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"Would you like to come with me?"
A few hours earlier, at the Stone House.
It was when Sister Sherry said to me that we should go to Goldport to find Dad.
'...Ugh.'
My instincts were screaming at me.
That person wasn't sister Sherry.
If it had been under normal circumstances, I might have just found it a bit strange and brushed it off. After all, she looked exactly the same, and even her speech and mannerisms closely resembled Sister Sherry's.
But because of the content of the letter, my guard was already up to the max. What's more, Sister Sherry would never suggest going out without getting Dad's permission first.
'It must be someone who used an alchemist's potion to change their appearance! Where is the real Sister Sherry?!'
The fastest way to confirm this was to get a confession out of that fake who was pretending to be Sister Sherry.
But I couldn't just confront her recklessly.
Dad wasn't at the Stone House.
'What if, by any chance, that fake turns out to be a skilled mercenary?'
Someone could end up getting hurt.
I had to take her to Dad. Since he's at the Investigation Bureau… actually, that worked in my favor.
"Then I'll tell Theon and Jeffrey to get ready to go out too!"
I acted as usual. Then I immediately rushed to Theon and Jeffrey to share the situation.
There's a fake Sister Sherry upstairs. So let's take her to Dad and ask him to catch her!
In addition to anticipating possible scenarios, we also had countermeasures prepared. Having gone through many incidents together, our teamwork was pretty solid.
"Jeffrey, first, can you ask Sister Anne to help find Sister Sherry?"
"Leave it to me! I'll go talk to Sister Anne now!"
"Berry, what about the coachman? The fake might've bribed him."
"Yeah, Theon's right. That's why I want to ask you something…"
There was a high possibility the fake had bribed the coachman. That way, they could easily change the destination to wherever they wanted.
'The fake is probably the kidnapper…!'
Approaching me in Sister Sherry's form while Dad was away, this wasn't about Dad. I was the target.
But I had no intention of falling for it that easily. Our side had strong players too.
We got into the carriage, laughing and smiling as if nothing were wrong, heading toward Goldport with the enemy in tow.
Along the way, the fake casually pulled the curtain over the carriage window, saying the sunlight was too strong.
That was clearly an attempt to hide the destination. She really had bribed the coachman.
'Just as planned!'
We exchanged smirks. Because the person sitting in the coachman's seat was none other than Rex, the chief commander of the Red Hawk Knights.
It seemed Theon had successfully persuaded Mr. Rex. When the carriage stopped and the fake opened the door to check the destination, her face turned pale with shock.
"Central Investigation Bureau, 17th Branch? Why are we here…?!"
"Miss Berry, this way!"
"Berry, we'll hold her off here!"
"Sister Berry! Hurry and get Master Reytan!"
"Okay! Hold on just a bit!"
With Mr. Rex's help, I got out of the carriage and ran into the investigation bureau. The plan was to quickly bring Dad while Theon and Jeffrey kept the fake distracted.
'I didn't expect they'd already subdued her so she couldn't even run.'
What's more, until the moment I stepped out of the carriage, the fake still looked exactly like Sister Sherry.
"Theon, Jeffrey. It's dangerous, come out."
"Yes, sir."
"Okay!"
At Dad's command, Theon and Jeffrey stepped out of the carriage.
And then, left alone inside the carriage, was a man with pink hair.
My eyes widened in shock.
'Wait… Lucian Alexis?'
That was completely unexpected.
I had considered the possibility that Lucian might suddenly show up, but the maid outfit he was wearing, it was the exact one the fake had been wearing.
'Then… did he send that letter to Dad to alert him about his own approach? But why?'
As confusion filled my head, my eyes accidentally locked with Lucian Alexis's orange ones.
Despite his deer-like, beautiful appearance, his eyes were like those of a predator sitting high on the food chain.
There was a mysterious glint in them. And then, his pupils wavered slightly, noticing my surprise.
Lucian's lips parted as if to speak.
"Berry, this is-"
The words, seemingly meant as an excuse, never made it out. A sudden gust of wind silenced him, cutting him off.
And then, a cold voice followed.
"I'd prefer if you didn't talk so casually to my daughter."
It was Dad.
***
Theon, Jeffrey, and I were now inside the branch chief's office of the Investigation Bureau. It was considered the safest place, especially with children present in the building.
"Big sis! Brother Theon and I were holding the fake back so she couldn't escape, right? But then she started struggling like crazy! And guess what? She started changing appearance!"
Jeffrey stood near the sofa, his tail perked high as he animatedly recalled the earlier scene.
"Huh? Changed appearance? How?"
"She got more handsome! And taller! Her hair got shorter! And the color changed too, to pink! Just like yours, Sister Berry! I didn't like it!"
"Berry, this is tasty."
Beside me, Theon handed me a glass of juice with a straw in it. I nodded at Jeffrey's story and took a sip.
It was apple juice.
Then I tuned in to the voices just outside the branch chief's office. Apparently, Jeffrey hadn't been the only one causing a stir inside the Bureau.
"Did you hear? The person in the interrogation room with Investigator Damian, is Lucian Alexis? From the Kingdom of Edencia?"
"Wearing a maid's outfit, apparently. Who knew he had a hobby like that? That's surprising."
"Wait till you hear what he's being accused of."
"What is it?"
"Attempted child abduction."
It was the staff talking near the office door. Similar conversations were echoing throughout the Investigation Bureau.
Although Mr. Damian had ordered a gag order inside the Bureau, with this many people, the information was bound to leak out sooner or later.
'This is the kind of gossip the newspapers will pounce on like wolves, isn't it?'
Apparently, I wasn't the only one thinking that.
"Tomorrow, the front pages will be full of it. 'The Secret Tastes and Criminal Activities of a Diplomat from the Kingdom of Edencia.'"
"Just thinking about reporters swarming in for info is giving me a headache. I mean, having those tastes is one thing, but… he wasn't really trying to kidnap someone, was he?"
"We'll have to wait and see. Investigator Damian is interrogating him right now."
Dad was also inside the interrogation room with Mr. Damian. Meanwhile, I was lost in thought, trying to understand Lucian Alexis's motive.
A warning letter had been sent, stating that someone using a familiar appearance would approach us. But if he was the one who planned to approach us, that letter was essentially a notice of the crime itself.
Wouldn't that just lower his chances of success?
Why did he try to take me? He said he didn't want to drag his cousin into this, so why contradict that?
'Ugh. I can't think straight. I've never gotten involved with the Kingdom of Edencia before, so in the life of the other me, Lucian Alexis must have approached me then.'
Memories from the other me's childhood only resurfaced occasionally, usually when triggered by something familiar.
Something impactful enough to leave an impression on a seven-year-old me...
"…Money?"
"Money?"
Theon reacted to my muttering.
Oh! Now that I think about it, it was thanks to Theon that I recalled important memories a few times before!
I turned my head to look at him, my childhood friend, who would someday outshine even Lucian Alexis in looks.
His bangs had grown long enough to reach his eyelashes. Maybe because of his thick black lashes, Theon's eyes looked especially vivid, deep, and expressive.
"…Berry, why are you looking at me like that?"
But I had guessed wrong. No matter how hard I stared at Theon, nothing came to mind. All I ended up doing was making shy Theon's neck flush red.
"It's nothing. I'm just worried about whether they've found Sister Sherry yet."
Mr. Rex, the Chief Commander of the Red Hawk Knights, had returned to the Count of Travel's estate to mobilize knights and launch a full-scale search for Sister Sherry.
In the other version of my memories, Sister Sherry had always been at the Stone House, so I didn't think she was in any real danger…
I turned my head, continuing to sip my juice slowly through a straw.
'What is that…?'
Then something caught my eye. At the bottom part of the tall window next to the branch chief's office door, something small was scurrying back and forth on the ground. Then it stopped right in front of the window, planted its two feet firmly, and peeked in like it was spying on us.
'Huh? A hamster?'
It was a hamster, about the size of a palm. Its fur looked like it was dusted with cookie crumbs, and only its two round ears were black.
And just as my eyes met the black beady ones of the hamster.
—Funny. You tiny little thing.
Thud.
The straw slipped from my mouth and dropped into the glass.
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