38.
Of course, she hadn’t just blurted it out for no reason.
The monster war sparked by Raspi.
It was there that the Duchess had used her copied abilities in countless ways to save lives.
She was truly a one-woman army.
Because no other Abilitator possessed such versatile utility, she became the pivot point wherever she was deployed. The Duchess valued human life far more than her family’s most guarded secrets. But in this timeline, the monster war would never occur, meaning there would be no catalyst to force that secret into the light.
[Saving the current point in time to Point 1.]
Having saved the moment out of habit, I pretended to know nothing and looked up at her with a beaming smile.
“What shall I try to foresee?”
“Anything.”
“Hmm. Then I’ll guess the Duchess’s expression in fifteen seconds.”
“Hmm? An expression? Isn’t there something else, something that could definitively prove your ability…?”
I didn’t know how many times I had already proven my ability since returning to the age of seven. Growing bored with the routine, I decided to be stubborn.
“Then, I’ll use it now!”
“Child, wait…!”
Ignoring her confusion, I mimicked the sensation of channeling power and murmured as if delivering a miracle.
“Oh, the Duchess’s expression in fifteen seconds will be… astonishment.”
At my claim that I was using my ability, she sighed softly, likely having scrambled to activate her own replication skill in secret. Then, recalling my words, she looked at me with open skepticism.
“…Astonishment? Well, I doubt that will happen.”
Astonishment, out of nowhere—even to me, it sounded like grasping at straws.
“More importantly, Tania, did you actually use your ability just now?”
“Yes.”
“…That’s strange.”
Watching the Duchess’s face fill with deeper suspicion, I curled the corners of my mouth.
Of course it was strange.
She had obviously tried to ‘replicate’ my ability, but she had failed to grasp anything. Replication was a formidable power, but it was fraught with limitations. After her ability was eventually exposed to the world, analysts discovered the strict constraints governing the Papiope family’s gift.
One could only make an opponent’s ability their own if two conditions were met:
1. There must be physical contact at the precise moment the opponent uses their ability.
2. One must know exactly what the opponent’s ability is.
Since the Duchess hadn’t fulfilled either condition, the result was only natural. In the first place, I hadn’t used an ability at all; mine wasn’t even foresight.
Just as the fifteen seconds passed, I leaned into the Duchess’s ear and whispered, effectively forcing the foresight to become reality.
“…The Duchess’s ability, it’s ‘replicating’ the opponent’s, isn’t it?”
In an instant, her pupils dilated, and the look of astonishment I had predicted shattered her composure. It seemed she realized it was too late to deny it; the truth was already written all over her face.
She narrowed her eyes, then asked with a look of weary resignation.
“…How did you know that?”
“Through foresight, of course. It’s not that I just found out; I’ve known for a long time.”
As I rolled my eyes and answered, she nodded, gesturing for me to continue.
“I know that your ability is the Papiope family’s greatest secret. But in the future, you reveal it yourself.”
“…I do? With my own lips?”
“Yes.”
The Duchess shook her head firmly, unable to fathom it.
“Tania, no matter how reckless I may be, I’m not foolish enough to reveal that myself. Tell me honestly—where did you hear that?”
I, having instantly become the daughter of a ‘foolish’ mother in her eyes, hastily intervened to save my own reputation.
“Honestly, you think it doesn’t matter if it’s revealed, don’t you?”
“…What?”
“Because you’re going to end the inheritance of the ability in your generation anyway. Whenever lives are at stake, you’ll reveal it without hesitation.”
The ability was a hereditary trait passed only through blood. If she remained childless, the power would die with her, effectively vanishing from the world. If anyone else had heard this, they would have called it nonsense.
However, at my tone, which was filled with absolute conviction, the Duchess’s suspicious gaze flickered.
No noble would reveal such a secret just to save a few commoners. It was inconceivable. Unless, that is, they were a warm-hearted eccentric like Viviana Papiope Dillum, currently standing right before me.
“Ha!”
The Duchess let out a dry laugh and ran her hands roughly through her hair. Then, she murmured, admitting the truth.
“…That certainly sounds like something I would do.”
“Right?”
By now, the eyes looking at me had softened. I added with a playful grin.
“What I foresaw was your expression. How is it? Has my ability been proven?”
“That’s debatable. Isn’t this the same as predicting someone will get a black eye and then punching them in the face yourself?”
“But I was right, wasn’t I?”
“…….”
Staring at me blankly, as if lost for words, she suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace.
“The more I look at you, the more I like you! Do you want to be my daughter?”
“…Wasn’t I already the Duchess’s daughter?”
“But what kind of daughter calls her mother ‘Duchess’ so stiffly?”
The Duchess placed her hands on my shoulders and urged me on with an expectant face.
“Come on, call me ‘Mom’.”
“M-mom….”
It was only one word, yet I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I hadn’t even been able to call the other man ‘Dad’—how could I call the Duchess ‘Mom’?
Besides, the Duchess of Papiope was the mother of my friend Elision in the previous timeline. It felt like a betrayal of the past. In the end, after a long hesitation, I blurted out something entirely different.
“M-… did you sleep comfortably last night?”
“…….”
A look of disappointment flickered across her face. Feeling unbearably awkward, I wiggled out of her arms and bolted toward the door as if to escape.
“L-later.”
At that, one corner of the Duchess’s mouth curled into a mischievous, boyish smirk.
“Run all you want. Prey is always more fun to catch when it’s difficult.”
*Um, is it appropriate to compare a child to prey?*
Trembling, I was about to dash away, but a sudden thought struck me. Before closing the door completely, I poked my head back in.
“That… before I leave, I have a personal question. May I ask?”
She allowed the request with a graceful tilt of her head.
“Go ahead.”
“The reason you didn’t want to get married or have children—it wasn’t just because you hadn’t met someone you loved, was it?”
“And?”
“It was because you believed the existence of the ‘replication’ ability itself was dangerous, right?”
“…Truly, it feels as though you’ve peered right into my soul.”
The Duchess rested her chin on her hand, watching me with an intrigued, almost predatory gaze.
“If I were to put you in my mouth and roll you around, I wonder what else I’d find.”
After tossing out that chilling joke, the Duchess chuckled and spoke her mind freely.
“Yes. Because no one knows if my children or descendants would want peace the way I do. It’s too dangerous a power for one person to wield.”
As expected, even what seemed like an impulsive act was a choice born of a firm, personal philosophy.
“My daughter, have all your questions been answered now?”
“Yes, thanks to you. And…”
Before closing the door, I voiced a thought I had held onto while watching her for a long time.
“Whatever people might whisper behind your back, I respect you for being able to make such a choice.”
The Duchess’s eyes widened in an instant, as if she had never expected to hear such a thing.
“Then, I’ll be on my way. Duchess, fighting for the rest of the day!”