Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: No Matter What Anyone Says, Sien is Dad's Daughter
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The princess looked furious at the audacity of being told to "get lost," but the Mirmod family members were already surrounding me protectively.
The princess ground her teeth before fleeing like she was running away. She must have decided it was better to retreat and bide her time.
"Anyway, I never liked her from the start!"
I alternated glances between the departing Princess Anessa and Delphia, who was unleashing a torrent of curses in her anger.
Princess Anessa wasn't the type to let this end here.
The question was how she would come back.
'This whole affair can't just be Princess Anessa acting on her own.'
I'd realized that during our long conversation with her.
She was definitely the short-sighted type.
There had to be someone behind all this, pulling the strings.
'But who could be behind it?'
Who was the mastermind weaving this mess?
I clenched my teeth and sank deep into thought.
***
Princess Serina Anessa was no longer permitted to enter or leave the Mirmod estate at will.
The marriage talks had fizzled out as well.
Feeling threatened, the princess had holed up tightly in the imperial palace.
Of course, Delphia was just waiting for her to emerge—until I stopped her.
She'd said she was going to blow the place up with dynamite....
But even so, I hadn't expected her to stay cooped up in the palace for this long.
This couldn't be the end of the web spun by the princess—or rather, the black curtain behind her. The atmosphere was far too calm.
I rested my chin on my hand, lost in thought.
Unfortunately, there was no one around me who could help.
'But there is one adult who could offer some advice.'
The holy knight, Ted.
And lately, he'd been following Dad in and out of the palace, serving as my eyes and ears.
"Ted."
He replied to me in a solemn tone.
"Yes, milady."
His kind eyes conveyed his intent to follow my every word without question.
I gazed at him steadily before asking.
"Have you heard any rumors from the palace lately?"
"There are no rumors about Her Highness the Princess. Just that she's in seclusion...."
I tilted my head and let out a soft sigh.
"I see...."
What on earth was the princess scheming? I pondered deeply before speaking again.
"Then, any rumors swirling around the palace itself?"
There might be even a tiny clue here.
At that moment, Ted hesitated as if recalling something, then cautiously spoke up.
"Ah! It's not about Her Highness the Princess, but the court is abuzz with talk about Court Count Yoter lately."
Court Count Yoter?
His sudden, out-of-left-field comment made me tilt my head in confusion.
"Isn't Count Yoter the rival to my trading firm?"
"Yes, that's right. Haha. These days, instead of focusing on his firm, he's mostly carrying out charitable works under His Highness the Crown Prince's orders."
That's when Leonhardt barged in like a bolt, snapping at him.
"Come on, charity work my foot! The guy's obsessed with making money—he'll do any sleazy test imaginable."
I thought hard, then cocked my head at the phrase "sleazy test."
"Sleazy test? What's that?"
"Uh.... Well."
Ted started to explain cautiously, but Leonhardt beat him to it.
"Word is, his money was behind that holy power test the little brat Asid did last time. Lately, he's even doing paternity tests for noble bastards. Count Yoter really does it all."
"Ah, yes. That's right. Count Yoter's been making noise about handling paternity tests for nobles now. He's quietly popular on the down-low."
'Paternity test....'
I propped my chin on my hand and mulled it over.
Princess Anessa, who kept harping on about the "real daughter" and "fake daughter." And now this paternity test business run by Count Yoter, a crony of the Crown Prince.
"Ah.... I get it."
I nodded quietly.
The elusive thread was finally starting to come into focus.
The reason that woman kept calling me a "fake daughter."
And the paternity tests sponsored by the Crown Prince's trading firm.
I glanced around.
Today, Leonhardt and Asid were here, having shown up to "protect" me.
I turned to Asid, who was sitting demurely beside me embroidering, and to Leonhardt across from me, mask on, leaning back and staring intently.
"Soon, a kid who looks just like Dad is going to show up."
"Yes? What?"
"What are you talking about, fluffball?"
"You're speaking of... suddenly?"
They all tilted their heads in bewilderment at my vague phrasing, but I spoke calmly.
"To be precise, our dad's daughter is going to show up."
......To be exact, a child who would claim to be our dad's daughter—and might even turn out to be the "real" one.
At my words, Leonhardt dropped the water bottle he'd been holding primly. It rolled across the floor with a clatter. I stared at it blankly and chuckled lowly.
"What the hell? Matthias's daughter is you!"
"Um.... They might say I'm the fake one."
Leonhardt's face turned beet red at my matter-of-fact statement, devoid of context.
"How do you... know tha... No, don't tell me you have prophecy powers too."
"......Kinda?"
"Impressive.... So you have a plan to crush that so-called daughter too, right?"
I met Leonhardt's eyes, brimming with faith and trust, and ended up bursting into laughter.
The kid who was supposed to become the ultimate villain in the future seemed surprisingly innocent.
The little healer beside him, Asid, timidly clutched my sleeve and whispered.
"The real daughter? Then, if that hurts you, Sien...."
I shook my head.
The world was too vast, and there were too many fools, to get hurt by every little thing!
"It's fine."
I'd always stepped through adversity.
Princess Serina Anessa was just another trial.
And every time trials appeared, I'd faced them head-on without defeat, growing stronger.
This time would be no different.
I clenched my fist tightly.
In fact, I already had a plan to turn this situation around.
But there was just one thing nagging at me.
'What if a kid shows up claiming to be the "real daughter"... what will Dad do?'
Dad was an emotional person, so he might get blinded by claims of blood ties.
More than anything, if Dad gave his heart to the "real daughter"....
'He'd definitely be hurt.'
To me, Dad getting hurt was the biggest problem of all.
***
At that moment, Matthias Mirmod had just returned from a patrol outside the castle walls and received a report about Princess Anessa.
Normally, he'd monitor Sien's every move, but the "harmless-looking villains" he'd blatantly assigned to her side had already fallen for Sien's schemes and weren't reporting anything to him.
But what must come to light eventually surfaces.
Matthias summoned his close aides who'd been with Sien, along with the healer Asid, and heard the full story.
The faint scratch on Sien's face could be covered with holy water, but the healer had seen the healing process from the injury that had already occurred.
"So that woman was bullying Sien."
"Yes, that's correct."
"She dared scar my daughter and pretend otherwise...."
"Yes. Lady Sien didn't tell anyone about it."
Of course, Sien harbored a grudge and had a scheme to pay it back double later.
But no one in the room knew that.
Matthias whispered like he was sighing.
"My daughter is so kind.... She even shows mercy to trash like that."
Had raising her too kindly backfired somehow?
Should he start teaching her to be a bit more ruthless now?
Matthias gritted his teeth, imagining Sien's pained cheek. Veins bulged on his jaw from the force.
His aide nearly said, "From what we've observed, Lady Sien might not be as kind as that," but clamped his mouth shut.
One wrong word about Sien in front of daughter-obsessed Matthias meant immediate demotion.
Silence stretched on like that.
After reviewing the report materials on Princess Anessa, Matthias rubbed his face dryly.
He just wanted to live quietly with his daughter, away from commoners, all cozy and sweet. If someone interfered....
What could he do?
"She must be plotting something inside the palace...."
If she dared intend to harm my daughter.
"If she crosses the line any further, isn't killing her just?"
No, she might have already crossed it.
He crumpled the report on Princess Anessa in his hand, thinking.
She dared touch my daughter.
What the hell was she thinking, hiding in the palace?
And how to make sure rumors spread that she'd been "properly" killed.
Right then.
The door opened, and his secretary bowed urgently.
"Lord Matthias! Princess Anessa is here, saying this is her final visit. She claims it's important."
He'd been pondering how to devour her, and the prey had crawled right into the tiger's den.
Matthias rose with a chilling smile, one corner of his mouth lifted.
***
The scene returns to just before Princess Anessa's "final" visit to the Mirmod family.
'The Mirmod family's killing intent was real. What the hell is Sien Mirmod that they protect her like that?'
Before visiting her brother the Crown Prince in the eerily quiet princess palace, Princess Anessa bit her lips and nails relentlessly, agonizing.
"How was Sien Mirmod, Anessa?"
"......"
The Crown Prince wore an expression knowing she'd failed. Anessa whined petulantly.
"You can tell just by me being here. I failed."
His face was calm and composed, as if he'd expected it.
Anessa ruffled her hair and muttered.
"......Yeah, I failed. Like I said, we should've charmed Sien Mirmod."
"And then?"
"We win her over, enter the family, marry Matthias Mirmod, and kick her out after. It wouldn't have been too late then, but we got hasty...."
In truth, Anessa had planned to stab Sien Mirmod in the back.
Everyone seemed to like the kid to some degree, so charm her, infiltrate the family, then oust her.
But the one who'd stopped that plan was the Crown Prince before her.
In the end, they'd followed his way, and it failed.
Now Matthias no longer viewed the marriage proposal positively. Plus, Duchess Lukella and Delphia Mirmod—who'd seemed interested in her—kept threatening her life.
"You said you wanted to marry Matthias Mirmod."
"Yeah."
"For that, Sien Mirmod has to disappear."