Clack.
Clack.
Clack.
With every step of her elegant saunter, the crowd of servants parted to make way.
The woman walking among them was leisurely and exceptionally beautiful.
Her flowing silver hair glowed brilliantly, and her golden eyes held not a trace of fear.
In a word, she was majestic.
Like a character out of a splendid painting.
Unknowingly, people lost themselves in her presence.
“Rosetta.”
“Rosetta?”
“Sister.”
Rosetta’s steps finally halted only after she had passed the family members calling her name.
Standing tall, she casually turned back to make eye contact with her family.
Her father, her brother, and Alicia.
Her eyes were calm and tranquil.
But sometimes, tranquility can be more frightening than turmoil.
Like a stark white room driving one to madness.
‘No.’
The moment their eyes met, Alicia sensed danger.
Memories of Rosetta flooded her mind.
Rosetta, offering to take a beating in her stead.
Rosetta, locking her in the closet to shoulder everything alone.
Rosetta, smiling at her through bloodied broken glass shards.
Rosetta, promising to protect her amidst inexplicable tears, always holding her hand and reassuring her during her fears…
“Sister, NO!”
At Alicia’s shrill scream, everyone’s attention turned to her. Tears she had been holding back flooded her pale face.
“Sister, please don’t! Sister!”
Rosetta watched Alicia with an unchanging expression, then turned her head away, disinterested.
It was as if an invisible wall existed between the two, and Rosetta remained unfazed.
Ignoring the crying, Rosetta spoke.
“Greetings. I am Rosetta Valentine.”
“…Pleased to meet you.”
The investigator replied, caught off guard.
‘What is this situation?’
It was a critical moment, with the duke and the imperial knights on the brink of drawing swords.
Rosetta’s sudden appearance was nothing short of bewildering, especially with her calm demeanor.
While everyone else was looking around, confused…
“I apologize for the late introduction, but I’ve already heard the story while I was inside. You’ve come to take the last star of Valentine under His Majesty’s command, correct?”
“Sister! Please, don’t!”
Behind her calm explanation, Alicia’s scream sounded almost like a struggle.
Damian and the duke were only confused by the incomprehensible situation.
‘Why are both Alicia and Rosetta acting like this?’
Alicia, who had been calm all this while, suddenly started acting wildly, and Rosetta, appearing out of nowhere, was calmly conversing with the investigator as if nothing was amiss.
The two men couldn’t make head nor tail of the situation.
In the meantime, the investigator nodded in response to Rosetta.
“That’s correct. Do you also intend to defy His Majesty’s command?”
“Oh, heavens no. It’s only right to obey His Majesty’s command.”
Her answer, laced with a hint of amusement, shifted the atmosphere.
“What did you say?”
The duke and Damian, who had been prepared to commit treason to protect Alicia, furrowed their brows simultaneously.
“What do you mean by ‘obey’, Rosetta?”
Rosetta had always been the one most caring of her sister.
Whenever she was asked about what she wanted, not only once had she given an answer that was more for Alicia’s well-being than her own.
But what did that answer mean now?
“Rosetta, be careful with your words. If Alicia is taken away now…”
“What do you mean? Why would Alicia be taken away?”
As the duke hurried to dissuade her, Rosetta interrupted him with a shrug, a look of pure confusion on her face.
“Rosetta?”
“Ducal Lady?”
The duke and the investigator called out to her one after the other, their tone conveying a demand for an explanation.
Until just now, she seemed cooperative with the investigation, and suddenly she was questioning why Alicia was being taken away.
Rosetta looked at both men alternately and then flashed a slight smile.
“You shall have the last star of Valentine as you wish. However, there seems to be a misunderstanding.”
Her confident tone made the investigator tilt his head.
“A misunderstanding?”
“The third star of Valentine is not Alicia.”
“Sister, please stop! Please—”
“The third star of Valentine is me, Rosetta Valentine.”
* * *
The silence that fell was as profound as when Rosetta had first appeared.
It was a revelation shocking enough, whether true or not.
Amidst the stunned silence, Rosetta continued speaking.
“The two of us had been switched at birth. As it turns out, the daughter of the sinner is not me, but Alicia. I am the true Lady of House Valentine.”
“Stop it… stop it, Sister.”
“Thus, the third star in the revelation is also me.”
Rosetta’s words were followed by Alicia’s sobs.
The calm voice juxtaposed against the weeping oddly intensified the atmosphere.
Everyone scrambled to make sense of the situation, their eyes and mouths wide open.
The duke and Damian were no different.
They were so shocked that they couldn’t even blink.
‘What in the world… What’s been happening since earlier…’
No, more importantly, what did all this mean?
They were switched at birth?
Rosetta was the actual third star?
While Damian stood there dumbfounded, Alicia broke free and ran out.
“Alicia!”
Damian called out too late, reaching for her, but her slender wrist slipped through his fingers.
She knelt before the investigator, pleading.
“It’s a lie! My sister is lying to protect me! How could she be the last star? Isn’t it a well-known fact among all the nobility of the Empire that I am the youngest of the Valentine family? Then take me, arrest me!”
The investigator was exasperated.
He couldn’t discern the truth in this chaos.
He had encountered many criminals, but never before had he seen people arguing over who should be arrested.
‘I must make the right judgment.’
One of them was certainly the dangerous figure from the prophecy.
But he couldn’t just arrest both ladies of a household as prominent as the Valentines.
As he watched the weeping lady clinging to his legs, he raised his head to look at the other lady standing proudly before him.
She…
She looked down at Alicia with a smile, her gaze devoid of any warmth or sympathy.
Even the smile on her lips seemed more like a sneer.
“Stop it, Alicia.”
With those words, Rosetta slowly bent down to meet Alicia’s gaze.
Alicia, gasping for breath, looked up at Rosetta.
“Sister?”
“But no matter what you say, the truth won’t change. I am the real one. You are the fake.”
“…Sister…”
“Recently, I discovered this bitter truth, though it’s unbearable. But better late than never, right? At last, I can shed this loathsome guise of being a fake.”
“Please stop, Sister. Don’t say that.”
Alicia crawled to Rosetta’s feet, her face pale and streaked with tears.
Rosetta coldly twisted Alicia’s chin, gripping it so tightly that Alicia let out a stifled groan.
Then Rosetta whispered,
“Poor Alicia. Did you think I was sincere just because I was a little nice to you?”
“……”
“It was all a lie. I’ve always hated you. I hated you so much that I made you depend on me, only to abandon you later… But now, there’s no need for that, is there? Since I am the real one.”
“I know it’s a lie… Doing this… Doing this hurts you more, Sister.”
Alicia’s hands desperately clasped Rosetta’s, but Rosetta flung them off as if they were tainted.
Then she straightened up.
“Pretending to be kind. Ugh, that act was tiresome, Alicia. Now see the truth. I will give you nothing. My place. My position. They’re all mine. Even if it means being caught as a criminal, I am the real one.”
Rosetta rummaged in her dress and pulled out a small notebook and a necklace.
Alicia’s eyes widened upon seeing them.
“W-Why do you have those, Sister?”
It made no sense.
How did those end up in her sister’s hands?
They were surely…
‘With Daniel…’
Not long after finding the notebook and necklace, Daniel had suggested he keep them.
Given that Alicia had chosen to hide the secret, having the evidence in the ducal residence wouldn’t do any good.
“Wouldn’t it be better to leave them where they originally were?”
“No. Having the notebook nearby would make you uneasy, wouldn’t it, Alicia? You even have nightmares, right?”
“That’s true.”
“I’ll send them to me, and I’ll hide them in a place no one knows. Truly, I assure you, so don’t worry.”
His voice and gaze were so firm that it instilled confidence. And he seemed so assured.
Trembling with anxiety, Alicia eventually agreed and sent the notebook and necklace to him.
It seemed safe, as Daniel knew the whole truth anyway.
Yes, that had been the plan.
‘Why does Sister have those?’
Clack.
Clack.
Clack.
With every step of her elegant saunter, the crowd of servants parted to make way.
The woman walking among them was leisurely and exceptionally beautiful.
Her flowing silver hair glowed brilliantly, and her golden eyes held not a trace of fear.
In a word, she was majestic.
Like a character out of a splendid painting.
Unknowingly, people lost themselves in her presence.
“Rosetta.”
“Rosetta?”
“Sister.”
Rosetta’s steps finally halted only after she had passed the family members calling her name.
Standing tall, she casually turned back to make eye contact with her family.
Her father, her brother, and Alicia.
Her eyes were calm and tranquil.
But sometimes, tranquility can be more frightening than turmoil.
Like a stark white room driving one to madness.
‘No.’
The moment their eyes met, Alicia sensed danger.
Memories of Rosetta flooded her mind.
Rosetta, offering to take a beating in her stead.
Rosetta, locking her in the closet to shoulder everything alone.
Rosetta, smiling at her through bloodied broken glass shards.
Rosetta, promising to protect her amidst inexplicable tears, always holding her hand and reassuring her during her fears…
“Sister, NO!”
At Alicia’s shrill scream, everyone’s attention turned to her. Tears she had been holding back flooded her pale face.
“Sister, please don’t! Sister!”
Rosetta watched Alicia with an unchanging expression, then turned her head away, disinterested.
It was as if an invisible wall existed between the two, and Rosetta remained unfazed.
Ignoring the crying, Rosetta spoke.
“Greetings. I am Rosetta Valentine.”
“…Pleased to meet you.”
The investigator replied, caught off guard.
‘What is this situation?’
It was a critical moment, with the duke and the imperial knights on the brink of drawing swords.
Rosetta’s sudden appearance was nothing short of bewildering, especially with her calm demeanor.
While everyone else was looking around, confused…
“I apologize for the late introduction, but I’ve already heard the story while I was inside. You’ve come to take the last star of Valentine under His Majesty’s command, correct?”
“Sister! Please, don’t!”
Behind her calm explanation, Alicia’s scream sounded almost like a struggle.
Damian and the duke were only confused by the incomprehensible situation.
‘Why are both Alicia and Rosetta acting like this?’
Alicia, who had been calm all this while, suddenly started acting wildly, and Rosetta, appearing out of nowhere, was calmly conversing with the investigator as if nothing was amiss.
The two men couldn’t make head nor tail of the situation.
In the meantime, the investigator nodded in response to Rosetta.
“That’s correct. Do you also intend to defy His Majesty’s command?”
“Oh, heavens no. It’s only right to obey His Majesty’s command.”
Her answer, laced with a hint of amusement, shifted the atmosphere.
“What did you say?”
The duke and Damian, who had been prepared to commit treason to protect Alicia, furrowed their brows simultaneously.
“What do you mean by ‘obey’, Rosetta?”
Rosetta had always been the one most caring of her sister.
Whenever she was asked about what she wanted, not only once had she given an answer that was more for Alicia’s well-being than her own.
But what did that answer mean now?
“Rosetta, be careful with your words. If Alicia is taken away now…”
“What do you mean? Why would Alicia be taken away?”
As the duke hurried to dissuade her, Rosetta interrupted him with a shrug, a look of pure confusion on her face.
“Rosetta?”
“Ducal Lady?”
The duke and the investigator called out to her one after the other, their tone conveying a demand for an explanation.
Until just now, she seemed cooperative with the investigation, and suddenly she was questioning why Alicia was being taken away.
Rosetta looked at both men alternately and then flashed a slight smile.
“You shall have the last star of Valentine as you wish. However, there seems to be a misunderstanding.”
Her confident tone made the investigator tilt his head.
“A misunderstanding?”
“The third star of Valentine is not Alicia.”
“Sister, please stop! Please—”
“The third star of Valentine is me, Rosetta Valentine.”
* * *
The silence that fell was as profound as when Rosetta had first appeared.
It was a revelation shocking enough, whether true or not.
Amidst the stunned silence, Rosetta continued speaking.
“The two of us had been switched at birth. As it turns out, the daughter of the sinner is not me, but Alicia. I am the true Lady of House Valentine.”
“Stop it… stop it, Sister.”
“Thus, the third star in the revelation is also me.”
Rosetta’s words were followed by Alicia’s sobs.
The calm voice juxtaposed against the weeping oddly intensified the atmosphere.
Everyone scrambled to make sense of the situation, their eyes and mouths wide open.
The duke and Damian were no different.
They were so shocked that they couldn’t even blink.
‘What in the world… What’s been happening since earlier…’
No, more importantly, what did all this mean?
They were switched at birth?
Rosetta was the actual third star?
While Damian stood there dumbfounded, Alicia broke free and ran out.
“Alicia!”
Damian called out too late, reaching for her, but her slender wrist slipped through his fingers.
She knelt before the investigator, pleading.
“It’s a lie! My sister is lying to protect me! How could she be the last star? Isn’t it a well-known fact among all the nobility of the Empire that I am the youngest of the Valentine family? Then take me, arrest me!”
The investigator was exasperated.
He couldn’t discern the truth in this chaos.
He had encountered many criminals, but never before had he seen people arguing over who should be arrested.
‘I must make the right judgment.’
One of them was certainly the dangerous figure from the prophecy.
But he couldn’t just arrest both ladies of a household as prominent as the Valentines.
As he watched the weeping lady clinging to his legs, he raised his head to look at the other lady standing proudly before him.
She…
She looked down at Alicia with a smile, her gaze devoid of any warmth or sympathy.
Even the smile on her lips seemed more like a sneer.
“Stop it, Alicia.”
With those words, Rosetta slowly bent down to meet Alicia’s gaze.
Alicia, gasping for breath, looked up at Rosetta.
“Sister?”
“But no matter what you say, the truth won’t change. I am the real one. You are the fake.”
“…Sister…”
“Recently, I discovered this bitter truth, though it’s unbearable. But better late than never, right? At last, I can shed this loathsome guise of being a fake.”
“Please stop, Sister. Don’t say that.”
Alicia crawled to Rosetta’s feet, her face pale and streaked with tears.
Rosetta coldly twisted Alicia’s chin, gripping it so tightly that Alicia let out a stifled groan.
Then Rosetta whispered,
“Poor Alicia. Did you think I was sincere just because I was a little nice to you?”
“……”
“It was all a lie. I’ve always hated you. I hated you so much that I made you depend on me, only to abandon you later… But now, there’s no need for that, is there? Since I am the real one.”
“I know it’s a lie… Doing this… Doing this hurts you more, Sister.”
Alicia’s hands desperately clasped Rosetta’s, but Rosetta flung them off as if they were tainted.
Then she straightened up.
“Pretending to be kind. Ugh, that act was tiresome, Alicia. Now see the truth. I will give you nothing. My place. My position. They’re all mine. Even if it means being caught as a criminal, I am the real one.”
Rosetta rummaged in her dress and pulled out a small notebook and a necklace.
Alicia’s eyes widened upon seeing them.
“W-Why do you have those, Sister?”
It made no sense.
How did those end up in her sister’s hands?
They were surely…
‘With Daniel…’
Not long after finding the notebook and necklace, Daniel had suggested he keep them.
Given that Alicia had chosen to hide the secret, having the evidence in the ducal residence wouldn’t do any good.
“Wouldn’t it be better to leave them where they originally were?”
“No. Having the notebook nearby would make you uneasy, wouldn’t it, Alicia? You even have nightmares, right?”
“That’s true.”
“I’ll send them to me, and I’ll hide them in a place no one knows. Truly, I assure you, so don’t worry.”
His voice and gaze were so firm that it instilled confidence. And he seemed so assured.
Trembling with anxiety, Alicia eventually agreed and sent the notebook and necklace to him.
It seemed safe, as Daniel knew the whole truth anyway.
Yes, that had been the plan.
‘Why does Sister have those?’
