‘Be patient. They’re just children.’

Though I tried to remind myself, I was so angry that even smiling was difficult.

Several of them ganging up to intelligently belittle and ostracize one person.

‘…And to our Bianca, no less.’

I forced down my rising anger and deliberately curved the corners of my eyes.

The more I did so, the paler the children’s expressions became.

‘To think there’d come a day I’d be grateful for Rebecca’s fierce look that’s scary even when smiling.’

As I gazed down at the children, I clapped my hands lightly as if I’d just remembered something I’d forgotten.

“Oh right, I should have explained why I stopped by first. Actually, I came to give you all a gift I prepared.”

“A-A gift…?”

“Yes, I prepared it in advance when I heard Bianca’s friends were coming.”

At my gesture, Mina placed the doll box she was carrying on the table.

The children glanced into the box while watching me cautiously.

They seemed unable to contain their curiosity despite their fear.

“This… this looks like me…”

“That doll resembles me!”

The young ladies whispered to each other softly.

Though they suppressed their voices out of fear, they couldn’t hide their excitement.

‘Of course. I had ordered dolls made to look just like Bianca’s friends after finding out their appearances in advance.’

The children kept glancing at me nervously but couldn’t take their eyes off the dolls that resembled them.

‘Seems they really like them, huh?’

I watched the children and slowly raised the corners of my mouth.

“Since I put so much effort into preparing these, it would be right for these dolls to go where they belong, wouldn’t it?”

I first took out the doll that resembled Bianca from the box.

Then I smiled gently at Bianca.

“First, of course, is our lovely Lady Bianca.”

“What…?”

Bianca looked back and forth between the doll and me with her round blue eyes.

“It’s a gift. I hope you like it.”

“Th-Thank you, Your Highness…”

The corners of Bianca’s mouth turned up slightly.

She seemed both bewildered and happy about the situation.

“Now, next is…”

All the children’s eyes turned to my hand.

They all looked as if they desperately hoped to be next.

I took out the doll resembling Judith from the remaining dolls and muttered indifferently.

“…It’s a blonde doll.”

Judith’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.

I pretended not to notice and tapped my chin with my finger.

“Hmm. This is…”

After pretending to contemplate for a while in front of the expectant Judith,

I casually tossed the doll over my shoulder to Mina.

“Throw this one in the trash.”

At that, not only the young ladies but even Mina’s eyes were filled with shock.

“Y-Your Highness, this expensive doll? This… This is a precious one made by a hard-to-book doll artisan we barely managed to persuade!”

“What’s so precious about it? It looks mischievous, just like…”

I looked down at Judith and continued nonchalantly.

“A stupid child who likes to bully her friends.”

Mina, who had been looking back and forth between me and Judith, seemed to finally grasp my intention and nodded slowly.

“Ah, I see.”

“See? It would be troublesome if our young ladies started resembling such an ugly doll if we gave it as a gift by mistake. So…”

I smiled at Judith, curving the corners of my eyes.

“Trash belongs in the trash bin, right?”

Judith bit her lower lip, looking as if she might burst into tears at any moment.

I looked down at the child coldly and slowly parted my lips.

“I told you, didn’t I?”

“…”

“That it would be right for this doll to go where it belongs.”

As my voice gradually became colder, the children’s shoulders began to tremble again.

Just like Bianca who had been bullied by them moments ago.

I stared down into the box for a while, then suddenly pushed it towards Mina.

“The rest, all to the trash bin!”

“Understood, Your Highness!”

Mina answered cheerfully and glanced at the young ladies with a gleeful expression.

The disappointed children all looked like they were about to cry.

Meanwhile, Judith secretly glared at Bianca with a face that said ‘I’ll deal with you later.’

Bianca, noticing that gaze, shrank her shoulders again in fear.

And that scene finally touched my sore spot.

“Everyone, listen to me carefully.”

My voice spread low around us as I leaned slightly forward, placing both hands wide on the table.

Judith and the other children all looked up at me with frightened expressions.

“I intend to report all the discriminatory remarks you made here to the Grand Duke’s palace.”

“What…?”

“Especially you, young lady. You said your mother often makes derogatory comments about mixed-blood demons too, right?”

“Y-Your Highness! That’s…”

“If we’re unlucky, this story might reach the Emperor’s ears, and then…”

“…”

“Your parents would be in quite a predicament, wouldn’t they?”

The young ladies’ faces turned pale.

The contributions of mixed-blood demons were significant in the founding of this Western Empire.

That’s why Emperor Retiz never tolerated discrimination against mixed-blood demons.

No matter how young, they were daughters of high noble families.

These children surely knew that if this reached the Emperor, their families would face disadvantages.

And because of that… their own situations would become very difficult.

“Your Highness! We were wrong! Pl-Please don’t do that… okay?”

“We, we were wrong, Your Highness…”

However, Judith’s expression was only pitiful as she practically screamed.

“We… we’re still young and immature! And this was just a mistake made by children while playing!”

My, my. Where did she learn to say such things?

To use her parents’ overprotective words as a shield for herself, copying them exactly.

I looked down at Judith and smoothly curved the corners of my lips.

“A mistake by young children… Well, I suppose that could be the case.”

“Th-That’s right? I knew Your Highness would understand…”

Judith narrowed her eyes smugly, like a cunning child who had successfully deceived an adult.

I stared down at Judith for a moment before speaking again.

“That’s why I must make an even bigger issue of this incident.”

At my words, all the young ladies looked devastated, as if the sky had fallen.

“Y-Your Highness…!”

Finally, Erica burst into tears and shouted irritably.

“Judith, this is all your fault! What are we going to do about this now?”

“Erica’s right! W-We… wouldn’t have had to say those things if it weren’t for Judith!”

Judith glared at the other children murderously before immediately raising her eyes to me.

“Your Highness, this is too much! Even good children make mistakes sometimes!”

“…Well, Lady Judith.”

A sneer slipped through my lips.

“Strictly speaking, what you just did wasn’t a ‘mistake’, but a ‘wrongdoing’.”

“…!”

“Of course, even good children do wrong sometimes. And it’s the adults’ job to correct them when that happens.”

“Your Highness, please…!”

“So I’m going to correct your wrongdoing in my own way.”

Judith kept biting her lips, apparently anxious that things weren’t going according to her plan.

I slowly leaned towards Judith.

Finally, as our eyes met up close,

Judith’s frightened face suddenly froze like ice.

“You’d better look forward to it, Judith.”

“…”

“You see, I believe that in order to prevent that ‘good child’ from repeating the same mistake…”

My face remained composed, but my voice sank even colder.

“One should never forgive carelessly.”

* * *

That night.

Cedric was tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep until late.

After a long while, he finally headed to the training ground behind the mansion, carrying a wooden sword.

As Cedric arrived at the training ground and threw off his thick nightgown, his sculpted, toned upper body was fully revealed.

Then, as he moved to loosen up his stiff body, his firm muscles created subtle lines with each movement.

Finally ready, Cedric slowly adjusted his grip on the wooden sword.

Right now, he desperately needed harsh training to torment his body.

It was because of the meaningless thoughts swirling in his head.

Tak!

Cedric hurriedly swung the wooden sword towards the training dummy.

But the thoughts wouldn’t easily let him go.

‘It turns out those young ladies had been subtly ostracizing Lady Bianca since they were in the capital.’

‘Her Highness saw that in the orangerie today and gave them a scolding.’

Cedric’s grip on the wooden sword tightened even more.

‘Why only now? Why…’

Tak!

The impact sound grew even fiercer.

‘Her Highness seems to have really changed. She looks much much more comfortable and incredibly happy!’

‘The Grand Duchess loved you so much, so you must have no regrets now, haha!’

At these successive thoughts, Cedric gritted his molars even harder and swung the wooden sword.

‘Was married life with me really so painful? Maybe now that she’s more at ease after the divorce, her originally generous nature is coming out…’

That meant he had tormented Rebecca with needless suspicion throughout their marriage.

Cedric swung the wooden sword repeatedly, grinding his teeth to erase the overwhelming guilt.

He continued striking intensely for a while.

Tang!

At the sudden loud noise, Cedric’s gaze dropped downward.

Half of the wooden sword was lying pitifully on the ground.

It seemed to have finally broken, unable to withstand his strength.

“Haa…”

Along with an irritated sigh, he absently looked down at his right hand holding the remaining half of the wooden sword.

It was then.

‘…A divorce contract is still a contract. Since it’s been settled well, let’s shake hands one last time.’

A voice lingering in his ears like an auditory hallucination.

…Rebecca, that woman again.

Cedric shook his head forcefully.

‘Forget about the painful marriage soon. And next time, I hope you meet a woman you truly love and live happily.’

Thick veins popped up on his forehead as he shook his head.

But her voice continued to muddle his thoughts.

‘…Take care, Cedric.’

Finally, as even her last smile came to mind,

Cedric turned his body around abruptly at the unfamiliar sensation of his heart area tingling.

After sighing deeply while holding his forehead for a moment,

His gaze fell on the low wall surrounding the training ground in a circle.

Then he frowned as if captivated by something.

It was an attempt to see that ‘something’ that bothered him more clearly.

Red hair rising above the low wall of the training ground.

It moved up little by little, then red eyes peeked out slyly.

The innocent eyes kept looking around, unaware that Cedric had noticed.

At that sight, a faint laugh escaped Cedric’s lips as he stroked his eyebrows.

“…Ha.”

Rebecca, that woman again.