‘How does Aphra know.’
He’d never told anyone else.
Aphra got back into the carriage, perhaps because he saw Rosenta’s eyes getting narrower with suspicion.
Then, he carefully checked the carriage's sound insulation.
"Even though it's a shoddy carriage, no one will hear if you talk quietly."
Aphra even thought of potential listening ears. He was acting like a person who really knew Rosenta’s secret.
It was clear that he knew.
Rosenta couldn't believe he knew a secret that he’d never told him. When did he notice?
Rosenta’s head couldn't work properly. Eventually, he gave up thinking.
He suddenly grabbed Aphra by the collar.
“……How did you know?"
"Du-, Duke?"
He didn't want to create an intimidating atmosphere, but he couldn't afford to hold back now.
The first thing he did was ask him about how he found out about his secret.
"I asked you how you found out. By any chance, did the Duke of Cardia...….”
"Never! Never!"
Aphra shook his hands hard as his collar continued to be grasped.
He shook his head vigorously as if he really was innocent and being unfairly treated.
"Not at all!"
As he continued to hold his collar, the conversation seemed to stall.
‘Yeah. Even if he wanted to run away, he’d be scared in a place surrounded by skeletons.’
Having concluded that, he let go of Aphra's collar.
Aphra flopped onto the floor. Then he scooched back, wiggling his hips hard from side to side.
"Ugh, I knew from the beginning."
"What?"
Rosenta squatted down in front of him.
Without hiding his frowned brow, he made eye contact with Aphra.
There were tears in his orange eyes like a frightened deer.
"When I was very young, my mother said that an acquaintance had a daughter…… She told me this and that."
"The Duke of Cardia?"
"Yes, I don't know if my mother thought I wouldn't remember because I was young, but...….”
Without speaking, Aphra wiped tears from his eyes with his sleeve.
It was a scene that would stir a person’s instinct to protect.
However, he had no intention of comforting Aphra or stopping the interrogation.
"What else?"
Rosenta tried to urge Aphra to continue his words.
However, Aphra was, perhaps, too frightened and his mouth remained silent.
‘Ha. Yeah, this person wouldn’t have held back all this time if he wanted to threaten me.’
The idea was ridiculous.
"Aphra, look at me."
“……What?"
He gently looked into Aphra's orange eyes and comforted him.
"I was surprised to hear you say something that I’d never told you myself as if you were taking it for granted."
His orange eyes blinked. Maybe he was thinking about what Rosenta was saying.
Soon, Aphra nodded.
He was now staring at Rosenta in peace as if he had understood everything.
"So can you tell me in detail where and how you found out?"
"Yes, of course!"
As much as Aphra was easily scared, he was quick to recover.
After Rosenta changed his tone a little, Aphra began to tell him without needing to be asked.
"I remembered everything because, at that time, my mother said that it would be okay for her to match with me because she was a beautiful daughter."
"The Duke of Cardia?"
"Yes! So, when the duke came to visit, that memory came to mind. The purple eyes that my mother mentioned in passing at that time also matched."
Aphra stopped and smiled. He sighed deeply as if he were trying to say something important.
Then he opened his mouth again.
"You our mothers had a connection. Of course, you were a man so, at first, I didn't believe it."
"You said you were skeptical; something must have happened to make you sure."
This was information worth hearing in detail.
The fact that he was sure means Rosenta would have given him room for doubt.
"Well, I had a strange feeling about Wolf from the moment I arrived and the last time I held the duke’s hand in the cellar, Wolf's eyes...….”
Aphra's used his fingers to pull his eyes slightly to make them look fierce.
Then, as if pondering, he opened his mouth again with his gaze facing upward.
"Of course, there were many things, other than that. When she sees you, my mother's eyes change fondly."
Aphra lowered his gaze again, which had been facing the air.
He quietly recited his thoughts while making eye contact with Rosenta.
"When I heard that one of her acquaintances had died before, she had the same eyes as when she said she wanted to bring her daughter back."
Rosenta had heard this from Nike already, that she wanted to bring Rosenta back.
‘Never mind. I don't need to hear more, and I don't need to ask further.’
This wasn't something Rosenta gave away, it was just that Aphra's wits were sharp.
Rosenta felt grateful.
He hadn’t said a word even though he knew it from the beginning.
Rosenta got up from his seat. It was a dusty carriage, so he wiped his pants off.
Then he reached out to Aphra, who was looking at him.
He offered a brief thank you.
“……Thank you for your silence."
Aphra grabbed his hand.
He then uttered some very grown-up words.
"Of course. I assumed there was a good reason for it all."
***
Because it was an outfit she had never worn before, she kept feeling uncomfortable.
She hesitated to open the screen.
‘I'm sure I'm dressed properly, right? Am I wearing the veil correctly?’
Her worries grew more and more. At this rate, she was going to end up worrying endlessly.
In the end, she had to make a big decision.
‘Yeah. If I’m wearing something wrong or if the veil is weird, Aphra will tell me.’
When she made up her mind, she immediately opened the screen and took a step outside in the full sunlight.
"Aphra."
“……Du-, Duke?"
Aphra kept stuttering with his eyes wide open.
He even kept rubbing his eyes, circling around her like he couldn't believe it.
"Is it really you?"
He came up next to her and even measured her height by alternating his hands between the top of his own head and hers.
Then he pouted his lips in disappointment.
"You didn't change much in height. I was looking forward to it a little...….”
"Hahahaha."
Such an Aphra was so cute that she burst into laughter.
She bent over and grabbed her stomach.
Then, she felt a tightening in her upper body that she had never felt while wearing men’s clothes, so she quickly straightened her back.
At first, she’d tried to bring the dress Anna had used for errands which she’d left behind.
Of course, she didn't bring it because she felt uncomfortable.
Instead, under the pretext of giving a gift to Vivian, she prepared other clothing in advance.
"I didn't expect it to be this tight."
The problem was that she had never tried on the dress, so she just guessed the size before buying it.
Because of that, she felt a little uncomfortable with the upper bodice.
But perhaps he’d heard her words to herself. Aphra shook his head firmly.
"It's just right. It's not that your clothes are small, but you might feel that way because you're not used to your original body."
Well, maybe it wasn’t the clothes, but her original body that she wasn’t used to.
A lower back, a protruding chest, or slender bone joints that joined more convexly than usual.
Everything was awkward.
She felt like she was wearing something that didn't fit even though this was what she really looked like.
But from now on, she’d have to adapt well. There would be many times when she would have to show her true self.
"You look really good. You look like a saint, to be honest!"
"What?"
It was nonsense.
She frowned, but she felt like he couldn't see her face because of the magic enchanting the veil.
Perhaps that's why Aphra kept spitting out embarrassing words without realizing that she was dumbfounded.
"When you stand with the skeletons, you look like a saint of darkness...….”
She quickly covered his mouth so that Aphra wouldn't say more.
"Don't say anything else."
‘What kind of middle-school-syndrome nonsense is he saying? I’m glad I’m wearing a veil.’
Her face was burning like a flame, and she couldn't help but blush.
"Ugh, Ugh!"
It seemed that she unknowingly squeezed her hand, which was covering Aphra's mouth.
Aphra's face was red hot. He kept hitting the back of her hand as if he couldn't breathe properly.
She quickly removed her hand from his mouth which she had been blocking.
"Never again...… Don't say that."
She had goosebumps on her forearm.
***
This was how the conversation with Aphra ended.
They got back into the rear compartment of the carriage, which passed through the entrance.
‘We’ll probably be there in a minute.’
But they didn't rest. Even in that short time, they pointed out each other's mistakes.
"First of all, you have to change your tone when speaking. Some things are too harsh when you speak."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, the way you speak now is just like a duke. You have to change the way you speak if you want to pretend to be someone else."
It was as Aphra said.
When she was young, she didn't speak in this manner. However, many things had changed since she joined the duchy.
She was taught more strictly than others in order not to get caught being a woman.
That didn’t mean it was hard to change the way she spoke.
Rather, it was easy. She’d spoken casually more than strictly in her life. In her past life and when she was young.
She nodded.
And as Aphra pointed out, she called him in a softer intonation.
"I see, Aphra."
"That definitely felt elegant even though I just changed my way of speaking."
"Do you feel elegant?"
"Yes. I used to be strict and soft, but now it's only soft."
She thought that, if it was just as soft as normal, it wouldn’t be all that different in the end, but she didn't say much because Aphra was satisfied.
Instead, she lifted the veil.
This was the only way for Aphra to see her face.
"Aphra."
Despite her call, Aphra only looked at her blankly for a while.
Then, after a while, he answered in a very loud voice.
“……Yes!?"
It was only then that his answer came.
This time, she called him to make a point.
"You must not call me Duke, but you also can’t use my name...….”
She took a long pause without realizing it.
There was only one name that came to mind. A name that was brought up again because of Nike, which she had buried in her childhood memory.
As a result, it was an unfamiliar yet familiar name. For some reason, she felt like her heart was pounding like a mill.
‘Am I excited?’
She uttered the name, clasping her beating heart.
"Call me Rosa."