Ding-! The fingertips that struck the final key fell softly.

Veronica straightened her back and turned to look at the teacher listening to her performance.

The teacher, who had been standing with mouth agape, suddenly came to their senses as if ice had broken and began to clap.

Clap, clap, clap clap clap clap!

“My goodness, Miss Hardness! What a beautiful melody!”

The teacher clapped until their palms stung and shuddered. She had perfectly executed the piano piece she had learned.

The perfect melody truly created a heavenly sound.

Even skilled players stumble when playing after a long time, as the basics are difficult, but she was proficient from start to finish.

This was the same girl who lacked rhythm and talent!

Where had she been hiding such skill? She went on to demonstrate perfect performance skills in harp, lute, viol, and while her singing was still… lacking, everything else was flawless.

The teacher, unable to believe the sight, poured out praise until their mouth went dry.

Veronica’s reaction was indifferent, but the teacher had no time to worry about that. They even went so far as to mention hidden musical talent.

This situation repeated itself during dance lessons.

Veronica completed her movements without a single misstep, matching the beat indicated by the teacher. The teacher’s eyes nearly popped out in surprise.

“Miss Hardness! How much have you practiced! I was so worried about your lack of coordination before, but with this level of skill, you could hold your own anywhere!”

The teacher clasped their hands together and let out a sigh of relief.

In addition, Veronica performed flawlessly in all her lessons including singing, embroidery, poetry recitation, reading, history, and more.

In history class, she articulated her opinions without stumbling once, moving the teacher and receiving exaggerated admiration and praise.

She originally disliked learning. She found classes boring and maintained an insincere attitude.

She often skipped classes without a word to go play.

She had many shortcomings that required great effort to overcome, and her slow absorption of information necessitated much repetition in learning. Yet when she didn’t improve, she blamed her inadequacies on the teachers.

Because of her words, even skilled teachers were fired one after another, making it difficult to find new instructors.

This Veronica changed overnight.

She diligently attended all classes and spared no effort.

After her engagement to the fifth prince, her schedule became quite burdensome with increased things to learn, yet she never showed a hint of discontent.

Moreover, she demonstrated skills that no one knew where she had been hiding.

It was truly miraculous. A change that even miracles would admire.

“Thank you.”

The subject herself showed a bland attitude.

Though one might expect her to beam at the praise, she merely offered a flat thank you.

It was difficult to believe this was the same immature young lady who could never sit still. It seemed as if her core had completely changed.

Though this sudden change was somewhat puzzling, the teachers who no longer had to fear losing their lucrative positions laughed it off, thinking that what’s good is good.

As Veronica came down after finishing her lessons, Harry, who had just returned from an outing, approached her.

“Veronica! I’ve brought you a gift.”

Harry held out a large box he had been carrying.

It was a box with a cute ribbon attached. Veronica, who had been staring at it blankly, tucked the book she was holding under her arm and accepted the box.

When she opened the box, a glass artwork with an intricately crafted rose emerged. It was an item where the inside of the glass shimmered transparently in various colors.

“Didn’t you sing about wanting to have this?”

It was a glass artwork currently popular among the nobility.

Veronica had begged for it the moment she saw the obviously beautiful object.

Buying it wasn’t difficult, but she specifically demanded one exactly like the one on display.

The problem was that only one piece of this glass artwork was ever made.

The display piece already had an owner. When he tried giving her something similar, she threw it away saying she didn’t like it and burst into tears.

“I made a special request, and they made it for you.”

In truth, he had spent a year pleading and finally obtained it from the owner. It was an incredibly difficult item to acquire.

Despite how hard it was to get, Veronica’s reaction to receiving it was lukewarm.

As if someone had forced it on her.

“Thank you, Father.”

Harry became dejected at the unexpectedly bland response.

Had his daughter’s tastes already changed? Well, she was a child prone to whims and quick to tire of things.

“Don’t you like it?”

“Of course not. I like it very much. I must have thrown a tantrum to get it because I liked it. I know they don’t make the same thing twice for fear of decreasing its value, so I can imagine how much effort you must have put in, Father.”

Her tone suggested she had already figured out the origin of the item. Moreover, her continued lackluster response prompted Harry to hurriedly bring out another item. It was a box decorated with cute rabbit pictures.

“Cookies! I bought them from the shop you used to enjoy. Two boxes, even.”

“Did I do that?”

“Of course! You used to sing all day long about wanting to eat them, even while sleeping.”

“I suppose I did.”

Her response was lukewarm again. For a child who used to go crazy for sweets, Harry asked seriously.

“Are you feeling unwell?”

“Of course not. But, Father.”

“Yes?”

“You don’t have to do this anymore in the future.”

“Wh-what?”

Veronica, who had been examining the glass rose from all angles, looked up.

“No matter how much I throw a tantrum or act stubborn, please coldly tell me no when something isn’t possible. Refuse difficult requests, and if I still misbehave, you can scold me. Even if you discipline me strictly, I won’t dislike or hate you. I promise this. Do you understand?”

“Ah, yes… I understand.”

“I love you very much, Father.”

With that, Veronica wrapped her arms around Harry’s neck.

Harry, flustered, placed his hand on Veronica’s back.

It was perplexing and touching to hear such words from his young daughter who usually acted as she pleased and would cry ‘I hate Father!’ refusing to speak when scolded. Hasn’t her core completely changed?

“I love you too, Veronica.”

“Yes, then please put this somewhere nice.”

Veronica returned the hard-to-obtain glass artwork to Harry, picked up the cookie boxes, and turned around.

Soon after, she abruptly handed the cookie boxes to a nearby maid, telling her to share them.

The maid accepted the boxes in confusion.

Harry blankly watched his daughter walk away with proper steps.

Afterwards, Harry continued to present her with items she used to want.

Beautiful clothes and shoes, accessories, rare ornaments, and even expensive furniture.

Veronica’s attitude remained cold each time.

She would look at the gifts with an expressionless face and say ‘Thank you, Father’, always adding ‘You don’t have to do this anymore in the future.’

When Harry presented a teddy bear with ruby gemstones for eyes, Veronica looked down at it without accepting it and said:

“Do you think I’m a child?”

“You’re still only 16.”

“I’ve already had my debutante. I’m old enough to marry.”

“Don’t say things that bring tears to this father’s eyes. You’re still a child in my eyes.”

Harry smiled and pressed the teddy bear into Veronica’s arms. Veronica reluctantly accepted it.

After fiddling with the bear for a while, Veronica continued:

“Father.”

“Yes, tell me anything.”

“Even excessive things eventually run out. Didn’t you often tell me about the importance of frugality?”

“Y-yes, I did.”

“You shouldn’t waste the family fortune frivolously.”

Harry was taken aback by her seemingly reproachful tone.

“Darling… Father has plenty of money. Don’t worry.”

Despite his reassuring words, Veronica’s expression read ‘Oh, is that so?’

“Then use it for yourself, Father. You’ve already done more than enough for me. And I think it would be better to return this. It seems too excessive.”

With that, she handed the bear back to Harry.

After that, all gifted items were rejected.

The reason was that she had enough. So this time, he tried approaching with food.

He brought visually appealing and delicious foods or hard-to-get limited edition desserts, but Veronica would eat a few bites, say she was full, and give the rest to the servants. Eventually, she stopped eating them altogether.

She showed a similar attitude when gifted with very fresh and colorful flowers.

“Unless you’re trying to turn the entire mansion into a flower garden, this is enough.”

“B-but.”

“If you keep doing this, won’t it just spoil my character? I worry it might bring shame to your reputation, and by extension, our family name. If you truly care for me, please don’t indulge my childish whims too much.”

Veronica was resolute. Her attitude was colder than a midwinter wind.

Harry was very perplexed by this cold and mature attitude he had never seen in his daughter before.

It seemed he wasn’t the only one who felt this way, as there was much talk among the servants about how her demeanor had become strangely aloof.

They said that she, who always walked around with a confident smile, had become too proper lately, without even showing expressions.

Recently, Veronica’s teachers requested a private audience with him.

Harry sighed. He thought the time had come again for “We can no longer teach Miss Hardness.”

The haughty ones had already quickly withdrawn after dealing with her, and although he had deliberately sought out those in financial need, they often quit as well.

Harry met with the teachers nervously. He was prepared to listen to their laments and appease them with appropriate compensation.

However, the teachers who met with him all poured out praise for Veronica, saying things like ‘It seems you have an exceptionally talented daughter.’

Some said that if she continued to develop her skills, she would shake the world in the future, while others even used the word genius.

Harry was dumbfounded. It was the first time in his life he had heard such positive evaluations of his daughter.

At first, he was pleased too. What parent wouldn’t be happy to hear their child praised?

But soon, worry set in. Hadn’t his daughter’s behavior changed too drastically?

His daughter, who had been bedridden with severe lovesickness, suddenly gave up on the fourth prince and said she would marry the fifth prince. Not only did she diligently attend all the classes she had tried to avoid because they were boring, but she also showed skills that had shocked her teachers, skills they never knew she had.

She showed no reaction to things she used to like, and her attitude had become excessively cold.

All these changes happened at once. He couldn’t think of it as a good change.

Eventually, Harry visited Veronica’s room.

Veronica was sitting at her desk in her personal study attached to her bedroom, reviewing the day’s lessons.

It was a sight he had never expected to see from his daughter.

While he thought it would be fine as long as she was healthy, it was also a sight he had wondered if he would ever see.

Harry sat on the sofa and patted the spot next to him.

“Veronica. Would you come sit here?”