Rosaria deliberately made a sadder face when she saw Estelle.

“Can you get me out of here? It seems too cold in this prison cell.”

Damian also joined in.

“Yes. Your mother is a fragile person, even if you don’t know. At least keep her warm.”

Estelle and a maid.

They entered without any restrictions, and the guards seemed unable to mistreat Estelle. It was clear that Estelle had firmly won over Duke Blanchet.

She was not smart enough to gain power by making a deal of some kind.

“My child?”

Rosaria called Estelle.

“Look at your mother, child.”

In the past, Estelle would have rushed to her side, apologizing and shedding tears. But she just looked quietly without saying a word, which made Rosaria anxious.

“Betty.”

After a little while, Estelle’s lips finally opened. After looking at their bony faces, she turned to the maid next to her and asked,

“What are they saying?”

She seemed to neither see nor hear their desperate acting.

She seemed like a stranger.

The Duchy of Libertan was in the deepest part of the underground prison.

It was easy to find due to its uncharacteristically splendid appearance, unfit for a prison.

“Betty. What are they saying?”

“I don’t know.”

“I can’t hear a thing they’re saying.”

I looked at them indifferently, even less moved than I thought. Contempt crept into Betty’s eyes as she watched the Duke and Duchess of Libertan.

“They don’t seem to want to talk to us.”

Rosaria, who still didn’t grasp the situation even after hearing our conversation, made a sorrowful face towards me.

“My child. My child Estelle.”

“My child?”

I asked in a calm voice.

“Why do you call me a child?”

“Are you angry with your mother?”

Now Rosaria began to shed tears.

“Estelle. Save us. People have captured us and put us here. We only have you. We need your help now. You have something to do… but before that.”

Just as Damian was about to desperately give me an order, I interrupted him.

“Why? Why ask me?”

“That, that’s… you came to save us, didn’t you?”

“Not at all.”

At my words, the Duke and Duchess of Libertan trembled with shock.

“You, how could you…”

Well. Maybe it was more shocking because she was always an obedient daughter who listened well. But whether these people were shocked or not is none of my business.

‘I have to think about the curse.’

Rosaria was still shocked, her mouth open, and Damian was stuttering as if he had seen something unbelievable.

“Estelle. Get a grip. You do know who we are, don’t you?”

“Sorry, but I came because I have a business. I have a question for you.”

Both the Duke and Duchess had a look of utter shock.

“Did you just refer to us as ‘you guys’?”

“Why…?”

The attitude of the Duke and Duchess of Libertan was strange.

“Why is that?”

They looked into my face as if they were trying to find some emotional change.

“You’re the ones who cursed me.”

“Wh, what curse?”

Rosaria answered, looking straight into my eyes. But I didn’t miss her trembling hands.

‘Indeed, it wasn’t Johan.’

The curse the trees spoke of was a deed committed by the Duchy of Libertan.

‘It would have been easy since they were with me from childhood.’

When I found out Johan wasn’t the one who cursed me, I felt a little more relaxed. Even if the curse is still there.

‘But why did they curse me?’

Since I didn’t know much about the curse in the first place, it was hard to guess why.

‘If they want something… Estella?’

But Estella was already dead. And I was the child adopted after Estella’s death.

“That’s nonsense.”

Damian vehemently shook his head.

“A curse. Even if you’re not my own daughter, we didn’t do that.”

“Yes. Child. It seems you have some misunderstanding.”

I crossed my arms and stayed silent.

Even the Duke and Duchess of Libertan, who strongly denied it, closed their mouths gradually in the face of my silence.

“It’s strange. I’ve been having strange memories lately.”

I started to gaze at the Duke and Duchess of Libertan as they looked confused.

Recalling what I had read in the magic book, every curse required a ritual. A ritual couldn’t be performed just anywhere.

In other words, it meant that the curse could not have been executed in the Duke of Libertan’s mansion.

So.

“I have memories of being taken to strange places when I was young.”

“What, what!”

Rosaria was startled by that statement. Unable to hide her confusion, she lowered her voice slowly.

“We know nothing.”

I expected them to desperately claim their innocence. But the Duke and Duchess of Libertan seemed to be more interested in something else.

“Why has your attitude changed so abruptly? Why aren’t you smiling, why aren’t you calling us parents?”

“Isn’t it us you love the most?”

The questioning seemed sincerely heartfelt.

‘I thought they would explain about the curse.’

However, it spared me the exhaustion.

“I’m sorry, but I really don’t care about you anymore. If you’re acting this way because you want to leave, it seems you’ve misunderstood people.”

I looked indifferently at the Duke and Duchess of Libertan behind the iron bars.