Lady Paante’s mother frowned and grabbed her daughter’s arm.

“What on earth are you talking about?”

Passing by, Marquis Paante noticed the mother and daughter and approached.

“Rumelisa must be tired, so why are you clutching the child the moment you arrive?”

“They say our Rumelisa was nearly humiliated because of the princess.”

“What?”

The Marquis, who doted greatly on his daughter, furrowed his brows sharply.

“Explain in detail. What happened?”

Rumelisa pouted like a little bird and continued.

“As soon as the princess took ten steps into the party hall, she said she was leaving.”

“The princess?”

“Yes! She was flustered, so I told her, ‘Please don’t, how about staying a while?’ But she snapped at me angrily!”

The marquise’s face hardened as she asked,

“Was it said without manners?”

“Do you think I would say such a thing?”

Rumelisa shivered, clutching her skirt tightly as if recalling the humiliation.

“She shouted ‘I’m leaving!’ in front of many people. I was so embarrassed, I almost cried.”

“What?!”

Flames seemed to flare from Marquis Paante’s eyes.

Such rudeness would never happen even at those rustic noble parties.

To say she was leaving the moment she arrived— and shout, no less?

“Even if it’s a children’s party, how could she be so disrespectful...”

The Marquis ground his teeth.

Lady Paante folded her arms with a cold expression.

“Was it because it was a children’s party?”

The Marquis narrowed his brows.

“What are you saying?”

“Are you saying the Lily Garden party is just a children’s party? It’s a party for heirs of noble houses. Rumelisa is the sole heir of the Paante family.”

The marquise spoke bitterly to her husband.

“Are you saying the heir of the Paante Marquisate was treated so lightly?”

“Hmph...”

“Did the princess not know how much effort I put into this party? Do you understand the meaning of the lady of the house asking the Empress Dowager to attend?”

The Paante couple’s faces flushed with anger.

Rumelisa pouted.

“It was so embarrassing. Other young ladies and gentlemen couldn’t say a word and just stared at me...”

“Oh my, how upset must my daughter have been without her mother here?”

The marquise, who adored her daughter, hurriedly comforted her.

Rumelisa, nestled in her mother’s arms, raised her head and said,

“But I was saved thanks to the Astra Countess.”

“The Astra Countess? You mean the daughter of Daymond Astra?”

“Yes! She wasn’t the bad girl everyone said she was.”

Rumelisa had heard many stories about Erilot even before the party.

“She’s so mischievous.”

“The main character of this Lily Garden party won’t be Rumelisa Paante but Erilot Astra.”

“She’s cunning. You’d better be careful not to get eaten up.”

Especially, the blood relatives of Astra who had built ties through their parents had said the same.

“Joffrey Astra said Erilot Astra would try to become the star by ruining my party.”

“Well... that’s what I heard.”

Valderic Astra, as the son of Duke Astra, had many ties with great nobles.

He belonged to the same club as Marquis Paante.

So he had access to news about Astra.

Rumelisa’s eyes sparkled as she said,

“But she was really a good girl.”

“Really?”

“Yes. When I was in trouble, she even accompanied the princess to see her off...”

The marquise’s eyes widened.

According to sources, the princess was said to have caused all sorts of trouble targeting Daymond at the Astra estate.

Rumors said his daughter, Erilot, suffered greatly.

“She probably doesn’t want to face the princess at all.”

Adults might have masks and social skills despite being enemies, but...

A ten-year-old girl wouldn’t have such skills.

No matter how much her parents warned, her emotions would come first.

“Oh my... so you felt compelled to step in, even if you disliked it.”

“Seems so. She really is kind, isn’t she?”

“She’s thoughtful, unlike an Astra blood relative.”

Everyone knows how arrogant that bloodline is.

There are second-generation nobles without titles who command great nobles.

Rumelisa smiled.

“Capital nobles are like that. They pretend to be kind but it’s all for themselves.”

“That’s true.”

“But Erilot Astra was different. She didn’t try to be the star, but protected me.”

“Protected you?”

“Yes. The princess said the shouting was because she was tired. Even though tired, she came all the way here because she finds me very adorable!”

She’s really smart.

Rumelisa must have truly been saved by Erilot Astra.

She smiled brightly.

“She’s a good girl, so I want to get close to her. Could you invite me to your mother’s salon?”

The Paante marquise’s salon was a gathering place for leaders of society.

Only the top ten percent of great nobles gathered there.

People said after the Empress Dowager’s tea salon, Paante’s salon was the next most influential.

The marquise smiled.

“How could I say no to my daughter’s request?”

“Yay~!”

Rumelisa hugged her mother’s waist, and the marquise couple smiled warmly.

The marquise said to her husband,

“We’ve been shown kindness, but it wouldn’t do to just leave it at that. How about inviting that Daymond Astra to our club?”

“Our club? But the other Astras would be furious... that’d be troublesome.”

“What would Balderic, Hernan, and Gustav say? Daymond Astra is the rising sun of Astra now.”

“That’s true.”

“Besides, our daughter likes him so much, are you just going to sit there?”

Rumelisa looked up at her father with shining eyes.

The marquis blushed and rubbed his face against his daughter’s cheek.

“Cute, our daughter. That’s right! If my child has been shown kindness, how can I refuse?”

The Paante family burst into laughter.

Yet the marquise’s eyes glittered sharply.

“The princess... I won’t leave her alone.”

A wild beast whose young is touched becomes more ferocious than anyone.

A few days later, Empress Dowager’s palace.

Princess Anatoli hunched her shoulders nervously, trying to gauge the Empress Dowager’s mood.

“Mother....”

Thud.

The Empress Dowager closed the book she was reading.

Her aura was chillingly cold.

Princess Anatoli pleaded hurriedly.

“About the Lily Garden party... I didn’t do it on purpose, that cunning girl—!”

The Empress Dowager’s sharp gaze landed on Anatoli.

The princess flinched, clutching her skirt.

“Mother...”

“Do you know who stopped you from causing a scandal at the Astra estate?”

“Lord Daymond...”

The Empress Dowager chuckled.

“It was Daymond who first insisted you be punished by the Emperor.”

“...!”

“I’ve never seen Duke Astra this furious in forty years.”

“H-How....”

“It was Erilot Astra. That girl clung to my grandfather and father, barely preventing you from reaching the court.”

“...”

After the royal family arrived at the capital, the Empress Dowager harshly reprimanded Anatoli’s ladies-in-waiting.

She already knew Anatoli had used Erilot’s monster to claim Daymond.

Princess Anatoli stammered,

“I am the Emperor’s younger sister. If I don’t intend to make enemies with the royal family in Astra, what can they do to me...?”

“Yes, the others will handle the rest, but the Festival of Abundance—!!”

The Empress Dowager shouted fiercely.

No one had seen her this enraged before.

Anatoli turned pale, and the ladies-in-waiting bowed simultaneously.

The Empress Dowager glared at the princess with eyes gleaming with fury.

“How dare you use such wicked herbs at the Festival of Abundance.”

“Mother...”

“You summoned monsters and ruined the Festival.”

“Th-That’s, that’s...”

“And then tried to pin the blame on Astra!”

“...”

If Erilot hadn’t summoned her dragon, both she and Anatoli would have stood trial.

Regardless of disgrace, no one could say how Astra would have reacted if that truth came out.

Princess Anatoli quickly grabbed the Empress Dowager’s arm.

“Please listen to me. I was really trying to do well.”

“Do what?”

“Huh?”

“To handle your marriage with Daymond better?”

“...”

“When you threatened suicide if I didn’t let you marry him, I endured it.”

“...”

“Every time you sent spies to investigate Daymond, I handled it.”

“...”

“But now you’ve dragged your daughter into this mess—!!”

The Empress Dowager threw a letter at Anatoli’s face.

Whack!

The letter struck her, scattering papers everywhere.

“See for yourself.”

“What is this...?”

“It’s a letter saying your scheduled parties are being canceled one after another.”

“What?!”

“Who do you think? Marquis Paante’s wife. She’s trying to bury you in the social circle.”

“How could...? Are you crazy? Even if there’s the Astra incident, I’m still part of the royal family!”

“This is the result of all your misdeeds.”

“...”

“Even before the Astra estate incident, and now with the Lily Garden party added on!”

Marquise Paante pulled out the ‘Erilot’ card to pressure the princess who humiliated her daughter.

“They say the crazy princess caused a fuss at Astra estate.”

“The monster ran wild, but was that really Astra’s negligence?”

“Why did the problem only occur when the princess was here despite the incredible blessing that even tamed the dragon?”

“They say the princess openly forced Erilot Astra to call her ‘mother’.”

“Could the princess be scheming to claim Daymond Astra?”

That was the gossip circulating.

Trying to attack the princess, they stumbled and caught a mouse instead.

But thanks to that, the social circle had a cause.

[A rebellion against the cruel princess who oppressed her poor daughter to marry her father.]

Morality seems meaningless in noble society, but sometimes it’s the strongest justification.

The Empress Dowager’s face hardened as she glared at Anatoli.

“Apologize formally to Erilot Astra.”

“Mother—!”

The princess sprang up shouting.

Why me?

Why should I apologize to that cunning girl for falling into her schemes?

“If you apologize formally, you’ll never be able to connect with Astra again.”

Meaning becoming Daymond’s wife is a distant dream.

The Empress Dowager furrowed her brows and touched her forehead.

“What should I do with you...?”

“I can’t. I can’t! I can’t suffer such disgrace because of that brat and lose Daymond forever!”

“If you do, you’ll live as the princess erased forever.”

“Mother?”

“I can’t do anything for you.”

“Mother, how could you...?”

Princess Anatoli’s expression crumbled.

“Think of the late emperor. Didn’t you forget how much he adored me? Before he passed, he entrusted me to you.”

“That’s why I’ve tolerated you until now.”

“...”

“I declared you my own child to make you a member of the royal family despite being born from a gypsy woman.”

“...”

“The only reason I’ve tolerated you is because of the late emperor. Because of your blessing!”

“...”

“Erilot Astra even sent a letter asking not to punish someone like you.”

How admirable a child she was.

Compared to the princess, she was infinitely thoughtful and intelligent.

“Let me make it clear: I have no intention of smoothing over this incident. Clinging to your brothers won’t help either.”

That was obvious.

The emperor no longer even meets with her.

Princess Anatoli’s expression froze.

‘Do you think I’ll just stand by quietly?’

She clenched her skirt tightly.

She stormed out of the Empress Dowager’s palace.

Standing alone in the corridor, a deadly aura flickered in the princess’s eyes.

“Aliana.”

Called out, a maid hurried over.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Go get that medicine.”

“The medicine? Surely not...”

“Yes, that medicine!”

“What do you intend to do with the medicine?”

“They say that ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) brat will attend Paante’s party?”

“Yes...”

“Prepare cookies laced with the medicine.”

“Your Highness!”

The maid shouted in shock.

The princess’s expression was icy cold.

“Having driven someone to the brink, I must never let them off easy.”

It wasn’t poison.

But if ingested, life would become a living hell.

The princess’s lips curled into a crooked smile.

At Paante’s party hall.

“Good day, Lady Paante.”

“Oh my, what a cute lady! Welcome.”

Me first!

A party at Paante’s—what luxury.

I giggled inside and looked around.

‘Let’s see. The cookies are right there.’

So the medicine must be in there too.

‘Stupid Anatoli.’

Thanks for falling right into my trap.

‘No matter what tricks you try.’

My readers will tell me everything!

Long live the readers!