Neris, who came out of the white porcelain bathtub with flushed cheeks, stared at the culprit after seeing the state of the room she was given.

Diane, who was smiling brightly, shook her shoulders and acted coyly.

“There’s no one to wear them in our house anyway, so I have to give them to someone. Wear your dress tomorrow and let’s try these on today, okay?”

There were too many children’s dresses that Diane had laid out in Neris’s room to simply call them ‘these’. It looked like there were about thirty of them. Neris sighed.

“Um, I’m grateful. But I have my own clothes to wear, so I’d feel bad borrowing yours.”

“Don’t feel bad! I want you to wear them!”

Diane jumped up and down.

Neris had actually expected Diane to do this even before starting the carriage journey, so she resignedly scanned the dresses spread out all over the room with her eyes. Diane held up the dresses she especially wanted Neris to wear one by one.

“This one has bright colors that go well with your blonde hair, this one has cute ribbons, this one is sparkly with gold thread decorations. This one has overly puffy shoulders but makes you look like a princess when you wear it.”

“Let’s go with that one.”

Neris merely glanced at the ones Diane enthusiastically recommended and pointed to a navy blue dress draped over one side of the bed. Diane made a slightly disappointed face.

“That one’s not very fancy.”

“It’ll suit me.”

“How do you know?”

Well, because I’ve tried on all sorts of styles and colors of clothes as a duke’s daughter and crown princess. Neris made up an excuse.

“The pendant on that ribbon over there is similar to my eye color.”

“I guess so.”

Betty, who had been watching the two girls choose clothes, helped Neris change.

The navy blue dress that Diane wore when she was younger had only a black velvet ribbon below the neck and a single purple pendant in the middle of the bodice, but the skirt was quite full and had irregular layers of black velvet frills.

It was a dress that Diane had worn once and discarded because it didn’t suit her, but both Diane and Betty were amazed at how it looked on Neris.

“You look so pretty!”

“It really suits you, Miss Neris.”

Neris’s bright blonde hair always had a beautiful sheen because she consistently applied perfume oil she bought near Carten, but when she put on the dark-colored dress, it shone as brightly as moonlight.

And as Neris said, because she wore a dress with decorations similar to her eye color, her impressive purple eyes stood out and captivated those who saw them.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Neris smiled bitterly.

She had tried on all sorts of clothes as the crown princess, but her criteria for choosing clothes was not whether they suited her well, but whether they could display the dignity of the imperial family.

How long had she been ridiculed, buried in clothes that didn’t suit her frail and small body?

To think there were clothes that suited her so well.

‘…But it doesn’t matter since I myself am unremarkable.’

Habitually feeling uncomfortable as she continued to look at herself, Neris subtly averted her gaze from the mirror.

“Then I’ll fix the dress for you before dinner.”

Betty said as she marked the slightly loose sleeves and waist with chalk. It was unavoidable that the clothes needed to be altered because Diane and Neris had different body types.

Diane’s eyes sparkled with joy.

“Then let’s try on others while that dress is being fixed!”

While Betty took the navy blue dress away to fix it, Neris changed into more than five outfits, most of which suited her well. However, none suited her as well as the first navy blue dress.

“Liz has a good eye for clothes. It’s impressive.”

Diane made an expression of regret and admiration as she watched Neris dragging the ‘princess dress’ that she had strongly recommended. Neris replied nonchalantly.

“I know what suits me, and you usually wear what suits you well too.”

“Really?”

Diane smiled brightly at those words. Just then, someone knocked on the door.

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

Neris and Diane answered simultaneously. Before the answer was finished, the door swung open and Muriel McKinnon poked her head in.

“Are you two having fun?”

“Oh, elder sister. Come in.”

Diane greeted Muriel normally, seemingly having forgotten about the earlier incident. Muriel had a girl with her. Although her face was still young and it was hard to tell, Neris could guess who she was.

“Heather’s here too.”

At Diane’s unenthusiastic words, Heather Railing wore a broad smile. Neris found it amusing that her expression was exactly the same as what she had seen in the past.

Unlike Angelo, who had an ordinary appearance, Heather was a pretty girl with a good impression, and she used that as a weapon to get what she wanted.

No matter how much Angelo’s status rose, Heather was still the daughter of a commoner in the end.

So in Neris’s previous life, Angelo asked for his beloved daughter to be used as a maid for one of the two daughters of the Elandria family, to push her into high society even a little. After all, a high-ranking maid was a position that met incredibly high-status people every day.

And it was Valentine who hit it off with Heather.

Heather, with her innocent face, put Neris in difficult situations several times. If Heather hadn’t quickly caught a low-ranking noble man and married him, quitting her maid job, it would have been quite troublesome from Neris’s perspective as well.

“I heard that Lady Diane had arrived, so I came to greet you.”

“How long have you been here?”

“I arrived two weeks ago, Lady Diane.”

Heather, who answered with a gentle smile, shifted her gaze to Neris.

The dress Neris was wearing now was clearly a high-quality item to anyone’s eyes, but it was obviously too big. A flash of contempt passed through Heather’s eyes.

“Why is the room like this? Diane, are you giving your clothes to her?”

Muriel quickly recognized that the dresses were Diane’s. When Muriel asked in a sharp tone, Diane quickly glanced at Neris’s face before defensively saying,

“We were just playing dress-up for a moment. Why?”

“A smart girl doesn’t have her own clothes? She has money for academy tuition but not for clothes? I guess she saved money by wearing other people’s clothes?”

The provocation was so childish that Neris wanted to laugh, but Diane’s face turned red with anger.

This was clearly Diane’s house, and Neris was a guest she had personally invited. And she had begged and pleaded for her to come when she said she wouldn’t!

Diane had complex feelings about her cousins. Cousin Nualan was fine, but she honestly didn’t like elder sister Muriel very much. The fact that Heather and Muriel got along well also didn’t sit well with her.

Still, following her father’s words that blood was all they could rely on while being looked down upon in noble society due to their short family history, she always treated her relatives kindly.

When she went to the academy, she saw that the McKinnon family was indeed looked down upon from all sides, so she had intended to show a better face to Muriel this time.

But to pick a fight so blatantly as soon as she arrived, this was disregarding the face of the main family! Diane quickly began to think about what to say to break Muriel’s arrogance.

Neris seemed to know what Diane was thinking and grabbed her hand to stop her.

What? Why? When Diane looked at her with confused eyes, Neris smiled at her. Then she said to Muriel in a voice as light as a spring breeze,

“Oh, so that’s why elder sister doesn’t attend the academy? You didn’t have tuition money because of clothes expenses. I see.”

Heather turned slightly pale, and Muriel’s mouth fell open. Diane hesitated for a moment, not knowing how to react, but decided to follow her own emotions.

That is, she burst out laughing.

Betty, who was watching, had a troubled expression but couldn’t blame Neris. Even to Betty, it was clear that Muriel was the one who had picked the fight first.

“You, you what! Who said there’s no tuition money because of clothes expenses…!”

Muriel was so angry she couldn’t even finish her sentences properly. Neris put on an expression of utmost pity for her opponent with the acting skills she had displayed in diplomacy. She didn’t add a single word more, but it was enough for Muriel to become completely agitated.

“I! Our family is incomparable to yours! We could go to the academy if we wanted to!”

Diane tilted her head, thinking Muriel was overreacting. Neris raised one corner of her mouth with calm, sunken eyes.

“Is that so? I must have been mistaken, elder sister. I’m sorry.”

Of course, no one would take that apology as genuine. Heather said to Muriel with a frightened face,

“Oh, my lady… Of course. Everyone knows that. Let’s go now. You’re too excited right now, my lady…”

Muriel tried to resist, but Heather’s pulling force was too strong. Betty felt sorry, seeing that if they left like this, Heather would take all of Muriel’s anger alone.

But Heather’s words came from the right judgment. If Muriel stayed any longer, it would only cause a fight between relatives for no reason.

As Heather took Muriel away, Diane snorted and said,

“You spoke well, Liz! I’m sorry you keep hearing strange things because of my relatives.”

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

Neris, who also had relatives like the Elandria family, had no intention of blaming Diane. After all, you don’t choose your blood relatives.

Diane looked at the door Heather had closed as she left, and after a while asked Neris,

“But don’t you think elder sister Muriel got too angry? Isn’t it strange?”

“What? She must have really wanted to go to the academy.”

Neris’s answer was indifferent. Diane’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s.

“Her? She said she didn’t need to go to things like the academy. She told me she wasn’t envious at all.”

“When you bragged first?”

“No.”

“If she brought it up herself and said she wasn’t envious when you didn’t brag first, that means she is envious, Diane.”

Diane opened her mouth with an expression of realization at those words. Neris smiled bitterly.

For the usually insightful Diane to have such a clueless expression, is it really that hard to read someone you’ve known since childhood?

“She brought up the academy suddenly earlier too. I thought it was strange that she picked a fight as soon as I arrived. What does Muriel’s father do?”

“Uncle Sibna? He works at the McKinnon trading company.”

“Is the income not good?”

“I don’t know?”

As Diane blinked her eyes, Betty answered instead.

“I heard that Lord Sibna McKinnon is in charge of medicinal herbs, but he’s been in the red for the past few years. So he’s come to borrow money several times.”

“Really?”

Diane, who obviously didn’t know much about such adult matters, was surprised, and Neris nodded.

The tuition for the academy is really expensive. From what I saw earlier, the fabric of Muriel’s clothes was of relatively poor quality, and her accessories were semi-precious stones. It wouldn’t be strange if Muriel wasn’t sent to the academy, even though Diane, as the daughter of a count, went there obligatorily.

“She seems to be acting like that because she’s envious of attending the academy. If that Heather girl hadn’t taken Muriel away in time, I would have made her apologize properly.”

“Oh, Miss Heather has a weak heart and can’t stand to see fighting.”

Betty said nonchalantly and went back to her sewing. Diane pouted.

“I told you she’s not kind.”

“You’re right, Diane.”

At Neris’s words, Diane brightened up and looked at her friend. Neris looked towards the door with a serious face and then smiled.

Objectively, that smile was too bright for the situation. Diane tilted her head, finding the scene strange.

“You don’t like Heather either? Not many people dislike Heather.”

“I trust your eye for people, Diane.”

And I also trust the facts I experienced in the past. Neris turned her gaze to Diane with sparkling eyes.

“By the way, you said we can attend the lakeside party tomorrow afternoon, right?”

“Oh, yes. They said we can attend the daytime event since we’re twelve!”

Diane couldn’t understand why Neris was changing the subject like this, but she quickly answered with a happy face. Her mood, which had been bad because of Muriel, suddenly improved. Although she hadn’t yet received permission to attend the evening events, participating in the official daytime event was a big change.

“So all the guests will be coming then?”

“I think so? Since it’s the first event of the festival week, everyone who can come has been invited.”

“Then can you tell me about the important people? I shouldn’t make mistakes tomorrow.”

“There won’t be anyone who suddenly gets irritated like elder sister Muriel.”

Well, if they have any sense, they wouldn’t. But because of Diane’s young age, and the fact that she usually expresses her likes and dislikes clearly, there were things that adults overlooked.

So there would also be things that everyone overlooked because of Neris’s young age, and the fact that she was poor.

What’s wrong with taking advantage of that a little?