Chapter 9
I hurried back to my room, my mind racing.
The moment I closed the door behind me, I leaned against it and let out a shaky breath.
That bastard.
The Duke had been testing me.
The oak tree didn't exist. The gardener had worked on the estate for twenty-eight years. There was no way he could have forgotten something like that.
Which meant the entire story had been fabricated.
And I had fallen right into his trap.
I covered my face with both hands.
He knows.
There was no other explanation.
The Duke knew that I wasn't Rishima.
But if he already knew...
Then why did he let me leave?
I pushed myself away from the door.
I couldn't just sit here and panic.
I needed to know what he was planning.
Without wasting another moment, I left my room and hurried back toward the Duke's office.
When I reached the door, I heard voices coming from inside.
I stopped.
One of them was the Duke's.
The other belonged to Yohan.
I knocked once.
No answer.
I hesitated before opening the door.
The moment I stepped inside, I froze.
The Duke was sitting behind his desk.
Yohan stood beside him, several documents spread across the desk between them.
Both of them looked up.
The Duke's expression was frighteningly calm.
Yohan, on the other hand, looked like he had just been caught in the middle of something he probably shouldn't have been showing me.
I swallowed.
The Duke didn't look surprised to see me.
In fact...
He looked as though he had been expecting me.
"You're back," he said coldly.
I stiffened.
"That was fast," he added.
I took a cautious step forward.
"Father..."
The Duke's eyes narrowed.
Suddenly, his hand swept across the desk.
The documents flew through the air.
I flinched as the papers landed at my feet.
"Is this how you got my daughter's body?!" he demanded.
His voice echoed throughout the office.
I stared at him in horror.
"W-what?" I stuttered.
"Soul Transfer Magic," he said firmly.
My heart stopped.
I stared at the documents scattered across the floor.
Soul Transfer Magic?
What the hell was that?
I quickly knelt down and gathered the papers, hoping to find an explanation.
I glanced at the first page.
Then the second.
Then the third.
My confusion only grew.
What am I even looking at?
There were strange symbols, complicated diagrams, and words I couldn't even understand.
I couldn't make heads or tails of any of it.
Great. I'm being accused of using magic I can't even read about.
I looked up at the Duke, completely flustered.
"I-I don't know what this is," I stammered.
The Duke's expression darkened.
"You expect me to believe that?" he questioned, his voice filled with disbelief.
"I swear!" I quickly protested. "I didn't use any soul transfer magic!"
I swallowed hard.
"I can't even read what's written in these documents," I said nervously, holding up the papers.
There's no point in pretending anymore. I'm already busted.
I lowered my gaze.
"But... you're right about one thing."
My fingers tightened around the documents.
"I'm not your daughter," I admitted quietly.
The room fell silent.
I could feel both the Duke's and Yohan's eyes on me.
I took a shaky breath before continuing.
"I'm from another world."
Yohan's eyes widened.
The Duke remained silent, his expression unreadable.
"I died there. I was a firefighter, and I died while trying to save a child from a burning building."
My throat tightened as I remembered it, and my eyes began to well up with tears.
"When I opened my eyes again, I was here... in Rishima's body."
I looked up at the Duke.
"I didn't choose this. I didn't use any magic to take over her body."
My voice trembled.
"I don't even know how it happened. One moment I was trying to save that child, and the next thing I knew, I woke up here," I explained shakily.
I shook my head.
"Taking over your daughter's body was never my intention. I didn't even know I was going to end up here," I continued.
I lowered my gaze again.
"It just... happened," I whispered.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
The silence in the room felt suffocating.
Yohan was the first to break it.
"You're saying you're not Lady Rishima?" Yohan asked, his voice careful, as though he still couldn't believe what he'd just heard.
I nodded slowly.
The Duke's gaze never left me.
"Then who exactly are you?" he asked, his voice low and controlled.
I hesitated.
"My name is Julie," I admitted quietly.
Yohan exchanged a glance with the Duke.
"Julie..." Yohan repeated quietly, as though testing the unfamiliar name on his tongue.
I nodded.
"I know it sounds impossible, but-"
"Impossible?" the Duke cut me off, his voice low, with a clear edge of anger.
His expression remained calm.
But the tension in his voice told me otherwise.
"You're claiming to be someone else. Then how is it that I can still sense my daughter's soul within that body?" the Duke questioned, his voice carrying a restrained edge of anger.
My eyes widened.
He can sense Rishima's soul?
Does that mean she's still here?
I stared down at myself, my heart pounding.
Then... are we both inside this body?
But that couldn't be possible.
A body couldn't possibly hold two souls... could it?
"What do you mean?" I asked, my voice coming out barely above a whisper.
Yohan's expression changed.
The Duke kept his eyes on me.
"Tell me," he continued coldly. "Did you truly just find yourself in her body?"
His gaze sharpened.
"Or did you somehow suppress her soul?"
I stared at the Duke, completely bewildered.
"Suppress her soul?" I repeated.
I shook my head quickly.
"I don't even know how to do that."
The Duke's eyes narrowed.
"My world doesn't have magic," I explained. "At least, not the kind you're talking about."
Yohan frowned.
"No magic?" he asked, clearly skeptical.
I shook my head.
"None. There are no mages, no spells, no soul transfer magic. Nothing like that," I explained, shaking my head firmly.
Yohan stared at me, his brows furrowing.
"Then how do you fight monsters?" Yohan asked, his confusion evident in his voice. "If your world has no magic, how do you protect yourselves from them?"
I blinked.
"Monsters?" I repeated, caught off guard by the question.
"Yes," he replied, looking genuinely puzzled.
"Monsters don't exist in my world," I explained, shaking my head. "We have criminals and wild animals, but we don't need magic or spells to deal with them. Besides, we don't have any magic in the first place." I continued, glancing between Yohan and the Duke.
Yohan fell silent.
The Duke pressed his fingers against his temple and massaged it slowly, his brows drawn together as though the conversation had given him a headache.
I shifted uncomfortably.
Now that the truth was out, there was something else I needed to address.
"I'm leaving," I said quietly.
The Duke's hand stopped at his temple.
He slowly lowered it and looked at me, his brows drawing together.
"You're leaving?" the Duke asked, his voice carrying a hint of surprise.
I nodded firmly.
"I'm not really your daughter. I can't keep pretending to be Rishima and continue living here as though nothing happened," I said quietly, lowering my gaze.
The Duke studied me for a moment.
"Where will you go?" he asked, his voice firm.
I hesitated.
"I don't know yet," I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper.
The truth was, I had nowhere to go.
This world wasn't mine. I had no family, no money, and no identity of my own.
But staying here didn't feel right either.
The Duke was silent for a moment.
Then he leaned back in his chair and let out a slow breath.
"Do what you want," he said flatly, his tone leaving little room for argument.
I blinked.
That was it?
I had expected him to question me, perhaps even stop me.
Before I could respond, Yohan stepped forward, clearly unable to hold back any longer.
"You're seriously agreeing to this, Your Grace?!" Yohan asked, his voice filled with disbelief.
The Duke glanced at him.
"She's your only heir," Yohan continued, his brows drawn together. "You can't simply let her leave the estate like this."
The Duke's gaze returned to me.
"She has already made her decision," he said calmly.
Yohan stared at him, seemingly at a loss for words.
The Duke turned his attention to Yohan.
"Make the necessary arrangements," he ordered, his tone firm.
Yohan blinked.
"Your Grace?" Yohan uttered in disbelief, staring at the Duke as though he couldn't believe he was really letting me go.
"See to it that she has everything she needs before she leaves," the Duke said, his voice leaving no room for argument.
I stared at him.
This is it.
I was really going to leave the estate.
I had expected this moment to feel terrifying, but strangely, a part of me felt relieved.
At least now, I could finally start figuring out what to do with this second life.
TO BE CONTINUED...