Helly looked at Diana quietly through her bangs. Information is money. Only fools would talk about it easily.

“The Queen’s Kitchen, as soon as you arrive. 3 days.”

The Queen’s Kitchen was the name of the most famous restaurant in the capital’s square. You had to get on the waitlist a month in advance to make a reservation.

3 days there? You can’t buy it even if you pay extra. Unless you have connections, that is.

Hmm. Diana slowly leaned her body back against the chair and crossed her legs under her skirt.

During Helly’s stay at the Schwartz duchy, she visited Carol’s tavern every day as if intending to ruin it, and devoured all the menu items.

She still says it’s not enough. Should I say impressive? She had underestimated Helly’s stomach. Yes, she was being generous.

“The Queen’s Kitchen. 5 days per course.”

“Okay.”

Helly, who was sincere about eating, agreed without hesitation.

I’ll have to contact the restaurant as soon as I return.

It wasn’t hers, but it was run by someone she was close with, so they usually prioritized her requests unless it was unreasonable.

Helly knew this and shrewdly mentioned it as part of the deal.

“So, who is it?”

“Count Gordon Bruger.”

Ha. Diana let out a hollow laugh. She thought it might be someone else.

“Your elder brother and elder sister just let it happen?”

“They’re all busy.”

Right. They must be busy. Villains aren’t villains for nothing. You have to move diligently to do behind-the-scenes work.

Though she didn’t know what they were scheming right now.

“Uncle is really greedy.”

Count Gordon Bruger was one of the younger brothers of the Duke of Beatus.

Among the more than seven brothers, if there was anyone who coveted the Beatus dukedom the most, it was undoubtedly him.

The second in line who was always trapped in the shadow of the firstborn and never saw the light.

In the end, it was the eldest who took the dukedom. After marrying out, Gordon received an earl title held by the Beatus family, but he never gave up and lurked around aiming for the dukedom.

That also ended in failure when Debir Beatus became the heir.

The attempted rebellion was suppressed early on. But embers were always left behind. What would not be allowed in other families frequently happened in this family.

In the first place, it was the Beatus way to wage fierce succession wars involving not only the direct line but also the collateral line, leaving behind the strong.

This family determined the succession not by primogeniture but by the strength of the successor.

No wonder the people of this household became vicious. They struggled to survive. Many of father’s numerous brothers passed away in the succession wars.

But they left behind many children, and succession wars continued endlessly not only between brothers but also between cousins.

At least the four children of the eldest son and daughters, including Diana, did not point swords at each other.

Even if they seemed indifferent to each other, they got along relatively well.

That’s why she trusted her brothers among the family members. When Debir Beatus became the heir, they were all happy that they wouldn’t have to deal with the annoying succession war.

‘Those were good times.’

Since Debir took care of the family’s bothersome affairs, Vanessa went out into high society, Nathan trained his own style of swordsmanship, and Diana lounged in bed and enjoyed their individual lives.

Debir Beatus, the mastermind and main villain of the original work, was exceptional from the start.

He was so outstanding that he surpassed not only Count Gordon but also his father, the duke.

By his teens, he had already built up enough power to sweep away the annoying cousins who were trying to mess with him.

That was now the underworld. There was no dark alley in the empire that his reach did not extend to, not to mention the alleys of the capital.

“Just because you sit on an empty throne doesn’t mean you’re the same king.”

I don’t know why he keeps being greedy. Diana swallowed her words.

“……”

“……”

The surroundings were quiet. Diana and Helly exchanged glances. Diana suddenly flung open the door of the now stopped carriage.

“Oh.”

Buzz, who was awkwardly holding up his fist, was startled.

“I’m sorry, Miss. Did I disturb you?”

“No. What’s the matter? It’s quiet around here.”

Helly quietly retracted the spider web-like transparent threads she had spread in her hand.

“We separated the carriages due to the large number of people. It seems we won’t be able to reach the next village before sunset. I came to inform you that we may need to camp.”

She wondered why it was so quiet, and was told that half of the knights had gone to deal with magical beasts that appeared nearby. The servants were exhausted from the arduous journey.

“Thank you.”

“I will come to escort you again once the tents are set up.”

Tap. After the door closed, Diana stretched her stiff neck.

Sitting still in the carriage for more than half a day made her whole body ache. Moreover, she had exhausted her stamina after dealing with his body until the morning before departure.

“Want to go stretch your body or something?”

“Too bothersome.”

Right. I knew you’d say that. She considered participating in dealing with the magical beasts to loosen up her body for a moment, but decided against it. Gotta save up stamina.

“Uncle coveting the dukedom is nothing new, so let’s put that aside. What about my political marriage?”

Helly, who was lying down to sleep, tilted her body and sat up abruptly.

“Miss is getting married?”

Seeing the rare look of surprise, Diana frowned.

“Did you not listen properly?”

“I don’t know. It was annoying so I only heard the order to roughly report back after seeing you, Miss. It’s not my jurisdiction anyway.”

Helly had a tendency to selectively hear and act only on what she wanted to hear.

Then that means she also doesn’t know what Uncle is up to right now.

“Who were my close maids currently at the mansion?”

“Probably Jane and Jamie. The rest were fired and all returned.”

Jane and Jamie. Diana felt a cold sweat at the names she had forgotten.

“Hmm. It’ll be troublesome if we go late.”

Would they obediently follow Uncle’s orders? No, she could assert absolutely not.

It could even put the other party of the political marriage in danger.

“Helly, what exactly were the orders given to you?”

“……”

Helly showed a hint of wariness, but Diana smiled and waved the well-ripened piece of meat in front of her eyes as if teasing.

“I’ll reduce the course meals to 3 days.”

“Handle the people going to Miss. Those carrying the family name. Those carrying Lady Vanessa’s name.”

“You handled elder sister’s people too?”

Helly nodded.

“Did elder brother and elder sister have a falling out?”

At her muttering, Helly replied dryly.

“Lady Vanessa’s condition is strange. The system has become a mess.”

Taking advantage of that gap, Gordon brought in a bunch of riffraff under Vanessa’s direct subordination.

“What do you mean by that?”

Helly sprawled out on the carriage chair as if annoyed.

“She’s not paying attention to anything else because she’s hung up on the crown prince.”

“To the point of not managing her forces?”

“Yeah.”

What happened? In the original work, she assassinated even the emperor at the crown prince’s words, but has the depth of that emotion already become this deep?

“Don’t tell me, the crown prince got another woman?”

“How did you know? I heard he calls a different woman to his bedchamber every day.”

She was about to ask about the original female lead, the Saint. But, he switches out women every day?

What is going on? The crown prince seemed more like irredeemable trash than she thought.

It seemed natural for elder sister to be infuriated.

As Diana’s expression darkened, Helly spoke as if in passing and closed her eyes.

“Seems like no one else has noticed, but I think the crown prince is looking for someone.”

“Who?”

“Don’t know.”

Saying she was going to sleep so not to talk to her, Helly crossed her arms. Feeling stifled, Diana exited the carriage.

Whoosh- A chilly and eerie wind swept past her as she stepped out of the carriage.

The moon had risen at some point and settled in the dark night sky. Diana looked up at the moon while pulling her clothes tighter.

May elder sister not commit an irreversible act.

She prayed while gazing at the moon.

“Move.”

At the woman’s fierce voice, the maid maintained a blank expression.

“This is Miss Diana’s room. If you have business, please get permission from the owner before entering.”

“That owner isn’t here, is she? And now this mansion is in our father’s hands.”

Diana’s uncle. Zelony Bruger, the youngest daughter of Gordon Bruger, was making a scene in front of Diana’s room.

“She will return.”

“Waiting for that wench when you don’t even know where she went? Your loyalty is really something. Even though she’s about to be sold off to another family in your place.”

The maid’s eyes shone fiercely. But Zelony was no pushover either.

Slap! The maid’s face turned from the hand striking her cheek.

“What are you going to do, glaring like that?”

A sneer settled on the maid’s turned face.

“Do you think you’ve become something just because you’re marrying a high-ranking noble in place of your owner?”

“……”

“Just watch. She won’t even survive the first night.”

Zelony grabbed the maid’s collar and whispered in her ear.

“It’d be even better if Diana comes back. This time, I’ll really mess up that detestable face of hers and make her grovel on the floor. It’ll be a sight to see when she begs to be spared. Right?”

Zelony let go of the maid’s collar and turned around, laughing loudly as if just imagining it made her feel good.

Click. The maid who entered the room leaned against the door and clenched her fists tightly.

She felt like she had to break something right away to let off steam.

“Is she gone?”

The maid’s gaze turned to the bed. Diana was lying there.

No, her younger brother disguised as Diana was lying on his side.

Ever since talk of Diana’s political marriage began, Gordon had been trying to set up one of the maids as Diana’s body double.

The one who stepped up was Jamie.

It wasn’t difficult as he had been living disguised in various roles including Diana.

“Wow, you even got slapped. Good thing I’m not disguised as you this time.”

He felt glad he was boredly staying disguised as Diana.

“Don’t speak crudely with Miss’s face. I’ll kill you.”

“Heh. Do whatever you want.”

The maid strode over, grabbed her brother’s collar and raised her fist. The brother said in a panic:

“This is Miss’s face!”

He was wearing a lavender wig with curled locks and even used a special potion to create pink pupils.

It was close to a transformation rather than makeup.

The completed beautiful face even perfectly reproduced their Miss’s eye shape.

The trembling fist quietly settled down, quelling its anger.

Phew, Jamie let out a sigh of relief and looked up at his sibling whose one cheek was starting to swell.

That’s about to burst.

“I heard a maid on Zelony’s side was snooping around our side.”

A target for venting anger appeared. Jane immediately turned around at those words.

“I’ll be back.”

“Hey, but will Miss really come back?”

Jane stopped walking and glared at Jamie.

“Doesn’t matter if she doesn’t. We can go find her.”

Jamie pondered for a moment and nodded.

“That’s true. Miss hates moving around. It might be better for us to go.”

“But the political marriage will still proceed.”

If they didn’t carry out the political marriage in Diana’s place, they didn’t know what negative impact it would have on Diana.

“Then let’s quickly finish off that guy on the wedding night and go to Miss.”

At Jamie’s playful words, Jane turned to leave again.

“You go into the bridal chamber.”

“Ack. I mean, I would. But isn’t it a bit much for me to deal with a man? Gives me the chills.”

“Says the guy who even cross-dresses.”

The twin siblings Jane and Jamie were both working as Diana’s close maids.

With the exception of a few people, no one knew Jamie was a man.

That’s how good he was at disguise, and he enjoyed it too.

“Hmm, should I try seducing a man with Miss’s face?”

Seeing her younger brother smiling alluringly with Diana’s face, Jane left the room.