Chapter 3 Say It Again

The name still felt wrong.

Claire.

Every time someone said it, Ari reacted a second too late-like the sound belonged to someone standing behind her instead.

"Claire."

Ari looked up automatically.

The housekeeper frowned. "Are you listening?"

"...Yes."

"Then answer properly."

Ari lowered her gaze immediately. "Sorry."

The older woman sighed sharply before handing her another stack of folded cloth.

"Take these to the east hall. And stop wandering around like you're lost."

Lost.

Ari almost laughed.

Instead, she nodded quietly and walked away.

The estate felt different during the evening.

Softer.

Dim golden light stretched across the halls while distant conversations drifted faintly through open doors.

Everything looked familiar enough to hurt.

Every turn carried memories.

There.

That corner where Emy once knocked over an entire vase trying to scare her.

That staircase where they sat during storms because Ari insisted thunder sounded different indoors.

That window where he-

Ari stopped walking abruptly.

No.

Don't do this.

The memories came too easily here.

Like the house itself refused to let her forget who she had been.

Her fingers tightened slightly around the cloth in her arms.

None of this belongs to me anymore.

The thought settled heavily in her chest.

Then footsteps echoed ahead.

Ari froze instantly.

She knew those footsteps.

Not logically.

Instinctively.

Slow. Unhurried. Familiar enough to make her chest ache before she even saw him.

Emy appeared around the corner moments later.

Alone this time.

Ari's breathing caught immediately.

He looked up.

Their eyes met.

And for one terrifying second-

Ari forgot everything.

The servants uniform.

The stolen life.

The wrong body.

All of it disappeared beneath one overwhelming instinct:

Emy.

His brows furrowed slightly.

Not recognition.

Just curiosity.

Like something about her had interrupted his thoughts.

Ari lowered her gaze quickly.

Careful.

You have to be careful.

She stepped aside automatically to let him pass.

"Good evening, Young Master."

The words felt unnatural in her mouth.

Too distant.

Too formal.

Emy slowed slightly instead of continuing past her.

"...Have we met before?"

Ari's grip tightened painfully around the folded cloth.

No.

Yes.

A hundred different lifetimes ago.

"...No," she answered quietly.

A pause.

Then-

"That's strange."

Her heartbeat quickened.

Ari kept her gaze lowered.

"Why?"

The question slipped out before she could stop it.

Silence stretched briefly between them.

Then Emy spoke again.

"...You feel familiar."

The world seemed to stop around her.

Ari forgot to breathe.

He doesn't remember.

She knew that.

Of course she knew that.

And yet-

something inside her still cracked painfully hearing those words.

Because part of him noticed.

Even now.

Even like this.

Ari forced herself to stay still.

"You're mistaken," she whispered.

Maybe if she said it enough, she would believe it too.

Emy didn't answer immediately.

Instead, Ari felt his gaze linger on her.

Studying.

Searching.

Not understanding why.

That somehow felt worse.

Then quietly-

"What's your name?"

Ari froze.

Claire.

That was her name now.

Wasn't it?

The silence stretched too long.

"Claire," she answered finally.

The word felt foreign inside her chest.

Emy repeated it softly.

"...Claire."

Like he was testing how it sounded.

Something twisted painfully inside Ari.

No.

That isn't the name you're supposed to say.

She lowered her head further.

"I should return to work."

This time she moved before he could stop her.

One step.

Then another.

Steady.

Controlled.

Even as her chest tightened harder with every second.

Behind her, silence lingered.

Then-

"Wait."

Ari stopped instinctively.

Dangerous.

Too dangerous.

Slowly, she turned back.

Emy stood exactly where she had left him, watching her with a faint crease between his brows.

"...Have we really never met?"

The question sounded quieter this time.

More uncertain.

Ari's throat tightened painfully.

Because she remembered everything.

Rain against windows.

Shared coffee gone cold during arguments.

His laugh at two in the morning.

His hands holding hers while they died together.

And now he looked at her like a stranger asking for directions.

"...No," Ari lied softly.

The word hurt more than she expected.

Emy looked unconvinced.

Before either of them could say anything else-

"There you are."

Another voice entered smoothly.

Ari stiffened immediately.

The woman wearing her face approached them calmly, elegant even in the softened evening light.

Lady Ari.

The title still made Ari feel sick.

The woman smiled faintly as she reached Emy's side naturally.

Comfortably.

Like she had stood there forever.

"I've been looking for you," she said lightly.

Emy glanced at her briefly before looking back toward Claire.

Just for a second longer than necessary.

Something cold settled uneasily in Ari's stomach.

The woman noticed it too.

Though her smile never changed.

"What is it?" she asked softly.

Emy hesitated.

Then shook his head.

"...Nothing."

But he still looked distracted.

Still looking at Claire.

The woman's gaze shifted toward Ari then.

Brief.

Polite.

Indifferent.

Like she truly saw nothing unusual about the servant standing in front of her.

"...Claire," she said gently, reading the name from memory rather than familiarity. "Was there a problem?"

Ari forced herself to answer normally.

"No, Lady Ari."

The title tasted bitter.

The woman nodded once.

Satisfied.

Then turned back toward Emy easily.

"We'll be late if we stay here."

Late for what?

Ari didn't ask.

Didn't want to know.

She stepped back automatically, lowering her gaze again.

The movement felt practiced now.

Too practiced.

Like this body already knew how to make itself smaller around people like them.

Around people like her.

"Excuse me," Ari murmured quietly.

Then she walked away.

Not too fast.

Not too slow.

Careful.

Always careful.

But halfway down the corridor-

"...Claire."

Ari stopped instantly.

Not because of the name.

Because of the voice saying it.

Slowly, she looked back.

Emy was still watching her.

Frowning slightly now.

Like something about the name itself bothered him.

Like it didn't fit.

Ari's chest tightened painfully.

Then the woman beside him touched his arm lightly, drawing his attention away.

The moment broke instantly.

Emy blinked once before finally turning away with her.

And Ari stood alone in the corridor long after they disappeared.

Her fingers curled tightly against trembling hands.

"...You said you'd recognize me," she whispered softly.

But the silence that answered felt uncertain now.

Like maybe-

some part of him already had.