"Yes, Father. I’m all right."

Only then did the marquis let out a sigh of relief and pull Estella into a tight embrace. His arms, wrapped around her, trembled. The previous night had been a terrible, frightening time he never wanted to experience again. The daughter in his arms felt even smaller than he remembered, more slender, more fragile.

Leonora watched the two of them, who for the first time in a long while truly looked like father and daughter, and let out a long sigh. At that moment, Estella, who had been clinging to the marquis, strode over to Leonora and suddenly threw her arms around her.

"Thank you."

Leonora’s eyes flew wide as Estella abruptly hugged her. Her arms, having lost their way, flailed uncertainly in the air—until Luka came over and pressed his mother’s arms firmly against Estella’s back. Leonora’s bewildered gaze met his, and Luka, with the calm tone of a teacher instructing a slow student, said leisurely,

"This is how you hug, Mother."

At a loss for words, Leonora couldn’t help but let out a small snort of laughter, and Estella too burst out laughing at how adorable her little brother was. The relieved laughter spread to everyone in the room, and soon they were all wrapping their arms around one another, no one knowing who had started it.

Just then—

The door of Birch Hall flew open and Ria, eyes swollen from crying, rushed in. At Estella’s request, Kyle had gone to fetch her.

When Kyle had first told her, Ria had been sure he was trying to trick her. She had seen Lady Estella lying in the coffin with her own eyes; she had felt how cold the body was; she had watched them bury the coffin deep in the earth.

"…Hic, my lady."

At the sound of Ria’s sob, Estella quietly turned her head. Ria stood at the door, shaking, her face soaked with tears.

"Ria. I’m sorry. The truth is…"

Estella hurried to explain—but before she could finish, Ria ran full tilt and flung herself into Estella’s arms.

"Uuugh, that my lady is alive… truly… I can die without regrets now. Thank you, thank you so much."

Ria did not feel a speck of resentment toward Estella for deceiving her. The thought did not even occur to her. Everything was something Lady Estella had decided, and there had surely been a perfectly sound reason. All Ria could do was be grateful that Lady Estella was alive in front of her eyes. Truly, that alone was enough.

"I’m sorry. For not telling you the truth."

At Estella’s apology, Ria shook her head through her tears. Her face was full of joy.

"Please don’t say that. I’m just so grateful that you’re alive like this, my lady. Thank you, really, thank you."

Right now, Ria saw no one else. She did not even notice that the marquis and Leonora were in the same room until much later.

"For a while, no one can know that I’m alive. All right?"

At Estella’s request, Ria nodded over and over.

"I’ll never tell. Never!"

Her voice was already hoarse and barely came out, but Ria cried and laughed at the same time as she made her firm promise.

That night, the lights in Birch Hall burned until dawn. A day no different from the last had dawned, but a day that would be completely different from now on was beginning.

When morning broke, the marquis carried an exhausted Luka in his arms and returned to the castle with Leonora. Neither of them realized it, but the awkward air that had always hung between them—even as husband and wife—had softened somewhat. It had been a night when everything grew loose and warm.

Gerard did not sleep a wink all night.

Part of it was because they had stayed up talking about what had happened at the funeral, but the other part was that he simply could not sleep through the snoring.

Rrrrnnk, khrrrk, khk! Rrrrnnk. Pffuu!

The sitting room of Birch Hall was full of Bruno’s snoring. Even so, the other Squirrels and Ria were sprawled all over the sitting room, sleeping like children with utterly peaceful faces. Hearts that had been crying, worrying, and trembling with fear all this time had melted at once, and the tension had finally loosened.

Gerard shook his head in disgust and jabbed Bruno’s face irritably with his hand as the man wheezed like he was about to stop breathing at any moment on the sofa.

"Khk!"

Bruno’s head snapped to the side, and for a brief moment his breathing quieted—only for his nose to start producing another thunderous racket. Gerard’s gaze on him was filled with revulsion.

"Uuugh! What did he shove up his nose? How can that sound come out of a human nose? Is that a monster? Or did he jam a Thunder Toad into his nostril?"

Thunder Toads were a type of monster that could deafen their enemies with their croaking. They were much larger than ordinary toads, but still only about the size of a piglet, so they were not particularly threatening in terms of brute strength. However, more than a few people had gone deaf after underestimating them based on appearance alone and drawing close, only to be hit by their lightning-bolt croak.

Estella burst into peals of laughter at Gerard’s reasonable comparison. The tension had broken, and she found herself laughing hard at things that weren’t much at all. Ciel watched her, his gaze full of affection.

Gerard, watching the two of them—the pair of cockroaches—with an annoyed look, suddenly seemed to remember something and started rummaging through his pockets. After digging through this pocket and that for some time, he pulled something out of vest pocket number 24 and held it out in front of Estella.

The pockets were sewn on every which way, and it looked like he’d tried to number them somehow, but the order was such a mess it was basically meaningless.

Despite having stayed up all night together, Estella looked as fresh as if she’d slept soundly. Ciel was the same.

"What’s this?"

"Asibal’s Veil."

"A, *sibal?"

Estella scrunched up her face and repeated it, and Gerard made a pained expression, like he’d just heard something he really wished he hadn’t.

"Could you mind your pronunciation? Asibal, Asibal! It’s completely different, completely. Do you know how great a mage Asibal was? Ha… As for what I could say about him—ugh! What’s the point of me teaching you anything. Anyway, it’s incredibly precious, so use it carefully and give it back. It’s my treasure number one, so I can’t give it away."

"So what do you use it for?"

Estella examined the oddly named, oddly shaped necklace, turning it over. It was a necklace with a gray, diamond-shaped pendant, and it felt like some sort of magical device. She was only holding it, yet a faint warmth tingled at her fingertips.

What is this. A weapon?

Her expression soured as she studied the necklace, whose design was so awful you’d believe it if someone said they’d made it ugly on purpose. No matter how little interest she had in jewelry, she wasn’t about to walk around with something this ugly on her neck.

If you’re going to make a magical device as a necklace, you could at least make it pretty, Master Asibal.

"You won’t be able to walk around outside looking like this for a while, will you."

Only then did Estella’s eyes fly wide open as she caught on to the use of the hideous necklace.

"Is this, by any chance, a necklace that changes your appearance?"

She stopped dangling the necklace carelessly with one hand and cupped it in both hands like it was something precious.

"That’s right. It’ll make you look like a completely different person to everyone else."

Gerard’s expression as he answered looked as mischievous as the necklace’s ridiculous name, and Estella grew just a bit uneasy.

"What kind of person?"

"Well, you know… various people."

Sure enough, Gerard answered with a grin full of mischief.

"How do you use it?"

"Just put it on. Like an ordinary necklace. If you’re really that curious how you’ll change, why don’t you try putting it on."

As Gerard spoke with a sly smile, Ciel quickly took the necklace from Estella’s hands and put it around his own neck. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Gerard, but if there was any chance it could be dangerous, he felt he had to be the one to test it first. The moment he raised his head to look at the two of them with the necklace on—

Twinkle!

With a sound effect straight out of an animated show about a transforming fairy, Ciel’s form turned into that of a cute girl. He shrank about a handspan shorter than Estella, turning into an adorable, freckled girl with curly hair braided into two plaits.

"Whoa! Ciel! You—!"

Startled, Estella sprang to her feet and circled around him. At the sound of her voice, the others began to blink their eyes open, sleepily lifting their heads from various spots on the sofas. Bruno alone kept snoring away, dead to the world.

Ciel stared blankly at Estella, who now suddenly towered over him.

"Now take the necklace off and put it back on again."

Gerard, arms folded, watching the pair of cockroaches, spoke with utter confidence. Ciel dazedly removed the necklace. Immediately, his viewpoint shot up; the freckled redheaded girl vanished, and the stalwart Ciel was back in her place.

"Wow… Gerard, this is amazing. Can’t you give it to me?"

Estella all but drooled as she spoke, and Gerard shook his head with a firm expression.

"No. Absolutely not. Not even if I die."

"Then sell it to me?"

"No. Absolutely not. Not even if I die. Not for all the money in the world."

His refusals only grew more resolute, and Estella’s gaze on Asibal’s Veil only grew more desperate.

Meanwhile, Ciel put the necklace back on and—

Twinkle!

This time he turned into a woman well past eighty. His back was bent, his hair had gone completely white, and his face was covered in a web of wrinkles, with a big mole on the tip of his nose that gave his features a rather spiteful look.

"Oh, my back…"

At the sudden stab of pain, Ciel reflexively patted his lower back, and Gerard and Estella burst out laughing. It really was a wondrous magical device.

Having experienced rapid old age in his own body, Ciel felt once again how precious physical conditioning was, then took off the necklace and handed it back to Estella. Estella, afraid Gerard might snatch it away, hurriedly grabbed it and slipped it around her own neck. She looked more excited than a child opening a pile of presents.

Twinkle!

The cheerful sound rang out, and before Estella even had time to be surprised, her line of sight suddenly dropped low.

"Waaah!"

But her viewpoint had dropped all the way down to the floor, and the sound that burst from her lips was a newborn’s cry.

"What the—! What’s wrong with the young lady? Gerard, was this you?"

"Gasp! My lady!"

By now wide awake, Lily let out a yelp, jumped to her feet, and grabbed Gerard by the collar, shaking him hard, while Ria flailed in panic, stamping her feet. Gerard, swung back and forth like a paper doll in Lily’s grasp, barely managed to escape her arms, straightened his rumpled collar, and replied,

"Well, look at that. It’s rare for anyone to turn this young… I guess Estella’s mental age really is about here?"

When he pulled the necklace off the baby flailing on the floor, Estella reverted to her usual form. She had suddenly ended up lying on her back staring at the ceiling, which would have startled anyone, but she simply grabbed for the necklace in Gerard’s hand and put it back on. Judging by her face, she was no different from a child who’d found a toy they loved.

Twinkle!

As another sound effect faded, Lily, standing nearby, and Airi, who had just woken, let out exclamations.

"Wow!"

Estella had turned into a tall, handsome young man. A tall, good-looking blond youth, as tall and striking as Ciel.

"Wow, you’re really handsome. If you went into town looking like that, the women wouldn’t be able to take their eyes off you."

He said it with a laugh, but Gerard meant it. The only one who looked displeased by the transformed Estella was Ciel. No matter how clearly he told himself that the handsome man standing in front of him was Estella, he could not understand why this feeling was rising inside him.

Does Estella like faces like that?

Groundless jealousy bubbled up. Ever since he’d fallen in love with her, he’d been embarrassed by how childish his heart became at the slightest thing. Now was no different. But no matter what, he didn’t want Estella’s soul to be housed in a body like that. He wanted to tell her to take the necklace off right away.

Estella darted over to the mirror. She, too, seemed pleased with what she saw reflected there; she touched the short hair, then her square jaw, then flexed her now-broad shoulders.

"Wow, the abs must be incredible too."

Just as Estella was about to strip off her top, Ciel rushed over, grabbed her clothes in a death grip, and glared.

"What? Why? I’m a man right now."

"…Estella, even so, this is a bit…"

Estella kept trying to bare her stomach, and Ciel kept shaking his head, refusing to let go of her clothes. By now, all the Squirrels except Bruno were awake, watching the two of them with great interest and snickering.

"Enough playing around. Take the necklace off already. We have to go to Dolan. You’re not planning to keep this a secret from him too, are you? The gun’s probably finished by now."

Watching the two of them like he couldn’t stand the sight, Gerard waved his hand irritably and snapped at them.

Chapter 242

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