A Curious Omission

Ah, what a pitiful pair of master and servant.

Originally just friends from the orphanage, they were forced to switch identities and enter the national academy with disparities due to the power struggles of adults.

Given how they interact, they must be close friends, right?

I hope this doesn’t create a rift in their friendship…

“Something feels off…”

Just as I was lamenting, the young miss suddenly muttered.

She seemed puzzled by what she had just heard.

“Hmm…? Young Miss, do you have a question?”

The young miss tilted her head and looked at me with a confused expression.

“Eileen, don’t you feel something’s wrong?”

At that, I simply shook my head.

I didn’t hear anything wrong at all!

“The previous content didn’t mention Miss Donix’s eye problem at all!”

“Uh…”

Thinking back carefully, that was true.

But…

“What’s wrong with that?”

Couldn’t it simply have been forgotten?

“The possibility of forgetting is too low… Eileen, if you were asked to describe Elizabeth, what feature would you mention first?”

“Well…”

I lowered my head and recalled Elizabeth’s appearance…

“Her gray hair… and her gauze?”

I blurted out subconsciously, then felt a jolt in my heart.

“Ah…!”

“Exactly, Eileen… If I asked you to describe me, you’d definitely pick my most striking silver hair!”

Using me as an example… that was quite convincing.

“If it were an ordinary person, fine. But if someone has a distinctive appearance, it’s impossible to overlook when describing them! Especially an eye condition that so affects daily life!”

“Oh~ Little Katerina makes a good point~”

“Uncle—because of our conversation—”

A voice that didn’t belong to either of us interrupted our discussion.

“…Huh?”

Following the sound, the originally half-closed door was now fully open, and the blue-haired girl was leaning against the doorframe, looking at us with great interest.

Of course… behind her stood Prince Edwin and Lord Claude.

They were both watching us with slightly dumbfounded expressions…

“…Do you two have a habit of eavesdropping on others’ privacy?”

“Even if you eavesdrop, at least keep your voices down…?”

It seemed our conversation volume was too loud, and they overheard us.

…Since it had come to this, further excuses were pointless.

Realizing this, the young miss honestly bowed her head in apology.

“Sorry… We didn’t mean to eavesdrop. We just finished today’s tasks and came to the student council room to organize our findings… Then we noticed the door wasn’t closed, and we happened to hear your discussion.”

“The door wasn’t closed…?”

“Everyone else went to handle other commissions. The student council room has only been the three of us for two hours, right?”

“Did someone forget to close the door after coming back?”

The three exchanged glances, each looking innocent, as if claiming they didn’t know.

“Forget it…”

Knowing they wouldn’t get to the bottom of it, the three simply gave up thinking.

“Maybe we were too busy and forgot?”

“Possibly…”

“…But even if it’s partly our fault, you shouldn’t have eavesdropped, right?”

“Can’t help it… you were talking about someone I know. Besides, she assisted me in my investigation today.”

“Oh right, you all have some connection.”

“Also, accusing me of eavesdropping—isn’t it rude to discuss her background behind her back? We’re all equally guilty, equally guilty.”

“This…”

The young miss’s retort left the three speechless.

“Ahem! Putting that aside, you just said there was a flaw in our words?”

Prince Edwin awkwardly changed the subject.

The young miss didn’t make things too difficult for them and smoothly picked up the thread:

“Yes… Miss Donix suffers from a severe eye condition and can’t tolerate light, so she usually wears an eyepatch.”

“I haven’t heard that information before~ I’ve only ever seen her maid. The bishop didn’t mention any eye condition at all.”

“…Huh?”

This time, even I sensed something off.

Teresa had said she’d worn an eyepatch since childhood.

But why, when such private information as her background was disclosed, was this detail completely omitted?

Logically, if the investigation had been so thorough, the first thing to mention should have been Teresa’s eye disease.

“Perhaps there are more secrets behind her that we don’t know.”

The young miss lowered her head, seeming lost in thought.

“It seems we need to investigate further…”

“Another task added~ By the way, don’t you need to organize the documents?”

“Ah…! Oh no! I forgot! Eileen, you’ve got to help me this time!”

The young miss and I hurriedly dashed into the student council room and began writing the investigation report.

…

The next evening, we gathered as usual in the laboratory.

“Miss Anis! Miss Eileen! Hello!”

As soon as the words were spoken, Calu frowned.

“…Miss Anis doesn’t seem to be in good shape?”

At that, the young miss lowered her head, looking disappointed.

“I couldn’t eat the dinner Eileen carefully prepared last night…”

—Due to the delay from writing the report, time was too tight, so I ended up preparing only simple rice balls with some pre-made side dishes, settling for a quick meal with the young miss.

I could only smile wryly and pat the young miss’s little head.

…Since she was taller than me, I rarely touched her head anymore. The softness was nostalgic.

“Don’t be sad, Young Miss. I’ll make you something even more delicious later to make up for it. By the way, it’s a dish I rarely make.”

As soon as I finished, the young miss grabbed my wrist and lifted her head abruptly.

“Really?! What is it? What is it?”

“Well… please look forward to it.”

I winked at the young miss.

“…Then I’ll be looking forward to it!”

“Miss Anis and Miss Eileen have such a good relationship.”

Witnessing—or rather, hearing—the interaction between the young miss and me, Teresa showed a warm smile.

…Her behavior made it hard to imagine she had deep cunning.

It must be that the bishop forced something, leading to this situation, right?

“Hmph… These two flirt every day. I’m used to it.”

Margaret, who didn’t know Teresa’s background, acted as usual, following the young miss.

“…”

But this time, the young miss’s gaze was firmly fixed on Teresa, completely forgetting to retort.

“…Huh?”

“We have a great relationship too!”

Before Margaret could express confusion, Calu tightly hugged Teresa.

“Hmm… that’s right.”

“…?”

Whether it was an illusion, a shadow seemed to flicker across Teresa’s face.