After sending the maid sisters and the cat away, I sat on a bench prepared in the garden.

As I did so, I had a few conversations with Acid.

‘Your name is Sien, I see…’

‘Yes! Call me that.’

‘…I’m a street child, so I don’t have a name.’

I was about to ask if he didn’t have the name Acid, but I stopped. It seemed his resentment towards his brother was deeper than I thought.

‘Ah…’

‘Um, please don’t go anywhere.’

Based on the words that came out during our conversation, I realized something.

That Acid’s anger towards his brother who abandoned him was deeper than expected, and that he was showing some symptoms of separation anxiety.

‘Perhaps because he lived alone for so long, Acid seems to be struggling a lot.’

“Hmm… Do you dislike your brother that much?”

“…Yes, because he abandoned me.”

I hesitated.

Ted didn’t abandon Acid, but Acid firmly believed that Ted had abandoned him.

Perhaps it was Acid’s defense mechanism.

Was this an issue I should carelessly touch upon?

I carefully tapped the ground with my foot and answered softly.

“I see…”

However, Acid was quick-witted, as befitting a child who lived in the slums.

The boy opened his mouth, fidgeting his hands slightly.

“…You want to give him a chance to explain, don’t you?”

“No, children don’t have to do things they don’t like. Think about difficult things later.”

“…I thought you brought me here to give Ted a chance to explain.”

I shook my head vigorously.

“That’s not it! I just!”

Acid’s gentle eyes were staring at me intently. I bit my lip and then whispered quietly.

“I just want you to be happy. Like me. If it’s hard to accept Ted as family… I think you don’t have to force yourself to accept Ted.”

The boy’s blue eyes stared at me intently.

His luminous eyes, resembling sapphire gems, were wavering.

“Happiness…”

As I listened to his quiet murmur, I carefully studied his face. Now that Acid was cleaned up and well-fed, he was starting to look quite handsome.

“Yes!”

“…The fact that there’s someone in this world who wants me to be happy…”

I stared intently at him as his eyes gradually reddened and emphasized again.

“No tears allowed! Let’s eat something warm first and think about good things!”

He looked at me with a small smile.

“You talk just like an adult.”

Judging by how he changed the subject, it seemed he needed a bit more time to think.

I pretended not to notice and nodded. My hair, tied in two braids, swayed gently.

“Good. Now let’s not think bad thoughts and play the ‘get stronger’ game!”

‘When things get sentimental, there’s nothing better than the ‘get stronger’ game!’

Surprised by the sudden change of topic, Acid bit his lip and asked.

“Pardon?”

I pulled out a large water balloon from my pocket.

“Ta-da! The slow person gets hit with water balloons!”

There may not be goblins, but this is the next best thing!

This much should be enough to get stronger, right?

I bared my sharp fangs like a villain.

“Okay. I’ll play that game and think more about it later.”

Acid smiled gently.

“It’s a scary game that can build courage, is that okay?”

“Yes. As long as it’s with you, Sien… anything is fine.”

Looking at Acid, who seemed to have made a firm decision, I pulled water balloons out of my pocket.

***

Matthias looked down from the window, watching Acid and Sien playing together. Fortunately, it seemed they had lost interest in the goblins.

Well, the pure and innocent Sien wouldn’t like goblins anyway.

It was probably just curiosity to see them again.

“Woahhh!”

Matthias’s expression briefly contorted at the boy’s excited voice before regaining composure.

…So it doesn’t matter.

He had expected such noises. His daughter had the adorable ability to disarm anyone, regardless of who they were.

Matthias looked down at his subordinate prostrated before him and whispered languidly.

“Tell me what you’ve investigated.”

…The ‘real’ knight Sien mentioned would be the same.

He had sent an assassin to report on Sien’s activities before the dinner with her.

Sien said she had met Ted, an ordinary knight from the temple.

Worried that he might have captivated Sien, he thought of sending an ordinary spy to intimidate him a bit.

“The holy knight subdued the spy I sent in an instant.”

“So he’s quite skilled, at least more than you.”

“Yes… I’m ashamed.”

Unexpectedly, the ‘real knight’ Sien had chosen seemed quite talented.

Matthias’s eyebrow twitched as he became displeased, and the one who sent the spy quietly prostrated himself.

“He asked to deliver this letter.”

Matthias snatched the letter with a cold gaze after looking at his subordinate.

[If you sent an assassin without presence, you must be Lord Matthias, father of Sien Mirmode. I hope you’re not displeased.]

He was extremely displeased.

Matthias lowered his gaze.

[Although I’m a mere holy knight, I have no intention of harming Sien Mirmode. Rather, I want to be of help. I can swear this sincerely to the gods, if need be.]

Far from being helpful, he was causing great harm right now. To Matthias’s mood, that is.

However…

‘He mentions swearing truth.’

For a holy knight, swearing truth meant risking one’s life to guarantee that what one said was true. Wanting to help Sien after meeting her just once?

[I could even make a knight’s oath.]

The handwriting suggested he had thought hard about it.

Matthias rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought. A holy knight making a knight’s oath to the daughter of the Mirmode family, notorious as a villain clan?

‘What nonsense.’

But that was the end of the letter’s contents.

Matthias crumpled the letter in one hand and asked his subordinate.

“Ted, the holy knight from the temple?”

“Yes, that’s right. According to the maids, the child Lady Sien picked up is this holy knight’s younger brother. She seems to feel grateful for that.”

Matthias slowly closed and opened his eyes.

To deal with Axel Mirmode, Matthias needed someone with excellent holy power.

And coincidentally, Sien had picked up a knight with holy power.

Was it just a coincidence?

“How did he detect the assassin at once when he’s just an ordinary holy knight on paper?”

“In my experience… he was an extraordinary expert. Seemed to specialize in holy power.”

The Mirmode family, self-proclaimed villains of the empire.

The abilities of a family based on demonic or dark powers were, naturally, quite vulnerable to holy power.

‘I was looking for a temple defector among the holy knights full of holy power anyway.’

He hadn’t even considered recruiting one, thinking it impossible to find a holy knight who would truly be loyal to a villain family.

If he could recruit a skilled holy knight, it would be an effective tool for confronting Axel Mirmode or Delphia Mirmode.

‘A holy knight just rolls in like this?’

It was a strange feeling.

It felt exactly like innocent Sien was paving a beautiful flower path for his future.

That couldn’t be.

And it shouldn’t be.

Matthias pushed away the subtle emotion stirring his heart and looked at him.

“I heard Delphia Mirmode returns tomorrow.”

He decided to deal with Delphia first.

The woman with snow-white hair and eyes as clear and blue as the sea, half-mad.

The protagonist of the succession struggle who had sent spies after Sien.

He spoke lightly, as if informing about tomorrow’s dinner.

“I plan to strike as soon as she arrives.”

He had decided to strike Delphia and fully absorb her forces.

A bloodless war would be better, as it would save strength.

However, as everyone knew, family power struggles normally involved bloodshed.

‘I should keep Sien out tomorrow.’

It would be troublesome if Delphia tried something with Sien, so they shouldn’t meet.

Matthias thought this as he blinked.

It was a signal to send his subordinate out. The subordinate bowed even lower, as if to show his loyalty.

But just then.

“Daddy!”

Sien, soaking wet as if she had finished the water balloon game, came in.

“Sien is bored! Buy me a goblin… Oh?”

Sien tilted her head and looked at the subordinate kneeling on the floor once, then at Matthias once.

“…Hm?”

Question marks appeared in Sien’s eyes.

And cold sweat ran down Matthias’s spine.

A dark room with no lights on.

A subordinate kneeling and prostrating before him.

That subordinate’s face covered in scratches.

Objectively, Matthias’s current appearance would look like a villain to anyone.

Matthias quietly swallowed. He could see Sien looking at him with a puzzled expression.

“What’s this? Why is this mister like this?”

Sien had grown up in a small rural village. She seemed to be wondering as she thought carefully.

“Perhaps…”

Matthias, who had never been nervous in the face of silence, clenched his fist. Had Sien discovered that he wasn’t actually an innocent farmer?

Sien glanced at the subordinate, then scurried over and whispered in Matthias’s ear.

“Is this mister kneeling to ask for po-potatoes?”

Fortunately, the concept of pretending to be an innocent potato farmer seemed to be working so far.

He quietly opened his mouth. It would be a bit much to keep milking the potato thing, so…

“Yes, that’s right. But not potatoes this time, sweet potatoes.”

Sien’s expression turned sulky. It was the expression she made when saying ‘Daddy is a total pushover!’

“Sigh.”

Sien ground her tiny teeth and scurried over to the kneeling subordinate. The subordinate looked at Sien with a bewildered expression.

“You there, how much are sweet potatoes?”

“Ye…yes?”

Sien asked solemnly, puffing out her belly. Her chubby baby belly peeked out slightly and disappeared.

“Cu-cute…”

Just as the subordinate unconsciously clenched his fist, Sien squared her shoulders arrogantly and asked once more.

“Ahem. You should say it’s scary!”

The subordinate, staring at the even more exposed chubby and adorable baby belly, murmured as if entranced.

“It’s, it’s scary.”

“That’s right. Well done. Remember this from now on. Unlike my daddy, I’m very scary.”

Matthias folded his arms across his chest and watched to see how far Sien would go.

As soon as she heard the subordinate say “scary”, a rosy blush colored Sien’s fluffy cheeks. That was the expression Sien made when she was excited and happy.

‘She likes being called scary, huh…’

He was gradually realizing the bad influence this villain family was having on Sien.

Swearing, goblins, change in tastes.

A triple whammy.

Matthias gritted his teeth.

Sien was intently observing the subordinate, unaware that the air around her father had dropped by a good 5 degrees.

“Good. I asked how much those sweet potatoes are.”

The subordinate rolled his eyes. Perhaps that made him look even more vicious, as Sien pouted her lips. She seemed to be muttering to herself, ‘He looks scary!’

Of course, the subordinate was pondering without even hearing Sien’s words. He didn’t know the price of sweet potatoes, but he wanted to make a good impression on Sien, Matthias’s daughter.

Meeting Sien’s piercing gaze, the subordinate gulped and answered using the most polite form of speech.

“Th-that would be… 1 silver for 100, your grace?”

“What?”

Sien’s eyes widened.

On the other hand, the subordinate smiled to make a good impression on Sien. Though it looked threatening to anyone else, it was his best effort.

Matthias quietly observed the confrontation between Sien and the subordinate.

It was a tense moment.

Even more so than the succession struggle of this family…