled and begged, but there was no one who wanted to help her.
***
After Mireilleâs whole family was taken to prison, I had a conversation with the chairman in the greenhouse. I looked at the window with my back to the chairman and asked,
âWhat about the vassal that found Mireille?â
âTheyâre clean. Someone has deliberately recommended the travel destination to the vassals.â
âIt means that they already knew where to go.â
âYes.â
Then itâs even more troublesome.
Doesnât it mean that there are traitors in Dubbled?
âWhatâs their connection to the Duke of Vallua?â
âThe Duke of Vallua once bought Mireille. He must have liked her quite a bit, they said he looked for her often.â
I hesitated and looked back.
âThatâs all?â
âThatâs what Mireille said. She said itâs just a coincidence.â
I squinted my eyes.
âAnyway, thereâs no need to contact Vallua.â
âOkay, keep looking into Vallua.â
âYes, but the problem isâ¦â
âWhy? Is it hard to investigate Vallua?â
âThatâs not itâ¦â
The chairman said with a troubled look.
âThe timing was a bit off when Mireille was saying many names, only I heard Valluaâs name.â
Thatâs alright.
At least itâs successful.
***
Lea walked down the hall with a lethargic face. Leblaineâs three maids were restless and tried to help her, but she shook their hands helplessly.
âGo, do what you have to do.â
âButâ¦â
âI have to do what Iâve been putting off.â
ââ¦we will help.â
It was better to focus on working. Rather than blaming herself for having hope.
Lea went into Leblaineâs room. She came to make the childâs bed.
âWhyâs the roomâ¦â
It was clean in the eyes of others, but in the eyes of skilled employees it was not.
The position of the clothes in the closet was a mess, and the temperature was colder than usual.
Leblaine was prone to cold that her maids always kept the temperature in her room warm.
âOh myâ¦â
Not only Lea, but also all the maids who had served Leblaine, were handed over to Mireille, so other servants did not take care of the details.
âThe little miss must have it hardâ¦â
âI think her voice sounds a bit stuffy too this morningâ¦â
Her closet has signs of being rummaged.
Usually, it was up to Lea and the three maids to choose her clothes.
Everyone was happy to choose her clothes, Leblaine might have wanted to choose her own clothes, but she would have endured it and wore the clothes they gave her.
âShe must have been cold too. I think she tried to take out thick clothes.â
âCall the maids.â
While the maids quickly bowed to her, Lea found an ointment container at Leblaineâs bedside.
âIs the little miss hurt?â
She was afraid to ask the maids, suddenly, the door opened as Henry and Isaac entered.
âThe kid got hurt?â
âWhat are you talking about.â
âShe had an ointment.â
Henry stretched out his hand and said,
âGive it to me.â
He frowned at the smell of ointment.
âItâs a medicine for bruises.â
âNo way. She could just go to the doctor.â
âNo, she couldnât have gone there. If she goes to the doctor, itâll be chaotic again.â
âWhat?â
âShe must have been hurt when Mireille pushed her.â
There were traces of meals on the bedside table. When Mireille and Dubbled people ate together, she always ate alone here.
Lea covered her mouth with her hands.
âYouâre crazy, Lea Shavanol!â
The child always had a habit of doing everything herself.
She knew best what she needed and only act when she needed to.
The little girl, when everyone was so busy being blinded by joy of finding the fourth child, was all alone in such a large room.