Chapter 83

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 83

Chapter Title: The Impostor's Hair Dye

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"What are you talking about? I have no idea what that is. It's not mine."

"But you're the only one in the castle who uses this stuff."

Leblain flashed a bright smile as she held up the item.

"It's hair dye."

"I told you, I don't know what it is!"

"You don't know hair dye? Dye—you know, dye. Really, no clue?"

Mireyu's face hardened, and Leblain continued.

"Want me to explain?"

"No thanks."

"This is what you use to dye cloth."

"I said no—"

Just as she tried to shove it away and bolt, Leblain grabbed Mireyu by the hair.

"It's also used for dyeing people's hair."

Her voice dropped in an instant.

Leblain gazed at the trembling Mireyu and spoke again.

"Like when you dyed your hair to fool the Duvereds."

I stared at Mireyu, who avoided my eyes, at a complete loss.

That's right.

That hair—the Duvered family's signature—was the product of dye.

I'd seen Mina's hair, red when she first arrived through the dimensional gate, grow out black. When people asked what happened, she explained.

[I dyed it. Technically, bleached it.]

That was when I learned you could dye human hair.

But even among those who never met Mina, some knew it was possible.

'Dollmakers.'

Dollmakers who crafted ball-jointed dolls often dyed hair to suit a client's wishes.

I'd ordered one through the steward myself and specified the hair and eye colors, so it wasn't hard to guess Mireyu had used dye.

The dye from Mina's world seemed gentle, but ours was anything but.

A vicious concoction meant only for lifeless things.

Mireyu's frequent collapses weren't pure theatrics—redyeing her roots every time they grew had wrecked her health for real.

"You found someone who looks like Lady Lisette and dyed her up, didn't you?"

"……."

"Gray eyes aren't that rare, so you got lucky—you resembled Lisette and already had them."

"……."

"You fake."

"No!"

Mireyu shrieked like she was having a fit.

"I have the Duvered aura! How do you explain that?!"

"That's not the Duvered aura. It's Lord Yohan's magic."

"……!"

"When Lord Yohan was ambushed on his way back to the empire, it wasn't an attempt on his life or a kidnapping. Someone was trying to infuse you with magic!"

I bellowed the words like a thunderclap. Startled, Mireyu collapsed in a heap.

I clenched my jaw and seized her shoulders roughly.

"Do you have any idea how long Dad waited for his baby bird? How much hell Javelin went through searching for her? How guilty Lea felt toward her?!"

"……."

"She should've been real. Even an annoying little baby bird would've been better!"

"……."

Mireyu shoved me away violently.

"They told me I'd live like a noble lady if I went there, so I just did what I was told! They said as long as I dyed on time, I'd feast in luxury forever…!"

That was when it happened. The area lit up.

'She's here.'

Mireyu, pale as a corpse, stared at the horde of torch-bearing servants—and the figures leading them.

Dad and my brothers. Lea, Javelin, and the steward.

The steward had brought everyone right on cue, just as we'd planned—when Mireyu spilled her true identity.

We'd coordinated via communication stone, so the timing was perfect.

The steward and I had our story straight: he'd grown suspicious first, and at his request, I'd kept an eye on her from the room next door.

Mireyu was hauled straight back to the castle. The terrified girl spilled everything the moment they grabbed her.

And then came the real shocker: Mireyu wasn't nine years old. She was twenty-one. A prostitute, no less.

She was the daughter of the innkeeper couple who'd "raised" her. Turns out her parents weren't even real innkeepers—they were farmers.

Everything had been a scheme cooked up with her parents.

The couple, who'd been loitering near Duvered lands for scraps from Mireyu, got dragged in too.

Tortured mercilessly, they foamed at the mouth and confessed.

"Some man showed up… said he'd turn our girl into a noble lady…."

"Y-yes, he promised enough wealth to live idle forever if we followed orders… Said once she was in with the Duvereds, we'd be lording it over nobles…."

Dad eyed the frozen Mireyu beside the innkeeper pair.

"What happened to your body?"

"I don't know! I swear! They blindfolded me and led me somewhere. After excruciating pain, I ended up like this!"

'Alchemy.'

I wasn't the only one who figured it out.

Nos turned to the chief of the Bureau of Magic.

"If alchemy made her young, why didn't you catch it?"

"It wasn't a magical illusion 'maintained' to alter her form. Her body had already been fully transformed by alchemy."

The chief clicked his tongue at Mireyu.

"No need to punish her. She'll crumble on her own soon enough."

Mireyu flinched and looked up.

"Crumble? What do you mean?"

"Who wouldn't use alchemy if it restored youth? People avoid it because the risks are too dire to even attempt."

"What're you…."

"Your bones and flesh will melt away before long."

Mireyu let out a desperate wail.

"No way! That's a lie!"

"Idiot."

"Fix me, please! Save me! I'll tell you everything. Please…!"

She crawled forward, begging, but no one could turn back time for her.

Once Mireyu's whole family had been carted off to the dungeons, I chatted with the steward in the greenhouse. With my back to him, I gazed out the glass panes.

"What about the vassal who 'found' her?"

"Clean. No one deliberately recommended that travel spot to him."

"Meaning the vassal already knew about it."

"Yes."

That made it even more of a headache.

It meant there was a mole inside Duvered territory.

"Any link to Duke Ballua?"

"He admits to buying Mireyu. Apparently liked her enough to visit often."

I paused and turned around.

"That's it?"

"That's her story. Though Ballua's side might've used her without her realizing."

I toyed with the edge of the table, narrowing my eyes.

'Either way, time to make contact with Ballua.'

"Fine. Keep digging into Ballua."

"Yes. But there's an issue…."

"What? Hard to investigate him?"

"Not exactly…."

The steward wore a troubled look.

"The timing was a tad off when we brought everyone in during her confession."

"…How off?"

"Well, they overheard starting from 'Do you know how much Dad waited for his baby bird?'"

I'd been on edge, but my shoulders slumped in relief.

That part was fine.

If it'd been any earlier, they might've suspected me. But from there, I could spin it as the outburst of a clever child.

Lea wandered the corridor in a daze, half out of her mind. Leblain's three maids hovered anxiously, trying to support her, but she waved them off weakly.

"Go tend to your duties."

"But…."

"I have my own backlog to handle."

"…We'll help."

Work was better than stewing. Better than cursing herself all night for buying into that lie and daring to hope.

Lea entered Leblain's room to straighten the child's bed.

But….

"Why is the room…."

It looked clean enough to outsiders, but trained servants' eyes spotted the signs.

Clothes in the dressing room had been shifted. The air inside felt chillier than usual.

Leblain was sensitive to cold, so her maids always kept the room a touch warmer.

"Oh no…."

Not just Lea—all of Leblain's longtime maids had been swayed to Mireyu's side, leaving other servants to overlook the details.

"Poor Little One must've caught a cold."

"Her voice sounded a bit congested last night, now that I think about it."

The dressing room showed signs of a frantic rummage through the wardrobe.

Picking Leblain's outfits was Lea and the three maids' job. They all enjoyed it, so even when Leblain wanted to choose for herself, she'd hold back and wear what they selected.

"Must've been freezing. Looks like she went digging for something warmer."

"Why not ask another servant?"

"Word would've gotten back to the master, putting Javelin in hot water for assigning us to Lady Mireyu."

"Such a sharp child—she must've been careful."

As the maids hurried to tweak the heating artifacts, Lea spotted an ointment jar by Leblain's bedside.

"Did Little One hurt herself?"

No sooner had she asked than the door flew open. Henri and Ishak stormed in.

"The kid's hurt?"

"What happened?"

"There's ointment."

Henri held out his hand. "Gimme." He sniffed it and scowled.

"For bruises."

"No way. She'd have seen the doctor if it was bad."

"Nah, she couldn't. Another doctor visit would've kicked up a fuss."

"Huh?"

"Mireyu shoved her and she got hurt."

The ointment had faint red streaks. A bruise with some torn skin, maybe.

Traces of a meal sat on the bedside table. While Mireyu dined with the Duvered folk, Leblain had eaten alone here, as always.

Lea clapped her hands over her mouth.

'You fool, Lea Shabanol.'

Little One had a habit of handling everything by herself.

If it wasn't absolutely vital, she never asked for help. She hid ailments too, so you had to watch her closely—and Lea knew that better than anyone.

Drunk on the joy of finding the fourth child, blinded by guilt for failing to protect her… she'd let this young girl, who didn't even know how to throw a tantrum, huddle alone all this time in such a massive room.