Kay entered the room and widened his eyes when he saw Lisi standing before the mirror.
Soon he smiled faintly and walked up behind her, wrapping one arm around her slender waist. His lips naturally brushed the back of her neck. His warm breath spread down to her collarbone.
She felt she should be used to this kind of casual intimacy by now, yet every time he touched her she grew tense and warm, and she did not know why.
Kay rested his chin on her shoulder and looked at her reflection in the mirror. His gray blue eyes slowly traced Lisi’s figure in the reflection.
“You are beautiful, Lisi.”
“You as well.”
It was not a lie.
Dressed in formal attire for the party, Kay looked astonishingly handsome. His hair, which he usually left loose, had been neatly slicked back with pomade. Beneath his smooth forehead, his dark eyebrows appeared more striking than usual.
“I heard you had Jamie do something. But he refused to tell me what it was. How exactly did you persuade my subordinate?”
“I did not persuade him at all. He folded his wings on his own. He must have learned it well from his master.”
She had meant it as a joke.
But Kay’s eyes darkened.
He turned Lisi around so that she faced him.
“How did you know? What Jamie transforms into.”
For a moment she thought, I slipped.
But she did not panic.
Things like this would happen often in the future. Things Lisi knew that no one else should know.
“Is that important?”
Lisi asked calmly.
“It is important. But you will not tell me.”
“Not yet.”
“Will you tell me someday?”
Even Lisi did not know the answer.
She had lived once.
She had died once.
She thought that was the end.
Yet now she had been given a second life.
Would anyone believe that if she told them? Even if they did, would they not call someone who returned from the past a witch?
Returning in time had not given her any special power.
‘I cannot even protect my own body. That is why I relied on this man.’
Lisi looked into Kay’s eyes.
His eyes were deep and cold, so deep that she could not tell what he was thinking. If he ever discovered that she had returned from the past, it was impossible to predict how he would react.
The wounds she had received from people in her previous life had not healed at all. She could not trust anyone.
Even if someone seemed kind now, they might change at any moment.
Lisi pressed her finger lightly against Kay’s firm chest.
“That depends on how you behave.”
Kay’s eyes narrowed.
The coldness vanished, replaced with a gentle warmth.
“Then I suppose I will have to behave even better. I am the sort of person who must discover whatever makes me curious.”
“I will look forward to it.”
“You should be nervous. I will do so well that you will be astonished.”
+++
Tony’s Cave was a very large tavern, yet so many people gathered that it could not contain them all.
Buffets and tables had been arranged in the Grand Square beside the tavern as well, so the people who could not enter the tavern gathered in the square, waiting for the Countess of Green to arrive.
At last the carriage of the Green Count House appeared.
People who had been scattered everywhere hurried to the road and crowded around it. The carriage windows were covered with curtains, so no one could see the countess inside, yet everyone craned their necks hoping to catch a glimpse.
When the carriage stopped in front of Tony’s tavern, the once noisy square fell silent.
Click.
The sound of the carriage door opening echoed loudly in the stillness.
Kay stepped down first.
Seeing his appearance, like a god descended from the heavens, several women gasped softly.
When Kay extended his hand into the carriage, a small and delicate hand was placed upon his large palm.
Even though only a hand appeared, people swallowed nervously.
The moment Iris Green revealed herself.
People stared at her as if bewitched, unable even to swallow.
Her silver hair shone brilliantly in the sunlight. Her pale skin matched perfectly with the elegant pale sky blue dress she wore.
Her small face held large, perfect features, as though a god had devoted all his effort to creating her.
The Flower of the Whitlow Ducal House.
Even that title seemed insufficient to describe the dazzling beauty of Countess Iris Green.
She looked pure.
She looked elegant.
She looked proud.
As she stepped down from the carriage and slowly looked around, her beauty felt almost unreal.
People forgot even to breathe as they stared at Lisi.
Her full red lips parted slowly.
“Oh my.”
The small exclamation escaped her lips.
Then a gentle smile spread across her face.
“I did not expect so many of you to come. I am happy.”
At that moment people were deeply moved by the thought that they had pleased her.
The carriage approaching shattered that enchanted silence.
People suddenly returned to their senses and glared irritably at the carriage drawing near.
Lisi also turned her head toward it.
It was the carriage of the Merdi Viscount House.
When Gillette stepped down from the carriage, everyone present was stunned.
Because of her extravagant appearance.
The edges of her wide red dress were embroidered with gold thread. The shoulders were finished with thread made from diamond dust.
Her necklace and earrings glittered brilliantly in the sunlight.
Dozens of jeweled hairpins decorated her long hair.
As if declaring, If there is a sun in the sky, then I am the sun upon this earth.
Gillette was indeed beautiful. Her face had always been pretty, and her makeup had been applied carefully to match the magnificence of her dress.
If this had been an ordinary noble party, her appearance would not have been strange.
Most women would have dressed just as splendidly.
But this was a party for commoners.
Since the host had declared the event to be for common people, even nobles attending were expected to dress appropriately.
The nobles present wore high quality clothing that was simple enough to blend naturally with the commoners.
That included Gillette’s parents, the Viscount and Viscountess Merdi.
The viscount couple had arrived earlier than their daughter. Now they stared at her with pale faces.
Seeing that everyone was looking at her, Gillette seemed pleased.
She smiled brightly and gave a slight curtsy.
Then she raised her chin and walked toward Lisi with confident steps.
Lisi stood with her hands calmly folded before her, watching Gillette approach.
Everyone held their breath.
Gillette’s eyes quickly scanned Lisi’s appearance, and she smiled triumphantly as though she had won.
“Countess. Thank you for inviting me to today’s party.”
“I do not recall inviting you.”
“What?”
“This party is open to anyone who wishes to attend. There is no need for thanks, Miss Gillette.”
“Well… even so.”
Gillette snorted softly and turned away, walking toward the nobles gathered nearby.
She spotted several young ladies she knew and joined them with a bright smile.
Lisi watched her for a moment, then looked around at the crowd and smiled.
“Thank you all for attending today’s party. I hope you enjoy yourselves.”
“Countess, are you aware of the rumors surrounding you lately?”
The sharp question came the instant Lisi finished speaking.
Everyone gasped and turned toward the voice.
A man with sharp eyes was staring directly at Lisi.
Lisi felt Kay’s hand tighten around hers.
She lightly tapped the back of his hand with her thumb, signaling him to stay calm, then looked at the man.
“That is rude.”
“I know. My apologies. But this party was held to clarify the truth behind those rumors, was it not?”
Half of the gathered crowd nodded as if in agreement. The other half looked surprised.
Lisi gazed at him calmly.
“Why should I clarify those rumors?”
“What?”
The man’s sharp gaze faltered for a moment.
“Even if I explain, people will only believe what they want. This is my private matter. Is it not enough that my husband and my family know those rumors are malicious lies?”
She looked up at Kay as she spoke.
Kay met her eyes and smiled with complete happiness.
They still held hands from the moment they stepped out of the carriage, gazing at each other as though they were the only two people in the world.
Anyone could see that they were newlyweds deeply in love, with no problems between them.
“But once the Holy Kingdom has sent someone to investigate these rumors, can the matter really be dismissed so easily?”
The man did not back down.
Lisi was grateful for his stubbornness.
This was exactly the situation she had wanted.
She turned her gaze back to the man.
She knew who he was.
And she had expected him to come.
Just as she predicted, he had come and behaved exactly as she expected.
“Who are you?”
She asked as though she did not know.
He answered proudly.
“I am Witingk of Elerbo.”
Elerbo was the largest and most reputable newspaper on the Elerond continent, with branches in most nations.
Witingk, one of its reporters, was often criticized for his rude reporting, yet he wrote articles that did not favor one side or another.
In her previous life, after Kay had been executed for being a beastman, Witingk wrote an article condemning the act as a brutal loss to the world.
The emperor had been enraged.
Witingk had been executed.
Even as he was hanged, he shouted,
“The world has gone mad! All of you have gone mad!”
Lisi had witnessed that moment from within the darkness of death.
She slowly looked around at the gathered people.
Even those who had been inside the tavern had quietly come outside, eager to learn the truth behind the rumors that had entertained them.
Most looked curious.
Some looked as though they were thinking, Serves her right.
From their youthful appearances, Lisi was certain those were noble young ladies who had admired Kay.
“Very well.”
Her calm voice echoed clearly in the silent square.
“You have shown me such interest that you wish to dig into even the most private parts of my life. I suppose I should respond to that affection.”
Her gaze lingered briefly on Gillette before returning to Witingk.
“Then shall we discover the truth now?”