The moment Steve heard that the Duchess had given birth to only one child, he was confused.

Although Clea had left the Odoi family, there were still two children who inherited the Odoi family’s blood.

But to say that the Duchess had given birth to only one child.

That meant one of the two was an illegitimate child.

‘It could be an attempt to shake me with lies.’

He thought her words were false.

The reason he was confused was simply because it was something he had never thought about before, not because he believed it to be true.

The Duchess in his memory was a very caring and warm person.

She always treated him well, and he only had good memories of her as a mother.

Although her health deteriorated rapidly after giving birth to Clea and she eventually met her death, she was still his one and only eternal mother.

Steve composed himself and looked at Clea.

Clea still spoke with a relaxed expression.

“What I want to know is simple. Just tell me how I lived during my childhood.”

“Childhood?”

“Yes. We were family after all, so you should know how I lived, right?”

Steve doubted if he had heard correctly.

To think that this was all she wanted to ask.

‘Could she have amnesia?’

He couldn’t understand.

He thought there was no reason to ask such a question unless she had amnesia.

However, the two of them had now become even less than strangers.

Thinking it strange to worry, he recalled her childhood and said.

“You lived quietly like a mouse. You always tried not to show yourself in front of others.”

That’s how he would express it.

No one looked after her or took care of her.

People thought the Duchess died because of her. They blamed her because the Duchess died shortly after giving birth to her.

Grit, too, except for Steve, never showed any particular affection for her as a child.

Steve thought, both then and now, that it was Clea’s own doing.

Because of her, the Duke’s family lost a good mistress.

“Speak properly, Steve. It’s not that she lived quietly, but that she had no choice. You must have been brainwashing a newborn child, telling her she was born killing her mother.”

“What are you talking about?”

Clea found it absurd that Steve seemed to share such thoughts.

She wasn’t unaware that the Duchess had met an early death.

But was it right to blame a newborn baby for that?

From what she knew, the Duchess was healthy even after giving birth to Clea.

‘Rather, she was happy that a daughter was born.’

She remembers that knowing there was no problem with the family succession, she was relieved that at least she could survive.

Clea didn’t have any particular thoughts about the mother who gave birth to her.

She was the person who brought her into the world, but on the other hand, she couldn’t protect her from others.

Because she was killed by Grit who wanted to keep Steve’s illegitimacy a secret forever.

In fact, Clea had little influence on her death.

She was just a victim who was inevitably fitted into that and became the object of hatred.

She quietly looked at Steve.

“I’m asking you what you mean!”

“Be quiet, Steve. If you want to survive and safely leave this place, shouldn’t you at least know your position?”

“Ugh.”

“You’re not here as a lucky guest, Steve. Depending on my mood, you could meet your death right here and now.”

Clea was exasperated by his still dumbfounded expression as he looked at her.

He must have been over five years old when she was born.

Adults might not notice, but children were surprisingly quick to pick up on things.

He was old enough to know how things were going, even if he didn’t know everything.

Yet the person in front of her seemed to know nothing.

Was it right that he didn’t know? Or was he trying to deny it?

“I’m not interested in family matters. Just tell me what my relationship with Aria was like in childhood.”

She hadn’t called him to discuss how she was treated in the family.

If she had called him to hear such stories, she wouldn’t have treated him as kindly as she was now.

She wasn’t interested in the first place. It was obvious that she would have only experienced bad things if she heard about it.

“By Aria, do you mean that Aria Hersher?”

“Is there another Aria?”

When asked about her relationship with Aria Hersher, Steve’s eyes filled with bewilderment.

It seemed he hadn’t expected her name to come up in this place.

But Clea didn’t care about his reaction now.

“Tell me what our relationship was like. Whether we were enemies like now, or if it was completely different from now.”

In fact, no matter how they got along in childhood, nothing would change now.

However, one thing that bothered her was that Aria used her relationship with Clea in dealing with the curse.

She was curious about what kind of relationship she had with Aria in the past that made their past relationship often mentioned.

Meanwhile, Steve was struggling to speak.

Not knowing if he was thinking useless thoughts again or trying to make up words, Clea pointed a knife at his neck.

He blinked in surprise and looked at her.

“Speak, Steve.”

Steve still showed signs of hesitation.

He was calculating in his head.

The stranger Bawin could have killed him in Curtis Street.

But she, who was once family, wouldn’t kill him or do anything like that now.

Was there any need to humble himself and play along?

But such thoughts soon crumbled as he looked at her face.

“If you don’t want to die here.”

Clea’s expression was very cold.

Her gaze was definitely not one looking at family.

It was questionable whether she ever thought of him as family in the first place.

He bit his lip.

He couldn’t understand how their relationship had been reversed like this.

She used to be unable to do anything at his word before.

The small dagger touched his neck with a chill.

He had no choice but to open his mouth.

“You and Aria were friends, but that relationship was strange.”

The answer that came after the wait was truly peculiar.

She listened silently to the following words.

“When our relationship with the Hersher Duke’s family was better than now, both families tried to make you friends since you were both princesses of the same age. Father didn’t particularly stop it either, thinking it was beneficial to the family.”

It was somewhat perplexing.

The Odoi family was of the noble faction, while the Hersher family was of the imperial faction.

If there was any connection, she thought there would only be bad blood between them from childhood.

In the original work, it was expressed that the two families were busy growling at each other just by facing each other.

But now she was encountering unexpected information.

“However, your relationship with Aria was somehow strange.”

“How was it strange?”

“Before I say, have you really lost your memory?”

Steve was giving a look that said it was uncomfortable to speak.

As he did so, he looked at Bawin.

It seemed he didn’t like Bawin being here, but Clea didn’t mind.

“It’s all in the past anyway.”

Her words had several meanings.

They implied not only that it was all in the past, but also that her relationship with the person in front of her was entirely in the past.

Steve, not being the lowest level of fool, understood those words and spoke with a sense of resignation.

“Despite being princesses of the same status, you acted as if you were Aria’s attendant. After that became known, the relationship between the two families also turned sour.”

“I’ve heard about that too. It’s difficult to determine if it’s true because it’s such an old story.”

Bawin, who had been listening nearby, spoke as if to confirm.

Clea finally understood.

Being starved for attention as a child, she must have fallen for Aria’s kindness.

She always wanted to be above others.

So she must have wanted to present herself as someone more magnificent than others.

In her ignorant days, she might have been content just being by Aria’s side, but as time passed and Clea realized she had been used, she must have come to view that time as a humiliation.

‘Their relationship was the worst from the beginning.’

She could only laugh at the relationship between the two that had been the worst not from the point of losing Lloyd, but from the very beginning.

It didn’t matter now whether it was like that or not.

After all, knowing the past wouldn’t change their relationship anyway.

“Clea, how about returning to the family now? I’ll do my best to make it possible for you to return!”

Meanwhile, Steve’s nonsensical words were heard.

Is he asking her to come back because of the power dynamics, since she’s likely to become the Crown Princess?

Or is it because Grit’s abuse has been fully directed at him since she left, so he wants her to be a shield?

She frowned at her smiling expression and then quickly brightened it.

For a moment, a cruel thought crossed her mind.

Not knowing this, Steve was smiling, waiting for Clea’s next words.

Soon, Clea’s words followed.

“Come to think of it, Steve, there was a story we haven’t shared yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Duchess gave birth to only one person, me.”

His complexion completely changed.

She cut the rope that had been binding him with her knife.

Even with the rope untied, he was looking up at Clea with a blank expression.

Laughing at his appearance as if he had become a different person, Clea said finally.

“Go ask the Duke. He might tell you the truth.”