The Miss whom the servants unanimously described as delicate was shut away in her chambers, working on her body.

Her chambers were quite spacious—running continuously through the bedroom, bathroom, dressing room, living room, study, and reception room would leave one breathless. After sprinting through them, she began doing push-ups on the floor.

Ungh!

As soon as she bent her arms, she stuck to the floor and couldn’t push herself up even once.

Daphne looked at her body with despairing eyes.

“This is terrible.”

Her slender, smooth arms and legs had just enough muscle to support her frame. Her abdominal muscles were the same—it was a complete disaster.

“I think my heart is the strongest muscle in my body.”

It was pounding as if about to burst just from that minimal movement.

Daphne sighed and decided to start gently by placing her hands against the wall. Later, she hung upside down from the bed canopy with her knees and tried to pull her upper body upward. Of course, she couldn’t lift herself at all, but she consoled herself that this was just the beginning.

She continued this without rest for half the day. Every part of her body ached, but she actually welcomed it.

In her past life, she had undergone training incomparably harsher than this. It had ruined her knees and back.

In contrast, her current body, which had never experienced any strenuous activity, was like a blank canvas. She could recall her previous experiences to create an optimal physique, making this situation even better.

Her strength might be terrible, but at least her body was light, and her joints didn’t ache even on cloudy days. That alone was enough to boost her motivation.

After finishing her bath, Anton came to find her.

“Ahem, a guest has arrived to see you.”

His usually gentle face showed faint traces of anger.

‘I don’t need to be told who it is.’

As a sneer formed on Daphne’s lips, Anton spoke:

“Miss, it wouldn’t be impolite to refuse a guest who arrived without prior notice.”

“No. I think it would feel better to say what needs to be said. But as you can see, I’m not dressed to receive guests… Would you please tell them to wait a moment?”

“Yes, understood.”

“Ah, and the guest waiting room was quite hot. Please turn off the fireplace.”

Meanwhile, Barbara, who had been shown to the waiting room, couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.

Gustav was pressuring her while Leonhardt was bedridden. He had threatened to throw his son out of the family for his drinking illness.

In the end, she had begged and pleaded to go in his place, barely managing to calm Gustav down. And so she had made this unwilling visit…

Barbara had considered sending a notice ahead and maintaining proper etiquette.

‘No. By now, Daphne must be regretting her actions too.’

She was a girl who had followed her son around like a dog. Such feelings couldn’t possibly change in an instant. Having experienced it herself, she knew this better than anyone.

‘So I’ll act as usual.’

She planned to first soothe Daphne, who would appear tearfully grateful, and then sternly admonish her. She also intended to thoroughly trample on Christine’s pride in the process.

But this was a grave miscalculation.

The chief chamberlain was nowhere to be seen, and a single maid greeted her and led her to the waiting room.

Barbara immediately became angry.

“When have I ever needed to give notice before visiting! Are you telling me to wait here now?”

Though Barbara fumed, the maid didn’t respond. Her silence seemed to contain a reproach about Barbara’s lack of manners.

It was infuriating, but there was nothing more she could do.

It was only natural to wait in the reception room if one came without prior notice or appointment. Getting angry about this would be an inexcusable rudeness, even if the other party was just a maid.

Barbara sat down reluctantly.

‘Come to think of it, the only reason I received any hospitality in this house was because of Daphne and Leonhardt’s engagement.’

Now that her side had damaged that relationship, she had no choice but to endure.

She suppressed her anger and said to the maid:

“Please tell her to come as quickly as possible.”

But again, the maid gave no answer, merely bowing slightly before leaving. Barbara could only clutch at her dress in frustration.

“These servants have become too impudent. I must sternly warn them. First after our conversation is over, later…”

Barbara’s mood improved somewhat at the thought of scolding Daphne.

Two hours passed.

Barbara was furious to the tips of her hair.

The tea had gone completely cold, and the maid who had offered to reheat it never returned. Even the fireplace, which had retained some warmth earlier, had grown chilly.

The weather outside was only slightly warm.

But the waiting room, located on the north side of the massive stone building, never received sunlight throughout the day.

It was spacious, and the cold emanating from the thick stone walls meant that a fire was kept burning, however faintly, except in the height of summer. How cold must it be now with the fire extinguished? Barbara shivered from the chill.

Her attire contributed to her discomfort.

Dresses made of thin, translucent organza silk layered to create volume were all the rage. In her effort to make an imposing impression with elaborate decoration, she had neglected warmth.

The cold seeped through her exposed shoulders and spread throughout her body.

A wealthy household with enough dresses to use as fuel to last through winter had turned off the fireplace?

‘They definitely did this on purpose!’

She had endured because of Gustav’s temperament—if he said something would happen, it would.

“I can’t take this anymore!”

Just as Barbara stood up abruptly, the door opened.

“You’re here?”

Daphne greeted her with a bright smile.

⁕⁕⁕

In her past life, after Leonhardt confessed he had fallen in love with Anaïs, Daphne visited House Mücke with Christine.

Christine was less concerned about Daphne being hurt than about Werner’s pride being wounded. So she wanted to at least secure a wedding date, even if it meant acknowledging the mistress.

Though they had sent notice in advance, Barbara repeatedly refused. Only after Gustav, who later learned of this, intervened were they finally granted permission to visit.

When the appointed time came, Barbara didn’t appear. After two hours, not the chief chamberlain but a maid entered.

With an extremely troubled expression, she relayed Barbara’s message:

“A guest has suddenly arrived. It might take quite some time, so please return home and come again another day.”

This meant she was meeting another guest despite knowing they were waiting. Perhaps there wasn’t even another guest to begin with.

Christine looked once at Daphne, whose face had fallen, and asked the maid:

“We really want to see her today. Could we wait longer?”

“I’ll ask her.”

The maid couldn’t hide her sympathetic expression as she hurried out.

House Mücke’s waiting room was extremely cold. The fireplace retained only faint warmth, suggesting it had been lit not long ago.

No noble would maintain a waiting room like this. It was clearly deliberate.

Christine seated Daphne near the fireplace where some warmth remained and even took off her own cloak to cover her.

Being alone with her daughter, she finally truly saw her.

For Daphne, who received no love from her family and had nowhere to find emotional fulfillment, Leonhardt must have been her entire world.

She looked pitiful and unfortunate. And Christine felt sorry for not having paid attention to her sooner.

Christine took Daphne’s cold hands in hers.

“Don’t worry too much. This is just a small problem you’re facing to become closer.”

Receiving comfort from her mother for the first time, Daphne silently shed tears.

But after three hours, a different maid entered and delivered the conclusion without a single word of apology for the long wait:

“She says it’s not possible.”

With no other choice, the two returned home.

From the next day, Christine began to cough. And with successive bad news, her illness deepened. Eventually, her lungs deteriorated, and she lived with pain worse than death.

⁕⁕⁕

Now Barbara, who had inflicted such suffering, stood before Daphne after life had come full circle.

Daphne looked at the fuming, angry woman with contempt.

‘I had to wait for an entire month.’

And here she was, throwing a tantrum after waiting just two hours.

Daphne scanned Barbara from head to toe with a cold gaze. She would have liked to send her away multiple times, just as she herself had been treated.

But she didn’t want to waste time on petty squabbles. Her path was busy, and there were many ways to repay what she had received.

Barbara also glared at Daphne with murderous intent.

‘Leonhardt is sick in bed while this woman looks perfectly fine.’

Moreover, she was dressed too comfortably to have spent two hours on her appearance. She must have deliberately made her wait.

Barbara’s chest heaved dramatically.

“You, you!”

“Don’t raise your voice. You’re not in a position to behave rudely just because you’re angry.”

Daphne’s face, which had always worn a smile when meeting Barbara before, was now utterly rigid.

“What?”

Barbara was momentarily speechless.

“H-how… How can a person change so much?”

As if she had heard something incredibly stupid, Daphne smirked.

“It’s not me who changed, but Leonhardt.”