“It’s also important that we truly become each other,” my sister said. Appearances alone weren’t enough—we also needed to change our ways of speaking and whatnot. “You call me Francette, and I’ll call you Adele.”
“O-Okay.” I don’t think I’ll be able to pull it off, though...
“Let’s practice. Starting now, we’re switching places!” She clapped her hands. “Adele, I’m looking forward to the festival.”
“Y-Yes. L-Likewise.” Despite referencing my sister’s mannerisms and way of speaking on the daily as a basis for my own, now that she was right in front of me, I didn’t know what to do.
“I’ll avoid talking to you as much as possible,” she said, clearly unimpressed with my acting skills. “Well then, Adele, let’s go to the Fowl Knight Festival!”
I felt that her rendition of me was a bit too energetic, but perhaps that was how I seemed to others.
With that, it was time for us to attend the festival, disguised as each other.
Gabriel had entrusted me with a magical scroll that was the equivalent of his teleportation spell, so the trip to the village was instantaneous. We arrived at the village entrance, where a large crowd had already gathered.
I was fully surrounded by ten or so knights from the imperial escort, while my sister was guarded by three knights dispatched by the Crown. I’d worried that she might need more protection, but she had insisted that a small group was enough, so only an elite few had been selected.
It felt like we were going to be crushed by the crowd, but my sister seemed to be having fun. “Look at all of these people, Adele!” she exclaimed.
“It really is busy,” I replied, nervous.
I was afraid that her bodyguards would discover my true identity, but they were unbelievably oblivious despite having escorted her on a regular basis. Perhaps because she always wore heels, they didn’t notice any disparity in our heights.
As for my sister, there were so many women in duck-blue dresses around that no one seemed to recognize her as me.
“Adele, there are so many shops!”
“Yes, there are.”
My sister was clearly excited. Apparently, this was her first time attending this type of festival. Her educator had probably forbidden it. On the other hand, growing up, I had been to several festivals in the capital. Unlike my sister’s, my life had been free of responsibility.
The people coming and going were full of smiles. Planning this festival had been a lot of work, but thankfully, everything had been prepared in time. Since it was called the Fowl Knight Festival, the stalls were selling lots of duck-themed goods. My sister took a liking to a duck mask and purchased it, saying that it would help with her disguise. Aside from that, other items on display for purchase included porcelain duck figurines, duck-shaped candies, and baked sweets.
“Look at that long line, Adele. What are they selling there?”
“Oh, that’s...”
Judging from the direction my sister was pointing, the line was likely for the Lakeside Duck Bakery’s stall. I looked to Coco for help.
“I believe that line is for the Lakeside Duck Bakery,” Coco explained. “The people are looking to buy your sweets.”
“Is that so? It’s amazing how popular they are!” my sister exclaimed, forgetting that she was supposed to be me. However, it went unnoticed thanks to the enormous crowd of people.
“Francette, are you tired?” I asked.
“No, not at all. I’m having a delightful time.”
I was glad she was enjoying herself, but personally, I was feeling uneasy due to the overwhelmingly large turnout. Swept up in the crowd, we were forced to follow the ebb and flow of the masses.
“Francette, what’s in this direction?” my sister asked, addressing me by my real name. Under these chaotic circumstances, it was understandable that her thoughts had been scrambled. And the knights were so focused on protecting us, they didn’t catch on to my sister’s blunder.
“The duck-race venue,” I replied. “Everyone is probably heading there.”
“What’s a duck race?”
“It’s an event where ducks run around a track, and whoever correctly predicts the winner is awarded sweets from the Lakeside Duck Bakery.”
“I see. We should take part too, then.”
I never expected to see my sister betting on the duck races... Well, there isn’t any money involved, so I guess it’s fine.
After about five minutes of walking, we arrived at the track. Many people were flocking around it, eager to watch the first race.
“Francette, it looks like the betting slips are being sold over there,” my sister said, only to get swallowed up by the crowd the next moment.
“Huh? Wait, Adele?!”
Much to my horror, she had disappeared without a trace, leaving her knights and attendant behind.
“No...this can’t be happening...”
The color drained from my face, and I felt dizzy. But this was no time to be frozen with shock. I had to act right away. I immediately revealed my identity to the imperial knights surrounding me.
“Um, I’m really sorry,” I said. “I switched places with my sister—the crown princess! She was disguised as me, and she vanished just now!”
The knights’ faces instantly turned pale as they realized the meaning of my words. They quickly began searching for my sister. I asked the knights dispatched by the Crown to aid us as well. One knight remained with me and Coco, and the three of us attempted to find my sister together.
A lady with brown hair in a half updo... “Adele?!” Grabbing someone by the shoulder who matched the description, I peered into her face. “I-I’m sorry. I got the wrong person.”
The venue was full of women wearing duck-blue dresses and duck masks, and many of them had a similar hair color to mine. I couldn’t tell which one was my sister.
“Wh-What do we do?!” I cried.
“Fra, calm down!”
“Y-Yes, I really should.”
“Let’s tell Gabriel first.”
“You’re right.”
I ordered the knight accompanying us to report the situation to Gabriel and gave him the magical scroll so that he could return to the estate immediately. After watching him teleport away, I resumed the search for my sister.
“Adele! Where are you, Adele?!”
As the first duck race had just begun, the spectators’ cheers drowned out my voice.
I can’t believe she disappeared! I never should have switched places with her.
Wibble jumped up a tree to scan the area from a higher vantage point but was unable to spot my sister. Just as I was at my wit’s end, a magic circle appeared before me. I assumed the knight had returned, but instead, Gabriel emerged.
“Fran!”
Much to my surprise, he suddenly embraced me. Had something happened?
“I just received a threatening letter,” he explained. “It said, ‘We have the slime duke’s fiancée, Lady Francette. If you want her back, you must comply with our demands.’ I was scared to death!”
“A-A threatening letter?!”
“As soon as I found out you’d been kidnapped, I checked your tracking bracelet and teleported to your location.”
“But I wasn’t kidnapped.”
“Did the perpetrator mistake someone else for you, then?”
“Oh no!” I realized what the worst-case scenario could be. “What if they kidnapped Adele instead of me?!”
“What?! How in the world could they have mistaken the imperial crown princess for you?!”
“W-Well...” From the sound of it, Gabriel had teleported here before the knight I’d sent had reached him, so he didn’t know that my sister and I had switched places for the festival. I quickly explained the situation to him.
“I see.”
“I’m sorry. I was careless.”
“We can reflect on this later, after we’ve rescued the crown princess.”
“R-Right.”
The threatening letter stated that if Gabriel wanted “me” back, he had to relinquish all of the slime duke territory’s pearls and pearl cultivation materials. The exchange would take place late at night at a location yet to be specified. According to Gabriel, the letter had been delivered by a large eagle which had flown away immediately afterwards.
“Who would do such a thing?!” he exclaimed.
Very few people in Triste knew about the pearl cultivation, and outside the region, only Emilie was privy to that information. It was difficult to believe that a local resident or tourist might have committed the crime.
“Only my mother and a few of the servants are aware of the pearl cultivation, and I doubt any of them would have disclosed it to others,” said Gabriel.
“In that case...” Emilie’s mention of her troublesome uncle came to mind. “I can’t be sure yet, but I think it was probably one of the ogre duke’s relatives.” It wasn’t good to assume, but I couldn’t think of anyone else who would target the pearls aside from her family.
Gabriel gently took my hand and pressed it against his forehead. “Since you were wearing the slime crystal bracelet I gave you, I was able to find you right away.”
“Yes, that’s right.” I couldn’t say I was happy about it, though, seeing as how my sister had been kidnapped in my place.
“I’d like to search for suspicious persons, but it doesn’t seem doable, what with the festival crowds.”
“Not especially...but if someone was acting strange, as if they weren’t here for the festival, I imagine they would’ve stood out to the locals.”
“Let’s ask around the festival grounds, then.”