Artemisia hurried through the corridors of the manor, Elise tagging

  along behind her.

  “How could I have slept in?!” she wailed, hiking up her skirts.

  “What if I’ve already missed Hansel!”

  “I’m sorry, my lady, I should

  have woken you sooner!”

  “You tried, didn’t you? It was me who went back to sleep!”

  Artemisia had ended up staying up later than planned last night,

  after Marianne had visited her. After the duchess had helped her

  remove her stays, she had insisted on staying longer.

  ?

  Artemisia sat at her vanity as Marianne carefully dragged a brush

  through her hair.

  “It’ll only get tangled again whilst I sleep,” Artemisia said,

  feeling rather out of her depth. Both her and the original Artemisia

  had surely grown past the age for such things, had they not?

  “Not if you braid it at night. It should also help with your

  frizz,” Marianne said confidently. “Haven’t you been doing

  that?”

  “Nooo…” Artemisia said.

  I don’t know how to take care of long hair! I’ve always sent

  Elise away right after she helps me with my stays, too.

  “Well, start doing it from today, and I’m sure you’ll see an

  improvement.”

  “I will. Thank you, mother.”

  For a minute or so, the only sound in the room was Marianne’s

  brushing.

  Now I’ve gotten over the awkwardness of this, I have to admit,

  it’s pretty nice.

  “Are you having anything for

  dinner?” Marianne asked.

  “Yes, I asked Elise to have something simple sent up for me.”

  “Good, good. You shouldn’t skip your meals at the moment. I think

  you’ve lost some weight, and you’re thin enough already.”

  “Gooot it.”

  Marianne swatted Artemisia lightly with the hairbrush. “Speak

  respectfully to your mother.”

  “Uh, yes mother!”

  Marianne put down the hairbrush and started braiding Artemisia’s

  curls, deftly managing the strands that Artemisia found so hard to

  deal with. It was easier to just have Elise pin it all up haphazardly

  out of the way.

  “Did you do this much for me before I lost my memories?”

  Artemisia asked, curious.

  “Every now and then, but only a few times since you came of age.”

  In the mirror, Marianne’s expression turned wistful. “You used to

  spend as much time with me as you could when you were little, but as

  you got older, you spent more time by yourself, studying and

  practising.”

  “Ah, yes, I was quite good at languages, I heard?”

  “You were, and I am sure you still are. The knowledge is in there,

  it just needs a little encouragement.” Marianne tapped Artemisia’s

  temple. “You’ll get better in no time.”

  Artemisia made a non-committal noise. Sorry to disappoint you,

  duchess, but you’re wrong there. I don’t think the original

  Artemisia is coming back anytime soon.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  There was no reason to be hesitant about that. The original

  character’s soul would only reappear at climactic moments, when the

  female lead was dying, or as an epilogue, and none of those would be

  for a while… hopefully.

  I haven’t even had a whisper of a plot yet, apart from this

  possible male lead… and maybe the situation with Georgio Gloriosa.

  Ughhhh, I’d forgotten about him for a moment.

  Artemisia must have been making a face, because Marianne spoke up.

  “What’s wrong? Are you worried about your memories?”

  “In a way,” Artemisia replied. “I’m worried that I might have

  to face the consequences of actions that I don’t remember taking.”

  “I’m sure that won’t happen,”

  Marianne said airily. “And if it does, just ask me for help. I’m

  sure I can make any problem go away.”

  I guess she’s trying to be supportive? But it comes off as

  flippant, like she doesn’t really care. I don’t want to tell her

  about this whole seduction scheme of Artemisia’s, anyway.

  Marianne draped Artemisia’s finished braids over her shoulders.

  “Look, I’m all done. Don’t you look lovely?”

  “I look… young.”

  “You are young, sweetheart.”

  Marianne patted Artemisia on the head. “You’re in the prime of

  your life, and don’t you forget it.”

  “Haha…” Artemisia laughed

  awkwardly. Thankfully, she was saved from further conversation by the

  arrival of Elise, pushing a small cart carrying Artemisia’s dinner.

  “Have an early night tonight, and hopefully you’ll feel much

  better in the morning.” Marianne kissed Artemisia’s forehead.

  “Hansel is leaving for the academy early tomorrow, so won’t you

  say goodbye to him?”

  “I will, I will. Goodnight, mother.”

  ?

  Heavily

  out of breath, Artemisia finally arrived in front of Hansel’s room.

  She had to take a moment to catch her breath, bending over with her

  hands on her thighs.

  “My lady, are you alright? You shouldn’t push yourself!”

  “I’m… fine… don’t worry… about me.” After dragging some

  air into her lungs, Artemisia stood up straight and quickly knocked

  on the door.

  Wait, I can probably just go in, right? He is my little brother,

  after all.

  Artemisia opened the door, calling out Hansel’s name.

  His room was a modest affair, with simple furniture and a plain white

  and blue colour scheme. The only points of interest was the rack of

  weapons on one of the walls, and on another, a small painting of a

  lake surrounded by trees. A trunk sat open on the floor, clothes and

  other belongings neatly tucked inside it. Kneeling beside it, looking

  at Artemisia with a startled expression, was Hansel.

  “Oh thank god, I didn’t miss you!” Artemisia exclaimed, anxiety

  flooding out of her. She sagged against the doorframe.

  Hansel raised an eyebrow. “Why are you worried? I’m not leaving

  for another hour.”

  “Oh… Well, mother said you were leaving early, and then I

  overslept, so I thought you may have already gone.”

  Hansel looked down at his trunk, seeming both happy and annoyed at

  the same time. “It’s not like it’s a big event, seeing me off,”

  he muttered, pouting.

  “I wanted to, so just be happy your big sister didn’t want you to

  go without seeing you one last time.” Artemisia crossed her arms

  and wandered around Hansel’s room.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, mirroring her pose. “Stop

  snooping!”

  “I’m just looking! Your windows are east-facing, so you get the

  morning sun. That’s so nice!”

  Hansel shrugged.

  “Are you almost done with packing? Hey, who’s this?”

  Artemisia plucked a small teddy bear off Hansel’s bed, but no

  sooner had she picked it up than Hansel snatched it out of her hands.

  “Nothing! It’s nothing!” Hansel blushed furiously, hiding the

  bear behind his back. “Go away!”

  Artemisia chuckled. “I think it’s cute! What’s it’s name?”

  “I wouldn’t name a toy! That’s… juvenile!”

  “I’d say sixteen counts as pretty juvenile,” Artemisia scoffed.

  “Come onnn, it’s got to have a name! Tell me! Tell me, tell me,

  tell meeeee.”

  “...Mittens,” Hansel said in a very small voice before blurting

  out a harried explanation. “I was really young, and it had mittens

  when I was gifted it, although I lost them a long time ago, but when

  I was small the fact it had mittens must have really stuck out to me…

  so I called it that.”

  “Awwww.” Artemisia hid her smile behind her hand. “Are you

  taking Mittens back to the academy?”

  “Of course not! I don’t need a bear to sleep at night! He’s

  just in my bed right now for… sentimental reasons! But I don’t

  need him!”

  “Alright, alright.”

  “I mean it! Stop looking at me like that!” Hansel frowned,

  tensing a little. “Seriously. It’s weird.”

  “What’s weird?”

  “You would never tease me this light-heartedly before…” Hansel

  shook his head. “Sorry, don’t pay me any mind.”

  “Huh.”

  I’m not doing a very good job of acting like the original

  Artemisia, am I? Hopefully everyone will put the sudden personality

  change down to amnesia and the accident. Eh, it’s not like they’d

  jump to the conclusion that I’m a different person.

  “Do you need any help packing?”

  “I’m fine! Stop bothering me!”