God clearly designated Ricardo as the next emperor through an oracle. Therefore, people predicted that the labyrinth map would be in Ricardo’s mind, and they believed he would draw it himself.

Once Ricardo, who inherited the bloodline ability more strongly than anyone else, took the saint as his companion, the Great Temple would undoubtedly enthrone him as emperor if he only brought back the chest containing the key from inside the labyrinth. This was more natural than the sun rising in the east.

The key in the chest symbolized the imperial family itself.

But there was one thing they didn’t know. While it was true that Ricardo held the labyrinth map in his mind, it was only after manifesting the Rochester bloodline ability. So everything would only happen after Ricardo left Count Pennel.

“Yes, of course. Father, I can do it well.”

Since Count Pennel played the role of a kind father, it was now my turn to play the good daughter.

“Just trust me.”

I smiled brightly while inwardly mocking their foolishness. The emperor’s efforts to gain legitimacy he didn’t have would be in vain, and above all…

The emperor would betray Pennel.

Count Pennel had planned to hand over the labyrinth map to Emperor Dermayer to gain great wealth and power, but the emperor, fearing the conspiracy would be revealed, would eventually send him to the guillotine.

The soon-to-be-dead man left my room with a very satisfied smile.

After he left, I let out a shallow breath and stretched my arms above my head. The boy would leave this earldom when he grew about a head taller than me.

Riding in the carriage of the Rochester ducal family who came to fetch him, leisurely…

For now, my only hope was that Ricardo would draw the labyrinth map after that.

Having achieved unexpected results, I picked up my bag and headed towards the east wing where the boy lived. As I left the west wing, a gloomy weather without a hint of clarity unfolded before my eyes.

Even though I was just moving from the west wing to the east wing, it felt like stepping into a new world where I couldn’t see an inch ahead.

It was the desert’s rainy season, which poured rain for exactly one month a year as if a hole had opened in the sky.

* * *

I had already noticed while looking at the dresses Sabrina wore, but her taste was quite consistent. Now I was sitting on a flower bouquet called a bed, watching Sabrina frowning deeply.

“Is it so difficult that you need to count on all ten fingers?”

“Shut up.”

Sabrina, who had narrowly avoided a major crisis with the arithmetic homework I had solved for her recently, had invited me to her room first.

“Can I learn letters today?”

“I said I’d teach you after you finish this.”

“So that means I can’t learn today.”

Since that day, Sabrina had been asking me to do her arithmetic homework under the pretext of teaching me letters.

“If you can’t wait, you solve it all yourself.”

“Sabrina, calculations are important. You can’t do calculations, right? Then you can forget about studying math in the future.”

She frowned deeply and focused again on counting on her fingers. It had already been ten days since we started studying together. Count Pennel had left the mansion again just three days after visiting me.

The letter system wasn’t difficult, and I could quickly learn most of it except for a few exceptional readings. I was reading a book Sabrina had borrowed while waiting for her to finish her homework.

“The more I think about it, the more unfair it seems.”

“What is?”

“This book. There weren’t such high-quality books in the library I went to last time.”

The content was the same too.

“That’s because it’s an old library. Honestly, you should be grateful that the head butler even took you to the library.”

“Why? Because I’m a bastard?”

Abruptly, Sabrina’s movements stopped.

“Well, well, yes. I didn’t mean to say it so harshly, but…”

As if she had grown fond of me after spending a few days together, Sabrina no longer treated me carelessly like before. The girl who used to shout “bastard” to the whole world as if worried someone might not know was now gone.

I chuckled and flopped down on the bed.

“It’s okay. It’s not like ‘bastard’ is a made-up word, and I have no intention of being hurt by something that’s not even my fault.”

Before, I didn’t even know what that word meant. Yet, every time I heard the word “bastard,” my throat would sting as if I had been caught stealing someone else’s property.

“Still, it’s a bit childish to discriminate against people even with books, let alone food.”

I thought some sarcastic remark would come back, but for some reason, Sabrina remained silent.

As I looked at her, I casually asked about Ricardo, something I had been curious about.

“By the way, about that child in the east wing.”

“Oh, the one you like?”

“Why do you say it like that?”

For a moment, my heart skipped a beat, and I ended up shouting much louder than usual.

“If you don’t like him, why did you go there? The east wing isn’t any better than the west wing.”

“Well… because I was scared to be alone.”

The lie I made up seemed quite convincing, as Sabrina didn’t say anything in response this time either.

“Anyway, why doesn’t that child have a name?”

Sabrina tapped her lips with a high-quality pencil that didn’t leave charcoal marks on her hands.

“I don’t know the exact details, but they say the child can’t remember.”

“Can’t remember?”

Was there some accident when Count Pennel kidnapped Ricardo? If not, the boy was surely pretending to have lost his memory. My head started to ache from the complexity, but I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

Deciding it was better to focus on a simple goal when the problem was complex.

“No, I don’t know if he lost his memory, but what’s certain is that he doesn’t talk about his past.”

Then Ricardo was deliberately hiding his existence… Perhaps even Duke Rochester could be a threat to Ricardo.

But fortunately, the Ricardo I met again in the empire was clearly the heir to the ducal family. So it meant he wouldn’t suffer great harm from the duke.

“Are you done?”

Having organized my thoughts to some extent, I suddenly got up and approached her, picking up the test paper. Tsk, nothing’s correct.

“Fr-fractions are difficult.”

“You were quick to tell me to know fractions, though.”

A glance at the time showed it was almost time for the arithmetic tutor to arrive. I hurriedly corrected the answers and gave explanations, but it was uncertain whether Sabrina understood.

“I deliberately got five wrong. We can’t arouse suspicion.”

“F-five?”

At that moment, the door swung open without warning, and a woman who looked strict at first glance entered. Having arrived earlier than usual, I had missed the time to leave the room. I stepped aside and greeted the tutor politely.

“I see you had a guest.”

I naturally waited for Sabrina to introduce me, but no words came. When I glanced sideways, I saw a pale face.

“I am Lienne Lowy Pennel.”

As I stepped forward to introduce myself, a flash of surprise crossed the tutor’s face. But that emotion soon turned into displeasure. It was a familiar reaction.

Even so, I am a Pennel. When I introduce myself first, it would be proper for her to return at least a small greeting. But the tutor immediately averted her gaze from me and stood in front of Sabrina.

“Please leave now.”

It might be natural for me to be mistreated by the people of this household, but there was no reason to receive such treatment from outsiders.

“No, if it’s not too rude, I’d like to observe the lesson.”

“What do you…”

“You’re not saying that I can’t even observe the lesson because I’m a bastard, are you?”

I cut off the tutor’s words. I couldn’t take my eyes off Sabrina, who had been trembling since earlier. My instinct was screaming. I shouldn’t leave that woman alone with Sabrina.

“As you know, I don’t have a tutor yet.”

The tutor turned away with a face full of words and sat down to grade Sabrina’s test paper. A hint of doubt crossed the tutor’s face as she graded. I thought I should be more careful in adjusting the number of wrong answers in the future when I heard a rustling sound.

Looking in the direction of the sound, I saw Sabrina standing up and lifting her skirt. And what I saw was something I couldn’t believe even with my own eyes.

I rushed to Sabrina and carefully examined her calves.

“You, what is this? Did you get hit?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Because I got it wrong.”

I glared at the tutor. But she just looked down at me with her head held high.

“Hit because you got it wrong? Explain exactly.”

My voice unintentionally rose a little.

“I get hit with a cane for each wrong answer. That’s the rule.”

“Rule?”

There was a set group of people who became tutors. Most were unmarried women from baronial families. Occasionally, there were tutors from viscount families, but unless they were in very difficult circumstances, there were almost no women who became tutors.

But in a society with a clear class system, how could a woman from a baronial family lay hands on the body of an earl’s daughter?