“From now on, I’ll call you Bibi.”

Sweat seeped from Vivian’s hands at the nickname Ludovica casually uttered.

‘Did she just say Bibi…? What? What is this?’

It matched her name too closely to be a coincidence.

‘Could she have already recognized who I am? That can’t be!’

Vivian fell into confusion.

She floundered for a moment, not knowing what to do, then barely calmed down and cautiously opened her mouth.

“W-why Bibi, I wonder…?”

Ludovica tucked behind Vivian’s ear the hair that had been covering her cheek.

“Curious?”

“Y-yes…”

“You resemble a puppy I used to have. Don’t tell me… you dislike it?”

Emphasizing the last word, she smiled her characteristic eerie smile.

If it were the usual Vivian, she would have been intimidated and trembled, but now it was a bit different.

‘So she didn’t know that I’m Vivian Schmidt.’

At this fortunate news amidst misfortune, she visibly relaxed, wiping her chest.

“Ah, so that’s it. No, I like it! I’m pleased with it.”

‘As long as she doesn’t know who I am, I should be able to resolve this somehow. Let’s stay friends for now and quietly settle the situation.’

Thinking she had a solution, Vivian smiled faintly in relief.

As her facial muscles, stiff with tension, relaxed, her lips formed a natural crescent shape.

That sight, as dazzling as the pouring sunlight, momentarily captivated Ludovica’s gaze.

Belatedly noticing her intense stare, Vivian tilted her head.

“Is there something on my face, Ruby?”

“…”

For a moment, Ludovica’s heart tightened.

Her body visibly stiffened at this unfamiliar sensation she was experiencing for the first time.

“Ruby? What’s wrong?”

Strangely, her mouth went dry.

Not understanding why she was acting this way, Ludovica just opened and closed her mouth before finally managing to speak.

“Say it again.”

“‘What’s wrong?’ You mean this?”

“No, the one before that.”

“Ruby?”

“One more time.”

“…Ruby.”

Why does she keep asking me to say it?

Though she didn’t understand her new friend’s behavior, Vivian called her name over and over.

At that moment, Vivian’s shadow was subtly wavering, but neither of them noticed.

Meanwhile, Ren, left in the surveillance room, had a dark expression in contrast to the friendly atmosphere between the two.

‘Another nuisance is going to stick around.’

Irritated, he roughly ran his hand through his brownish hair.

Though Vivian seemed completely unaware, Ren possessed a special ability.

The power to control his shadow at will.

Even now, he was using his shadow to eavesdrop on the conversation between Vivian and the target.

Ren sneered as he watched the corridor monitor.

On the screen, the target was close enough to Vivian that their breaths could touch. They looked quite affectionate.

“Ha, friends… Friends, indeed.”

As he muttered this, Ren’s eyes were filled with fierce contempt.

“Lady Vivian is too kind. To anyone and everyone.”

That’s why these flies keep swarming around without knowing their place.

Without hiding his displeasure, Ren continued to watch Vivian and the target.

The next day, the training ground of the Belvedere ducal residence was filled with the sound of clashing blades.

At the center of the clamorous training ground was none other than Ludovica.

Surrounded by five knights, she skillfully wielded an iron mace, engaging them all.

Her movements, as if dancing in unity with her weapon, were both magnificent and efficient.

A seemingly perfect display of skill.

The experienced knight facing her could only inwardly exclaim in admiration, as he always did.

She hadn’t even drawn her magic sword yet.

With just an ordinary iron mace, she completely overwhelmed multiple knights.

He became curious about what was going on in Ludovica’s mind.

Facing five opponents, she surely must be fully concentrating on their movements.

Of course, that would have been the case normally.

However, in reality, her inner thoughts were a bit complicated today.

Skillfully blocking the sword of a charging knight, Ludovica unconsciously raised the corner of her mouth with a small sound.

It was because she recalled the kidnapper she met yesterday.

‘It was quite amusing how she trembled just from me brandishing a weapon.’

The kidnapper, that is, Bibi, was undoubtedly an incredibly strong individual.

Strong enough to surpass even the knights of the Belvedere family.

It was only natural.

Among the family’s knights, chosen through various trials, there was none strong enough to dare kidnap Ludovica.

Yet despite such remarkable skills, Bibi was somehow timid.

Even though it shouldn’t have been difficult to dodge a few swings of a weapon, she only trembled.

Just like a rabbit faced with a predator.

Ludovica found this intriguing.

Among the strong individuals she acknowledged, there had never been one who showed weakness so easily.

So to tease Bibi, she deliberately exaggerated her actions.

Thrusting her weapon, making eerie threats, trapping her between her arms.

Vivian would shrink back, startled at each of these small actions.

‘And yet she had the audacity to say she’d call me by a nickname…’

It seemed to be a ploy to hide that she was a member of the Schmidt family.

In fact, Ludovica had known Bibi’s identity from the moment she saw her face.

After all, recently, Margrave Schmidt had been desperate to marry off his daughter to Dietrich.

As investigating the other family was essential, Ludovica already knew about Vivian, the Margrave’s illegitimate daughter.

The nickname Bibi that she gave was entirely derived from her name.

Though she lied about it being the name of a puppy she once had, Ludovica had never actually kept any animals.

Yet despite the circumstances making it obviously a lie, Vivian fell for it completely and was relieved.

And that moment’s smile was truly…

“!”

It was then.

Ludovica, still training with the knights, accidentally let go of her weapon.

The iron mace, clashing with a sword, sliced through the air with a terrifying force and rushed towards a person.

Fortunately, the mace lodged into the wall behind, not a person.

However, the person in front of the wall, or more precisely, the man, didn’t even startle at the fierce momentum, merely tilting his head to the side indifferently.

Thwack!

The spiked iron ball embedded itself deeper into the wall.

It was where the man’s face had been just moments ago.

“You seem distracted. To make such a mistake.”

“…Brother?”

As it turned out, the man’s identity was none other than Dietrich.

When did he arrive?

Perhaps due to her distraction, Ludovica only now noticed his presence, though Dietrich had been there for quite some time.

“What brings you here?”

Instead of answering, Dietrich pulled out the deeply embedded morning star from the wall and took a few steps closer.

Then he held out the iron mace along with a letter.

“To graciously bestow upon my cute little sister another opportunity to admire my beautiful face today? And to deliver this as well.”

For a moment, contempt flashed across Ludovica’s expression.

Cute little sister, indeed.

She could overlook his nonsense about appearances as it wasn’t the first time, but that phrase was utterly intolerable.

It seemed this person must have eaten something wrong when he ran away from home. Or perhaps he had hit his head.

While disgusted by his repulsive remark, she accepted the items he offered.

Tearing open the envelope, an invitation card revealed itself.

Dietrich knew that she hadn’t participated in such gatherings since the previous incident.

Wondering what his intention was in giving her an invitation, Ludovica silently stared at him.

In response, Dietrich pointed to the bottom of the invitation, indicating she should read it to the end.

Reluctantly skimming through the content, she soon clicked her tongue. Things were becoming troublesome.

Though it was written in a long-winded manner, the gist of the invitation was this:

‘Attend the birthday celebration of Imperial Princess Veronica in two weeks. Failure to comply will result in punishment for disobeying an imperial order, is that it?’

Although she had abstained from all gatherings until now, it seemed she couldn’t avoid this one, given the mention of an imperial decree.

As Ludovica irritably ran her hand through her hair, someone’s face suddenly crossed her mind.

‘Come to think of it, will Bibi not come to this gathering?’

She immediately left the training ground and headed for the mansion.

There, she caught the busy Nils and ordered him to find out the list of those who received invitations.

Thanks to Nils’ tearful hard work, she was able to receive the relevant documents within a few hours.

As Ludovica hurriedly scanned the list in her bedroom, her eyes suddenly paused.

Vivian Schmidt.

A familiar name was written there.

‘After hiding her identity so well, I wonder what expression she’ll make when we meet at the gathering.’

The mere thought filled her with satisfaction, and she smiled softly.

This gathering, more than any other, was particularly anticipated.

“Ah, I’ve ended up coming after all.”

Stepping out of the carriage, I took a deep breath and approached the enormous mansion one step at a time.

This is the Margrave Schmidt’s residence.

In other words, the place where my biological father and family live.

‘I never thought I’d return here, let alone come of my own volition.’

I took out the invitation from my bosom.

An invitation in the name of none other than Imperial Princess Veronica, addressed to me, a mere illegitimate child of a noble.

“Sigh, if not for this, I wouldn’t have had any reason to visit here.”

Invited to the Imperial Princess’s birthday celebration. I couldn’t understand why I received such an invitation.

Perhaps because I’m an illegitimate child, I had never received anything like this before.

The unfamiliar situation made me nervous, and I wanted to run back to my hideout immediately.

‘But thanks to this, I can finally retrieve my keepsakes, so it’s not all bad.’

Lost in mixed emotions, I unconsciously let out a deep sigh and turned my gaze to the majestic mansion.

The sight of the overwhelmingly large mansion made me shrink a little.

A place where traces of my painful childhood remain intact.

I entered the mansion, extremely tense.