The next day, news of the mysterious deaths of the Education Director and Lilmi, the Discipline Officer, spread.

Moreover, the North Tower was abuzz with news of my father’s succession as heir and reinstatement as Count.

So I was able to rest without receiving any education.

‘This is a bit strange. They shouldn’t die so quickly, just wandering in the maze until the brink of death.’

I thought there might have been a problem with the illusion magic, but I didn’t feel too sorry about the deaths of those crude villains. I had no time to worry about them anyway.

Now was a moment of crisis!

Wasn’t Axel likely to burst in at any moment after hearing the news that Father had become the heir?

‘Wait, am I going to face the final boss like this? I don’t have any weapons! Is there really no ending for extras like us except a brutal death?’

I buried myself in the sofa with hollow eyes, along with the muscular maids remaining in the North Tower. The maids began chattering excitedly, seemingly pleased that Father had been chosen as Mirmod’s heir.

“Congratulations, Lady Sien! I hear the Duchess plans to gift you a new mansion! You’ll soon have a pretty room of your own!”

“Then… we’ll be able to serve the young lady too!”

The maids continued speaking enthusiastically, their dialect coming out.

I shrank back slightly, intimidated by the intensity in their eyes even as they spoke.

They were clearly on my side, so why did they still seem scary…

‘Still, these maid sisters intend to stay with me for life.’

My heart melted like it was wrapped in a warm blanket.

I should give them carrots to make them like me even more, right?

These were powerful maids with a history of beating up the Education Director’s lackeys without fear of consequences. Having them on my side would surely be beneficial.

Smiling as radiantly as the sun, I tapped the maids’ steel-like arms.

“You know, when I grow up, I’ll build you a muscle training room in the mansion too!”

At this winning promise, the maids’ eyes widened.

“Oh, my goodness!”

“It must be my birthday…”

“Hey, don’t cry. Crying leads to muscle loss!”

Watching their happiness, I let out a deep sigh inwardly.

The sisters didn’t know. That our fate was drawing closer to death!

‘All three heir candidates are dangerous, but Axel has a strong lust for power. He’s sure to end the war quickly and return.’

In the novel, the great villain Accelerate Mirmod appears as the heir to the villainous ducal family.

He purged all the Mirmod clan members who stood in his way through a bloody family feud.

Now that our father had become the heir…

We would proudly top Axel’s purge list.

‘I thought there would be a power struggle with Axel someday, but I didn’t expect it to be this soon.’

Axel.

A murderous psychopath who loved blood, and had very… dirty sexual preferences, that scum.

‘How can I defeat that bastard?’

As I recalled the training methods of the original protagonists and the locations of high-grade artifacts that appeared in the original work, I bit my lip hard.

I, Sien Mirmod. Age five, currently infiltrating the villainous ducal family indefinitely.

Fortunately, my gamble with the Education Director had paid off.

Then it was time to try another new gamble. There was no time to just sit around feeling frustrated.

I took off the pink wool gloves the maid sisters had knitted for me, then whispered toughly like a film noir protagonist.

“I’m going all in… double or nothing.”

Seeing my serious expression, the maid sisters tilted their heads and asked:

“Pardon?”

I leaned in close with an icy, threatening gaze like frozen ice.

“I’m gonna bury that bastard.”

First, I’d need to prepare a shovel to bury the one who would become my enemy and torment our kind father and me. I’d make a nice mound for him to be buried under too.

To do that, the first thing to do was, of course!

I said with a very threatening expression:

“I want to go see Grandma.”

“Of course!”

“You must really like your grandmother since you’re still a baby!”

…I didn’t like Grandma, this was just part of my plan.

In other words, I was going to execute Operation Win Over Grandma.

‘I, Sien Mirmod, always have a plan.’

“Even though the Duchess doesn’t have much power, you still like her so much.”

“Our young lady is really pure indeed.”

Contrary to their thoughts, I wasn’t pure but a calculating child.

There’s a difference between someone who has held power before and someone who hasn’t.

Although the family’s power players might look down on Duchess Lucella, there was quite a lot of potential in her and things for me to learn.

Well, it was rather fortunate that many of the family’s children and heirs were overlooking this fact.

‘Silly maids. But do I really look that innocent?’

I seriously pondered this as I looked at the maids.

Am I not very threatening? I thought I’d look really scary, like a gazelle in front of a deer.

‘I should try to look like a poisonous pufferfish by puffing up my chubby cheeks!’

I widened my eyes and filled my cheeks with air. The maids’ eyes grew large as they finally faced my terrifying expression.

“As expected of our baby, you’re so cute when you act aegyo!”

Sigh…

I thought to myself.

I failed, I failed.

Maybe I’ll look scarier when I’m a bit older!

Still, I’m not going to see Grandmother to act cute. I plan to first gather information about the heir structure of the Mirmod family, including Axel.

‘There’s a saying that knowing yourself and your enemy leads to victory in every battle.’

The Mirmod family had many villains.

They loved slaughter, tearing people apart, and were very threatening and scary bastards who could blow away a little kid like me with just a finger.

Especially Axel Mirmod!

Since Axel was a famous villain, I knew roughly what kind of person he was from the novel, but information obtained directly from family members would be different. I also had something serious to ask Grandmother.

While I was seriously contemplating the future, clenching my tiny fist, the maids started whispering to each other.

“How can she be so cute?”

“She must be thinking about cake. Her eyes are sparkling!”

“It could be candy!”

…Sigh.

“It’s not cake or candy!”

“Oh, oh my. We’re sorry, young lady!”

These maid sisters, they’re all so peaceful except for me! No one understands how serious the situation is!

But still…

I smiled at them with crescent eyes anyway.

Because they were all my precious people.

“Give me cake!”

…Well, it’s true that I want to eat cake too!

***

When Sien decided to visit the Duchess, Duchess Lucella was in the middle of having tea with three ladies from loyal vassal families.

A table engraved with the family’s symbolic intaglio, beautiful tea sets, and four noblewomen seated in a circle.

Today’s tea time topics were varied.

The war dispatch sent by Axel Mirmod from the battlefield, which mostly said he had wiped out all the enemies.

Of course, arrogantly enough, there was no respect for elders in the letter he sent. There was even a bit of mockery towards the Duchess who had already lost her power.

Grand Duchess Delphia’s illusion summoning magic was also a topic. Apparently, Delphia had declared she would make a splendid entry into the succession race with her illusion summoning magic. Not knowing that the heir had already been decided.

Even the incident of the family’s petty thief turned master thief Molly’s unauthorized occupation of sacred relics…

The content included topics that were extremely hush-hush at ordinary social tea gatherings.

“Ah, Duchess. I heard the Education Director suddenly died?”

“I heard news that he died mysteriously in his sleep.”

“Then we must select a new one.”

However, the Duchess remained indifferent throughout their conversation.

The three ladies glanced at each other before speaking in unison.

“Ah, we heard that Lord Matthias has become the heir.”

“That’s right.”

“…I heard even the chairman of the Council of Elders approved.”

“Yes.”

“Will His Majesty the Emperor… remain quiet?”

“Then, what else can he do? He must stay quiet.”

The Duchess answered expressionlessly while sipping her tea. She seemed uninterested despite the news of her son’s reinstatement.

The family ladies exchanged glances.

Having lived as the Duchess’s closest confidants for many years, and still staying by her side even after she lost power in the family, these ‘true confidants’ were as sharp-eyed as they were tight-lipped.

Clearly, it seemed the Duchess had a topic she wanted to discuss…

Meanwhile, the youngest of the three ladies interjected.

“Ah, I heard Lord Matthias has a daughter. I heard she’s quite clever.”

The other ladies exchanged glances and sighed. Some bit their lips and shook their heads.

Everyone in this place knew that the relationship between the Grand Duchess and Grand Duke Matthias was not very good.

Moreover, Matthias’s daughter, Sien Mirmod, was the daughter of ‘that villainess’ who was infamous for her evil within the family.

Although still a child, it was true that being the daughter of a villainess made them uneasy.

Furthermore, that ‘villainess’ was the woman involved in the Demon of the Nine Paths incident, which was the reason Matthias left the family.

The Demon of the Nine Paths incident.

It was an incident where Yuella, Sien’s mother and Matthias’s lover, failed in her attempt to summon a demon.

She met a miserable death after being dragged to the temple without successfully summoning the demon.

Matthias couldn’t prevent her death, but afterwards… He killed everyone who had reported Yuella to the temple. It was known in public as the so-called Blood Purge.

It was true that the people of the Mirmod family committed evil acts incessantly. However, Matthias Mirmod killed all those involved in Yuella’s death in a way too horrific to even mention.

How could the Duchess like such an unpleasant topic?

“…You mean Matthias’s daughter?”

Duchess Lucella set her teacup down on the table.

It was such a rough gesture that it was fortunate the cup didn’t make a clanging sound.

And what about her breathing? The sound of her wheezing filled the quiet tea room.

Everyone looked at the Duchess with bewildered expressions, ready to plead if necessary.

Just as the lady who had brought up the topic was about to bow and apologize, it happened.

Like a spark catching fire on a lamp, the Duchess brightened up and opened her mouth.

“Ah, yes. Have you all seen the honey pot, the Grand Duke’s daughter?”

“Pardon? Honey pot?”

“…Du-Duchess?”

Unlike the bewildered ladies, Duchess Lucella added another word.

“That honey bun is so cu… no, so impudent.”

Now it’s honey bun…?

At this unexpected pet name from Duchess Lucella, who had never shown such an intense reaction of affection for anyone before, the youngest lady choked.

“Hic, hic!”

But who cares if someone chokes? The usually cold and icy Duchess Lucella had changed her attitude.

How had Matthias’s daughter managed to butter up her grandmother?

“Why are you all so surprised?”

When Duchess Lucella spoke coldly, they finally came to their senses.

But they still couldn’t understand.

Just what kind of reaction they should show.

The bravest among them opened her mouth and spoke.

“Th-that’s right. Lady Sien is really a-amazing…?”

“Ahem.”

At her words, the Duchess slightly raised the corner of her mouth and cleared her throat.

Seeing her, the white-haired elderly lady and the middle-aged woman’s eyes lit up. Having read the Duchess’s intentions, they began to flatter her eagerly.

“That’s right. Rumors are widespread. I heard she’s receiving good education.”

Originally, it’s natural for a student to listen attentively in class.

“I heard she has an unyielding spirit. They say she stood firm against the slandering duke in the garden that time, without giving in.”

Even so, it was just winning in a quarrel among young children.

“Moreover, at just five years old, she s-speaks very well, they say!”

Five-year-olds usually speak well.

Relatively, Sien’s visible development was slower due to the reincarnation penalty. However, the people present were passionately overlooking this fact.

“That’s right.”

Nodding with a satisfied expression as she listened to their flattery, the Duchess declared seriously.

“Listen carefully.”

“Yes?”

The gaze of the three ladies focused on the Duchess.

“It seems that child is an unprecedented genius in Mirmod.”

“A g-genius?”

If the incident between Sien and the Education Director had been widely spread, they might have seriously agreed with the statement “Sien is a genius.”

However, the Education Director who had plotted that incident died mysteriously, Matthias buried the incident, and Sien kept her mouth shut.

Therefore, at this point, calling Sien a genius was nonsense.

Nevertheless, the Duchess nodded with a rare smile.

“Yes, ordinary little ones just drool at that age. In contrast, what should I say, the honey bun seems quite smart.”

She slightly raised the corner of her mouth as she stared at her teacup.

“Not that I like it very much.”

At that moment, the three ladies watching Duchess Lucella secretly exchanged glances.

Glances that meant the Duchess seemed to like Sien very much.

Because every time she said the pet name ‘honey bun’, her cheekbones were about to burst.