Kosha is talkative, Swan thought. He hadn’t had a proper conversation with her before, so there was no chance to get to know her.

“Hey, do you happen to know any places Ariante often hides?”

Though asked with hope, Kosha made a clucking sound with her tongue and shook her head.

“Lady hides in different places every time, young master. There’s no use going to where she hid last time. I’d like to help, but the mansion is so vast, and the lady knows every nook and cranny here. But she’ll likely be somewhere on the east side. The west side is where the duke resides, and the lady doesn’t usually play tricks there. Maybe she went to one of the empty servants’ rooms. Or try opening each cabinet in the hallway. The lady, being as petite as a squirrel, can fit into such places quite well.”

After nodding vaguely, Swan passed by Kosha and started running down the corridor again. He had opened all the cabinets Ariante might enter, as Kosha had suggested, but they were all empty.

“Ariante, where are you? Come out, please.”

His chest started to feel uneasy. Shouldn’t he report this to the master? Swan briefly stopped and looked back at the opposite side of the mansion. However, he soon shook his head and resumed walking in the direction he was going.

“Ariante!”

Swan, who had been rummaging through almost all the cabinets in the corridor and making a mess, ran into Ventie, Bridget, and even Maeyana. He had encountered Bridget twice in a similar place to Ventie. It seemed that Ariante wasn’t good at hiding during hide-and-seek.

“Young master! Please return to your room now. Maeyana and I will find the lady.”

“No… I’ll keep looking.”

Ventie shrugged with a worried expression and walked in the opposite direction. Swan considered telling him that he had just thoroughly searched the area, but decided against it. Right now, he wanted to focus on where Ariante might be found.

Where could she have gone? Swan understood why Ariante had made a mess in the room and hid her traces. In fact, Swan, aside from Ariante herself, was probably the only one in this mansion who knew the reason so clearly.

What Cici said… Swan murmured inwardly. Perhaps it wasn’t the first time Ariante had heard such words from someone. Maybe Jocelyn had said such things to Ariante several times. Perhaps other people too…

Ariante might not have believed them. But no matter how much she tried not to believe, if someone kept saying the same words, trying to repeatedly plant the same thoughts in her mind like a bad spell?

She could resist and endure not believing, but naturally, there would be doubt in her heart. Swan was sure of that. Swan himself was the witness.

Doubt, and evidence. Suddenly, the two words flashed in Swan’s mind like a bright light. It brightened up, blinked, and seemed to move here and there. Where had he most vividly felt those two things?

That can’t be. Swan thought. It won’t be solved so easily… He denied his own optimism but continued walking towards the place that came to mind.

Where could she be? Even if Ariante wasn’t there, it wouldn’t be disappointing. Swan had made up his mind to search every corner of the mansion until he found Ariante, and even if she wasn’t there, he wouldn’t be disappointed. Opening cabinets and thoroughly searching the hallway while Ariante wasn’t there was a good thing to do.

However, Ariante was exactly where Swan had thought.

“Ariante?”

The portrait room was quiet, immersed in darkness. Ariante, with only one lamp placed beside her, sat alone in the middle of the chilly room, where he didn’t know where she had brought the lamp from, and it was lit.
Like a little child contemplating what to do and play, Odokani rested his chin on his hands. However, there were still tear stains on his cheeks, and his expression was angry.

“…I don’t want to play with Swan right now.”

Ariante said. It was a voice full of anger and a faded tone of defeat. Swan recalled the room Ariante had turned upside down, wondering if Ariante, in her anger, might throw a lamp.

And just in case, Swan steeled himself to intervene and cautiously approached.

Fortunately, Ariante didn’t throw the lamp. Though she seemed irritated when Swan sat beside her, that was all. The light revealed traces of tears on Ariante’s cheeks, shimmering like the surface of a sunset lake.

“Ariante.”

Without responding, Ariante rested her chin on her upturned knees. Her gaze was fixed on the massive tapestry. Swan had seen it before. Among countless names, Swan had searched for Cedric Loy and gazed at it. His name, not so long ago, still sparkled and had no lint.

“…Am I not the duke’s daughter?”

Swan, surprised, turned to Ariante. It felt like a stone dropped in his chest, but luckily, it seemed he didn’t show it outwardly… At least Swan hoped not.

“What are you talking about? If you’re not the lord’s daughter, why would the lord call you the heir to the marquis?”

“Who is Berbora? Who was that old man earlier? Why did he ask if I was Berbora’s daughter? I’ve never heard the name Berbora before. Never. Really.”