The maid who had brought me looked askance at me, as if uncomfortable with me examining the furnishings of the palace.

When our eyes met and I greeted her with a warm smile, she flinched and averted her gaze.

In contrast, the knight guarding the door stood with a face that seemed to say, ‘I’m deaf,’ looking off into the distance. But his posture couldn’t possibly appear careless.

His muscles were so bulky that, although he was simply standing, it felt like he was approaching me.

I was listening to Her Highness the Princess’s shouting, and suddenly felt at ease thinking that I might end up caring for Misha in the future.

Of course, our statuses were incomparable.

“Really? Really? I’m supposed to take care of a bastard? There are limits to insults! I’m going to ask my older brother. Is this the treatment I deserve even if you hate me?”

The man inside was busy soothing Her Highness. At the word ‘bastard,’ the maid gave me another sidelong glance.

Perhaps no illegitimate child had ever set foot in this place. I sighed at the thought.

I ignored the maid’s glances and focused on the conversation. It seemed that the person who had instructed the Earl to send his daughter was the ‘older brother,’ the First Prince.

It wasn’t even His Majesty the Emperor but the First Prince. What was he thinking? And was the Earl really safe?

Amidst this, there was the sound of something breaking, and finally, the palace manager opened the door and came out.

His face looked completely rotten, old, and weary.

“Follow me.”

‘Am I being kicked out already?’

I asked as I followed him.

“Aren’t I meeting Her Highness the Princess?”

“Follow me.”

His voice was a mixture of fatigue and irritability. He led the way briskly.

I was certain. This man loathed his job.

He took me to an office and disappeared, soon to be replaced by an old lady.

The skinny woman with gray-streaked hair tightly coiled on her head looked stern at first glance.

“I am Amella Collison, the palace housekeeper. You are Roar Young?”

The way she phrased my name was as if questioning whether I had the right to be called Roar.

But I obediently answered.

“I am Lorisha Roar.”

“Has your entry into Roar House been formalized?”

Hmm. So that’s how it’s going to be.

“Wasn’t I called here? Shouldn’t there have been some basic background check?”

“…”

The housekeeper looked displeased but answered.

“We can’t know every detail from the higher-ups. Nor do we need to. Our work begins when orders come down. You will need to get used to that if you stay in the palace.”

The tension in our initial meeting was no joke.

Perhaps it’s necessary to maintain discipline in the palace, considering she deals with children of high-ranking officials.

But the person at fault isn’t me. If I’m driven out by Her Highness the Princess or the palace management, the one who would have to explain my departure to the First Prince wouldn’t be me.

I looked at her intently and replied dryly.

“Do your job.”

The housekeeper showed me no goodwill, and I showed her none.

It’s important to make friends in a new place, but it’s also important to identify those with whom friendship is impossible.

I could never be friends with this old woman.

“Her Highness the Princess desires a competent lady-in-waiting who will not tarnish the dignity of the royal family. So, naturally, your background and abilities are of grave concern.”

So what do you want from me?

When I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at her, she spoke.

“Do you have any track record to prove your capabilities?”

“Considering you’re doubting whether I’m truly a Roar, I guess not.”

I replied with a wry smile, but the housekeeper remained unshaken.
“First, we must verify your abilities. We usually don’t do this, but it’s become necessary.”

Ability verification. This must have been the outcome of the earlier negotiations between the palace administration and Her Highness the Princess.

Her Highness had made such a fuss about not being able to accommodate me that they’d reluctantly agreed to test my abilities.

They were probably hoping I’d prove to be ignorant and incompetent so they’d have an excuse to turn me away. I didn’t know how they intended to ‘verify,’ but I was getting impatient.

Bastard, bastard, bastard. Bastard.

It felt like I was hearing every ‘bastard’ comment I’d ever received in my life in one afternoon.

Given the unexpectedly harsh atmosphere, I doubted I’d last long in the palace. Nevertheless, I was in a position where I couldn’t just back out.

Rather, I felt more at ease and spoke even more brazenly.

“I am the daughter of Count Roar, Your Majesty’s third envoy. Is that not sufficient?”

“We are already aware of that. However…”

“Ah. I never thought the Count would have so little credibility outside…”

I deliberately sighed loudly for them to hear. At that, the chamberlain turned and left.

I went over to the window while waiting for the chamberlain. The well-maintained gardens of the third imperial palace, the palace servants and administrators bustling around…

Being in the palace suddenly felt surreal.