The Male Lead Knelt Before Me - Chapter 120

Chapter 120

Only a small amount of money and a few items were discovered in the dead man’s arms. There was no Elena.

They then looked into the possibility that someone who knew Elena’s identity had killed the man.

However, the cause of death was not murder.

The man died after slipping down the snowy mountain road and hitting his head on a rock.

The Archduke and his knights looked everywhere for Elena, but they couldn’t find her.

This is because the snow that fell after the man died washed away all traces of him.

Nonetheless, the Archduchess remained hopeful.

Although she couldn’t bring herself to announce it, fearing that another crime like the maid who kidnapped Elena would occur, or that it would endanger the child, she added more people to the search.

But the outcome was dismal.

“…… since then, rumors have circulated secretly that we have lost our daughter. And, despite constant reports that you had been seen, they were all fakes pretending to be you.”

The Archduchess finished the story with tremors in her voice.

After hearing everything, I felt sorry for the Archduke couple and Elena.

Because they had to suffer as a unilateral victim of the commotion that was made to extort money.

“So my real name is Nivea?”

“Yes, but don’t be concerned. I’m not trying to impose that name. You’ve been living under your current name for a long time, so I assume you find it awkward.”

I couldn’t possibly be ready to call myself Nivea at this point.

Even without that name, the current guilt was enough.

“I apologize.”

The Archduchess shook her head and said, “It’s fine,” in response to my words.

Silence fell when neither I nor the Archduchess opened our mouths.

In the silence, I lowered my gaze, touching only the teacup’s handle.

On the surface of the clear tea water, a familiar face could be seen.

I’m sure I’m used to it, so why do I feel strange?

Then, the bag got caught on the tip of my elbow. At the same time, I remembered the necklace.

“Come to think of it, there’s something I want to show you. Could you look at it? I’ve had it since I was young, just in case you know.”

“Well, let’s see.”

“Wait a second.”

As I opened the bag to look for the necklace, the Archduke entered the glass garden.

“You were both here.”

“You returned early.”

“Didn’t I say I’d come back early? I’ve made a promise, and I need to keep it.”

After saying that, the Archduke naturally kissed the Archduchess on the cheek.

I unconsciously looked at him, and our gazes met. At the same time, the Archduke and Archduchess quickly separated from each other.

When I looked at the figure without thinking, my eyes met. At the same time, the Archduke and his wife quickly parted ways.

“I apologize. I didn’t notice you.”

“It’s fine. It’s nice to see.”

It was genuine, but the Archduke seemed embarrassed to accept it.

The Archduke sat down, coughing artificially, looking for an empty chair.

“What did Elantz want to talk about first thing in the morning?”

“He suggested that we go hunting for the first time in a long time. He also wanted to hold a competition to see who among his knights and our knights is the best.”

“You agreed to it, didn’t you?”

The Archduke smiled happily at the Archduchess’ words and said, “As expected, I can’t fool you.”

“Elantz still enjoys hunting, by the way. Though you are no different.”

“Well, there’s that, but I’ve wanted to do it for a long time, and Elantz said he’d hold a hunting competition soon.”

A hunting competition…… I’m not sure if Caleb will be there.

Caleb is a member of the Imperial Knights, and the knights of Principality will be competing against the knights of the Empire.

“Wait a minute, didn’t you say you had something to show me?”

“Oh, yes.”

At the Archduchess’s words, I took out a necklace that I couldn’t take out due to the Archduke’s appearance and placed it on the table.

“This is it.”

“This is……!”

When the Archduke and his wife saw the necklace, their eyes widened.

They were taken aback and couldn’t say anything.

It was a rough necklace made up entirely of stringing a stone that looked to be a pretty stone.

“Do you know what is this?”

“How can we not know? This is a sacred relic that we hung directly on you.”

“A sacred relic? Wasn’t this just a normal gemstone?”

“It is a sacred relic passed down from generation to generation. It is said that when there is a threat, one will receive God’s help.”

“God’s help?”

I asked again, but I was still perplexed.

This fantasy-like setting…… this word is originally such a world indeed.

“Although the document states that it has never been presented before, it has been passed down from generation to generation.”

“It is also customary to engrave a new successor’s name as a mark and pass down the sacred relic when a new successor is born. That is the only way the sacred relic can identify its owner.”

“There were no signs on the gemstone, I mean the sacred relic.”

“On the surface, sure.”

The Archduke took up the necklace.

“However, it was engraved on the inside rather than the outside. You can test it by pouring your Auror on the sacred relic in this way.”

A stream of gold lights flowed into the gemstone from the Archduke’s hands.

Simultaneously, a sentence in gold characters appeared on the gemstone.

“Ronnie Caesar, Nivea.”

My heart was racing.

Nivea.

The name given to Elena by the Archduke and Archduchess, the name Elena would have used if she hadn’t been kidnapped.

‘It was a Vivian.’

Elena was Vivian.

The floating letters on the sacred relic vanished. But the shock I felt lingered.

I assumed that only the appearances were similar, and that the necklace might be different from……

I couldn’t deny the solid proof any longer.

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I had no idea what kind of conversation we had after that.

The Archduke and Archduchess invited me to stay and have dinner with them, but I declined, promising to return the next time.

It was uncomfortable and perplexing for me to remain there after learning the truth.

I’m so preoccupied with Vivian that I can’t think of anything else.

As a result, I was lying in bed, having only checked a few of the numerous invitations that had arrived while I was away.

It wasn’t an important meeting in the first place because the invitations were sent to me because I was known as the Archduke’s daughter, so I could ignore those, but anyway.

‘I can’t believe Vivian is the real Elena……’

What caused this to occur?

No, there was one reason I could think of.

I took the necklace that had belonged to Vivian and had been passed down from generation to generation to the Archduke’s successor.

“It is a sacred relic passed down from generation to generation. It is said that when there is a threat, one will receive God’s help.”

I came to one conclusion after much deliberation.

‘This happened because Elena was in threat.’

But even this was just a guess, so there were two things I knew for certain.

Although I am the Archduke couple’s physical daughter, their true daughter was Elena in Vivian’s body.

And I was supposed to be in the body of Vivian.

‘Does Vivian realize our bodies have changed?’

I hadn’t considered it this far before because I was simply suspicious.

But as it got to this point, I began to wonder if Vivian was aware that our bodies had changed.

“Elena?”

“Oh my!”

The voice next to me made me raise my upper body by letting go of the pillow I was hugging.

“I apologize. I didn’t mean to surprise you, but were you very surprised?”

“I was surprised, but that’s okay.”

I was surprised Caleb was next to me, but even more surprised that I hadn’t noticed him until he got this close.

Caleb most likely did not come here with the intention of concealing his presence.

“Had you been sleeping?”

“No. I was thinking about something for a while, but I guess I was too focused. But you arrived a little late, didn’t you?”

“I arrived late because I went to see the Archduke couple, expecting you to be there with them.”

A sigh escaped in response to the unexpected response.

“I apologize. I didn’t notify you that I was going straight to the mansion, but I should have sent someone.”

“That’s fine. I was planning on greeting your parents separately anyway.”

I felt sick all of sudden.

Caleb, like the Archduke and Archduchess, assumed I was the Archduke’s daughter.

‘Wouldn’t it be fine if I told Caleb about it……?’

A sudden thought shaken me.

But, as has been the case, I quickly realized the truth.

Wouldn’t he, like me, be perplexed by my own identity? It would be great if he could put his trust in m

“You haven’t eaten dinner yet, have you? Should we go out to eat together?”

⇺⇺⇺⇼⇻⇻⇻

Night.

I sat in front of the mirror and wiped the water from my hair with a towel.

Because my hair was originally long, one sheet was insufficient.

It was time to wipe my hair with a dry towel that I had prepared ahead of time.

Someone came to the door and knocked.

I could tell who was behind the door before I even heard the voice.

At times like this when I didn’t call for anyone, there was only one person who would be knocking on the door, so I knew naturally.

“Elena.”

Sure enough, the owner of the voice heard was Caleb.

“May I come in?”

“Wait a second.”

I hung up the towel, opened the window, and entered the drawing room.

Caleb was dressed simply when I opened the outer door that led to the hallway.

“You can come in.”

“……Please excuse me for a moment.”

I think Caleb’s answer just now was a little slow.

But there was no hesitation in his approach.

So much so that I wonder, ‘Is it just my misunderstanding?’

“Did you forget to close the window?”

“How did you know……”

I kept my mouth shut in silence. This is because I noticed the bedroom door was only halfway open.

I could see the window I had just opened beyond that.

“I washed off a while ago and left it open to ventilate. I’ll close it shortly.”

I can’t believe I was asking him how he knew when I had shown him everything.

I hurriedly shut the door out of embarrassment. The cold wind that was blowing through the crack in the door came to a stop.

“More than that, what’s wrong?”

“I have come to you with a request.”

“What kind of request……?”

That’s when I looked up at him with a puzzled expression.

A low voice reached my ears.

“Will you let me be by your side tonight?”

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