I didn’t expect Cedric to start the conversation by mentioning my preferences first.

Although disliking lilies was certainly Rebecca’s old preference, still…

‘Can I hope that Cedric’s antipathy has lessened a bit?’

Feeling slightly better, I moved a bit closer to Cedric’s side.

“It’s alright. My tastes have changed a lot recently.”

“…Your tastes have changed?”

Just as Cedric’s gaze turned towards the blonde Adrian,

In the distance, a carriage carrying Bianca could be seen rushing towards the Mansion of Light.

“Ah, the carriage is coming in!”

I unknowingly grabbed Cedric’s arm and shouted.

At that, Cedric’s gaze, which had been fixed on Adrian, suddenly dropped to my hand.

Then he seemed to stare blankly at my face, but at that moment, I had no time to pay attention to his gaze.

‘She’s really here! Our Bianca is here!’

The sound of my pounding heart and internal cheers made my insides noisy.

Meanwhile, the carriage had already stopped in front of the main gate.

Finally, as the coachman slowly opened the door of the stopped carriage.

Something popped out from the door.

Short legs in opaque white tights and small red Mary Jane shoes that fit perfectly on the feet.

‘Those short, chubby legs are certainly!’

Soon, the little lady made a cute sound as she jumped over the low threshold of the carriage.

“Hup!”

It was Princess Bianca, the fatally charming girl who had made me wait all day.

As I was secretly clutching my chest, Bianca’s mouth opened wide as she immediately spotted Cedric.

“Oh? Your Highness the Grand Duke!”

Bianca waved her small, cute hand high in the air.

In the child’s opposite hand was a cute rabbit doll, and on one side of her sleek black straight hair was tied a blue ribbon.

Her bright smile made her white, chubby cheeks stand out even more.

At the same time, the child’s large blue eyes sparkled even more brilliantly.

Upon seeing that angelic smile, I had to cover my mouth.

‘Oh my, even her voice is cute… She’s too cute!’

There’s not a single part of her that isn’t cute.

As I was continuously marveling at Bianca’s appearance, the child started running towards Cedric.

But as that distance grew closer, Bianca’s complexion gradually began to pale.

It was from the moment she spotted me standing next to Cedric.

“Your, Your Highness the Grand Duchess…?”

As Bianca hesitated, unable to come any closer, Cedric let out a low sigh and approached the child first.

“You must be tired from the journey, Bianca.”

He gently patted Bianca’s small head and smiled faintly.

“I heard in advance that Her Highness the Grand Duchess would also come out to greet you today.”

This was Cedric’s kind demeanor that I had never seen before.

However, Bianca seemed more familiar with this side of him and gripped his hand firmly.

“That’s true, but, I, I didn’t really think you’d actually come out…”

While answering Cedric, Bianca kept glancing at me nervously.

‘Oh dear… As expected, she’s afraid of me.’

I tried hard to lighten the mood and approached with a smiling face.

“Our cute Princess Bianca, was your journey peaceful?”

Simultaneously, surprised gasps erupted from here and there.

“Cute…?”

“…Our?”

Bianca and Cedric also wore shocked expressions.

“Me, me…?”

Bianca’s already large eyes grew even wider as she shrugged her shoulders.

“Yes, Princess Bianca. Weren’t you hungry during the journey?”

As I asked in an even sweeter tone, more single gasps burst out from around us.

Having reached the limit of my patience, I glared at the surroundings with warning eyes.

‘Geez. They’re not even an audience, can’t they tone it down a bit? Tsk!’

Only then did the servants hurriedly close their mouths, avoiding my eyes.

I turned back to Bianca and smiled even more gently.

Just looking at the servants’ faces turning pale every time I smiled, it was clear that Rebecca wasn’t exactly known for her kind appearance.

‘But I absolutely don’t want to instill such fear in Bianca!’

I raised the corners of my mouth with all my might.

But for some reason, tears began to well up in Bianca’s eyes.

“Her Highness is… s-smiling…”

The cute little hand holding onto her nanny’s dress hem trembled.

“Na-Nanny, I’m so scared…”

It was then.

Pop, pop.

Two horns about the size of strawberries sprouted on top of Bianca’s small head.

‘Huh? Those are the ones that appeared on Mina’s head…’

Maybe because it was my second encounter with horns.

Bianca’s cute horns weren’t that surprising.

No, rather, I felt glad to see them first.

‘Horns on that tiny head… It’s too cute!’

However, the servants began to stir with uneasy expressions.

At that reaction, Bianca seemed to sense something and felt her head with a pale face.

As soon as she confirmed that horns had sprouted, her cute chin began to tremble severely.

“Ho-Horns came out… In front of the Grand Duchess, horns, uh… uwaah…!”

At that moment, I could only freeze like a stone.

‘Cr-Crying…? Did I dare make our princess cry?’

I looked at the nanny in bewilderment, and she tried her best to hide Bianca behind her back with a terrified face.

“Because Her Highness suddenly smiled, Princess Bianca got goosebumps… No, I mean, she was a bit surprised! So please don’t misunderstand, Your Highness!”

All the servants looked afraid that something might happen at any moment.

They soon surrounded me from a distance and began to circle around me.

Like a native tribe wary of an excited wild lion.

“We-Well, in childhood, sometimes the demon appearance comes out due to emotional changes!”

“Yes, that’s right! After all, when young, there’s not enough strength to control magic power!”

“It will get better as she grows up, Your Highness! So, please try to calm down a bit…!”

All those gazes suddenly turned towards Mina.

Eyes looking at the only savior.

As if sensing their desperate wishes, Mina approached me slowly, spreading both hands like a skilled wild animal trainer.

“Your Highness, come now. Let’s not get excited and try taking some slow, deep breaths, shall we?”

“…”

“Now, inhale and exhale. Inhale and exhale…!”

“…What are you doing right now?”

Whoosh!

Mina retreated at the speed of light, covering a distance of ten steps.

And she even let out a sigh of relief with an expression like she had almost stepped on a landmine.

With Mina’s departure, no one was left around me.

Whoosh―.

A chilly wind scattered my hair, which was left alone and disheveled.

* * *

Inside the reception room of the Grand Duke’s mansion in the Mansion of Light.

It was too quiet for a place where the whole family had gathered after a long time.

Next to Cedric, who was calmly drinking tea, Bianca kept glancing at me nervously while fidgeting with her rabbit doll’s ears.

‘Poor thing. She keeps watching my expression.’

Afraid that if I spoke, Bianca’s tears might burst again.

I was just continuously drinking tea, unable to open my mouth carelessly, when it happened.

“Um… Your Highness…”

Bianca’s small shoulders, which called me, were still completely hunched.

“Yes, Bianca. What is it?”

Even though I asked back in the kindest voice possible, Bianca flinched out of habit.

“Ea-Earlier… I’m really sorry…”

Bianca closed her eyes tightly and then opened them, as if afraid that tears might escape without her knowing. The moisture in her large eyes doubled her cuteness.

“Your Highness smiled with good intentions, but I stupidly cried again…”

“…”

“I, I was wrong, Your Highness! I won’t cry often like a fool like before! So… if you don’t hate me, I would be really grateful… I think…”

An excessively intimidated appearance for an eight-year-old child.

‘This child, even when she first met the female lead Robelia, she was always desperate not to be hated.’

There wasn’t a single smooth part in that small child’s short life.

Bianca lost her parents before she was even a year old.

After that, she suffered harsh treatment from her new sister Rebecca and fled to the capital, but even in the noble society of the capital, Bianca, of mixed demon descent, was always just a foreigner.

In other words, a situation where she wasn’t welcomed in both the place she was born and raised, and her place of refuge.

‘I’m just like an island. A lonely island floating alone, unable to stay anywhere…’

Remembering Bianca’s sad words from the original work, I looked pitifully at the child in front of me.

‘…Such a kind and pretty child.’

Then, looking at Bianca fidgeting with the rabbit doll, I slowly shook my head.

“You’re wrong, Princess Bianca.”

“What? Did, did I do something wrong again…”

“That you acted foolishly, Bianca.”

At my words, Bianca blinked her eyes with a dazed expression.

“Considering my actions up until now, it’s a natural reaction. So never say such things again.”

After staring at me blankly with a shocked expression for a moment.

Bianca quickly lowered her head as if startled by the fact that she had been making eye contact with me for a long time.

I looked at Bianca for a while and then opened my mouth again.

“And it’s also wrong to say that Princess Bianca did something wrong. The one who has committed many wrongs until now wasn’t Princess Bianca, but…”

“…?”

“It was me.”

Bianca’s blue eyes slowly widened.

Cedric, who was next to her, was also looking at me with surprised eyes.

At their natural reaction, I slightly raised the corners of my mouth and stood up from my seat.

Then I slowly bowed my head towards Bianca.

“Princess Bianca, all this time… I’m truly sorry.”

The reception room froze in shock for a moment.

Of course, Rebecca’s past actions weren’t wrongs I had committed.

However, this was a knot that only I, who had possessed Rebecca, could untie.

Moreover, if my sincere apology could even slightly unravel the knot in that small child’s heart, I could be sufficiently satisfied with just that.

How long had the silence lasted like that?

As if suddenly coming to her senses, Princess Bianca hurriedly began to stop me.

“Yo-Your Highness! Please don’t do this! To bow your head to someone as inadequate as me…”

“…Inadequate child? That’s not true at all.”

I shook my head gently, looking at Bianca again.

“Princess Bianca is a kind person who tried to embrace me as family, even though I was so lacking as an adult and as a human being.”

“…”

“The one who was lacking was me, never you, Princess.”

“Th-That’s…”

“Princess Bianca is sufficiently lovable… no, you deserve to be loved.”

“…What?”

In the round eyes that were blinking slowly, fierce waves gradually began to ripple.

After a moment. Bianca hurriedly lowered her head and bit her lip.

It was a sight of her trying her best to hold back the tears that were about to burst out, just as she had promised earlier.

Although the tip of my nose tingled with sadness, I carefully composed my expression to continue speaking.

“I promise. I will never wrong you again like before, Princess. Besides, I’ll be staying at the Mansion of Darkness from now on.”

“…”

“So, Princess Bianca.”

At my call, Bianca slowly raised her head again to look at me.

The child’s round eyes were already filled with moisture again.

Looking at the child like that, I conveyed the words I had wanted to say at least once since learning about Bianca’s sad inner thoughts in the original work.

“Please don’t be lonely anymore like an island, and now… please grow up happily, taking firm root in the embrace of your family.”

Eventually, a thick teardrop fell with a plop onto Bianca’s rabbit doll.