‘Ugh… my back hurts.’

‘Did I sleep on a rock or something?’

My back ached terribly.

With a frown, I finally opened my eyes.

A line of ants crawled busily past, each carrying food on its back.

‘Oh… right. I’m in the forest.’

It had been pitch-black when I’d closed my eyes, but dawn had already broken.

‘I must’ve slept for about three hours.’

Even so, I was still exhausted.

Maybe it was because that part of my past—the one I never wanted to remember again—had shown up in my dreams.

It left me feeling utterly drained.

“Ugh, I’m dying… Huh?”

I let out a groan without thinking, then froze.

Lowering my head, I looked myself over.

Somehow, I’d changed back into Adrianne.

“Haa… thank goodness.”

I never thought I’d be so happy to hear human words come out of my mouth instead of an animal’s cries.

Looking at the rising sun, I tried to gauge the time.

In another hour or two, the maids would come barging into my bedroom.

Or at least, they normally would.

I had to get back before then.

Otherwise, everyone would assume I’d spent the night at the Third Prince’s palace.

And if this somehow spiraled into rumors that Leonhart and I were dating…

‘This time, Leon really will kill me. He already thinks Adrianne can’t get over Leonhart as it is.’

I recalled the conversation I’d overheard thanks to my lucky escape from Leonhart.

It had only been possible because the bedroom I’d been using was directly above the reception room.

To be fair, they had every reason to be suspicious of me.

But I knew exactly how to deal with that.

‘Owen’s ability is the real problem. Seeing auras…’

It was an ability he’d gained at the start of Part Two.

I’d never even heard of a power like that before, so I had no idea how to avoid it.

‘He said it was a color he’d never seen before. He probably saw the aura of a dark sorcerer.’

Still, he couldn’t be certain I was a dark sorcerer.

‘He’s never seen a dark sorcerer’s aura before, either.’

Instead, he’d probably suspect I possessed some unknown kind of power.

After all, the color of my aura didn’t match any known supernatural ability.

‘Maybe I should just get ahead of it and announce that my mana finally awakened.’

Most people awakened their mana as children, but it wasn’t unheard of for it to happen after reaching adulthood.

‘But they’re not idiots. Why would they believe that? Especially when my aura’s a different color…’

‘Ugh, whatever. If I say that’s what it is, what’s anyone going to do about it?’

‘It’s not like they’re going to march up to a duchess and say they need to draw my blood to check whether I’m a dark sorcerer.’

‘I’ll just brazen it out.’

Groaning, I finally managed to get to my feet.

My whole body felt battered.

There wasn’t a single muscle that wasn’t sore.

My legs weren’t too bad, but from my arms to the bases of my wings, it felt as though I’d been seared by fire.

It was probably all the strain from moving around as a crow hitting me at once.

“Phew… Guys, come out. We need to talk… Hm?”

To my astonishment, the spirits were already beside me.

Undine was lying sprawled out in a starfish position.

Sylph was lying neatly on her back with her hands folded over her stomach.

Salamander had curled himself into a little ball.

None of them had even bothered hiding themselves.

They were fast asleep.

‘Honestly… what if someone saw you like this?’

As extraordinary as what had happened before dawn had been…

‘Wait… where’s Gnome?’

He was nowhere to be seen.

As I looked around, my eyes caught sight of a tiny sprout peeking out from behind a tree.

‘Why is he hiding over there all by himself? Ugh… it hurts to move my back.’

Suppressing the pain, I walked over to the tree.

Gnome looked up from where he was crouching behind it with his back against the trunk.

“Why are you over here, Gnome? Playing hide-and-seek by yourself?”

• • …I’m sorry.

Gnome had actually answered me.

That alone was so surprising I momentarily forgot about the pain.

Though I had no idea what he was apologizing for.

‘What’s he sorry about?’

I didn’t press him for an explanation.

There was only one thing you could say to a friend who apologized.

“It’s okay.”

Gnome’s jet-black eyes immediately brimmed with tears.

Then he suddenly flew over and latched onto my face.

With Gnome dangling from one side of my face, I woke the others.

“How can you guys sleep at a time like this? Wake up!”

• • Aww… why’d you wake us? I just closed my eyes…

 

• • Undine, please wake up. It seems Rianne has something to say.

 

• • Yawn… I’m fucking exhausted, so make it quick. What is it?

“Was I really turned into a crow because I’m a dark sorcerer? Do you guys know anything?”

The spirits, who had been yawning nonstop, suddenly fell silent.

“Guys, I’m asking if you know anything.”

• • …W-Well? I-I don’t think we really know anything either…

“‘Don’t think’? What’s that supposed to mean?”

• • What Undine means is that what we know isn’t any different from what you know, Miss Rianne.

“…Really?”

• • I’m telling you, that’s all we know! All we know is that those bastard dark sorcerers can transform into the phantom beasts of the demons they’ve made pacts with!

“What?! So I didn’t turn into a crow because I’m a dark sorcerer—I turned into a crow because it’s the phantom beast of the demon I contracted with?”

• • …Rianne, could you wait here for a moment? I suddenly remembered something I need to say to Fire Lizard.

“Hm? Sure.”

The spirits dragged Salamander behind the tree.

Watching them, I continued my train of thought.

The title of Chapter Two was [The Duchess’s Secret Double Life].

Until yesterday, I’d assumed “double life” referred to living as both an Imperial Duchess and a dark sorcerer.

‘Who would’ve thought it meant living as both a human and a crow…’

Out of all the animals in existence, why did it have to be a crow?

What kind of abilities could a demon whose phantom beast was just a crow possibly have?

It was probably only good at imitating humans.

‘Adrianne, why’d you make a pact with such a pathetic demon?! If you were going to throw your life away anyway, you should’ve picked the strongest one!’

Seriously, how could my luck be this terrible?

“Guys, are you done yet? We can finish this back at the manor. The maids will be barging in soon, so we need to hurry.”

• • We’re done talking. But… can you actually walk?

 

• • Miss Rianne, now that you’ve returned to your original form, your mana is flowing again. We’ll carry you.

“…Please.”

In the end, I relied on the spirits’ magic to make it back to my bedroom.

Then I slipped back into the manor through the terrace.

It was still early enough in the morning that no one noticed me.

The moment I got to my bedroom, I stripped off the dress that was constricting my body.

“Why yesterday? I’ve never turned into a crow before. Undine, could you undo the buttons on my back?”

• • Maybe there are certain conditions you have to meet before you can transform into your phantom beast? Ugh, why is this dress so complicated? Sylph, give me a hand.

 

• • All right. Miss Rianne, did anything unusual happen yesterday? I mean, anything that might’ve triggered your transformation into your phantom beast.

Salamander flicked out his tongue and pulled off the high heel I still had on.

• • Maybe it isn’t an action that’s the trigger. Maybe it’s the date or the time. There was a full moon last night, wasn’t there? Gnome, take off the other shoe.

 

• • (Nod.)

The enormous full moon that had hung in the night sky came back to me.

“Then I should’ve transformed the moment the full moon rose. But I didn’t turn into a crow until much later.”

• • That’s true. Guys, do you remember exactly when Rianne transformed?

 

• • Hmm… It was right after the briefing ended, so… I think it was around midnight.

“Ah! That’s it!”

I stopped taking off my dress and snapped my fingers.

“I transform into my phantom beast at midnight on the night of a full moon! And once the sun rises, I turn back into myself! What do you think of my theory?”

• • Oooh, that actually sounds plausible. Then let’s make sure next month.

 

• • I think that’s our best course of action. Hmm… there, I’ve undone all the buttons.

At last, I peeled off the cumbersome dress.

I dropped onto the edge of the bed.

“Phew… I finally feel like I can breathe again.”

Undine and Sylph fetched a brush from somewhere and began brushing my hair.

Sleep came over me almost immediately.

Considering everything that had happened before dawn, I really should’ve taken a bath first.

But right now, rest was far more urgent than cleanliness.

I lay down and pulled the blanket over myself.

• • Rianne, you’re going back to sleep? Wait, get up for a second. We’ve got good news.

“Haa… I’m so tired… Can’t you tell me later?”

• • We’ll make it quick. It’s about Owen’s ability. We found a way around his aura sight.

My half-closed eyes flew open.

Forcing my aching body upright, I asked,

“My aura? There’s a way to get rid of it?”

• • Not get rid of it. But we can confuse him instead. By using Lulu!

“Lulu…? You’ve been keeping my sword, Lulu?”

• • Not us. The King has!

 

• • Please wait just a moment. I’ll go get it right away!

A moment later, something unfamiliar dropped onto the carpet with a thud.

“…What’s this?”

• • What do you mean, ‘what’? It’s Lulu!

“This?”

Lulu was a greatsword with a blade nearly 160 centimeters long.

But this was a dagger, barely thirty centimeters in total length.

Its color had changed too.

Gone was the brilliant silver blade.

In its place was a violet blade that radiated an eerie aura.

“What happened to Lulu?”

• • The King transformed her to purify her.

 

• • Lulu had absorbed too much demonic energy.

I gently ran my fingers over Lulu.

The violet blade gave a faint tremble.

Rululululung—

“…It really is Lulu.”

The sound carried both the sorrow of our long separation and the joy of finally being reunited.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to find you, Lulu. I missed you too.”

Lulu had changed so much that it was hard to imagine her original form.

At this point, no one would recognize her as Lulu even if I carried her around.

‘I was planning to insist that I’d simply awakened my mana… but this is much better.’

Feeling a weight lift from my shoulders, I reached down to pick Lulu up—

“Urgh! W-Wait… ngh…!”

…I couldn’t lift her at all.

‘Why is it so heavy?’

Back when I was Adella, I could swing it around with one hand.

Now, even gripping it with both hands and straining with all my might, I couldn’t make it budge.

Rulululung!

Lulu quivered irritably, as though scolding me for fooling around.

Between her weight and the vibration, I couldn’t hold on any longer.

After struggling with all my strength, I finally let go.

• • Rianne? What’s wrong?

“Huff… Huff… This is bad. I-I can’t lift Lulu.”

• • Why not?

“Pant… She’s too heavy.”

• • Oh my! Rianne, that was incredibly rude! Our Lulu is so slim. How could you call her heavy?

 

• • That was rather mean, Miss Rianne. You know how delicate Lulu’s feelings are.

 

• • Pactmaker, hurry up and make it up to Lulu. She’s a real pain when she gets sulky. Right, Gnome?

 

• • (Nod.)

“Lulu, I’m sorry. It’s not that you’re heavy… I’ve just gotten much weaker.”

I rubbed my aching arms.

Compared to the body I’d had as Adella’s, my arms weren’t even half as thick.

There was no way arms like these could lift Lulu.

• • Ah! That’s right! It must be because you’ve got a different body now! What do we do?

 

• • Ah… Now that you mention it, you’re right. Her appearance may have changed into that of a dagger, but her weight didn’t.

 

• • Then what’s the point of having Lulu at all?

Exactly.

I had to carry Lulu to mask the aura.

“Let’s find a way. By the way, who gave you this information?”

• • Who else? His Majesty, obviously.

The Spirit King enjoyed wandering the human world collecting all sorts of treasures.

But since he was the guardian of balance, he normally avoided getting involved with humans he knew.

Which made this rather unexpected.

“You met the Spirit King? When?”

• • Right after you passed out. His Majesty came in person. Ran his mouth for a good long while, then left.

Salamander, who’d been happily chatting away, immediately clamped his mouth shut. The other spirits all shot him sharp looks.

• • Phew… Rianne, would you mind lying down for a moment? I suddenly remembered something I need to say to Salamander.

“Again?”

• • Salamander seems to be particularly slow on the uptake today. It’ll only take a moment.

The spirits gathered once more in the corner of the bedroom before returning.

Whatever they’d said to him, Salamander looked noticeably dejected.

Watching the tiny flame at the end of his tail shrink to almost nothing, I scratched the back of my neck.

“Hmm… That’s a shame. There was something I wanted to ask.”

• • His Majesty? What did you want to ask?

 

• • Go ahead. If it’s something we know, we’ll answer.

“It’s nothing important… I was just wondering what kind of demon has a crow as its phantom beast. I’m guessing it’s probably a low-ranking demon, but… aren’t you curious?”

The spirits all fell silent.

• • H-huh? N-not really? Ah, right! I had something urgent to do and forgot!

 

• • Me too. Something came up in the Spirit Realm, so I’ll be going.

 

• • Hey! You, seriously, huh? Anyway, I’m f***ing pissed, so don’t call me for a while! Got it? Gnome, let’s go!

 

• • (Nods)

“Huh? Wait, what did I do…? Guys? Guys!”

I called out to the spirits several times, but there wasn’t the slightest response.

Even our mana link had been severed. They hadn’t merely hidden themselves. They’d returned to the Spirit Realm altogether.

“…What’s gotten into them?”

Something felt off, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it.

The muscle soreness I’d briefly forgotten because of Lulu came flooding back with a vengeance.

“Ugh… my aching bones..”

Like an old woman, I patted my sore shoulders.

When I rang the bell, Luna rushed in immediately.

She looked startled to find me in my bedroom, having assumed I was still at the Third Prince’s palace.

“M-Master? When did you…? My apologies. I had no idea you’d returned.”

“Call the physician.”

“Are you feeling unwell? Right away!”

As soon as Luna left the bedroom, the manor erupted into commotion.

It wasn’t surprising. I’d slipped back inside like a thief without anyone noticing.

Closing my eyes, I listened to the servants hurrying about outside.

I desperately needed some real rest.

That morning, a stranger arrived at the Ivrante estate.

Dr. Benjamin Ractor, the new physician hired after Dr. Albert had been dismissed.

Dr. Benjamin was a calm, middle-aged man with an air of experience.

What I liked most was that he didn’t seem intimidated by me in the slightest.

“Your Grace, forgive me for asking, but have you been rock climbing?”

…Though his tone was a little cutting

“Your muscle soreness is severe enough to have developed into a fever. When did this start?”

The butler answered in my place.

“She was perfectly fine until yesterday…”

“Look here. See how the muscles in her arm are spasming?”

Dr. Benjamin lifted my arm.

Sure enough, the muscles had knotted up so tightly they were trembling.

“This simply doesn’t happen unless you’ve spent the entire night hauling heavy loads or running without rest. You don’t end up like this overnight.”

“But Master attended the briefing yesterday.”

“The briefing? Then that makes this all the more peculiar…”

Dr. Benjamin studied me silently.

His eyes clearly said he believed I’d lied to the butler about attending the briefing and had actually gone rock climbing instead.

I met his gaze without flinching.

After all, I really had attended the briefing.

“The medicine will ease the pain. But you absolutely must rest. Until you’ve recovered, you are not to exert yourself under any circumstances.”

“I’ll make sure Master follows your instructions, Doctor.”

“Very well.”

After Dr. Benjamin left, the butler returned to the bedroom carrying the medicine.

“Master, when did you return?”

“Around midnight.”

“How did I not notice?”

“I didn’t want to make a fuss, so I came back quietly. Make sure no one starts spreading rumors that I spent the night at the Third Prince’s palace.”

“You have no need to worry about that. However… what happened yesterday to leave you in this condition?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“That’s right.”

“…Very well.”

My loyal butler didn’t press the matter any further.

Just as I forced myself to swallow the bitter medicine with a sense of relief, the butler held out a stack of documents.

“This is the schedule for the Grand Plaza construction. I received it after contacting the Third Prince’s aide.”

“Already?”

“Since you have become an advisor, it is only natural for me, as your butler, to keep track of the schedule.”

A great deal of the Grand Plaza project had changed because of my proposal.

An additional construction guild would be selected to design the greenhouse, and a new testing schedule had been arranged for the magical devices.

Most of my assignments were with Ruspell.

As an advisor, my role was to work alongside Ruspell to develop the magical devices and verify that they could be properly implemented at the construction site.

“That said, it seems most of the work is scheduled for the early hours of the morning.”

For a place like the Grand Plaza, it made sense to carry out construction before dawn for the sake of traffic and public safety.

So Leonhart probably hadn’t deliberately scheduled it at such an inconvenient hour just to make my life miserable.

‘…Probably.’

“Most construction work is done at night.”

“Is that so? I was about to send a brief note expressing my concerns about the schedule… but I suppose I won’t.”

‘So he was actually planning to complain to Leonhart’s aide.’

I slid the schedule off to one side.

“Don’t. Has Fiache’s enrollment been finalized?”

“Her admission has been approved. However, the Academy is currently on summer break, so she’ll most likely begin attending when the autumn term starts.”

“I see.”

“Please get some rest, Master.”

The butler quietly withdrew.

Unable to fight off the effects of the medicine, I fell asleep almost immediately.