I looked straight at Princess Anesa and said.

“What kind of verification?”

“You might not be a Mirmode…… Sien. Yes, shouldn’t we do a paternity test to see if you’re really a child who belongs to this Mirmode or not?”

I stared at her intently.

It was an obvious attempt to hurt me.

“Hmm……”

I tilted my head while looking at her.

“Isn’t it embarrassing to say mean things to a ten-year-old child?”

I omitted the words ‘as a grown adult’.

I looked up at her and thought.

‘Princess Serina Anesa, someone like this doesn’t suit our father!’

Someday there might be a new mother.

From what father says, it will never happen. But I had thought it could be possible.

However, this woman was not it.

“Your Highness, you’re a bad person.”

Our gazes clashed sharply in the middle.

At my words ‘Your Highness, you’re a bad person’, she gave a sneering smile.

“No, Sien.”

And as if trying to teach me, she said.

“How could I possibly be a bad person?”

“Hmm……”

“But.”

The princess smiled, folding her eyes in half. However, her eyes were cold. I felt enough killing intent to make my small body tremble.

“When dealing with a child like you, who pretends to be a real daughter while being fake……”

There was poison within her seemingly delicate and fragile appearance.

I faced her trembling lips and stood firm.

‘Don’t tremble, don’t be scared. Sien Mirmode. You’re not a fake daughter, but a real father’s daughter. That’s just that person’s wrong thinking. It’s like being cornered.’

However, due to the taboo of an unfortunate past life before reincarnation, I bit my lips tightly and glared at her while unable to relax my tension.

In this life, it was essentially the first time I encountered an adult woman openly displaying killing intent and hostility, so my body trembled a little from the shock.

‘……She’s like the mother from my past life.’

The pain I experienced in the illusion maze five years ago seemed to briefly dominate my mind.

But I had no intention of being bound by past trauma anymore.

I’ve grown several levels since then, and I’ve overcome the trauma of my past life with father’s warm comfort.

When I didn’t avoid her gaze, the princess’s eyes looked at me crookedly, as if finding me interesting.

“I guess I’ll have to become a bad person too.”

The princess’s appearance before me was decidedly not the angelic image people called her.

But that was okay.

“So Sien, we will certainly meet again.”

And it seemed that for now, I was the only one who knew this fact.

That bothered me a little, so I sighed, “Phew.”

“Alright. Do as you please, Your Highness.”

I stared at her intently as I continued speaking.

“I won’t be beaten easily either. I have my father and grandmother, you know.”

“Oh really? Then I have a move too. I’ll tell the world that you’re not the real daughter. Even if you’re a fake daughter, will those people still love you? That infamous Mirmode?”

“……”

Her gaze and mine clashed in the middle.

She stroked my pink hair and whispered softly.

“I do look down on you quite a bit, little one. Even if I let my guard down a bit, driving you out of here is no big deal.”

But there was something the princess overlooked.

“I don’t think so.”

I’m quite a smart child too.

No, I might have lived longer than you.

So…

“Don’t act cocky.”

I stared at her with cold eyes.

Although I’m only a quarter of her size, and can’t exude as much killing intent as that woman.

‘I’m strong too, you know?’

It’s not that I couldn’t threaten her, or that I was leaving her alone because I lacked the ability.

At my words, the princess looked dumbfounded.

It was quite a satisfying blow.

“You really want to go at it, don’t you?”

The princess stared at me with sharp eyes.

It seemed certain that I had irritated her even more.

That day ended with us glaring at each other like that.

After she left, I pondered over what Princess Anesa had said. Those words saying I was a fake daughter.

‘Am I really a fake daughter?’

I wondered on what grounds she was so certain that I wasn’t father’s daughter.

But I couldn’t say “Am I a fake daughter?” to my already fragile father. If I said that, he might burst into tears.

Because, whether I was real or fake, I was certain that father’s heart, which had been caring for me all this time, was not a lie.

The trust between father and me was solid. It was futile for someone like Princess Anesa to try and crack it.

So I decided to ask Leonhart first, who had been in this family longer than me, in a roundabout way.

“Hey, Leonhart. How was I born?”

“Huh? That’s something I… don’t know.”

Leonhart scratched his head and asked.

“But genius, is there something even you don’t know?”

“Huh?”

“I thought you knew all the knowledge in the world.”

Seeing his pure yet sharp eyes, I couldn’t bring myself to say ‘That’s not true.’

I decided to rationalize myself. It wasn’t bad to have one person in the world who thought I was a genius. Actually, it was a very good thing.

“…Yeah, that’s right.”

I lifted my chin shamelessly.

“There’s just one thing that I, a genius, don’t know, and that’s the secret of my birth.”

“Hmm……”

Leonhart shook his head. Then he whispered in my ear as if he had a clever idea.

“……There’s a way. What do you think?”

Seeing his sparkling eyes, I found myself nodding.

It’s a vague story to call it a brilliant idea bank, but…

“That’s not bad.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Leonhart’s cheeks turned pink like ripe peaches.

“I got praised…!”

‘What, is it that exciting to be praised by me?’

If so, I could praise him more. Because praise doesn’t cost money.

I nodded towards Leonhart and clapped my small hands while thinking.

‘Well, since Leonhart is happy, I’m a bit happy too! I should give more!’

After finishing a few rounds of praise, I took my eyes off Leonhart. There was no time to waste now. The sunset was already coloring the sky outside.

I quietly raised my plump body to find out about the secret of my birth according to the method Leonhart had told me.

…The method Leonhart suggested was, well.

“F-f-f-fake daughter, you say!”

To go find Delphia Mirmode.

It was based on the judgment that she could tell me properly since she had lived in the Mirmode family longer than Leonhart or me.

For Leonhart, it was a reasonably logical argument in his own way.

He listed several reasons ‘why we should ask Delphia’. Duchess Lucella would know best, but she is skilled in lies and tricks.

On the other hand, Delphia Mirmode, whom he had been observing for quite a while, is honest and upright in everything and cannot lie.

So he puffed out his chest, saying she would be perfect for asking such questions.

Of course, Leonhart’s words were quite persuasive.

So I headed to Delphia’s mansion. When Delphia heard I had come, she came running out in her socks.

Then she hugged my tiny body tightly and rocked me back and forth.

Her affectionate assault continued until the sunset was completely gone.

I gave up trying to get out of her arms and endured being rocked until my whole body was ticklish.

After hugging for a long time, I sat next to Delphia and asked solemnly and directly.

I asked if I was possibly a fake daughter.

Then Delphia’s complexion turned so pale it couldn’t get any whiter. She started stuttering repeatedly.

“F-f-fake daughter? W-w-who, who said such nonsense!”

Just looking at this situation, I know my choice was right.

‘Elder sister Delphia can’t lie.’

“There’s such talk, so tell me honestly.”

“S-so… Who told you, who said such disrespectful things!”

“It doesn’t matter who said it. I won’t be hurt even if I’m fake.”

“Our baby, you’ve grown up so much……”

Delphia, who had become more tearful over the past five years, sniffled as she looked at me.

‘In five years, Delphia must have gotten smaller!’

The fearsome Delphia who had been aiming for the heir position of the Mirmode family had long been my captive. And such a pathetic captive that she would quickly tear up if I didn’t take care of her.

I raised my eyebrows and puffed out my cheeks.

“Even if I’m fake, I still love father and everyone.”

Delphia held her forehead. And she let out a long sigh. Watching my reaction for a while was a bonus.

“W-well, you see……”

Delphia stammered on. And her following story was within a range I had never imagined before.

I heard from Delphia all the rumors that had been hushed up regarding my birth.

‘They really spread rumors that I’m a fake daughter. Stories like father picked me up from somewhere. Those cowards!’

I made up my mind.

To meet Princess Anesa and find out how much she knows about my birth. And to properly investigate how she plans to use the secret of my birth to drive me out.

‘It wasn’t just an attitude of being annoyed at becoming a stepmother. I felt a determination to get rid of me no matter what. So there must be an intention.’

Princess Anesa often came to visit me.

She was so devoted that everyone in the Mirmode mansion knew about it.

Of course, I had the option of avoiding her. But I didn’t want to. Because I needed to think about exactly what Princess Anesa wanted.

Princess Anesa wasn’t that meticulous type. Since she was willing to drop her mask in front of me, a child, she might be even more careless when relaxed.

So my job was to talk with this woman and gather the information she shows me.

Things like when Princess Anesa would corner me as a fake daughter, whether I’m really a fake daughter, and if I am a fake daughter, where the real daughter is.

‘She doesn’t seem to realize that she’s leaking information to me.’

Princess Anesa was good to Delphia too, and she earned points by regularly paying courtesy visits to Duchess Lucella.

It was the same with other Mirmode subordinates.

I had been quietly observing her moves all this time. It was entertaining just to watch someone like Princess Anesa hiding her true nature and bowing down.

“Please try this. I made it myself.”

…She said as she handed over a raspberry pie.

Even elder sister Delphia commented like this while eating the pie that she said was given by her.

“Princess Anesa? That woman doesn’t seem to be all that bad.”

The princess acted like an angel to everyone to that extent. Since I didn’t mention anything about her true nature separately, even Delphia thought Anesa was treating me well.

‘Anesa is kind to everyone in the Mirmode mansion.’

But it was different only with me.