The thought of the white snake Saraph using the puppet figure named Daniel to plan on devouring Lorencia made her skin crawl all over her body. It was horrible.

“I think something bad is going to happen, Loa.”

“But before anything bad happens, I’ll protect everyone with the power I have.”

“Loa.”

“I’ll protect you too, Teshar.”

When did this young tree grow up so much? Teishar’s heart swelled with pride.

“I, too, will protect you with my life no matter what happens. My own jacaranda.”

“Then we shall protect each other.”

As Lorencia smiled brightly, Teishar’s face relaxed into a smile as well.

“Elua. Could you deliver the letter I wrote to Sir Carlien?”

“Yes. Lady Lorencia.”

At Lorencia’s gentle voice, Elua blushed slightly.

The more he experienced her, the less she seemed like a bastard child. Every word she spoke and every action she took exuded nothing but elegant grace. She felt noble from birth.

No matter how gracefully one acts, the other person may not feel it. No matter how precious a noble lady may be, while she possesses a certain aura, grace is something one must be born with. Could she really be the bastard child who was said to have been trapped in the Pol Heredian estate?

“Elua.”

“Yes. Lady Lorencia.”

“If you’re curious about the contents of the letter, feel free to read it.”

“No, it’s alright.”

Elua spoke sincerely.

“My job is not to read the letter, but to deliver it to my elder brother.”

“But aren’t you curious? You had to suddenly come to the Poloid Empire and serve me, the bastard child of the Pol Heredian family.”

“Being a bastard child doesn’t matter. I’m very grateful that thanks to you, Lady Lorencia, my mother is regaining her health.”

Elua knew well that bastard children were treated worse than the livestock they raised.

“Of course, at first I was curious what kind of letter it would be. But I trust my elder brother Carlien, so rather than being curious about serving you, I just hope the current plan goes well.”

Elua lowered his gaze as he received the letter Lorencia handed him. Carlien’s request had been sudden. He said that Elua would be hired as Lorencia’s maid and all he had to do was deliver the letter she wrote to him.

“I’ve been worried about elder brother Carlien working day and night without rest. Every time he came home, he would pretend otherwise but always had a pained expression. Even when I asked what was troubling him, he only said not to worry.”

Elua had witnessed the entire process of Carlien becoming Ruans’s aide and struggling. He took care of the household and his mother with the money Carlien brought. Thankfully, the doctor sent by Duke Daniel Greykan kept his mother’s condition from worsening, but she did not recover either.

Most of all, whenever Carlien encountered the doctor sent by Daniel, he looked anxious like someone being chased.

“That elder brother made a request of me for the first time.”

Elua had asked if there was anything he could do to help, but Carlien said it was fine.

“After our knight father passed away, elder brother received a full scholarship at the academy while also working and taking care of mother and me. When he was about to graduate from the academy, he said he might get a job at the Greykan duchy and I was so happy. It seemed like no more misfortunes would befall our family.”

Elua worried as Carlien’s face grew darker each time after becoming Prince Ruans’s aide. He felt something was going wrong. But Carlien tried not to show it.

“I told elder brother to quit his job because I was worried about him working. Do you know what he said when refusing me at that time, Lady Lorencia?”

“What did Sir Carlien say?”

“Until it’s safe… That’s what he said. With those words, I understood the situation elder brother was in. After that, I stopped nagging him to quit his job.”

There was no choice but to remain silent. Even if she knew what Carlien was going through, there was nothing she could do to help. The fact that she was powerless and unable to help only made the bleak reality sink in.

“But for the first time, elder brother told me that he could be safe. And he even asked for my help. Being able to help means a lot to me. So I’m only thinking about being able to assist elder brother Carlien. That’s why I’m more focused on delivering the letter well to elder brother rather than being curious about its contents. I mean it.”

Elua smiled as he preciously held the letter he received from Lorencia to his chest.

“Elua. Thank you for saying that.”

“Then I will go deliver this letter to elder brother. Lady Lorencia.”

“Elua.”

Lorencia called out to Elua as he was about to leave.

“Yes. Lady Lorencia.”

“I’ll do my part to help you stay safe from now on.”

Elua’s grateful eyes flashed for a moment. Seeing the corners of her mouth rise, Lorencia’s lips curled up as well.

“I look forward to working with you from now on. Thank you.”

After Elua left, Ameline entered.

“You have a guest, milady.”

“A guest?”

“Princess Charlotte has come to visit in secret.”

“Are you really Lorencia?”

Charlotte barely managed to hold back a surprised scream. Lorencia used to be so small and petite that she could easily fit in Charlotte’s arms. But now she had grown so much that there was no way she could be held.

It was an unbelievable growth even as she looked at her.

“Princess Charlotte. You’re surprised that I’ve grown so much, right?”

“Isn’t your growth too extreme? I heard about the pillar of light even without that. Everyone rejoiced that the child of Goddess Ella had returned to the Poloid Empire.”

“Yes. Thanks to my awakening, I’ve gained the power of purification. People won’t suffer because of demons anymore.”

“I’m truly grateful, Lorencia. And congratulations. Both on awakening as the child of Goddess Ella and growing up so splendidly like this.”

Lorencia’s cheeks flushed like rose petals at Charlotte’s praise.

“But Lorencia, how tall are you now? I think you’re taller than me now.”

Charlotte blinked as she looked at Lorencia who had changed so much. It wasn’t just her height that was different. When their gazes met, those dawn sky-like violet eyes seemed to suck her in.

Above all, seeing that slender neck made her unknowingly gulp. The face was clearly Lorencia’s.

Until not long ago, her face was so round and cute. But now, her defined jawline and snow-white skin drew the eye, no, captured it.

“I measured and I’m 170cm.”

“I think it’ll cause a stir when you make your debut in Poloid high society, Lorencia.”

“Cause a stir? Ah, I suppose it might if the Duke of Glostun’s daughter suddenly appears.”

“That’s not what I meant, Lorencia.”

“Then what did you mean?”

Lorencia tilted her head at Charlotte’s words. From the moment she was registered as the Duke of Glostun’s daughter, Blondie told her she would have to set foot in high society. She never imagined being a duke’s daughter. It felt burdensome too.

And when told it would be advantageous to stand by Teishar’s side as a duke’s daughter, she accepted becoming one. Before, she had thought of taking Leo and moving far away to grow potatoes…

But she couldn’t leave Teishar whom she loved.

“I meant that when you enter society, there will be a commotion not because you’re the Duke of Glostun’s daughter, but because you’re so beautiful.”

She had never lived being told she was beautiful. Of course, Ruans had called her beautiful once, but there was no truth in his words.

Who would call that gaunt, skull-like ugly face beautiful? Come to think of it, there was someone who had cared for her unsightly appearance with all his heart and called her cute and pretty.

It was none other than Teishar.

He treated her preciously both before her awakening and after she awakened as the child of Goddess Ella.

Lorencia smiled as Teishar came to mind.

“Lorencia. You can’t smile like that.”

“Pardon?”

“You’re too pretty. Even as a woman, my heart flutters seeing it, so men might faint and die. Smiling is forbidden.”

“What? You’re telling me not to smile?”

“Opening your eyes wide like that is also forbidden. Eye smiles are even more forbidden.”

“If you forbid all that, what expression should I make? Should I remain expressionless like this?”

“A blank face looks too aloof and pretty, so expressionless is forbidden too. I think we’ll have to cover your face.”

“Princess Charlotte, you’re going too far with the jokes.”

Lorencia laughed in a low voice.

“I’m half joking, half serious, Lorencia. Your face is excessively pretty right now.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

Charlotte looked at her with worry. Women with exceedingly beautiful looks become targets of jealousy and envy. Lorencia would be entering high society as the Duke of Glostun’s daughter, and her escort was Teishar, the top candidate for a groom. She would surely face opposition from other women.

“Hasn’t Duke Teishar been pestering you to marry him?”

“He said he would send a proposal to the Glostuns as soon as I became the duke’s daughter.”

Originally, he wanted to hold the wedding right away, but Abrelina objected. The reason was that she wanted to spend time with Lorencia until the wedding.

Teishar understood Welson and Abrelina’s position. Lorencia also said she wanted that. She said she wanted to know what it was like to live with her real family.

“He said he would send an engagement letter, not a marriage letter? I would have thought Duke Teishar of all people would be clamoring to marry you.”

“I requested it. I said I wanted to experience living with my real family when I became the Glostun daughter, so let’s have an engagement period. I’m grateful he didn’t insist on his way and accepted my opinion.”

As Lorencia smiled brightly, Charlotte smiled along with her. Looking at her smile that seemed happier than when she was in the Isuter Empire, she thought it was like dazzling sunlight.