For some reason, this seemed to come as a huge shock to Claudio, because his shoulders slumped and he slowly rose to his feet. “I see… Then I guess I’m just getting in the way…”
“What makes you say that?! Please stay, Director! If you’re not here, I’ll start shaking again!”
Ophelia latched onto Claudio, preventing him from leaving the room. Relief flashed momentarily across his face before it settled back into his normal stoic expression.
Gian, watching this exchange with one hand cupping his chin, interjected, “You know, I’ve been wondering about that. Why do you start shaking every time we meet, Ophie?”
“Umm, well… That’s, uh…”
“But you aren’t shaking right now. I don’t suppose that has anything to do with my change of heart, does it?”
Gian’s blue eyes drilled straight into Ophelia. If she looked away, it would be seen as confirmation of Gian’s suspicions. But if she tried to play it off as something else, Ophelia would start shaking. What should she do?
“So this is your secret…” Gian pronounced in a slow but sure tone. His eyes almost seemed to sparkle.
After looking around frantically for a moment, Ophelia turned to look up at Claudio with tears in her eyes, only for him to reel back with a look of shock.
“D-Director…”
“D-Don’t look at me like that.”
“Huh?”
I can’t… look at him?
Tears blurred Ophelia’s vision, and she slowly removed the hand that had been clinging to Claudio’s sleeve. Immediately, Gian took the now-free hand in his and rose from his chair, kneeling on one knee on the ground before her.
“Your Grace?!”
“He’s right; it was too high-handed of me, pushing my situation one-sidedly onto you. I will accept your secret, too. Sharing both our secrets provides incentive for both sides to keep the other’s secret, after all.”
“U-Um, in any case, please stand up…!”
“I am Gian’s older sister, Julietta.”
“Huh?”
Gian’s expression as he looked up at Ophelia, still kneeling in front of her, was gentle and open. It must’ve been incredibly freeing to be able to confess a secret out loud that he’d never been able to tell anyone. Ophelia, on the other hand, having no opportunity to prepare herself for such a shocking revelation, was left reeling.
“Gian died twenty years ago. Our father, unable to accept the death of his only son, announced that it was his daughter, Julietta, who had died, and from that day on, I became Gian.”
“Huh? Wha… J-Julietta?”
“Knock it off, Gian. Slow down. Ophelia is having trouble processing.”
Claudio smacked Gian’s hand away and gave Ophelia, who was frozen with her eyes so wide they looked almost completely white, a little shake. That snapped her out of her daze, and she glanced first down at Gian, who was still kneeling on the ground, and then up at Claudio standing beside him.
“Um, Director, what is your relationship with Duke Vigatto…?”
Ophelia couldn’t wrap her head around Gian’s story. It seemed easiest to ask Claudio to clarify, given that he seemed to already know what was going on. And so, having calmed down enough to think clearly, that was what Ophelia did.
“…The Vigatto ducal house has had ties with the royal family for generations, and Gian and I, being around the same age, were childhood friends. The Vigatto manor is in a quiet spot at the edge of the Royal City with abundant nature, so whenever I couldn’t stand the annoying people always clamoring around me anymore, I would flee there under the pretense of paying a sick visit to Gian.”
“Was that back when you were still a prince?” Ophelia asked.
“Back then, he was a handsome boy with lustrous pink hair, a sweet and docile prince with none of the prickly glares that have become his trademark expression these days.” Gian, the only person still wearing a carefree smile, broke into the conversation.
Claudio audibly gritted his teeth and gave a demonstration of one of those “prickly glares” of his. Entirely unruffled, Gian stood and came to sit beside Ophelia, smiling brightly.
“My brother, Gian, was born with a heart condition. Claudio was the only person who continued to visit my brother until the very end, even knowing there was absolutely no benefit to him in befriending Gian. For my brother, who could barely get out of bed, Claudio was his only connection with the outside world. Looking forward to Claudio’s next visit was one of his few pleasures in life.”
Claudio’s eyebrows drew together, and his mouth clenched, presumably as he recalled his friend’s pitiful situation.
“In the end, Gian succumbed to his heart condition, but our parents were devastated over the loss of their heir, and our father in particular just couldn’t accept it… So he announced that it was his daughter, Julietta, who’d died suddenly and unexpectedly. I’ve been living as Gian ever since.”
Do crazy things like this actually happen in real life?! No matter how grief-stricken the parents might be, it’s insane to report that their living daughter is the one who died! …But I guess it must be true, or else he… er, she?… wouldn’t be living as Gian.
Ophelia had a hard time believing it, but her body wasn’t shaking… She wrapped her arms around her body, as if to confirm this fact, and looked up at Claudio. He, too, was examining Ophelia closely. His serious eyes seemed to be speaking to her, conveying that, against all reason, the story Gian was telling was indeed true.
Ophelia was still frozen in place with eyes the size of saucers when Gian continued with a gentle smile, “Sigh, it feels so good to tell the truth. Thank you for listening. I think I really needed to share this secret with someone. I thought it was just a coincidence that I met you on Julietta’s death anniversary, but maybe it was always meant to be you I shared this with.”
Ophelia examined Gian’s face closely, looking at him straight-on. Now that she knew he had been born a woman, Ophelia could certainly see it in his facial features, but his mannerisms and bearing were all distinctly male. The months and years he’d lived as a man must’ve made him this way, Ophelia realized. As the weight of the revelation that had been thrust upon her finally began to sink in, Ophelia felt dizzy.
“But, that’s… How were you able to fool everyone?” she asked.
“Gian and I looked a lot alike. That’s probably one of the reasons Father couldn’t get over his loss. Even within our household, the only people who know the truth are a very small number of servants who tend to our daily needs. Father died when I was twenty, and Mother retired to the countryside, unable to bear this deception any longer.”
Unable to decide what, if anything, she should say to Gian, who spoke with a bright smile, Ophelia felt a single tear roll helplessly down her cheek.
“You’re crying for me, aren’t you?”
Was it Gian or Julietta who reached out to wipe away Ophelia’s tear with their thumb?
“This is the first time I’ve ever heard such a sad lie…”
Another tear escaped from Ophelia’s eye as she said that.