The entrance of the Ethel Marquisate.

Terrifyingly, the youngest Miss Ethel rushed into the mansion as the carriage door swung open. The attendants, who had been tense since the carriage’s arrival, exaggeratedly bowed their waists.

“Welcome back, Miss.”

However, unlike usual, Maria passed by the attendants and entered the mansion.

“Where is Father?”

As Maria sharply exclaimed, one of the attendants approached. Come to think of it, the probability of her father being in the mansion was not high.

I should have gone to the Bana Casino on Le Heyrun Street.

At that moment, a servant pointed to the inner parlor on the first floor.

“The Marquis is currently in the reception room.”

Maria blinked and smiled brightly. It seemed that things were going as expected. She didn’t know she would meet her busy father so quickly!

Maria hurriedly ran towards the reception room. The servant, who thought he had smoothly passed the conversation with the young lady, had a moment of realization.

“Miss!”

After Duke Elkin had left a little while ago, the servants were told to keep everyone away. The servant who was about to follow the young lady stopped in his tracks.

In front of the corridor leading to the
“Whether to call it luck or not in such a situation. Should we criticize someone who lives with evidence of negativity, or should we admire getting a sacrificial offering to send to the royal palace instead of a daughter with good fortune? It’s quite perplexing, isn’t it?

If it’s a sacrifice, we should offer our gratitude in prayer. Don’t we provide comfort to that puppet? A gentle laughter ensued.

Maria inadvertently covered her mouth. The person her father politely referred to as the duke was the leader of the noble faction and the brother-in-law of Empress Elkin. And the story that just came up was probably about.

About fourteen years ago, the scandalous story of the illegitimate child of Duke Madelaine, which stirred up high society. It happened when Maria was six, but she vaguely remembered it because her mother died in the aftermath.

It was a trap set by the leader of the noble faction, Duke Elkin, and my father. Maria clenched her fist. Nails dug into her palm, but there was no pain. All of this felt unreal. She wanted to call her father, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

It wasn’t because of disappointment.

A strange thrill enveloped her. The fact that Olivia Madelaine, that wretched thing, could be born was thanks to my father and Duke Elkin.

Even the act of being born was determined by us, the nobles, in this trivial life.

To think that such a half-breed has been sitting next to my lover all this time!

As Maria’s thoughts were organizing in her mind, she took a deep breath. She wanted to tell her father, but maybe now, with Duke Elkin present, was not the right time.

If I want to firmly establish the position of the princess consort… I need allies other than Leopold.

Maria recalled Leopold from earlier and raised her head. Then, with a cold look, she knocked on the door.

Knock [dash]. Before the steady knocking sound could end, a gruff voice burst out.

“Who is it? No one is allowed to enter this way…!”

“Father, it’s me. Maria.”

“Maria?”

With a perplexed voice, the door opened right away. Anyway, a door that couldn’t function properly. Maria thought she should replace it as she looked inside the reception room.

As expected, Duke Elkin was sitting gracefully on the sofa. His red hair and smiling face were strikingly similar to the empress.

Viscount Ethel had a troubled look.

“Oh, Maria. What’s going on with you now? The duke has come.”

“I came to deliver a message to father about the summer party invitation, but I didn’t realize he was here.”

Apologizing with a remorseful expression, Maria straightened her posture. Then, she greeted Duke Elkin, who was looking at her.

“Maria Ethel greets Duke Elkin. I hope you have been well?”

“Thanks to you, I’ve been well, my dear. No, now you’re the fiancée of His Highness, the Crown Prince. It must be a harmonious relationship within the family.”

With a casual remark, Duke Elkin made Viscount Ethel smile. Maria grinned.”
“By the way, a summer banquet. Since it’s not a place for me, I’ll go first, Viscount.”

“No, Your Grace.”

A cheerful voice, louder than the viscount’s, interrupted the duke. Elkin Duke, who had been looking at Maria with curiosity, narrowed his eyes.

Desire, once seen from the empress, who was Maria Ethel’s niece and was smiling like a flower, briefly passed over Maria Ethel’s face.

“… Whatever you have to say, my dear.”

“It’s a summer banquet. In celebration of Her Highness becoming a family, I was considerate enough to allow me to come up with ideas for the banquet.”

Everyone here knew that it was a lie.

A family? A little while ago, Duke Elkin also used the same expression, but mentioning the princess was a slightly different story.

Maria, the proxy fiancée who would fill the prince’s side only during the ‘one-year grace’ period, received grace from the princess, calling her a family.

“Well,”