Who Are You?
His words struck the top of my head like a hammer. I nearly tripped over my own feet.
Not Sylvien’s wife?
When I thought about it, he was right.
My body might have been bound to Sylvien through the institution of marriage, but it was Juhwa, not Canna, who had consummated the union with him.
But how on earth did he know that?
Shock made my fingertips tingle. Yet my expression remained so composed it bordered on boredom.
“Yes, that’s correct. We do plan to divorce soon.”
“Ahaha. Right, of course. But that’s not what I was asking. What I meant was that you are not the Canna who has lived as Sylvien’s wife.”
“I don’t understand what you mean, Your Highness.”
“I know everything that happens in this empire. Or to be precise, I know almost everything.”
After that, only Argon’s voice remained. Every other sound drifted away. The music. The drunken chatter. The clink of glasses and bursts of laughter.
Nothing existed except Argon’s voice echoing inside my skull.
“I know, Canna.”
Know what?
“I know that the Empress tried to kill Princess Amelia. And that she attempted to frame you for it.”
“I also know you survived by exercising some clever ingenuity.”
“But the Sylvien’s wife I’ve been observing all this time—the one called ‘Canna’—never possessed that kind of ability. At some point, you changed. You became someone else. Every decision, every action, every line, every choice was completely different from the old ‘Canna.’ So different that I can only conclude you’re an entirely different person.”
The words poured out like machine-gun fire. Each sentence crashed down on my head, striking without mercy.
Argon’s eyes curved in a smile, the corners tightening like a fox’s.
“Who are you?”
My head spun.
Fortunately, the voice that left my lips was not only calm but downright icy.
“I am Canna Valentino, Your Highness. As you can see.”
This man knows nothing.
“It’s impossible to change one’s appearance with alchemy using mana stones. You know that better than anyone, don’t you?”
The very fact that he was rambling on like this proved he knew nothing.
“Besides, unlike Your Highness, I never had the freedom to live a double life. There was no opportunity for me to be replaced by someone else.”
“Exactly. That’s the problem.”
Argon gripped my hand tightly. His fingers burned hot.
“There’s no way you could be someone else, yet you’ve become someone else. And it’s not just your personality. You’ve displayed medical skills no one has ever seen or heard of.”
His violet eyes bored into me with scorching intensity.
“How is that possible?”
It was curiosity bordering on obsession.
“Please don’t give me that cute excuse about reading books and studying.”
“That is the truth. It’s just unfortunate that I have no way to prove it.”
“Haha, you really are adorable. But what I want is an adorable truth.”
Damn it all. Curses kept rising in my throat.
Argon didn’t seem like he would back down easily. The way he stared at me was closer to a hunter—or rather, a hunting dog.
The eyes of a mad dog that would charge in and bite until it got what it wanted.
I won’t be able to shake this man off easily.
It was more than a premonition; it was certainty.
Yes, I thought he was this kind of person. That’s why I tried to avoid getting involved with him all this time.
After my father, another person had appeared who wanted to dig out my secrets.
Father alone is already overwhelming.
But this was no time to wallow in self-pity. Canna continued dancing, led by his guidance, while thinking coldly.
In the end, this man is going to tear a piece of flesh from me.
This mad dog had already sunk his teeth in.
He wouldn’t let go until he’d chewed and swallowed as much as he desired. If that was the case—
I’ll give him the flesh.
And in return, I’ll take his bones.
The moment that thought crystallized, a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed Argon’s shoulder.
The force of it stopped Canna’s feet mid-step. She turned her head. Her eyes widened.
“Ah?”
A man wearing a black butterfly mask. It was Sir Claude.
“Pardon me.”
Was it because of the mask covering his face? Or the fact that he wasn’t smiling? Claude felt unusually fierce, unlike his usual self.
“Would you care to dance this song with me?”
“……”
What kind of nonsense is this all of a sudden? Canna quickly realized the reason.
I must have looked like I was in trouble.
She actually was in trouble. So her guard knight had come to rescue her, fulfilling his duty. A truly excellent escort.
Argon, who had been watching, grumbled.
“How rude. The scary knight is trying to steal my partner without permission.”
“It’s a masquerade ball, isn’t it? Isn’t this a place where people come to mingle with many others?”
Claude responded with easy cheekiness and looked down at Canna again.
“With me…”
“No thank you.”
For a moment, Claude’s lips froze solid.
Had he not expected that reaction? However, Canna had no intention of being considerate toward him right now.
With a dry face completely devoid of any trace of a smile, she said,
“I don’t recall bringing a guard with me, Sir Claude Azel.”
“……”
“I’m enjoying my time, so please don’t interfere.”
She then took Argon’s hand again.
“Your Highness, since I don’t wish to be disturbed, let’s move to the terrace.”
“What? What? Is this a lovers’ quarrel?”
“Of course not.”
Canna flopped down on the terrace sofa and denied it.
“But anyone who saw that would think it was a lovers’ quarrel.”
Yet Argon looked as excited as a boy who had just read a particularly thrilling romance novel.
“Canna, don’t tell me you’re having an affair with that knight behind Sylvien’s back…?”
“Good heavens.”
Canna narrowed her brows.
“Didn’t you say you know everything that happens in the empire? Yet you don’t even know about my personal relationships? I’m starting to question your competence.”
After saying it, she felt a twinge of regret. What if he got offended by her insolence and drew his sword like before?
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
But instead of pulling out a blade, Argon readily agreed. He naturally took a seat beside her.
“I feel like a fool whenever anything concerning you is involved. I’m so ignorant it wounds my pride.”
What a ridiculous statement. He already knew so much about her.
At that moment, Argon removed his mask without warning. Once it was gone, a face of breathtaking beauty emerged—one that strikingly resembled Theresa, the imperial concubine known as a nation-toppling beauty.
“If you have no relationship with that knight, why did you act that way just now? Were you deliberately trying to provoke him?”
“Provoke?”
“Yes. The classic jealousy-inducing strategy, or something like that.”
“……”
It was such a childish idea that she couldn’t even laugh.
The reason she had rejected Claude wasn’t anything like that.
I still had things to discuss with Argon.
And, if she was being honest, she had also wanted to be a little spiteful toward Claude for following her without a word.
“Think whatever you like, Your Highness. You said I intrigued you, didn’t you?”
“Yes. So much that I can’t sleep.”
Argon nodded honestly.
“Lately I’ve put everything else aside and focused solely on investigating you, but I keep hitting dead ends.”
“……”
“Your personality suddenly changed as if you were a different person, and I can’t trace the origin of those miraculous medical skills of yours. I can’t find a single clue about how you obtained that knowledge.”
Of course he couldn’t. How could anyone realize that another soul had possessed this body?
Argon smiled mischievously and spoke as if joking.
“And I can’t stand not knowing something, Canna. It kills me.”
Canna knew he meant every word. No matter what, he would dig up her secrets.
Perhaps even by harming her.
“So I’m suggesting a deal. A transaction. That’s something you like, isn’t it?”
“……”
“You even make deals with your damned family. So why not with me?”
Argon shrugged.
“You need the help of an information guild. Use me. I guarantee there is no one on the entire continent who can match what I can do.”
“Is that so?”
“Obviously. Here, look at this.”
He pulled something from his chest.
“It’s an identity plaque from the Yalden Kingdom. Exactly what you wanted, right?”
Canna replied indifferently.
“Where does that confidence come from—that I would want this?”
How did he know about this too? Her plan to defect had only existed in her internal monologue!
“Canna, you tried to run away from home when you were young, but you were caught.”
Argon continued casually.
“From what I’ve seen, you’ve been making various efforts to divorce Sylvien lately. To me, it looks completely sincere.”
It was unexpected. Almost no one believed that she genuinely wanted a divorce from Sylvien.
“You requested a branch family from Duke Addis long ago, but he refused outright. That means you want to leave both the Valentino and Addis families.”
“……”
“If both the divorce and the branch family fail, it seems you would attempt to run away again like before. But last time you were too young and failed, weren’t you? Because Sylvien caught you and handed you over to the Addis family.”
For the first time, Canna reacted.
“What did you say?”
“Hm?”
“What did you just say?”
“That Sylvien caught you and handed you over to the Addis family.”
It felt like being slapped across the face without warning.
Her head rang, and her mouth went completely dry. Canna was utterly speechless.
Sylvien?