Dad went on vacation.

During the remaining time, I decided to focus on eliminating that vicious Axel Mirmode fellow.

First, I diligently built up my strength every morning and evening.

The maid elder sisters, who were experts in muscles, helped me.

‘I must build up my strength!’

I watched the maid elder sisters and tried hard to follow their movements. Of course, my arms were too short to do as much as they did.

But still…….

“I think I see a tiny bit of muscle!”

“A-after about three days……?”

Elder sister Bench, who was touching my soft arms, muttered quietly as if perplexed.

“That’s just… fat… cough!”

“Nonsense. Oh my, our little miss. Your muscles are amazing!”

“Really?”

I looked back and forth between elder sister Deadly and elder sister Bench, then sighed, “Whew.”

And then after that, I attended grandmother’s poison academy.

“Oh my, our little honey bun. Your face looks quite worn out.”

“Hmm…?”

“Come, sit on this old lady’s lap.”

“……Yes.”

I sat on grandmother’s lap and listened to stories about poisons.

‘There are so many poisonous plants in the world.’

There are many poisonous plants to use on Axel Mirmode.

I hid my sinister smile and listened attentively to grandmother’s lesson. As soon as I heard about the Cerberus flower that confuses people’s minds, I slapped my knee.

‘To become a villain, I must be skilled with poisonous plants too.’

After a few hours of passionate lessons that left grandmother’s voice hoarse, I started feeling sleepy and tried to get up from her lap.

But then…….

“Honey bun, you’re not going to leave just like this, are you?”

Grandmother’s expression looked very regretful.

I hesitated and scratched the back of my head.

“No. I’m not leaving!”

“Oh my! Thank goodness! That’s right!”

Grandmother had become a bit, no, very much of a doting grandparent while I wasn’t looking.

I tilted my head in confusion. Then grandmother stroked my plump and bouncy shrimp-like cheeks, muttering as if disappointed.

“You’ve gotten so thin.”

I wondered how she could say such a thing when I had gained weight and even seemed to have pumped up some muscle.

I narrowed my eyes into a flounder-like gaze at grandmother. Then grandmother stroked my head sympathetically and spoke.

“Let’s eat.”

“……?”

To say “let’s eat” with such scary eyes, she was truly someone to emulate.

[This is the timeline separator]

A few hours later.

After returning to my mansion, I patted my protruding belly. Grandmother had prepared all sorts of delicacies, then threatened that I had to eat it all.

There were 12 appetizers alone, and dozens of main course dishes of meat, fish, and everything else. When I said I was full, she gave me plum tea to aid digestion and made me eat more.

When I said I really couldn’t eat anymore, grandmother stroked my cheeks and said ominously.

‘She told me to come again tomorrow….’

It was almost like the voice of the witch from the gingerbread house.

‘I should rest tomorrow instead of going to grandmother’s.’

Somehow my stomach felt bloated, and my arms seemed to have become plump like Michelin tires.

In other words…….

“I think I’m going to get fat……”

Elder sister Deadly whispered softly while rubbing my arms.

“……You did eat a lot.”

“Mmm……”

I lightly flicked my forehead to snap out of it. A red mark remained on my forehead, making elder sister Bench swallow a sigh of pity, but that wasn’t important.

“More importantly, are we digging up the arboretum land well?”

“Of course!”

“The honorable muscle pigs of our Press family are working hard digging up the land, so don’t worry!”

Saying that, elder sister Bench showed off her biceps. Looking at those reliable muscles, I nodded admiringly.

And so the vacation period without dad was passing by.

I thought it would pass peacefully…… all the way through.

But right when I thought that, a problem arose.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Did you hear that news?”

“Hmm?”

I was intently staring at a magic tool with my little hands clenched. I needed a way to delay Axel’s return schedule through this magic tool.

There were only about 2 weeks left until Axel’s return.

It was right then, when my little head felt like it was about to burst.

“There’s an urgent matter, Lady Sien.”

Ted came into the room with his hair fluttering. I tilted my head.

I hadn’t seen Ted for long, but it was the first time I’d seen that knight enter so hurriedly.

“A message from Sir Leonhart. He says Lord Axel Mirmode’s return schedule has been delayed.”

I opened my already big eyes even wider.

At a time when I hadn’t fully built up my skills yet and hadn’t completely turned dad into a villain, an incredibly lucky thing happened unexpectedly.

I opened my eyes wide and gestured with my chin.

“Why is it delayed?”

“Well, apparently there’s been a major disturbance in the Merci region that Lord Axel is in charge of. He says it’s to the point where he simply can’t visit here.”

The Merci region was where dad had gone to volunteer.

For a moment, I even had the extreme worry that our dad might have gotten caught up in the disturbance and died.

Suddenly feeling scared, I looked at Ted with worried eyes.

“What about our d-daddy……? What happened to him?”

“Lord Matthias Mirmode is……”

Ted fell silent.

‘Why is he being silent?’

Feeling even more anxious, elder sister Deadly next to me kept fussing.

“What did Lord Matthias do in the Merci region? That, that’s……”

“Let’s not talk about anything too terrible, Deadly.”

“Is he… alive…?”

Just imagining that my one and only dad might be dead was already making my eyes turn red.

Elder sister Deadly looked at me as if she had just heard a completely unfamiliar question and said:

“Pardon?”

“O-our daddy.”

“……Of course he must be alive?”

“To worry about such a thing….. You should worry about my muscles instead.”

Although the maid elder sisters next to me were trying hard to reassure me, I was very worried.

“……I need to see if our daddy is safe and well……”

As I was trembling with concern, Ted spoke.

“Don’t worry. Lord Matthias is safe and sound, and will be returning soon.”

“Really? Then I’ll have to scold him when he comes back!”

I was relieved he was alive.

I clenched my fists tightly and thought solemnly for a moment before turning my head.

“By the way, is there any progress on the arboretum soil digging project?”

Today’s events made me realize one thing for certain.

Dad is too free-spirited and kind to go on vacation to an area where unrest could occur.

So I need to quickly gather gold bars to hire knights or mercenaries to protect our dad.

Otherwise, fragile dad might go crack and die……!

So I had to start making money right away.

I looked at the maid elder sister with sparkling eyes as if urging her.

“Our little miss even knows words like ‘progress’……”

“……That’s not what’s important right now!”

As I shook my head, elder sister Bench next to me spoke up.

“Ah, they’ve almost finished digging. They say they’ll probably reach the bottom tomorrow. The diggers said they felt like something was caught on the end of their shovels.”

“Let’s go to the arboretum tomorrow morning.”

Axel is coming a bit later, dad is still alive, and tomorrow I’ll be rich.

Thanks to buying some time, it seems I’ll be able to take on that Axel fellow sufficiently.

[This is the timeline separator]

The next morning.

After waking up, I brushed my teeth diligently and put on my socks all by myself.

But that’s not all.

I also did my hair in two neat braids and put on clothes with lots of gold embroidery to look dignified.

When I finished all my preparations and looked in the mirror, inside was…….

“Do I look like I’ll be king?”

“Oh my, yes you do.”

A very dashing image of myself.

I smiled satisfactorily, swishing my twin braids.

“Then everyone, let’s go.”

The maid elder sisters who volunteered to be my loyal subordinates stood on either side of me.

“Yay!”

The knight, Ted, also stuck close to my side.

“I shall follow as well.”

I raised my chin high, looking at my inner circle with satisfaction.

Today is the day to dig up soil with shovels and collect gold, so I wore clothes covered in gold embroidery. After preparing such a splendid appearance, I had a happy premonition that everything would go smoothly.

I shrugged my shoulders up and down as I held the maid elder sisters’ hands.

But then…….

[This is the timeline separator]

“W-what is this?”

I stretched my neck out at the arboretum entrance and looked around inside with a bewildered expression.

Unlike before, the arboretum was now a complete wasteland. All the rose trees had been cut down.

Of course, I was planning to cut down the trees anyway, but I didn’t expect it to happen this quickly.

I thought the muscle maid elder sister would know the situation properly.

“Wh-why? Why did it progress so quickly?”

“It’s all done.”

It was really strange that even the elder sister who directly hired the workers didn’t seem to know……

For some unknown reason, I blinked my eyes repeatedly with an ominous premonition.

Seeing my confused expression, the maid elder sisters started bickering.

“What……. Hey, Bench. What happened?”

“It seems like they brought a lot of honorable muscle pigs from the family……”

“That’s true, but this…… It’s like m-magic?”

Just in case…….

‘Could someone have found out there’s gold here and come to steal it?’

It certainly seemed possible.

My behavior at the dark auction must have looked somewhat suspicious.

“Where did those workers go?”

“Yeah. They like to eat and chat, so it’s strange for them to be this quiet.”

Moreover, there was no sign of the muscle workforce sent by the maid elder sister’s family.

I was going to thank them for digging up my gold when I met them, and give them some gold as a gift.

‘What in the world is going on?’

I said with my whole body bristling like a hedgehog:

“Let’s go deeper inside for now.”

“Yes!”

The maid elder sisters stood on either side of me, and Ted stood behind me.

Like a proper leader, I took the lead at the very front as we entered.

And when we arrived at the scene, all tense…….

“Gasp.”

……I rubbed my eyes in surprise. Why is that person coming out of here?

“Today too~ We dig~ With shovels~”

Delphia was swinging a shovel as big as herself, digging into the ground while her brilliant silver hair fluttered.

Beside her, Leonhart was grumbling but brushing off dirt from the gold.

‘What in the world is this situation?’

Wondering if I was the only one who didn’t understand this situation, I looked at the maid elder sisters and the knight Ted that I had brought as escorts.

They shook their heads as well.

“We kept this strictly confidential, but…… I had no idea those people would come to help.”

“The workers hired by the family must have all been silenced or chased away……”

“H-how in the world did this leak out?”

As I whispered, elder sister Deadly rubbed her face.

“Come to think of it, Lady Delphia was very interested in Lady Sien’s every move, and did say to report immediately if there was anything that could help Lady Sien……”

I shook my head.

‘Indeed, the sinful life of a popular person.’

Anyway.

I pitter-pattered my way inside.

“Elder sister!”

Delphia, who had been digging diligently, looked this way at my voice.

She immediately put down her shovel as if throwing it outside and stood up.

“Finally I see your face! That old hag, I just don’t like her. Monopolizing you!”

It seemed Delphia hadn’t been too busy to look for me these days. And to have Leonhart with her too, their combination was quite unusual.

“Chestnut, you…… Did you know there was gold here?”

Even Leonhart was looking at me with sparkling eyes.

“Uh-huh! My gold!”

I smiled broadly and ran at full speed.

Delphia spread her arms wide as if to hug me.

But I jumped over Delphia in one go and reached the space full of mountains of gold.

“Hee!”

Just as I was tapping my feet excitedly at the thought of becoming rich.

“How can our baby have such good luck?”

I heard Delphia muttering quietly to herself. At the same time, Leonhart shook his head and said:

“It’s not luck, it’s because she’s a genius.”

I put both hands on my soft cheeks and thought.

The fact that I discovered gold bars will be headline news right away.