I immediately followed the Duke into the room.

Philen, who entered the room together, muttered in an anxious voice.

“Ah, why was the young master there…, no, why didn’t I notice when he was so close…”

Right now, both the Duke and Philen looked like bad people to me.

‘Come to think of it, Philen is also one of the villain’s subordinates.’

He was the one who helped the Duke’s evil deeds more diligently than anyone else. Perhaps because he seemed kind from the first impression, I felt even more betrayed by him than by the Duke.

I looked back and forth between the Duke and Philen and asked.

“Did you know too, Duke? That Count Ripe wasn’t the culprit.”

A moment of silence passed. The answer didn’t come immediately.

A wrinkle formed between the Duke’s brows, and he asked back.

“…Does that mean you knew too?”

Only then did I realize that what I had said was a tremendous mistake.

“No, I didn’t know! I just found out from what I heard earlier!”

A wrinkle formed between the Duke’s brows.

“Suspicious. Then why were you at the front gate earlier?”

“That, that was because I was playing hide-and-seek…”

“Why did you go all the way there to play hide-and-seek? You don’t usually do that, do you?”

That was true. My play area was usually within the garden, and even then, not too far from the mansion.

It was convenient to play at a distance where I could always fetch snacks and go back to my room when I got tired.

‘By the way, how does the Duke know that?’

I wondered, but that wasn’t important right now. I shook my head and retorted.

“Ah, anyway, that’s not what’s important right now!”

One of the Duke’s eyebrows rose at my words. His look of looking down at me sideways seemed to say, “Go ahead, try it.”

I cleared my throat and continued.

“I heard everything Philen said earlier, that there’s a separate culprit.”

A smile formed on the Duke’s lips. I seriously pondered what part of my words was funny.

“Philen, it seems you’ll be busy for a while. Don’t you think?”

“Huh? Ahaha… yes. I, I guess so…”

“Then go out and do your work.”

At the Duke’s words, Philen, who had been visibly flinching, slumped his shoulders and left the room.

Seeing that he didn’t object, it seemed that what I had heard earlier was true.

I crossed my arms firmly and asked boldly.

“So that means you knew too, right? That Count Ripe wasn’t the culprit.”

The Duke seemed displeased that I had learned this fact.

He brushed his hair back irritably and retorted.

“That old man’s actions are annoying, but he doesn’t have the temperament to kill someone.”

Would it have been less shocking if he had said it wasn’t true, that it was a misunderstanding? I was quite shocked by his immediate admission.

That means they both knew and still detained Count Ripe.

While knowing that Count Ripe was falsely accused.

“Even though you knew…”

I couldn’t understand that part.

When I went down to the prison with Sinsu, Count Ripe was locked in an iron cage where real criminals were confined.

The image of him drinking urgently gulp by gulp as soon as I handed him water, as if he hadn’t been given even a sip, was still vivid.

‘How could they do that?’

How could they do that to an innocent person while knowing the real culprit was someone else?

“You tell me, since when did you know that the Count wasn’t the culprit?”

Before the shock had even subsided, the Duke asked again.

“That’s not important right now.”

“That’s not for you to judge.”

The Duke said in a chilling tone. I felt a chill run down my neck for a moment.

Apart from that, I must have been quite shocked too. Looking at how I couldn’t easily speak even though the Duke was interrogating me with such a scary face.

The Duke didn’t give up and asked again.

“Did you know before you heard our conversation? Since when?”

“…”

That was a question I couldn’t answer. That I had seen this world written as a book in my previous life, and that I knew because memories of my previous life had surfaced?

‘It’s a story they wouldn’t believe even if I told them.’

It would be fortunate if they didn’t chase me out for being creepy or horrible for a mere 4-year-old child remembering a previous life.

“Then that means you knew and still detained him, Duke.”

I replied, avoiding the Duke’s question. The important thing right now was the fact that Count Ripe had been falsely accused.

“Even though you knew it was a false accusation, that the Count hadn’t committed any crime.”

The Duke remained silent.

But facing his indifferent gaze, I already felt like I had heard the answer.

Count Ripe and the Duke were not on good terms.

It couldn’t be helped. The Count, with his incorruptible nature, must have been an irritating presence to the Duke.

I realized the reality anew.

‘Right, this was the villain family…’

A place without blood or tears, where betrayal and conspiracy run rampant.

A place where common sense doesn’t apply.

I had forgotten for a moment due to Sophia and Delma’s kindness and Yan’s gentleness.

“What’s the problem?”

The Duke asked in a flat voice.

“That Count didn’t like you anyway. He doubted your birth, and even laid hands on you carelessly when I wasn’t around. He’s just that kind of person.”

The Duke continued speaking as if it were no big deal.

“I’m saying it’s not something for you to worry about.”

The Duke, who had been speaking calmly, pulled the bell cord.

“Come to think of it, isn’t it your snack time now? I should have snacks brought…”

“Still,”

I barely opened my mouth. The Duke, who was about to call a servant, stopped his action.

“That’s irrelevant.”

I continued, looking up at the Duke.

“The Count is innocent. He’s been falsely accused, hasn’t he?”

In the original story, the Duke arrested two vassals as culprits who tried to poison him.

One was a vassal who constantly gave advice to the Duke, who committed illegal business and tax evasion as easily as breathing, and the other was a vassal who argued that an adopted child could not be accepted as the heir to the Duke’s family.

Thinking about it again, even in the original story, it didn’t say they were the culprits.

It only stated that the Duke arrested two vassals and punished them.

“So? What are you trying to say?”

The Duke asked in a flat voice. Even though I thought it was an absurd request, I reluctantly said what I wanted.

“Release the Count.”

Even after saying it, I was still very nervous. It didn’t seem likely that the master of a villain family would listen to me, and I thought he might get angry and call me impertinent, but I blurted it out anyway.

‘Even if the Count tries to escape from the underground prison, it’s a problem.’

The Count will try to escape somehow. But this northern region was practically in the Duke’s hands.

Even if he ran away while being falsely accused, it would be over once the Duke found him again. It was urgent to save him before he was framed for a more serious crime.

‘And the Duke can’t kick me out right away.’

The look in the eyes of people who hate or dislike me was clearly different from others’.

The Duke’s expression was usually unchanging, making it harder to tell, but at least it wasn’t the attitude of someone who hated me.

Sometimes there was a look that seemed annoyed, though.

The Duke didn’t seem displeased after hearing my words. Rather, he showed a languid smile.

“Well, it seems my daughter doesn’t understand yet.”

“…”

“It’s also a fault to be helplessly victimized.”

“…”

“That’s why the Count is being punished. Because he let himself be helplessly victimized.”

For a moment, a chill ran down my spine.

The Duke’s actions, expressions, and words just now were all perfectly those of a villain.

‘At this rate, it will really be ruin.’

Although this was a villain family, there were still good people here.

For example, Sophia, Delma, and even Yan the guard.

‘It wasn’t a problem I could solve by escaping alone.’

At this rate, they would all be sacrificed for being part of the villain family.

‘They’re all people I care about.’

Imagining all those people in danger made my vision blur.

“You…”

I looked up at the Duke’s surprised voice. As I blinked a couple of times, tears fell helplessly.

‘Huh?’

“What’s wrong?”

The Duke showed an uncharacteristically flustered expression at the sudden tears. But I was just as flustered.

‘Why am I like this?!’

It might be weird to say this now, but I was really a child who didn’t cry easily. Even when Rebecca said bad things and treated me harshly, I didn’t cry.

At least not after I remembered my previous life.

But why do tears burst out so often here?

“No, I’m not crying.”

I roughly wiped away the tears with the back of my hand. I thought the Duke would naturally leave the room, annoyed at seeing me cry, but surprisingly, he didn’t.

“Crying over something so trivial.”

He gently wiped away the tears with a handkerchief he had pulled out at some point. Unlike his gruff tone, his touch was careful and gentle.

As I stared up at him, I suddenly realized why I had burst into tears several times in the Duke’s family.

“The Duke is scary…”

The Duke’s eyebrow rose at my sudden words. I was startled by the words I had blurted out without realizing.

‘I, I didn’t mean to say it!’

This too was a habit that suddenly appeared after remembering my previous life. That is, thoughts that I only meant to think suddenly popped out of my mouth.

“Scary?”

I nodded reluctantly at the Duke’s expression that seemed to say to tell the truth.

It was the same when I first met the Duke, and when the Duke got angry at me for not listening. It was the same now, all because the Duke acted scary, tears suddenly poured out.

“Well, you’ve been like that since I first saw you.”

The Duke replied as if he didn’t care much. He soon got up from his seat and grabbed the doorknob as if to leave the room.

But before he could open the door, the Duke came back with big strides.

“Why do you say it’s scary?”

‘…Huh?’

“What have I done to you.”

Somehow, his tone sounded very wronged.

“Duke, you’re evil,”

Again, again! I hurriedly closed my mouth at the words trying to come out on their own. I almost said, ‘Duke, you’re evil and a bad person, so I’m scared!’

“Say it, if it’s a reasonable reason, I’ll let it go.”

“Because the Duke is tall…”

“That Beiholt fellow is tall too.”

“…”

I don’t know why Yan suddenly came up here. I closed my mouth again and changed the subject.

“By the way, weren’t you about to leave just now, Duke?”

“Don’t change the subject.”

‘…It’s not working.’

The Duke didn’t let it go easily. I felt as if I had done something wrong and just wiggled my fingers.

The Duke pressed his furrowed brow hard and pulled the bell cord.

“Where is Philen now?”

“Yes, my lord.”

As if he had been waiting outside in the hallway, a servant opened the door and Philen came in right away.

“Release him.”

“Pardon?”

“Count Ripe, I mean. Release him.”

“Ah…?”

It wasn’t just Philen who was shocked. I also stared at the Duke with round eyes.

“What?! But isn’t it too precious an opportunity! You clearly said last time, my lord! That annoying old man, now that we can finally get rid of him,”

“Didn’t I tell you, you have too many unnecessary words.”

“I’ll go release him.”

The Duke, who lightly cut off Philen’s words, smiled a chilling smile that made the nape of my neck prickle. Philen left the room like a shot.

I quickly asked the Duke after looking at the door where Philen had disappeared.

“Are you really releasing him?”

“Yeah.”

The answer came too easily. Considering the Duke’s attitude just a moment ago when it seemed he would absolutely not release him, it was hard to believe just like that.

‘Is he really releasing him?’

The Duke asked back with a stern face.

“Is it okay now?”

“Huh? What?”

“I’m asking if you’re not scared anymore.”

“Hmm.”

“I released him, so you’re not scared now, right?”

…He’s threatening me to say I’m not scared with a scary face.

I nodded, unable to resist the threat.

“Yeaah…”