I faced my grandmother with a pounding heart.

“You. Did you say your name was Sien?”

“Yes!”

“I am the Duchess Lucella and the former ruler of the highest magic tower. I’m not someone to be casually called your grandmother.”

There was no one who didn’t know the title ‘ruler of the highest magic tower’.

In her youth, while training at the top magic tower, she killed another magician and took over that tower.

She even became a ‘Anyak’ level magician, which was the 4th rank among the 12 magic ranks.

Given that there is currently not a single 1st rank Archmage, it was a very high position.

…For some reason, she doesn’t seem to use magic now.

Duchess Lucella drew a clear line.

‘What a pity. I thought she liked cute little children.’

It seems my aegyo didn’t work on her.

Then it was time to take a step back. For now, just lightening the mood a bit could be considered a success.

I nodded.

“Yes…”

I’ve taken one step back, but this isn’t the end, Grandmother!

Grandmother stared at me silently for a while, then slowly raised the corner of her mouth and spoke.

“You act quite clumsily.”

Not only did I get a line drawn…

…I even got scolded.

I tapped my lips that were trying to pout with my hand and turned my body.

“I’m sorry…”

Originally, my aegyo was undefeated.

Is it different because she’s the villainous duchess? Is she like an iron fortress?

But I had no intention of giving up just because I failed once.

I raised my lowered head high and looked at Grandmother again.

Grandmother’s eyes curved like crescents for a moment, then quickly regained their cold gaze.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen a young one who can look me properly in the eye.”

“Mind your words, Mother. And Sien.”

The one who broke the situation was none other than Dad.

“Huh?”

Dad, who had gotten up by now, picked me up and spoke firmly towards Duchess Lucella. As if marking his territory, guardedly.

“I will take Sien to the maid.”

“Do so.”

I mustered my last bit of strength and mumbled softly towards Grandmother.

“Daddy. Granny, goodbye.”

Duchess Lucella nodded slightly.

It was strange.

It’s not that I know Duchess Lucella well.

But I had assumed that if a sudden incident occurred during a conversation, she would coldly rebuke…

Surprisingly, she had nothing much to say.

In the prolonged silence, I was led by Dad’s hand to stand outside the door.

‘The operation to win over Grandmother failed, but things rarely go well on the first try. So, so!’

I’m going to protect our Dad! I glared at the maids walking from afar carrying something, tightly clenching my soft fists.

Good. Anyone can come at me. No matter how strong they are, they absolutely can’t bully our Dad!

Because I’m here!

***

When Sien was led away by the hands of the maids, Duchess Lucella and her first son, Young Master Matthias, were sitting across from each other again at a large table.

A cold-blooded silence hung between mother and son.

She opened her mouth, feigning calmness.

“Sien, she’s grown quite a bit. I remember her as a newborn.”

Round eyes seemingly full of light, plump cheeks as if hiding honey, small lips like pale pink petals.

She certainly grew up cute and even resembled ‘that woman’.

Is that why Matthias, who isn’t interested in others, dotes on her so much?

“Don’t pay attention to Sien.”

Duchess Lucella let out a hollow laugh as she looked at her son who had become hostile.

All children fear her. So it was refreshing to have a child call her grandmother.

But that was all.

‘Even if she’s a young child, she’ll lose her innocence once she enters this duchy.’

In this duchy where the strong prey on the weak, something so young and fragile will easily perish.

Rather, she had something else to say.

“You’ve been quite impertinent since earlier.”

“You know I’ve always been like this.”

Duchess Lucella looked at her son Matthias and gave a bitter smile.

Indeed.

He was a man who had quietly hidden for five years to protect his child, gathering strength.

Matthias, who had completely fallen out of the succession and barely returned. Everyone was predicting his defeat.

A man without proper forces or wings to stand on.

However, Duchess Lucella judged him differently.

Matthias was more dangerous because he had already lost everything, and he could be more vicious than anyone because he had something most precious.

“I suppose so.”

It was time to talk about the main point.

“Since the trial for the Demon of the Nine incident ended in nullity, resume the successor training you had suspended.”

“Yes.”

“It’s different from five years ago. Back then, you were the only successor, but now all the blood relatives who have come of age are eyeing the successor position.”

“I know.”

“Don’t forget that there are many forces opposing you both inside and outside the family. Consider the demonic misconduct you committed.”

After finishing her words, Duchess Lucella quietly looked at her son.

Matthias’s face was as cold and harsh as perpetual snow. Observing her son, whose appearance was completely different from when he had lovingly held his daughter Sien just moments ago, she rested her chin on her hand.

At that moment, Matthias muttered expressionlessly.

“If I thought I would lose to someone, I wouldn’t have come back.”

“Even though the Senate, the Blood Council, and the Magic Tower all despise you?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Your daughter could get hurt.”

“I will never let that happen.”

He spoke firmly, but there was coldness in his voice.

“Whether your words are spirit or recklessness, we’ll see as time passes.”

“It’s neither of those.”

He stared at the Duchess.

“It’s confidence that I can protect Sien.”

“…”

Looking into those cold eyes, Duchess Lucella realized.

The fact that her son had become even more formidably strong than five years ago.

“I will start by receiving the successor training.”

“I permit it. You and your daughter will reside in the spire of the northern castle. It was a request from the Senate and the Blood Council. Is that alright?”

“The spire… It doesn’t matter.”

The direct bloodline of the Duke lived in the central mansion.

The spire of the northern castle is a remote place. Although it was close to the central mansion where the bloodline resided, its status was as different as heaven and earth.

However, he nodded, looking as if he didn’t mind much, and said.

“Then, leave.”

Recalling Sien’s innocent face and voice, Duchess Lucella, whose heart had softened a bit, quietly opened her mouth.

“I order that pure honey pot to be washed and educated especially well.”

She nodded to her son, whom she met after a long time, having nothing particularly personal to say.

***

I, who had long since lost my innocence, was terrified as I looked at the maids who had come to attend to me.

‘A-are they really maids? Not knights?’

I thought maids in medieval romance fantasy novels usually wore fluttery maid uniforms and delicate dragonfly wing-like clothes.

But this is the villainous duchy!

As if all that was just my trivial prejudice, the two maids were well over 180cm tall and their entire bodies were muscular. They looked strong enough to eliminate a young baby like me right away.

Their forearms were even thicker than those of the actor I knew in my previous life called ‘Ma Dong-seok’, and those forearms were covered with strange tattoos and things like henna.

I didn’t even want to know about the other physical aspects.

‘Scary!’

Those people were clearly not ordinary maids.

But I couldn’t be a coward here. I raised my head high and spoke brazenly to them.

“Hello, are you the maids?”

“Yes, we greet you, Lady Sien.”

They spoke gruffly.

If I back down here, our Dad will be looked down upon too! As the only knight protecting Dad, I spoke with dignity.

“I am Sien. Nice to meet you, my great maids.”

I absolutely don’t chicken out.

For the sake of innocent Dad, I could even do bad things to threaten the maids.

As I was showing dignity by raising my chin high and stiffly, I heard them answer bluntly.

“I see. We will guide you to the spire.”

“The spire?”

“Yes. You will be staying in the northern spire.”

I tapped my round forehead and fell into the biggest worry of my five-year life.

‘The situation is the worst.’

The northern spire.

It was a bleak tower within the duchy, with ominous rumors that criminals’ heads were once displayed there. It was also famous as a place where collateral bloodline members with the lowest succession rank stayed when visiting the mansion.

But to think that our Dad, who is nominally the Duke’s legitimate son and first son, would go to the northern tower.

‘The northern spire, are they really trying to kill me and Dad? Did they bring us here to kill us?’

Oh, this can’t be.

I had to overcome this situation no matter what.

Innocent Dad probably doesn’t know anything. So I have to coax the maids and find out all the information!

‘How do I seduce the spire maids to get the information I want?’

I sighed deeply and decided to follow them for now.

Of course, I didn’t just decide to follow. My head was busy recalling various pieces of information.

‘The characteristics of the northern spire maids were said to be simple-mindedness and ignorance. It was said that they lived only for muscles. That’s why they were ostracized even within the duchy!’

So I need to use their tendencies well to persuade them. I was worried about how to persuade these simple-minded, ignorant, muscular maids.

“Shall we go, Lady Sien?”

I spoke with dignity for now.

“Yes. Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

While busily following the maids, I racked my brains hard.

However, in the novel …

There was no method written anywhere on how to approach the muscular maids of the villainous duchy.

‘How do I approach them? What do I do?’

While I was thinking hard, we had already arrived at the pointed northern spire.

Seeing the spire surrounded by thorns, my heart tingled with fear. The cold wind blew, making my whole body feel desolate.

“This is it. Isn’t it beautiful?”

…What’s beautiful about it?

The maid who opened the door at the bottom of the spire with her muscle-filled arm started guiding me bluntly.

“After changing clothes and taking a bath, I will briefly inform you about the education you will have together with the young masters tomorrow.”

I answered, elongating the end of my words as plumply as my cheeks.

“Okay~”

Of course, I was racking my brains hard inside.

‘If it’s the young masters, who could it be? The young masters of the villainous duchy… Crawford? Or Killian?’

As I was seriously contemplating who the young masters I would meet might be, I absent-mindedly stared at their arms guiding me to a large room.

I wanted to ask about the northern spire and also wanted to know information about the villainous young masters I would meet tomorrow. Although it was awkward since we weren’t close.

‘Ah, wait.’

At that moment, as I raised my gaze upward, I suddenly noticed white powder sticking around their wrists. When I sniffed with my nose, I smelled a familiar scent.

‘It’s pine resin powder…!’

I giggled.

Until my cheeks puffed up like round balls.

Somehow, I felt like I could find a way to make them my allies.