Fake and Truth (1)

“Princess, are you awake?”

“…Carl?”

She had a splitting headache and swallowed her groan. When she turned her head, it was her bed in her room.

With a worried look, she slowly opened her closed her eyes to Carl’s expression, who looked quite angry.

How many days had she been lying down? She felt the bitter taste of medicine in her mouth and made a frown.

“Are you okay?”

“It’s okay, we’ve seen this all the time.”

She shook her hand as if it was nothing. As she came to her senses little by little, she leaned her back against the bedhead with Carl’s help.

“The Grand Duke?”

“…… There’s a guest in the castle.”

“A guest is here?”

She asked again what she couldn’t believe. Arthur, who she thought would be next to her when she opened her eyes, was not seen. Is there really a guest? Who?

Arthur did not have a friendly relationship with the nobility. He always liked to go around alone, and as she knew, he was a villain here.

There was no damage to anyone else, but he was everyone’s enemy. Reputation was not as good as hers was, so it was natural in a way.

Carl, who was looking at her without words, hesitated for a moment.

“If you have something to say, don’t look around and tell me.”

“…I think you’d better go.”

“To whom?”

There was no subject, but neither Carl nor she knew who it was referring to. She was confused whether her body was exhausted from the pain she had experienced in a long time.

He finally told her when she waited for Carl’s words to fall.

“She said she was Mary Anastasia.”

Boom.

Her heart dropped ‌with a tap. Her heart rate continued to beat so fast that she could hear it.

If others heard it, they would have said it was crazy, but she was different.

Because she herself was fake.

What if the woman that came here was really this body’s Mary’s? Then what should she do?

In an unexpected situation, her body trembled and her mouth dried up. She tried to swallow her dry saliva and looked relaxed. She hid her trembling hands under the blanket and clenched her clothes tightly.

“So what?”

“Grand Duke Arthur has been with her for days. Externally, she’s supposed to be here for work.”

“…Carl, bring in the maids.”

She also needed to ‌check who she was. What should she do if Mary is really right?

‘What are you thinking about? Are you going to give up now?’

No, she doesn’t want to be taken away by anyone. Now it was changing little by little as she wanted. But now, Mary?

It shouldn’t be her. She kept reflecting on it in her mind.

“If you’re going now, I’ll acpany you.”

She nodded at Carl’s words and stood up. She felt dizzy with her head spinning. She hurriedly touched the wall and closed her eyes.

Then, Carl is……? Wouldn’t Carl recognize Mary? Then he might have recognized at once whether she was fake or real.

‘No… … If it was, I would have noticed too.’

It didn’t make sense. If Carl knew, he wouldn’t have been by her side pretending not to know. What is she afraid of?

Her heart was stuffy. She clenched her fist and breathed.

‘Stop, stop thinking.’

Carl’s hand soon grabbed her hand. Carl, who held her in his arms, stayed still and waited for her to calm down.

Relaxed by Carl’s warmth, she escaped from his arms when her nervous body calmed.

Knock, knock.

“Can I e in?”

Even though Carl didn’t go out, the maid came to the room and knocked on the door. The timing fell nicely, but she was suspicious.

“Come on in.”

There was no word whether she was surprised by her sudden voice.

The maid hurriedly opened the door and looked at us as if she had e to her senses. When she saw the other Mary 2 [TN- I’ll be referring to the other Mary as Mary 2] sitting down, the maid approached her with a reminding face and looked at her.

“You have been in bed for a week. Oh my gosh…….”

“I’ve been lying down for a long time.”

In her calm tone, the maid hid her feelings and coughed in vain. She asked another maid to help her dress up and helped her prepare.

Carl closed the door after saying he would wait in front of the door.

“What kind of woman came to see the Grand Duke?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know why she’s here?”

“I don’t know the details. Because people who are blind and deaf can go around this castle for a long time.”

The maid’s words were somewhat creepy, so she wrapped her arms around herself without realizing it.

“If it’s cold, I’ll bring the outerwear.”

“No, it’s fine.”

The maid glanced at how she felt. Apparently, this was the first time this happened.

Carl also looked plicated. That means that she, who came as Mary(2), would not be pletely false.

She walked slowly toward where Arthur was. She stepped slowly because she felt that her body was still not recovered. It wasn’t that far from the room to the office, but it was too much to take a step forward now that she was not feeling well.

“Why are you doing this?”

It wasn’t this much, even when she didn’t eat it once. Obviously, she didn’t get sick and moved on. It remained the same even after the day when she broke the medicine on the floor and passed over.

Only the sound of footsteps rang in the hallway. It could have been suffocating in the silence, but her nerves headed to the story of a woman and Arthur who would be beyond the door.