"Iris, where's your necklace?"
During their private mont, Eiji's gaze drifted to Iris's neck—smooth, fair, and delicate, tempting one to leave marks. However, the sapphire necklace she had worn before was missing.
"Necklace?"
Following his gaze, Iris touched her neck and seed to recall sothing, shrinking slightly as a faint blush colored her cheeks.
"I heard it was a tribute from so noble to the royal family?"
"Mhm, it was originally ant for my elder brother, but he thought it suited better, so he gave it to as a gift," Iris replied softly, her voice tinged with shyness. "But it's not with right now."
"Not with you? Where is it?"
Eiji's expression sharpened.
There were no unusual signs on Iris—no indication of a personality shift—so the plan shouldn't have succeeded.
Then why was the necklace missing now?
"Last night, Rein told her father wanted her to return ho for an arranged eting with so noble's son. But her family is quite poor and doesn't have any decent accessories, so she borrowed the necklace from . She promised to return it after the eting."
Unlike Claire, Rein ca from a small town on the kingdom's border, where her father held a noble title.
Even so, their family was barely holding on, maintaining only the noble na while struggling financially. Rein often blended into the background because her attire was far plainer compared to other nobles. Rumor had it the most valuable thing she owned was her mage robe, which she treasured dearly—even her staff was of poor quality.
It made sense she'd borrow a necklace from Iris if she lacked proper accessories.
"Rein, could you give the necklace you borrowed from Iris last night?"
So Eiji sought out Rein and made his request.
"Necklace? What necklace?"
But Rein looked utterly confused.
"Didn't you borrow a necklace from Iris because you didn't have any decent accessories for your arranged eting?"
Eiji paused—sothing felt off.
"I don't have any arranged eting!"
Rein stared at him incredulously.
"Who started this rumor? Do you know how bad this is for my reputation? And no matter how poor I am, I'd never dare to borrow anything from Lady Iris!"
Unlike Claire, Rein truly served Iris as her master. What servant would ever borrow from their master?
"Wait, what were you doing last night?"
Eiji's brows furrowed deeply—he seed to have stumbled upon sothing sensitive.
"I was exhausted last night and went to bed as soon as it got dark."
Still irritated, Rein answered honestly.
"Co with !"
Eiji brought Rein back to the castle's highest floor, where they t Iris again.
So, why was it that princesses and queens throughout history often ended up entangled with their guards?
As a guard, staying close to one's charge was only natural, right?
When the two compared their accounts, they were shocked by the discrepancies.
According to Iris, Rein had approached her last night and borrowed the sapphire necklace.
But Rein insisted she had gone to bed early and never visited Iris at all.
Both sides were completely thrown into chaos.
"Let's calm down and verify the tiline."
After pondering for a mont, Eiji asked Rein, "Rein, what ti did you go to bed last night?"
"Around seven o'clock," Rein replied thoughtfully.
This world lacked entertainnt. After nightfall, apart from engaging in intimate activities, there was basically nothing to do but sleep.
"Iris, what ti did Rein co to see you?"
"Around nine o'clock."
Iris and Rein stared at each other wide-eyed.
In an instant, both of them felt a deep sense of confusion, with Rein experiencing an inexplicable chill down her spine.
"By the way, when did the intruder disguised as the Demon King appear?"
"Why are you so sure it was a disguise... Around ten o'clock."
Iris gave Eiji a puzzled look before answering after so thought.
"Judging by the tiline, it happened right after, but is there any connection between these two incidents?"
"Rein, I rember you told this before, right? The fake Demon King suddenly appeared brazenly in the castle and then vanished just as quickly?"
Instead of answering Iris's question, Eiji turned to Rein.
"That's right, but the guards generally believed it was probably so kind of teleportation magic... Wait, why are you so certain it was a fake Demon King?"
Rein looked utterly baffled, completely unable to follow his train of thought.
"Hmm... Speaking of which, does transformation magic exist in this world?"
"There's no such magic. Aren't you a grand mage?"
"You can't expect a black-haired adventurer to know too much, even though I'm undeniably a grand mage capable of casting the advanced spell Light of Saber."
Facing Rein's skeptical gaze, Eiji remained unfazed.
"Let rephrase the question. Are there any divine artifacts, magical tools, or racial abilities that allow soone to take on another person's appearance?"
"Never heard of them."
Rein rubbed her not-so-big head, indicating she couldn't help.
"I've heard of it!"
Just then, the little princess suddenly raised her hand.
"I rember my teacher once ntioned that among the demon races, there's one called Doppelgangers. Their true form is an insubstantial shadow, and as long as they know what soone looks like, they can perfectly mimic them!"
"Could it be...?"
Rein shuddered with disgust.
"That must be it! The culprit is definitely a Doppelganger!"
After a brief consideration, Eiji pieced together the entire sequence of events.
"Judging by the tiline, after infiltrating the palace, it first took on Rein's form to trick Iris into handing over the necklace, then transford into the Demon King and boldly declared its intention to kidnap the princess."
Unlike Iris and the others, who believed the intruder last night was the real Demon King, Eiji had been certain from the start that soone was impersonating him, which was why he ca to investigate, already aware that the culprit had a disguise ability.
"But why steal the necklace?"
Iris still looked utterly confused.
"That brings us to a certain unscrupulous goddess..."
Eiji sighed in frustration.
...
Night gradually fell.
The sky darkened, with two full moons hanging high—a clear sign that this was a world entirely different from Earth.
"Hmm, this one won't do!"
It observed the people in the palace from the shadows.
When its gaze swept over a soldier, it scrutinized him with a critical eye, pushed at its empty nose bridge, then shook its head in disdain.
"None of these will do. They're all just burly, rough n. Aren't there any super hunks or beauties around?"
The shapeshifter had no concept of gender—it was rely a mass of pure shadow—yet it harbored peculiar preferences, only willing to mimic handso n or beautiful won.
Countless soldiers passed before its eyes, yet it couldn't find a single one to its liking.
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