Perhaps he would try to press Mirmode from all sides by recruiting influential figures within the family to his side and once again target Sien.

If that were the case, it was time to prune everything inside and outside the mansion.

“I realized something through this trial.”

“W-What is it?”

“One is how intelligent our daughter is.”

The subordinate, managing to maintain an expression of admiration while hiding his astonishment, calmly exclaimed. His acting skills in portraying love for the boss’s daughter were improving day by day.

“…Ah, you are truly remarkable! Haha! A-And the other thing?”

“I dare say we need to trample the ones who dare to harass our daughter from the roots.”

Matthias’s gaze became sharp.

In his hands were documents explaining the corrupt relationship between the council and the Crown Prince.

The documents vividly proved the transaction in which the council sold information about Sien’s actions to the Crown Prince and received bribes.

“You shouldn’t show how we handle garbage. Incidentally, it might be good to send our daughter to the academy for a while.”

Through this incident, Matthias had firmly made up his mind.

He would send Sien to the academy for a short time to show her an ordinary world, then completely seize power within the family.

After some time, inside the Mirmode mansion.

“Come here, Sien.”

I ended up sitting on Dad’s lap in a clumsy way. Rolling my eyes around and sitting on Dad’s lap, Dad quietly murmured.

“You must be curious about what I talked about with the emperor.”

“…….”

I was read like an open book. When I nervously clasped my little hands, Dad whispered in a low voice.

“I can’t hide everything, so I’ll tell you the whole story of the incident, Sien.”

“……Dad?”

Dad’s attitude was a bit subtle. While it felt like he was protecting me, an atmosphere of ‘stay back as a child’ was there.

‘It feels like he considers me as a partner. Maybe because I brought up the partner talk first?’

Feeling that my intuition wasn’t wrong, Dad embraced my shoulders tightly and continued with a soft voice.

“Listen carefully, Sien. After finishing this trial, I informed the emperor about the Crown Prince’s misdeeds. The Crown Prince has greatly lost the emperor’s trust.”

“……I see.”

Pretending to be disinterested, I deliberately made my eyes as stiff as a frozen fish. Holding onto Dad’s arm tightly, I asked again.

“So, what happened then?”

“The emperor wasn’t trusting the Crown Prince much to begin with… Sebastian, the Grand Duke and the emperor’s illegitimate child, is scheduled to come from the frontier.”

I opened my eyes wide.

‘Ah, if it’s Grand Duke Sebastian, he’s the Crown Prince’s antagonist and destined rival!’

The Grand Duke was an illegitimate child embraced by the emperor with another woman, and he was someone in the Crown Prince’s adversarial faction.

He might appear as a villain in the story, but his personality might be different from the Crown Prince, who is the protagonist in the novel.

Although portrayed as an immensely demonic family in the novel, in reality, the Mirmode family, including my grandmother, was filled with warm-hearted individuals.

After hesitating, Dad continued to speak.
“Grand Duke Sebastian is also Dad’s friend.”

“Wow. Dad’s friend! Introduce him to me later!”

I blinked and leaned my body on Dad’s shoulder. However, instead of saying he would introduce me, Dad quietly continued.

“Sien, Dad hasn’t finished speaking yet.”

“Huh? Is there something interesting again?”

I was already feeling somewhat sleepy and tired.

“If it’s something interesting… Actually, Dad is really curious.”

It was a strange tone. Rolling my eyes towards Dad, I asked.

“…Huh?”

“How did our baby find out about the swan sculpture stuck in the clan’s warehouse?”

I jolted. Right, I got too hasty and revealed a lot of information from the original work because I was in a hurry.

‘…It couldn’t be helped, but it’s natural for Dad to be suspicious.’

Although I kept my head down silently, Dad’s words continued.

“What you want, how you live, and…”

Dad whispered low in my ear.

“What secret you’re hiding from me.”

For a moment, I jolted again.

The secret of my reincarnation and the fact that I was actually a very wicked person. I was worried that revealing it would make Dad dislike me. So, I closed my eyes tightly and opened them again.

Yes, at times like this…

“Oh, Dad has something to hide from Sien too!”

It’s the best to act spoiled and throw a tantrum for no reason!

But for a moment, Dad’s body stiffened.

‘Huh, that’s strange? It looks like Dad also has something to hide from me?’

I cast a suspicious glance at Dad.

However, right at that moment, an uncle who seemed to be Dad’s subordinate entered our room.

“D-Did you hear that news?”

Dad’s arm, which was holding me tightly, stiffened.

“…What news are you talking about?”

It was really strange.