As if assessing the person before her, the Duchess fixed her gaze.

The princess wasn’t at an age where she didn’t understand what a “good relationship” meant. So, she must have come here with the determination to marry Matthias.

For a moment, the Duchess’s expression became sharper. “Are you really planning to marry Matthias?”

“Yes.”
“Even though he has a child? There’s no need for a princess like you to stoop so low.”

“Oh my.”

The princess touched her lips with her hand and let out a soft laugh.

Her voice was still angelic.

“Do you think I can raise that child well?”

For the current Matthias Mirmord, the princess was the best choice.

But the Duchess also had her doubts about the princess.
Serina Princess Anne, why did this beautiful woman choose Matthias among countless options?

Duchess Lucella calmly spoke.

“Matthias is…”

“I’ve met him once. He’s not exactly warm, but I don’t think he’s a bad husband. He seems like a good person.”

As she said that, Princess Anne, who smiled gently, was exactly the image of the kind angel mentioned in the public.
But strangely, seeing that lovely figure, my tongue was tied.

“I can’t help but feel like there’s something fishy going on.”

What’s more worrying is that…

It’s not that the stepmother is always abusive. But there are certainly people who differentiate between their own biological children and non-biological children, aren’t there?

I still don’t know what type of person the princess in front of me is.
Could the princess, who grew up only in the palace, be kind to the little honey bun without a mother?

If it were someone else, they would probably say that Princess Serena would be kind to everyone.

But the Duchess Lucella is the cautious type.

Especially when it came to the honey bun, she didn’t want to take any risks.

“Matthias Mirmod probably isn’t actively considering marriage.”

“Probably because of the child.”
The Duchess Lucella didn’t bother denying it.

The princess, who was staring at her intently, spoke.

“In that case… may I meet Sien?”

A lovely smile graced her lips. However, the Duchess firmly shook her head.

“To bring in a… no, to inquire about the stepmother, it would be reasonable to ask for Sien’s opinion.”

Princess Serena pursed her lips for a moment.
She thought that if she, who had come from the palace, said, “I want to meet,” they would naturally arrange a meeting.

However, the situation was unfolding quite differently from her intentions.

“It seems that even in Matteus’s marriage proposal, the child’s opinion is taken into consideration. She might be a stronger opponent than I thought.”

It seemed that Sien Mirmod was exerting her influence within this household in her own way.

But it didn’t matter.

“Then, please ask and let me know.”
She smiled as beautifully as her reputation suggested.

After all, I could bend her to my will.

I was playing soldiers with Leonhardt and Acid when suddenly the maids began to bustle around.

They said the princess was looking for me. So, I had to hide quickly if I didn’t want to meet her.

But I intended to meet that princess.
Serena Princess, I was curious about her intentions.

“Hello, Serena Mirmod.”

Finally, the princess gracefully entered the reception room.

I inclined my head slightly towards the princess.

“I greet Your Highness.”

A drawn smile graced her lips.

The princess exercised her authority to dismiss all the maids and chose to be alone with me.
I quietly observed Princess Serena’s actions. I neither hindered nor openly supported her.

I was somewhat curious about what this angelic, beautiful woman might do to me.

“Is she as kind as the world perceives, or is she a bad person to the Mirmod? Somehow, I have a feeling it’s the latter.”

The princess didn’t deviate from my expectations.
The moment she realized we were alone, she shed the angel’s mask.

“You used a nullification charm when tormenting Gabrielle.”

“I’ve never tormented Gabrielle.”

However, as a friend of Melodia and Gabrielle, she seemed to be privy to all the news. She produced the “nullification charm” from her possession and grinned slyly.

“Now, you won’t be able to pull any more tricks.”
“I’m not up to any tricks.”

I really didn’t have something like a ‘recording charm’ on me. When I shrugged, she crossed her legs and stared at me arrogantly.

“I heard you’re a fake daughter.”

“No, I’m our father’s real daughter.”

She retorted sharply with a snort.

“That can’t be. They say you’re from a poor family.”

I hadn’t expected this development. I stared at the princess in astonishment, speechless.
I hadn’t expected this turn of events.

I stared at the princess, speechless. I was not a fake daughter; I was indeed my father’s daughter. However, from her perspective, it seemed she believed I was an imposter.

Furthermore, she had a very unfriendly demeanor towards me.
Those who have experienced hatred can at least sense whether the person in front of them likes or dislikes them to some extent.

And I could tell.

Serena Anessa, the princess who had come to become my father’s wife, disliked me.

“It’s highly reliable information. So, if I were to enter the Mirmod family…”

She delicately held a teacup with her fingertips.
“You should be the one to verify, Sien Mirmod, whether you are real or not.”

I faced the princess’s transparent sincerity.

In a way, I was thankful for it.

Now that I thought about it, the princess was much like a heroine in a melodrama, similar to Melodia. She couldn’t hide her true intentions even from the antagonist, maintaining her facade of goodness.

Her mask of pretending to be good had cracked in front of me.
“From the beginning, it’s ridiculous not to use a mask when you’re still a child. Did you really think that because she’s a child, she would bow down just because you put on a show?”

But I wasn’t an ordinary ten-year-old.

If Princess Anessa were to discard her mask, I could justifiably prepare on this side as well.