It Turned Out She Wasn't a Favored Concubine - Episode 82

I slowly began to unravel the secret I had kept alone for what felt like an eternity.

The world I lived in, and the moments just before and after I was suddenly transported to this one.

“That’s it? That’s the whole story?”

Despite the gravity of my confession, Perlo’s deflated reaction was enough to twist my expression.

“Sure, the story of your old world was interesting, but the reason you came here is so anticlimactic. You just woke up in the body of a concubine? I thought there’d be something more dramatic or grand…”

Perlo trailed off, glancing between me and Marian. Marian shot him a glare and crossed her arms.

“Idiot. No one just wakes up in a different body.”

“What? I’m not an idiot!”

Perlo snapped, but Marian ignored him and continued.

“First of all, the heirloom you touched just before arriving here—the special stone fragment—appears to be a piece of a transparent motus. Oh, and a transparent motus is a clear motus stone. It’s obvious since you were born holding it.”

I had suspected it, especially after Marian and Perlo showed me the actual transparent motus. And now, it was confirmed.

“So what does that mean? I was originally from this world before I was born? Was I reincarnated into my original world? Why was I born holding a motus?”

Marian stared at me, her gaze sharp and unkind.

“I asked you to tell me everything honestly. Are you still hiding something from me?”

“I’ve told you everything. After touching that transparent stone, I woke up here. In a strange world, in a strange body… I still flinch when I see myself in the mirror. Why would I lie about that?”

My clenched fist trembled. There were no mirrors in my room at Arlene Palace. The large, ornate mirror that Arne had used was removed the moment I saw it.

I threw away the vanity mirror and even the small hand mirror. Mirrors were too brutally honest—they showed that I wasn’t myself.

There were no mirrors at the Edelheit estate either. Louis had taken care to remove them in advance.

Yes, Louis never questioned my aversion to mirrors. When I first saw Arne’s face and recoiled, asking for the mirrors to be removed, she simply bit her lip and didn’t ask why.

Even though it was clearly strange behavior.

What exactly was Louis hiding?

“No. You’re still hiding something. If this continues, I won’t be able to cooperate any further.”

I was going mad with frustration. I had told them everything I knew, yet Marian still believed I was keeping secrets.

“What more do you want me to say? I really told you everything! I only just realized that the transparent stone was a motus!”

“You truly don’t know anything else? Then let me ask differently. Besides Perlo and me, do you know any other motus artisans?”

“Uh… there’s one. At the Edelheit estate, I met a motus artisan named Parsen.”

“What? Not the maid Louis?”

I couldn’t believe my ears. Marian had said “Louis.” My close maid, like a sister to me. But she had lied and was hiding something.

“Wh-why Louis?”

My neck stiffened. My lips were dry. Marian sighed.

“Judging by your reaction, you really didn’t know. That maid Louis isn’t just a maid. Someone with a transparent motus couldn’t possibly be ordinary.”

According to Marian, a motus without a defined tier couldn’t be ordinary. That meant Louis had lied when she said her motus had reached its limit. Marian had said transparent motus stones had no usage limit.

“You said Parsen gave Louis the motus fragment. And Parsen was brought from the Kingdom of Zaren by Giscal, right?”

“The Marquis of Edelheit brought him from Zaren? Then I must meet him.”

Marian’s expression turned serious.

“Wait! Zaren keeps coming up. What exactly happened in the Kingdom of Zaren?”

Perlo interrupted, understandably. Parsen came from Zaren, and Marian was a princess of Zaren.

The origin of the mysterious motus, the child with the transparent motus and the book, the battlefield where Giscal became a war hero—all were tied to Zaren.

“You said you were forced to learn this script, right? Who could force a princess to do anything? Was there secret research on motus happening inside the kingdom?”

“Hmm… it’s not something I want to talk about…”

Marian shook her head. But Perlo didn’t back down.

“There’s nothing to hide now. Arne revealed her secret, so you should too.”

“You’re not really in a position to say that, but fine. I’ll keep it brief.”

Marian sighed deeply. She clearly didn’t want to speak, but she gave a short account of her past.

“There were monsters in Zaren that stole people’s bodies. Hundreds of years old. They used forbidden motus crafting techniques to infiltrate the royal palace from within. I nearly got taken by them too, but their greed saved me.”

“Stole bodies?”

“Yes. With motus, you can swap souls.”

Marian explained slowly. If two people touched a motus crafted with forbidden techniques at the same time, their souls would switch bodies.

It was unbelievable, but Marian’s face was serious.

“A soul from another world didn’t just randomly enter an empty body. It swapped places with the soul that originally inhabited that body. That’s why you ended up here.”

The result was the same, but the order of events was completely different. I hadn’t randomly entered Arne’s body—I had swapped souls with the original Arne.

To swap meant not to erase, but to replace.

“Th-then Arne’s soul is in my original body?”

Marian hesitated, then nodded.

“Yes. Each body now holds the other’s soul. But inter-world transfers are rare, so I can’t be certain.”

I shook my head, overwhelmed. I was living in Arne’s body. Arne must have changed too. That meant she might be living in my body now.

With my family, in my home, using my belongings.

My hands trembled. I was angry at Arne for living freely in my body, but then I realized it was like spitting in my own face. I felt miserable.

Marian placed both hands on my shoulders.

“I can imagine how you feel. But remember—what’s been swapped can be swapped back.”

The road to Arne Palace was long. I didn’t want to go. More precisely, I didn’t want to see Louis, who was there. I had to ask her something, but I didn’t want to.

I clenched the transparent motus fragment in my hand. To uncover the secrets I didn’t even know I had, I needed Louis. I planned to secretly summon her to my room, ask her everything, and depending on her reaction, use the motus to bring Marian and Perlo to my palace.

What would Louis say?

“Sigh.”

I couldn’t even imagine. I stood still for a long time at the entrance to Arne Palace. The maids behind me watched me, but no one asked why.

That was usually Louis’s role. She understood my moods best and always cared for me. That was the Louis I knew. But now…

I resumed walking. Arne Palace slowly came into view. As I entered, the first to greet me was Louis. She bowed cautiously.

When I treated her a bit coldly, she hovered around me with a worried look.

“Louis, I need your help.”

Her face lit up when I spoke first.

“If it’s something I can do, of course I will.”

“You really mean that?”

“Of course.”

“Let’s talk in my room. Dismiss the other maids.”

The maids dispersed. I went up to my room with Louis. I let her in first, then closed and locked the door myself.

On the carpet where Erich had once knelt in tears, I stood face-to-face with Louis.

“Louis, I have something to ask.”

Her eyes widened slightly, filled with curiosity.

“Do you have a transparent motus fragment?”

Her curious eyes quickly turned to panic. If only curiosity had remained. Louis even stepped back.

“Wh-what do you mean? A transparent motus?”

“Just be honest. You have one, don’t you? The one crafted by Parsen.”

“I-I threw it away after it ran out of uses. It wasn’t transparent.”

Louis shook her head. As she tried to back away, I grabbed her arm.

“Louis, please tell me the truth.”

I meant it. I wanted her to tell me the truth. I hoped clarity would save me from this confusion.

Her eyes wavered. Not the eyes of someone clueless—she was debating whether to tell the truth. Louis definitely knew something.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying, Your Highness.”

But she refused to tell the truth. I felt dizzy and leaned on the nearby table. Something on it rattled.

It was the motus fragment Erich had returned to me as a gesture of restored trust. I hadn’t touched it since.

It was red.

Like my wounded heart.

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