Chapter 16 : Don’t Forget a Light When Walking at Night

She slept soundly until morning.

—or so it should have been, but instead, she was awakened by Linsy declaring,
“Then I’ll make Miss’s dinner nothing but a whole head of broccoli!”

Compared to this morning’s green-peas-only breakfast, it was a slightly kinder menu.
She hadn’t planned on sleeping, but her body must have been exhausted.
The moment she closed her eyes, drowsiness washed over her, and Faustina fell asleep.

Hearing Linsy’s words, Faustina jolted upright.
Broccoli had been promoted from a hated vegetable to one she could eat normally, but that didn’t mean she wanted it used as a weapon to wake her.
Faustina let out a big yawn, and Linsy puffed out her cheeks.

“Honestly, how unladylike.”
“It can’t be helped.
I fell asleep.”
“I understand that you’re tired, but please at least stay awake until dinner.
Shall I prepare a fatigue-recovery drink from now on?”
“That might be good.
I usually just drink orange juice, after all.”

Faustina loved orange juice just as much as grape juice, and whenever she returned from her queen consort lessons, she drank orange juice.
Considering the possibility that she might fall asleep again like today, she decided to take Linsy up on her suggestion from now on.
Linsy had come to wake Faustina about ten minutes earlier.

“The ladies are waiting, so let us go to the dining room.”
“Alright.
But they might already be eating.”
“That won’t be the case.”
“But time-wise, they should be very hungry.
Elvira is probably making a fuss about being hungry.”
“Miss, you are not Elvira.”
“……”

The one who made a fuss when hungry was usually Faustina.
In Elvira’s case, she only started complaining if tea time with sweets was delayed.

She half-lidded her eyes, but since it was true, she didn’t argue back.
Counting her previous life as well, Faustina had been with Linsy for over twenty years.

She gazed at Linsy’s back as she led the way.

‘What happened to Linsy… after that?’

Linsy was the only maid who continued to treat Faustina the same, even when she was handled like a dangerous object in her previous life.
She had taken care of her since childhood and was the only one Faustina could speak honestly to.

‘If you’re being disowned and thrown out, then I’ll go with you!
There’s no way you can live as a commoner alone after living as a noble your whole life!’

Even after Faustina was exiled from the ducal house by her father’s mercy for trying to harm her own sister, Linsy stood by her to the very end.
But forcing a capable maid to quit was not good for the ducal house either.

More than that—

‘Do you think I’ll allow such selfishness?
Faustina is no longer a daughter of House Wittgenstein.
She is a complete stranger.
Do you understand, Linsy?
The Faustina you served is already dead.
Stop saying foolish things and return to your post at once.’

Lyudmila would not allow it.
It was right after being told she should never have been born, so Faustina felt neither surprise nor shock.

‘What was I to Mother, really?’

She felt like she had said something to Lyudmila afterward.
She didn’t remember what it was.
She vaguely remembered Lyudmila’s face, pale as a sheet.
That should have been the last expression she saw.

This wasn’t something she needed to force herself to remember, so she added it to the list of things that could be recalled someday if it came to mind.

“Linsy.”

Faustina stopped walking and called out to Linsy ahead of her.

“Yes.
What is it?”
“I’d like to have dinner in my room, so could you bring it later?”
“But everyone is waiting for you—”
“Hmm.
If you say you went to call me, but I was asleep, and I said I was still sleepy and wanted to eat in my room, then they won’t pry too much.”
“…Understood.
I will bring it later.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine.
I’m used to your selfishness, Miss.
Besides, I think I understand why you don’t want to go to the dining room.”

With Citrine absent, it was difficult to eat with Lyudmila and Elvira.
Even if Cain were there, once Lyudmila became heated, he couldn’t stop her.
No matter how mature he was for his age, Cain was still a child.

Wearing a wry smile, Faustina turned around and returned to her room.
She propped her cheek on her hand at the desk.

Her thoughts turned to the upcoming tea party.

“Hmm… I can’t remember it.
No matter how hard I try, I can’t remember.
What I do remember always involves Prince Bernhard and Elvira.
Or rather, are the important things always the ones involving the two of them?”

She searched her memories for anything that didn’t involve Bernhard and Elvira.

“The harassment I received from Lady Aeria,
the time Brother gave me a cake without fruit because I didn’t give him sweets on Halloween,
being admonished by Prince Neige and then by Her Majesty the Queen…
…Yeah, I remember those.”

It might not be about Bernhard and Elvira at all.
She might simply not remember.
After all, this strange phenomenon of recalling her previous self was happening to her.
It was only natural that there would be odd gaps.

She got down from the chair and crouched to retrieve the notebook hidden under the bed.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
It was Linsy bringing dinner.
Without checking who it was, Faustina answered, “Coming!”

The door opened silently.
Huh?
Feeling suspicious, Faustina straightened up and turned around—then froze in shock.

The one who entered was not Linsy carrying dinner, but her mother Lyudmila, wearing a solemn expression.

Question marks practically burst from Faustina’s head as she blinked repeatedly.

‘W-Why is Mother here now?
Did she come to scold me for not eating dinner together?’

If so, did she really understand that this would just create an awkward atmosphere for everyone?
Faustina desperately pondered how to respond without worsening her mother’s mood.

“…Fa-Faustina.”

Surprisingly, Lyudmila spoke first.

“Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”
“Huh?”

The completely unexpected question froze Faustina’s thoughts.
Lyudmila’s serious expression was apparently due to concern for Faustina’s health.
Faustina tried to count how many times her mother had worried about her.
It felt like she could count them on one hand.
At Faustina’s dazed reply, Lyudmila looked uncomfortable as she gazed into her pale yellow eyes.

“Linsy said you would be eating in your room.”
“Ah, no, I just woke up and was still a bit sleepy.
I thought I’d eat dinner later, so I asked Linsy.
I also asked her to tell everyone to eat first.”
“I see…”

The air grew heavy in a way that was hard to describe.
Faustina couldn’t tell what Lyudmila’s intention was.
She had braced herself for a lecture, so this was almost anticlimactic.

Lyudmila’s eyes wandered before settling once more on Faustina.

“About the dress for the tea party.”
“Yes?”
“…It’s a lovely design.”
“Th-Thank you.
Her Majesty incorporated my preferences when she designed it.”
“……”
“……?”

Faustina looked up at Lyudmila, who had grown visibly displeased upon hearing the queen’s name.
She couldn’t understand why.

That was the kind of expression it was.

Just as Lyudmila was about to say Faustina’s name, there was another knock at the door.
This time, it really was Linsy bringing dinner.
She looked surprised when she saw Lyudmila inside.

“U-Um, I’ve brought Miss’s dinner.”

When she showed the meal on the silver kitchen cart, Lyudmila said,
“Take your time eating,”
and left the room.

As Faustina stared into the hallway, Linsy asked quietly,

“Why was Madam here…?”
“I-I don’t know.
She came all the way here just to praise the dress design… probably not.
What was that about, I wonder?”

Tilting her head at her mother’s puzzling behavior, Faustina’s eyes sparkled at the sight of dinner.

—And she made sure not to let it show how relieved she was that it wasn’t a whole head of broccoli.

After dinner, Faustina read for a while, and when she grew sleepy, she fell asleep again.
She woke up suddenly.
She let out a big yawn, and there was no one to scold her.

Outside, it was still pitch dark.
The sky was covered in clouds, and no stars were visible.

She felt thirsty.
Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she got out of bed and reached for the pitcher on the table.

“Oh.
It’s empty.”

That was right.
She had drunk it all before sleeping.

“I’ll have to get some from the kitchen.”

At this hour, there was no one around, but just getting water should be fine.
Probably.

She took the empty pitcher and left her room.
Without moonlight, the mansion was so dark it was frightening.
Since the pitcher required both hands, she couldn’t carry a light.
Relying on memory, she walked through the darkness.

If she stayed in the middle of the path, she was less likely to bump into ornaments placed along the walls.
All she had to do was avoid tripping or walking straight into a dead end.
Taking her time, Faustina reached the kitchen.

She felt around for a counter and found one.
She set the pitcher down.

“Where’s the light…?”

She searched where she thought it should be and found a lamp.
But then she realized she didn’t have anything to light it with.

“Now I’m regretting not bringing a light from the start…”

She should have just given the pitcher to Linsy tomorrow.

With a slump, Faustina quickly shook her head.
She gave up on the water and carefully retraced her steps back to her room.

She left the kitchen without bumping into anything and headed back.
The moon, which had been hidden by clouds, peeked out slightly, faintly illuminating the mansion.

“I hope nothing happens… at the tea party.”

Don’t stand out.
Don’t make a fuss.
Put on a meek act and behave.

If she followed those three rules, she should be safe for now.
She didn’t remember what would happen, but she was confident she could get through it if she stuck to them.

She was also concerned about Aeria, another person to be wary of besides Bernhard.
The look Aeria had given her at the birthday party lingered in her mind.

‘It wasn’t hostility.
If anything, it felt like she was observing me… probing me…’

Aeria had been obsessed with the position of crown princess and had harassed Faustina countless times.
Remembering how they had gone back and forth, clashing with each other, Faustina let out a self-deprecating smile.

‘Lady Aeria was also desperately studying as a crown princess candidate.
If the future where Bernhard and Elvira are together doesn’t change, then Lady Aeria will have to fall for another gentleman.’

Otherwise, Aeria would never be rewarded either.

While pondering how Aeria might approach her and how to make her give up if she was still aiming for the position, Faustina headed toward her room—

“Gyah!?”

She failed to notice the door right in front of her and shared a passionate embrace with it.

——The next morning, Linsy worried over Faustina’s red forehead.

“Miss, what happened to your forehead?”
“E-eh heh heh, it’s nothing.”