“What……do you mean?”
My blood felt like it was frozen, but my body was on fire. That was the last question I was expecting to hear, but I managed a calm tone in my reply.
I didn’t suppose her finding out I wasn’t the real Mylene would cause any huge problems. The poor saps at the mansion all thought I was the genuine article, and as long as my father thought I could benefit him in some way, that would be enough.
Neither Albert nor Colette had known Mylene before she became me. And considering the former timeline, I did believe they would both choose me over the girl I’d replaced.
Nobody was actually harmed by me taking over Mylene’s body. But the unfathomable truth that a girl I barely knew for a month had discovered my darkest secret—well, that was bound to make my blood freeze.
“I meant what I said. The Mylene Petule I met in the past was a hopeless piece of shit.” Melissa’s eyes turned to angry slits as she looked up at me.
Ordinarily, I might have thought the gesture to be adorable, but since she was seeing something beneath the surface as she stared into my eyes, I just felt like I was going to be sick.
“When I encountered her before, she didn’t have an ounce of grace. She skimped on hospitality, never lost a chance to complain, and she thought that everything should and would go her way—the stupid bitch.”
But Melissa proceeded to talk shit about Mylene. And I found her quite convincing. Listening to her rip Mylene to shreds made me wonder what the old Mylene must have done or said to her when they first met.
For the first time in a while, I thought back to the moment I took over this body. The surreal experience of having the worst reputation for something I didn’t remember doing reminded me of how it felt when I’d gotten drunk and made an ass of myself. Adan really gave me shit for that—but I digress. Looking back on that day would just make me embarrassed.
But the more time I spent in this body, the angrier I started to feel about all the childhood scrapes the former Mylene had gotten into here and there. Still, hearing the scornful words directed at me was mildly effective.
“Again, you may look like Mylene, but you’re not her. Anyone who knew Mylene Petule years ago would have suspicions.”
And yet, it was those words that made my blood run even colder. To people who knew the former Mylene, I definitely was an anomaly.
“So, what are you trying to say? That an impostor has taken my place?”
“I doubt it. Your hair and divine magic could only be gifts from the Lord Eltania. Nobody could imitate them. That’s why I think it’s something else.”
To be able to deduce this far, she must have had some sort of tangible evidence. Though I had no clue just how much she had caught on to—
“What interesting things you say. Is that why you’ve been surveilling me?”
My unique Hair of Sulberia—maybe that was the only reason for her surveillance. If she didn’t like the former Mylene, the discovery that I wasn’t at all like her should have actually been good news for Melissa.
In Melissa’s eyes, I didn’t see any resentment toward Mylene for forgetting her sordid past and living a life of leisure. The look in her eyes carried weight—it was the kind you would only give to an archnemesis.
“I can’t tell you… I can’t trust you either.”
But I couldn’t get her to tell me the reason why. As the mystery I was so close to grasping slipped out of my fingers, it took everything in me not to curse out loud.
I took a deep breath in and out to calm myself. Then I smiled daringly and said, “Is that so? Then why don’t you see for yourself just how trustworthy I am?”
It would seem that our Melissa absolutely despised the former Mylene. If I gave her a reason to hate me now, it would be back to square one. So I needed her to get to know me. To see with her own eyes just how different I was from that bitch in the past.
“I could never trust you. But it’s quite clear to me now that you’re not that bitch.” Melissa broke off for a moment and hung her head. And when she looked up again, the fear in her gaze was gone. “But yes…I will observe you unabashedly. I will see you who really are with my own eyes.”
She walked toward the door, glaring coldly back at me. And still holding my gaze in her icy one, she left the dressing room.
Aha…quite interesting indeed. So, she calls the Mylene before I took over her body “that bitch.”
At first, she’d really made my blood freeze, but thinking about it with a clear head, I realized this was anything but bad for me. If anything, I’d found a new question I needed to ask her.
Melissa must have had some exclusive information to be able to say something so absurd with such confidence. It might be a prophecy from Eltania. If her powers were genuine, I’d love to pick her brain about this motherfucking situation I was in.
But first—I have afternoon class to attend.
Though the results were fruitful, I had spent more time than I meant to. I was practically one step away from being tardy.
I resumed my changing and ran my arms through the sleeves of my uniform. Okay, I’m almost definitely tardy but still early enough to get off with an apology. Better hurry.
My habitual good-girl demeanor came in handy at times like these. I was about to put my hand on the door, but it opened on its own before I could.
And on the other side of it…was Melissa. That made sense. She was in my class and took the same courses as me. Unless she was going to ditch PE, she needed to change clothes, too.
Her eyes were wet with shame and her cheeks puffed with red.
“I’ll tell the teacher you’ll be late, Melissa.”
“Sorry…”
Melissa—the priestess with unfathomable powers who’d faced the one she hated head-on (though trembling all the while). A little while ago, I had seen traces of the Mylene-resisting duchess she would later become.
But maybe I overestimated the girl just a wee bit…? Whenever I caught glimpses of the ditzy priestess, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.
With a barely audible “Thank you…” at my back, I headed for my PE class.