Your Regrets Are Late

“…What do you mean?”

“Duke’s brother was in Lebanon until a few years ago… To be precise, I think my father knew him.”

The clue was solved why even the butler did not know where Raya was.

“What was written in his personal information?” Charelize nodded quietly and asked what information was written in his personal information.

“Not much was written, and my father said he had a daughter while drunk.”

“Daughter?”

“Your Highness, Lillian is not the daughter of Duke Marsetta… She might be the duke’s brother’s daughter.”

“That… what…”

“I heard that his brother has a very faint red tint in his eyes. The same goes for Lillian.”

“They’re twins born on the same day as the duke, so that’s not enough evidence. I’d rather know if she’s someone else’s blood, but the blood test said it matches.”

Listening to the Marquis Pasimello, Charelize pondered and soon shook her head.

“They’re twins for sure… Anyway, the blood in their body is the same, so no matter how many times the blood test is done, the result will be the same.”

“I’ll figure it out for now, but… I don’t know if that jerk won’t throw Lillian or not, even if she wasn’t his child.”

“Does the Duke and his twin… have a special relationship?”

“The birth mother of Lillian is indeed Siael, and that woman is the duke’s woman, so there’s nothing to deny.”

Charelize, who pressed her tired eyes, replied in a tone that didn’t matter.

“Still… I guess I’ll be able to see some rare sights. I will be a good hand that prevents her from even thinking about coming back after going through the worst fall.”

“Are you going to the birthday banquet of Royal Princess Veloche?”

“…Maybe?”

“I’ll find definite information by then, so please wait.”

“Your face looks really tired while I haven’t seen you, so don’t overdo it, Marquis.”

“…”

“What’s wrong?”

“My name… you forgot… Ah, it’s nothing. I’ll be on my way now.”

“Ah, I thought you had something else to say. Dian… right?”

Charelize, who didn’t see the ears of Marquis Pasimello’s reddened quickly, didn’t notice it.

“Did you call, young Master?”

Upon confirming that the Marquis Pasimello had left, Charelize called the butler immediately.

“I called because I had a question to ask Butler.”

“I’ll answer anything I know.”

“Uncle… What does he look like?”

“Are you referring to… Sir Raya?”

“Yes. What’s the difference between him and the Duke? I want you to tell me in detail as much as possible.”

The day she found Raya’s music box, Charelize had silenced everything related to him. The butler, who faithfully did it, double-locked the door to the attic. He also increased the number of knights guarding private libraries. That’s why he wondered why she suddenly wondered about Raya’s appearance. But the butler did not ask what had happened.

“He was the same as the Duke but could be distinguished by a small dot on his left cheek.”

“Dot…”

When asked, he recalled his old memories and answered them in detail.

“Ah. I didn’t know it when I was young, but as time passed, I noticed a little bit of red in his eyes.”

“…Red?”

“It’s small enough that you don’t know unless you look closely.”

It was just like what Charelize heard from Marquis Pasimello. It seemed right that Raya was in Lebanon.

“By the way… How long do you think the necklace for Royal Princess Veloche will take?” Charelize changed the topic to hide her surprise.

“I think it’ll take about two more days.”

“Please pay attention so that unnecessary words won’t spread.”

“Don’t worry. We only chose the best out of the best.”

Charelize reaffirmed what she had asked the other day to do to the butler.

“If…”

“Yes, young Master.”

“…”

“Is there anything else you’d like to say?”

Charelize, who was about to ask if Lillian was like Raya, thought about it momentarily. If Lillian’s eyes were also like Raya’s, there was no way the butler couldn’t have noticed.

“No, you can leave now.”

“Then, I’ll report it as soon as the necklace is finished.” The butler bowed slightly and said goodbye before going outside.

“Your Highness.”

“Hailey?”

“May I come in?”

Charelize could hear Hailey’s voice right away. Perhaps she was waiting outside.

“Oh my God. You’ve been waiting. Come in.”

Hailey, who came inside with permission, was holding a list.

“Your Highness asked me to find out about it last time.”

Soon it was handed to Charelize.

“There were quite a few girls named Lira, but the only one with red hair and brown eyes is a newborn baby.”

“Ah.”

Charelize recalled giving Hailey orders to find the person Marquis Pasimello was looking for. Hailey had been to the Peschte Empire, and her time must have been tight. Still, it was surprising that she got more meticulous and detailed information than Charelize thought.

“She could have changed her name, and she could have changed her hair color…”

Charelize suddenly stopped talking. It was her mistake. Something she had never thought of like that until now.

There was a reason why the top of Lari’s head was red. It was only her guess. In the Marsetta territory, there were quite a few people named Lira. However, she knew none of them was the person Marquis Pasimello sought. She didn’t know the exact age of Lari. Still, if she did an approximate calculation, she was about the same age as Marquis Pasimello.

“Where I grew up, all the people I met were kids my age, and I was also banned from saying more than five words a day because I was noisy.”

The place where Marquis Pasimello grew up seemed to be an orphanage.

“I was an orphan. I was born without parents and ran away after being abused in an orphanage. Madam was the one who saved me.”

Lari was abandoned shortly by her parents after she was born and was also in an orphanage.

“Ah! Lauren. The top name is Lauren.”

“Lauren?”

“Isn’t that… a name with the meaning child born in the sunshine? Anyway, it is an unusual name for a top to be named, so I memorized it.”

She was convinced that the one Marquis Pasimello was looking for was Lari. Then she could understand why the top’s name felt strangely familiar.

Lauren. It was the name that Lari called several times in her unconscious state.

“Hailey.”

“…Yes, your Highness.”

“Since you share a room with Lari, I hope you can be honest with me.”

“…”

“The person Marquis Pasimello is looking for… Is it Lari?”

“Your Highness…”

“Hailey.”

Asked by Charelize, Hailey immediately knelt down.

“I didn’t mean to deceive Your Highness. I wasn’t sure, but I had a rough idea, and I thought I shouldn’t say it first because he was probably related to Lari’s past.”

“Lari’s past?”

“When I woke up from my nightmare in the middle of the night, Lari was sweating, maybe having a nightmare. Calling someone named Lauren.”

“Even nightmares…”

“I don’t know the details of the situation other than seeing Lari’s wounds by chance on a rainy day.”

Charelize knew that Hailey didn’t say it not because she had other purposes.

“Get up, the floor is cold.” Charelize reached out to Hailey, who bowed her head as if she had no face.

“Your Highness…”

Hailey’s face was mixed with all sorts of emotions. She felt sorry for not being able to keep her promise to Lari and guilty for deceiving Charelize.

“I know. I know very well that you’re not that kind of person,” said Charelize with a wry smile, feeling sorry for her.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness…”

“Rather, I’m the one sorry for not noticing earlier.”

She patted Hailey on the shoulder, who kept apologizing. Talking about someone’s personal circumstances was far from Hailey’s usual personality.

Charelize was at a loss as to what to do with this. If it was really Lari, she was at a loss as to how she should convey this to her. However, she could not call Lari recklessly and ask her. Everyone had a past they wanted to hide. She didn’t even want to dig it up.

Lari is her exclusive maid; in this situation, Charelize could be seen as deceiving Marquis Pasimello. Even though luckily they hadn’t encountered each other so far, they were bound to meet one day. There was no way the two with such a story wouldn’t recognize each other.

“First of all… It would be better not to take Lari to the birthday banquet of Royal Princess Veloche.” Charelize, who had been agonizing for a long time, finally came to a conclusion.

The birth banquet of the royal family. It was a day that deserved to be celebrated by everyone, so unlike other events, even if you weren’t noble, as long as your identity was guaranteed, you could enter the imperial palace. Occasionally, nobles who had commoners as their maids brought them, so it was the same with Charelize.

Lari, who used to be so active, has been looking dark these days. Charelize’s heart was heavy because she thought it was because she wasn’t allowed to come along to the Peschte Empire. That’s why she considered giving her a tour of the imperial palace.

Charelize knew that Marquis Pasimello wouldn’t seek revenge. But it hadn’t been years since she knew him. She had seen several cases where someone lost their temper and acted differently from their original personality.

Since it was the birthday banquet for Royal Princess Veloche, the only child of Harbert IV, it was certain that many nobles, including other empires, would come. It would be difficult to sort things out if something happened, so it wasn’t the right place to let them meet.