“Would you like me to cut more apples for you, miss?”

“We also have melon.”

Heidi and Betty asked me with bright smiles.

Since Dad made a fruit map, our house was overflowing with fruit. I was slowly getting tired of it, so I shook my head.

“I’m fine. By the way, where’s Dad?”

“The Duke is at the Central Tower with Grimier. He’ll be back soon.”

I nodded.

“Okay. I’m fine now, so Heidi and Betty, you can leave.”

“But still...”

“It’s fine.”

After all, I wasn’t really sick.

Heidi and Betty knew I wasn’t truly ill, so they left the room more obediently than usual.

After they left, only Michelan remained in the room.

I leaned against the headboard and fell into thought.

Astra was very angry.

Even the relatives.

I expected Grandpa’s anger, but I didn’t think the relatives would be this furious.

“The relatives are unexpected...”

I muttered, and Michelan smiled softly.

“Targeting Astra’s blood relatives is an attack on the family itself.”

“Hmm...”

“It’s a matter of Astra’s honor, which the blood relatives cherish like their lives. That’s why they must intervene.”

“Still, aren’t there people who don’t get involved?”

“They say Lord Balderic and Lady Bastina’s sides are quiet. Rather, Lady Bastina...”

I heard that from Conrad.

I shrugged.

“She said Selene must attend the party invitation meant for me, but Grandpa gave her a serious scolding, right?”

“Yes.”

“Anyway, she’s an interesting aunt.”

Bastina can’t participate in social activities.

Until I was five, she apparently was involved in the noble social scene, but now it’s forbidden.

‘Because she borrowed money from a great noble and couldn’t repay it.’

Grandpa was furious about that and banned her from social activities.

If not for that, talented Selene would be even more successful now...

“Since she can’t attend social events, she’s trying to take what’s mine.”

“According to Lord Conrad, even within Astra, many are dumbfounded by Lady Bastina’s claims.”

“Of course. As soon as this happened, she barged into the castle and made those claims.”

Even the always-polite Aunt Basile shouted in anger, I heard.

Then it happened.

Bang bang bang bang!

Is that knocking or trying to break down the door...?

There was only one person who would knock on my door like that.

“The door will break, Balzac...”

I said, and the door opened slightly, a face slipped inside.

“Can I come in?”

“Yeah.”

The door swung wide open, and Balzac entered, Joshua following.

“Father has arrived.”

“Yeah!”

I tried to get up from the bed, but Father came in right after.

“Stay lying down, it’s fine.”

“I told you I’m not sick...”

“It looks better if you still seem sick.”

“Well...”

“Right.”

Dad and I looked at each other and chuckled.

The family knew the whole story behind this incident.

After hearing I had collapsed, they turned pale, so I told them everything.

Because Dad immediately wanted to rush to the Marchioness Paangte’s party, I had no choice but to explain.

“No! Dad! Where are you going? I’m fine!”

Until then, the family was shocked to see me pretending to be unconscious.

“So here’s what happened...”

“Yeah.”

“The Countess Giklos handed me cookies, but something was off. She gave me the cookies that were far away, not the ones in front.”

“...”

“And she anxiously watched me eat... Then I remembered the Countess Giklos had been paying attention to the cookies all through the party.”

“So?”

“So I ate different cookies and pretended to collapse.”

“...”

“I couldn’t refuse what an adult gave me, so I had to do that to escape the party.”

Mixing lies and truth cleverly, Dad was convinced.

‘I couldn’t tell the truth.’

How could I say the late Empress already knew from the comments that the princess would do such a thing?

The family sighed in relief but remained furious.

They had tried to poison a child.

I looked at Dad with sparkling eyes.

“What happened to Countess Giklos?”

“According to spies planted in Astra, a few days ago she confessed in the high temple that she was ordered by the late Empress.”

“Then what’s still unknown to the world...”

“The royal family is keeping it secret.”

Dad’s complexion was pale.

Knowing that the late Empress, who was obsessed with him, had done that to her own daughter, he was understandably furious.

Balzac was enraged.

“Will you leave it like this? What if the royal family tries to quietly let it go?”

“Of course not. Even the old... Duke seems to have no intention of forgiving the late Empress.”

While the family was furious, I nodded to Michelan.

‘It’s about time we act.’

Michelan bowed his head to me and quietly left the room.

The capital’s social scene was turned upside down.

A noblewoman hurried into the salon.

“Is the rumor true that Countess Giklos met the late Empress before Paangte’s party?”

When she collapsed into a seat and asked, other nobles nodded.

“That’s right.”

“I wondered why they targeted the Astra Countess’s daughter.”

“They say there was trouble between the late Empress and the young lady in Astra. They said monsters ran wild.”

“That too...”

The noblewoman looked around and whispered.

“They say the late Empress held the Astra Countess’s daughter hostage and dragged Daymond Astra around.”

“Oh my! Did Daymond Astra go along quietly?”

“He’d have to. Since his child harmed the royal family, he’d have to live with a lifelong curse.”

“Oh dear...”

“She’s a child who lived without parents from birth, right? So Daymond Astra loves her terribly.”

“How touching...”

“The young lady probably rebelled because of that. She didn’t want her father to be sad because of her...”

“Oh dear, how admirable.”

The noblewomen frowned.

The rumor Erilot spread was merely,

‘Countess Giklos met the late Empress before starting trouble.’

But the rumor spread like wildfire.

Leaders in the social scene gathered various information and got closer to the truth.

“But why does the palace take no action? Paangte and Astra are insisting Countess Giklos be publicly interrogated.”

“Isn’t it obvious that they keep silent despite those powerful claims?”

“The poisoned cookie incident definitely involves the late Empress.”

Words have power.

Especially ‘words’ spread among the powerful.

The gossip from the social scene reached even the common people.

As the country stirred, the royal family was increasingly cornered.

And finally, the contact person from the second Astra Count family to the royal palace arrived.

The palace maids approached as soon as I got out of the carriage.

“I greet the Astra Countess’s daughter.”

I bowed lightly.

The reaction was incomparable to the first time I came to meet the Empress Dowager.

‘Back then, only a servant appeared at the palace gate.’

Today, as soon as I arrived at the carriage waiting area, maids came.

They were senior maids wearing sapphire brooches.

“Was your journey here not troublesome?”

Feeling their eyes on me, I smiled brightly like a child.

“The palace sent a carriage, so it wasn’t troublesome at all! It was very comfortable, thank you.”

“That’s good.”

The speaker was the same maid who shivered when seeing the late Empress at the Lily Garden party.

“The royals are waiting. Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

I followed the maid.

‘I thought we’d go to the Empress Dowager’s palace, but it’s somewhere else?’

We were heading to the Emperor’s palace.

‘It’s my first time at the Emperor’s palace.’

I never even saw it in my first life.

And the chamberlain of the Emperor’s palace came out to greet me.

I entered the palace accompanied by the chamberlain and the Empress Dowager’s senior maid.

The huge red gate opened, revealing royals and nobles.

‘Ah, Grandpa!’

I hurried to Grandpa.

“Grandpa.”

“Yes.”

Beside Grandpa were Great Uncle Grimier and my father.

The Marchioness and Marquis Paangte were also present side by side.

Other nobles were very powerful figures.

The royals included the Emperor, Empress Dowager, and Empress Oselia.

And...

“Oh, brother, why is that child...!”

— Princess Anatoli, the late Empress’s daughter, was also present.

The Emperor looked very tired.

He was completely different from when we last met as the dragon’s master.

His dark circles nearly reached his knees; he looked haggard.

It was clear how tightly Astra had a grip on him.

‘That’s why this couldn’t be quietly resolved and nobles were gathered.’

The Emperor held his forehead and gestured for me.

“Young lady, to the center.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

I stood quietly in the center, looking at those seated.

Marchioness Paangte muttered.

“The young lady ate poison at my wife’s party. It’s related to the late Empress—!”

“Honey.”

The Marchioness stopped the overly excited Marquis.

Apparently, the Marchioness was the real power in the Paangte family.

‘I must show a better side.’

The Marchioness looked calmly at the Emperor.

“The poison in my party came from Countess Giklos. But why is the late Empress here?”

Exactly!

That should have been asked first.

She was a leader in the social scene.

Her words meant, ‘So it’s true the late Empress was involved.’

The late Empress shouted angrily.

“How dare you mention the royal family!”

‘Fool.’

I wondered if I was the only one thinking that as other royals’ expressions soured.

Empress Oselia even chuckled bitterly.

The royals probably already knew the whole truth.

The Empress looked as if saying, ‘There are cases that can be crushed by royal authority, and cases that cannot.’

I could understand the late Empress’s position.

This was a hearing-like place.

That it was held meant the Emperor had practically given up on her.

She had to use the royal authority to sway the Emperor to her side.

Marchioness Paangte looked coldly at the late Empress.

“I asked why you are here. That’s all. Why are you so angry?”

“T-that’s...!”

“Do you have reason to be angry?”

The last question was from Great Uncle Grimier.

I smiled smugly inside.

Under pressure from all sides, the late Empress looked nearly dead.

Then Grandpa stepped forward.

“Is further investigation needed? We all know the late Empress is involved.”

“Duke!”

The late Empress shouted convulsively, but the Emperor sighed.

“The Countess Giklos mentioned the late Empress’s name. That’s why the young lady was summoned.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“They said the drug the late Empress used was a truth serum. Because the young lady is hiding something, they wanted to reveal it at the Paangte party.”

Ah, so it was a truth serum?

The Emperor looked me square in the eyes and asked.

“Is the drug you took really a truth serum?”

So this is how they wanted to handle it?

If it was a truth serum, the incident could be framed as ‘the late Empress giving Erilot Astra a suspicious truth serum.’

Not ‘I took medicine,’ but ‘I was given a truth serum.’

I chuckled inside.

‘Is that what they’re thinking?’

I blinked and said.

“I don’t know, but after taking it my heart raced, I felt dizzy, and couldn’t speak properly. The doctor said it was very dangerous for children.”

I shifted the focus back to ‘Whatever medicine was given, I was in serious danger.’

Dad, folding his arms, furrowed his brow.

“What medicine it was is irrelevant. The important thing is my daughter almost died.”

The Emperor squeezed his eyes shut.

‘You know this can’t just be brushed aside, don’t you?’

The late Empress shouted.

“It was a harmless truth serum, Your Majesty!”

“Please, shut your mouth...”

“I would never give such a dangerous drug to Daymond’s daughter. She always interfered with my plans and accused me of being a wicked person!”

“Anatoli.”

“I couldn’t stand it anymore and wanted to reveal everything she did to me!”

I tilted my head and said.

“What did I do to you, Princess?”

“What?”

“If I ever made you uncomfortable, I apologize...”

“You said you wouldn’t leave me alone!”

“When did I say that...?”

“You looked at me like that. You said it! During the Festival of Abundance...!”

“Oh, I remember.”

I lowered my eyebrows and took out ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) the ledger I had brought.

“You used herbs during the Festival of Abundance to summon monsters. I knew about that.”

“T-that’s...!”

“So I told you this wouldn’t be easily overlooked.”

“...”

“Because it was the Festival of Abundance. It’s a major national event.”

“You, you...!”

“So I warned you. If the royal family found out, it would be very troublesome.”

“That’s right! You said that to threaten me!”

“I was genuinely worried about you, Princess. If not, why would I stay silent even with evidence...?”

I looked at the late Empress with a mock defeated expression.