A Child's Naughty Scribbles and the Sudden Summon
She sighed for no reason at all.
Crying out in a tiger’s den would only lower her chances of survival.
“Hah……”
The maid, startled by Idel’s meaningless sigh, glanced at her face for a moment before continuing.
It was a businesslike move, as if her job came first ahead of the duke’s reaction.
“Rose and Veronica will serve you nearby, but for now I will handle all of your needs, young miss. If you wish to move about or feel hungry, pull the string to summon a maid. We will take care of everything.”
“……For now?”
“Yes, for now. Miss Idel will need time to grow accustomed to the Clementine Duchy, won’t she?”
Her tone was flawless, and her eyes were modestly lowered, making her appear exceedingly polite.
Yet beneath her eyelids, something had not been fully hidden, and Idel, not truly believing it, snapped back with a whiny tone meant to test the waters.
“Ugh, what about Mom? I want to see Mom.”
“You mean Countess Lopez, I presume. The countess has urgent matters and will likely be unable to meet you for a while.”
“Oh, really?”
Was she being treated like a fool because she was a child? Idel hadn’t been clueless about her position, yet this maid was lying without batting an eye.
Moreover, this went beyond the duke’s orders.
The duke had told her to separate from Melissa, but he hadn’t said to monitor every movement.
‘Why all this fuss?’
Idel quietly considered the possibilities, then rolled her eyes and spoke again with a pout.
“……Then can’t I even meet the other little girl beside the countess? She was crying. I just wanted to play with her. We could eat delicious things together. What do you think?”
“It is a good suggestion, but it may be difficult. Young miss Jayana’s health is fragile, so it is hard for her to spare the time. If I moved her for you, it would cause a great problem, wouldn’t it?”
The maid’s calm rejection of the idea made Idel’s eyes sparkle with interest.
Was it really?
‘Why is the young lady, the precious daughter of the duke, so much more nervous than the duke’s own command? Because of the female lead, Jayana? To protect the duchy’s most precious young miss?’
It seemed the maid feared Idel would behave badly toward Jayana, just as Melissa had done to her.
So she was pretending to be attentive while trying to block any connection.
‘An extremely desirable thought.’
Idel recalled Melissa’s words right before she stepped into the duchy.
“Idel, Idel, are you on Mommy’s side?”
“Yeah, Idel is on Mommy’s side.”
“Everyone who says they hate Mommy, what do you call them?”
“Bad people.”
“Exactly. You must be mean to bad people. Here, only Idel and Mommy are on our side. Do you understand?”
“Yeah, but……”
“If Idel is kind to bad people or disappoints Mommy, you understand? Help Mommy make the right choice so she won’t be sad.”
Before she remembered the original story, it had seemed nice that Mommy relied on her. Now she knew.
‘If I don’t listen, she’ll use brainwashing to turn me into a puppet. Right?’
To survive as a human being, Idel had to become the “good daughter who obeys Mommy” in order to make the people of the duchy do bad things.
So it was only natural that the servants were alert toward her, even though it wasn’t specifically for her.
‘Well, it’s not really for my sake, but……’
Idel shook her head in agreement while gripping the hem of her dress. She spoke in a sullen voice, wanting to end the conversation with the maid first.
“Hmph! Boring. I’m going back to my room.”
As she walked toward the room, Idel realized the conclusion she had reached in the reception hall had been correct.
This place was hopeless.
In a plot that could twist in any direction, the best thing was to escape as quickly as possible.
‘Now is just the warning level. When the real story begins…… wait. Warning?’
Idel’s mind spun quickly.
‘I was never going to be loved anyway.’
Since the villainess mother was glaring with wide eyes and cursing, Idel had to do all sorts of bad things. To receive love in such a situation? That was nonsense.
‘But if I get irritated by Melissa’s curse and cross the line……’
‘I’ll be marked by the future black-hearted queen, and I’ll end up with the sunflower flower ending.’
Even if she managed to survive death, she had no idea if she could stop the future marriage.
‘Then there’s only one answer. I have to commit a moderate amount of evil so that neither side marks me.’
Walking the tightrope between the “loving mother who curses” and the “future black-hearted queen mother” was suffocating, but what could she do?
‘It’s not the world that is abandoning me. It’s me who is abandoning the world.’
A proverb she had heard somewhere struck her heart today. Survive by being appropriately bad, then look for the right moment to escape.
[The duke’s orphan who is impossible to save acts foolishly and runs away.]
In a plot this hopeless, that kind of departure was more than enough.
‘Then I need to make a detailed plan……’
Thinking about the servants’ behavior, Idel felt she had plenty of time to think.
With her tasks decided, Idel lightly clenched her fist.
[The adaptation period has lasted quite a while.]
Time had passed since she had been under surveillance disguised as adaptation.
As expected, Idel had not met anyone, not even Melissa.
‘I’ll definitely make sure of this.’
To determine whether the blood in her veins was truly that of the Clementines, and what kind of child “Idel” was.
A resolve not to create even the slightest variable in this process.
“If there is anything you desire, miss, please let us know at any time……”
“Again with that? Hmph, boring! I’m going to draw by myself, so you all go away!”
Pretending to be sulky, Idel stuck out her lip and turned her head sharply.
The drawings scattered on the floor showed the traces of memory she had scraped together during the days she had stayed in the room.
Counting the sheets of paper and estimating the date, Idel’s eyes narrowed.
‘Soon?’
The task labeled “confirmation of parentage” and read as “adult affairs” would soon reach its conclusion.
‘I will receive the Clementine name and become a member of the duchy.’
For the duke and duchess it was a regrettable development, but the test result had already been decided.
Because Melissa had already marked Idel’s body before she entered the duchy.
Of course, it was only a temporary phenomenon, so the result would differ after a few years, but who would dare retest something that had already been officially recognized?
‘Once the duke’s blood is confirmed, that is when the real story begins.’
With a small hand, Idel rubbed the pencil and steadied her thoughts.
‘The goal is to look appropriately foolish and bad, like a minor who is nothing worth. And to seize the moment to escape at the right time.’
She had been performing it diligently so far, but from now on she would have to put even more effort into it.
‘I am weak against the kind of people who are like the female lead in this novel.’
People bright as sunlight, who hesitate to divide lines for others.
However, the point where a solid wall begins to crack is always a tiny fissure, and a butterfly’s wings can turn into a storm.
‘So from the beginning, I must be careful so as not to give any leeway.’
At the moment when Idel clenched her fist tighter and reaffirmed her resolve.
Meanwhile, the maid standing beside her was in a dilemma.
‘Should I clean it now?’
The maid glanced at Idel, rolled her eyes, and thought.
‘She seems drowsy because she keeps glaring……’
This new young lady was completely unpredictable.
Whenever she kept glancing over, the maid found it annoying and stayed silent like a ghost, but then the young lady would get angry and tell her to stop peeking.
After that, no matter what she said, the young lady ignored her, so the maid had suffered for a while.
After long deliberation, the maid took a closer look at Idel.
Scribbles on the floor, a refreshed expression, and a half-turned posture.
‘I’m not sure if she’s sleepy, but she has definitely lost interest in drawing. I’ll clean it before she says anything.’
The maid, certain of Idel’s condition, approached her quietly.
The moment she reached for the paper to clean the scribbles, a sharp pain spread across her palm along with the sensation of the paper’s edge scratching her.
“Ouch!”
The maid instinctively grabbed her hand, and the moment she looked up, she saw Idel’s face and quickly held her breath.
Whether it was surprise at the sudden accident or anger, she could not tell, but she stared at the maid with round eyes wide open.
“Ah, um……”
The panicked maid could not finish her sentence and clutched her hand even tighter. Blood was clearly seeping onto her palm.
“You’re bleeding……”
Idel was just as shocked.
Idel had unconsciously reached out to ask if she was all right, then quickly closed her mouth.
Although the unexpected accident made her feel bad, worrying about the maid now could cause the sensitive image she had built over several days to collapse.
Instead, Idel quickly pulled back her outstretched hand and shouted loudly.
“It’s not my fault! You’re the one who touched my things without permission! Were you trying to steal my paper? I know everything……”
“Ah, no! I was only trying to clean the paper before you noticed…… Idel! I wasn't trying to steal it at all!”
The maid thought about how the seven-year-old would ever steal the scribbles she had drawn, yet she brought out the line that would make the truth obvious.
“Then right now, you are the bad one?”
The maids who had read Idel’s mood from her tightly pressed lips approached her with a troubled smile, trying to console her.
Tap, tap!
“Miss, the duke, the duchess, and Lady Melissa are urgently looking for Miss Idel.”
The maid who entered the room with a light knock announced the “beginning” she had predicted yet never wished for.