The Extra Decided to Be Fake

king up at him with less puffy eyes, memories of the time he had a high fever after coming to the Duke’s estate came to mind.

She remembers seeing Swan.
No, Cedric, in a delirious state.

‘That was definitely the Duke.’

The fact that stabbed her heart as a needle reminded her to pretend to be asleep and close her eyes, even though she had woken up long before.
At first, all she could think of was finding the custody certificate.
So she even stayed up, pretending to be asleep until Cedric fell asleep, holding the key to the study.

But as time passed, thoughts of the custody papers faded away, and sleeping with Cedric became familiar.
And with that came a sense of guilt towards Cedric.

He had saved her from being caught by Curtis and held her as she cried.

Cedric, with hair the same color as Swan’s.

Swan’s father spoke to her with the same kind words as Swan.

‘You left something too heavy behind, Swan.’

She had not left anything behind unprepared, but at the same time, she had not left anything unburdened.

It would have been better if everyone had been cold.

“I don’t want to disappoint anyone.”

The kind Mary, the gentle Stefan, the people of the kind Duke Maynard and even Cedric.

Every time the thought that they were good popped up in her head, Lillian flinched.

She was afraid that when the truth was revealed, she would not be able to bear their disappointment in her.

It was a sight that brought tears to her eyes just thinking about it.

‘Don’t cry, Lilian.’

You didn’t come here with that kind of determination.

Lilian sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

It had been quite some time since she had climbed up the tree, so she had to get down before Mary noticed.

Just as Lilian was getting up,

Something caught her eye.

“… Huh?”

It was a luxurious carriage with unfamiliar people.

***

Lillian hurriedly got down from the tree.
Her knees were a little scraped from coming down too quickly, but that was the least of her concerns.
She couldn’t bear the anxiety that was weighing on her heart.

“Didn’t the Duke strictly forbid outsiders from coming in here?”

Were these people related to the orphanage in some way? Or could it be someone else pretending to be his daughter?

“I haven’t found the certificate yet.”

Surely they wouldn’t be kicked out already?

Whenever strangers wandered around the orphanage, the children always disappeared.
Strangers only came to the orphanage to adopt children, so it was a common occurrence.

But she couldn’t be sure that it would be the same this time.

Lillian rushed into the mansion without taking a breath.
Luckily or unluckily, Mary, who was nearby, saw Lillian and opened her eyes wide.

“Oh, Miss! Where did you go? I was looking for you.”

“Me?”

“Yes.
The Duke has summoned some people to meet, and you must go and meet them.
Come this way.
Oh my, there’s a leaf in your hair…”

Mary smoothed Lilian’s hair with a gentle touch and before Lilian knew it, Mary had picked her up and started taking her somewhere.
Lilian wanted to push Mary away and run away immediately, but all she could do was endure her pounding heart as if she could vomit it out.

“Are the people the Duke summoned trying to drive me out for real?”

“Come on in.”

As Mary spoke, the door opened and Lilian unconsciously closed her eyes.

Then she cautiously opened her eyes.

However, the scene in front of her was very different from what Lilian had expected.

“….?”

Blinking her eyes, Lilian’s eyelids went up and down rapidly.

But no matter how much she blinked, what was in front of her didn’t disappear.
It was only natural.

In the end, instead of rubbing her eyes, Lilian spoke out loud about what was in front of her.

“A doll…?”