015 – An Infrequent Opportunity*

“Young Mistress. A letter has arrived from the Academy addressed to you, under your name.”

“Just leave it there.”

A total of seven.

Immediately after executing seven doppelgangers, she could feel a slight queasiness stirring within.

“Squad Thirty-Seven, enter.”

*Perhaps I ate too much…*

Having consumed to her limit and still refilling her dessert plate three times…

The system window, constantly appearing and vanishing before her eyes, only intensified the roiling in her stomach.

“Um, Miss Ella?”

“Yes?”

“I’m just going to close my eyes for thirty seconds.”

“You seem quite fatigued. Rest for a moment. I’ll see to it that you can take an afternoon nap once all of this is finished.”

“Thank you…”

Hoping to quell the rising nausea, she closed her eyes for about thirty seconds, then opened them.

*Haa… That’s a bit better.*

Giving her eyes a rest seemed to soothe her body somewhat.

…

“We’re almost finished, Milady.”

“Yes…”

“Squad Forty-Three, enter.”

*Urgh…*

The brief respite was just that, brief, and the seasickness began to swell within her once more…

“All… human…”

The five attendants of the forty-third squad declared their humanity at the same time as…

The relieved expressions on the attendants faces turned to leave, the information on the system window vanished as quickly as it came.

Because of that, the nausea she had been holding down struck her throat.

“Huurgh…”

Head bowed, she had no choice but to vomit the food she had eaten onto the floor.

*Ugh…*

Perhaps from the food rising so violently, scraping her throat, she felt a sharp stinging sensation.

Opening her eyes that had involuntarily closed, she saw the floor covered in a mixture of undigested food and blood.

*Ah… I shouldn’t have been so greedy…*

Having never tasted anything so divine in my life, I gorged myself, and now it seems that gluttony has poisoned me.

“Butler…!”

“At once, milady!”

Ella Eloise, startled by my state, cried out.

I could sense dozens of people rushing to my aid.

“…Wash…room…”

“To the infirmary, first!”

“…Washroom…first…”

To those voices, I begged to be taken to the lavatory, for I needed to empty myself first.

“Urgh…”

I desperately fought back the vomit that flooded my mouth as I was rushed to the marquisate’s washroom.

*

His composure wavered only briefly at the sight of Mi-Han spewing forth blood-tinged bile.

“Have the remaining servants on standby maintain their positions.”

For now, the search for the doppelganger would be paused, and those servants confirmed as human were commanded to resume their regular duties.

“Investigate the whereabouts of the missing servants.”

“Yes, sir!”

After issuing the order to find the vanished staff,

‘What is going on?’

With a gnawing uncertainty about Mi-Han’s condition, he opened a letter that had arrived from the academy.

‘Professor Layton sent this.’

He’d mentioned sending a missive sometime this evening, but could something urgent have occurred?

Knowing Professor Layton’s capabilities better than most,

that a man of his caliber considered something urgent… he began to read the letter immediately.

I heard you returned to the manor with Mi-Han.

He left before I could dissuade him, so I’m sending this letter with all possible haste.

Each time Mi-Han uses his ability to distinguish between doppelgangers and humans, he hastens his own demise.

The proof? The dark, clotted blood that flowed from Mi-Han’s nose.

His heart is failing, causing ‘dead blood’ to seep from his nose.

The reason he didn’t reveal this to us is…

Mi-Han’s heart is far more compassionate than we realize.

He is the kind of person who would sacrifice himself to help others.

I pray this letter reaches you in time, Ella.

I trust… you will make the wise decision…

“Huh…?”

Hoping I had misread it, I began reading the letter again.

“…”

I read the letter a third time, desperately wishing I had misunderstood.

I read…

Again I read…

I kept reading.

“…”

No matter how many times I pored over the letters…

The content, that he was dying… and hiding his pain from us, remained unchanged.

‘…What have I done?’

From the moment we exchanged a few words in the carriage.

I knew that gentleman, Meehan, was truly kind.

I felt guilt for deceiving him, inviting him to the manor…

But I only thought that satisfying him with material compensation would be enough.

“..!! William! William!!”

He was the savior of my life.

The man who saved me twice from near-death at the hands of the doppelganger.

I, who owed him an unpayable debt twice over.

To realize that I was pushing him into the abyss of death…

“You called, Miss?”

“Meehan…! How is Meehan-nim doing now…!”

I felt sorry.

I was desperately sorry… and felt so much guilt.

The image of that gentleman, trying to help me even while in pain, wouldn’t leave my mind.

“He seems to be doing a little better now. He’s vomited up what was inside him about six times…”

“Blood..! He was vomiting blood…!”

“We immediately called the healer-priests to attempt treatment, but strangely, each time he vomits, a little blood is invariably mixed in.”

“..!!”

I immediately rose from my seat, intending to go to where Meehan-nim was…

“Miss…!”

In my haste, my foot caught on the hem of my skirt, and I fell forward.

“Right away… to Meehan-nim…!”

I didn’t care about falling.

The very moment I tried to get up…

“Miss Ella? Are you alright?”

I was so worried…

And right now… I desperately wanted to see him, the voice of that gentleman reached my ears.

*

“Gwaack!…”

Each time I emptied what was inside me…

Undigested food continued to scrape at my throat.

‘Ugh… it hurts…’

If not for the holy magic of the healer-priest clinging closely beside me…

A torment so frequent it felt like my throat might genuinely tear open assaulted me.

‘Next time… I really need to moderate myself…’

I managed to heave most of it up… thankfully, the nausea seemed to have subsided a little.

Never again would I eat until my throat was overflowing.

‘Gotta finish this job quickly and take a nap…’

I resolved to quickly finish the doppelganger hunt and then lie down in bed for a bit of rest.

“Haa… Thank you for your help… Let’s head back to Ms. Ella right away.”

To finish the job quickly, I steered my now somewhat recovered body towards the dining hall.

And as soon as I arrived…

‘Huh?’

I could see Ella Eloise fallen on the floor, looking almost pained.

“Ms. Ella? Are you alright?”

I immediately approached her and asked if she was okay…

“…Ms. Ella?”

I could see tears welling up in her eyes.

‘…Did it hurt that much?’

“Why… why… You… Why would you… just… why…”

“…Pardon?”

“You… you shouldn’t be… In this situation, you shouldn’t be… worrying about me…”

“Ah…”

Was she so embarrassed about falling?

Should I have just pretended I didn’t see it, even though it was right in front of me?

“But… I was worried that Ms. Ella might have gotten hurt…”

It was too late to pretend I hadn’t seen anything, so I tried to say something that wouldn’t upset the lady.

“Ms. Ella?..”

She stood up silently and ran off somewhere.

“…”

I wanted to ask where she was going, leaving a guest behind.

But I saw the tears in her eyes, and if I asked now… it would just seem like I was making fun of her for crying after falling.

I simply sat back down at the table to wait for her.

“Hmm…”

I sat wordlessly at the dining table for about ten minutes or so.

“Ah…”

The guards who had been conducting the doppelganger executions seemed to be standing around awkwardly, much like myself.

“Should we… perhaps continue what we were doing?… You said there wasn’t much left…”

For now, I decided to continue with the task at hand.

“Is it alright to follow your lead, Mr. Miheen, according to your instructions?”

“The Master has also given orders to prioritize eliminating the doppelgangers within the mansion. This is not an opportunity that comes often… I would be grateful for your assistance, Mr. Miheen.”

“Ahem… well, then… Which group were we on?”

“The forty-fourth group.”

“Next group, come in.”

*

How unsightly, shedding tears in front of a guest…

No, from the very beginning, the problem was crying in front of anyone at all.

“What on earth am I doing…”

I calmed the feelings that had been clouded by guilt, making rational thought impossible, as much as I could.

“Ahem…”

I made sure my voice was free of sobs.

And tilted my head slightly, trying my best to hide my reddened eyes.

To make up for the foolish thing I’d done, leaving the precious guest alone in the dining room.

To express my gratitude to the man who was trying to help me, even at his own expense.

Just as I resolved to repay him as much as I could within my power.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Young Miss, it’s me.”

The Head Butler’s voice came from beyond the door.

“I’m sorry. That was unbecoming, wasn’t it?”

“Not at all, Young Miss.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve come to inform you of Mi-Han’s condition.”

“…Is he doing any better?”

“That is…”

Right after I heard what the Head Butler had to say about Mi-Han…

“Fortunately, there were no doppelgangers in the remaining groups. Thus, there are no more doppelgangers left within the estate.”

“…What? No… Wait, hold on… You kept the doppelganger search… going…?”

“Yes. After the search was complete, it seems he was exhausted from using magic for so long. He went straight to the guest room and fell asleep –”

Bang-

“Young Miss?”

My body… without my conscious thought, was already rushing toward the bedroom where he lay sleeping.