Christine quickly approached with a manufactured smile, taking small steps.

“You’re early. Hurry and wash up, then get dressed.”

Daphne observed her slightly trembling lips and asked, “Wouldn’t a normal mother ask her daughter where she’d been?”

Christine’s beautiful face contorted at this unexpected question.

“What are you talking about? Please hurry.”

“When every minute counts, wouldn’t a mother worry about her daughter going out and disrupting the schedule? Wouldn’t she be upset? So as soon as I come in, she’d demand to know where I’ve been, if I’m in my right mind… That’s what normal parents would do.”

Yet Christine’s attitude was simply: you’re back, that’s fine, now go prepare.

“Is it more like: go wherever you want, or better yet, don’t come back at all…? Is that it?”

“Daphne, how can you say such things! You’re my daughter too. How could I think of my child that way?”

Christine pretended to be angry. It was merely pretense. Daphne narrowed her eyes and asked Christine:

“Did you send a messenger to Dame Margo while I was out? Changing it to a banquet so Zenos could join as if he happened to stop by the main house… You ultimately wanted to introduce him to Margo, didn’t you?”

When Daphne pointed this out precisely, Christine’s eyes widened.

Unable to let go of her greed, she had hastily sent a messenger to Margo. She begged him to allow her to serve a meal rather than tea to the hero, and while he was coming anyway, to bring the Grand Duke too.

Margo wasn’t an inconsiderate person, so she initially refused. It was only proper to decline, as making someone prepare on such short notice was impolite. However, Christine sent repeated messages until finally it became a banquet.

Daphne threw out her final question:

“You also know what Leonhardt did yesterday, don’t you?”

When Christine’s lips trembled, Daphne pressed harder:

“Regardless of the circumstances, you wanted me to skip the banquet because it would be embarrassing for me, but you couldn’t bring yourself to say it. You must have been delighted when I went out on my own.”

Christine had secretly hoped that Daphne, who had been caught up in a major scandal at yesterday’s ball, would excuse herself. So she sent a maid to bribe the coachman of Daphne’s carriage, instructing him to damage it so she couldn’t return until after the banquet ended.

“My dear, you see, we were both flustered, so I just thought we should be a bit cautious.”

“But you didn’t want to miss this good opportunity to meet the Grand Duke and his mother, so you pressured the coachman into doing this?”

They say even a cornered rat will bite.

Christine, who couldn’t even lift her head in shame, became brazen once her scheme was fully exposed. She answered softly:

“…Yesterday’s reputation that Zenos earned should last. Isn’t that natural?”

She had no idea who was actually responsible for that reputation.

“So you’re saying I should lie flat on the ground and not splatter filth on my brother’s success and the family’s prosperity…? Is that what you mean?”

In the end, Christine’s insistence on the banquet was because of Zenos. She wanted him to meet one more influential person to help his future career even a little more.

So she wanted her shameful daughter to stay away from this occasion.

As always.

Zenos felt humiliated and, having done wrong himself, didn’t reveal that Kartun was the one who broke his wrist. He vaguely told people he got injured while working.

Completely unaware of this, Christine had urged him to definitely come to today’s banquet. Naturally, Zenos flatly refused.

She tried to persuade him, saying they were coming to see him and showed interest in his mining device. She tried various approaches, but to no avail.

“I know well that not all parents are kind and devoted to their children. I’ve endured living in this house with that understanding. But that doesn’t mean it’s always okay. I hurt too. I can feel pain too!”

She knew because she had experienced it.

Experiencing it again made her feel terrible.

This pain never became familiar. Just when she thought she was getting numb to it, life would ask “Really?” and stimulate her in some new way.

Today felt especially painful. Perhaps because she had recently tasted maternal affection from Christine for the first time when they drove Barbara out together.

Just when she thought they were getting closer, she was cast aside again, and everything returned to how it was. That made her even angrier.

Daphne raised her voice at Christine for the first time:

“At least maintain some basic decency while I’m in this house. If that’s too difficult after doing it for so long, then just treat me like I don’t exist. This isn’t a request but a warning, Mother. Remember that.”

Daphne turned away from the trembling Christine.

Once Werner and Ludwig returned safely and her engagement was broken off, she would leave this place. She repeatedly vowed never to look back.

The door between mother and daughter, which had opened slightly when they scolded Barbara together, closed even tighter than before.

⁕⁕⁕

Daphne welcomed Margo’s party warmly.

She wanted to send a cancellation notice immediately, but she didn’t want to act irresponsibly toward a good person. She also greeted Kartun, who had come along, with proper courtesy.

This was a critical time. If Kartun was an enemy, she wanted to keep him close. That way, she could at least gather information to prepare.

The problem was Christine.

Despite Daphne’s warning, Christine kept mentioning Zenos, trying desperately to draw attention to him.

“Dame Margrit, please try this. It’s something our Zenos really loves… I hope it suits your taste.”

Hearing this, Margo smiled and asked:

“What food does Daphne like?”

“Pardon? Oh, that… Unlike Zenos who has clear preferences, Daphne eats everything well. She was an easy child to raise because she’s so mild-mannered.”

Christine wasn’t skilled at hiding her true self. Anyone with even a little perception could tell she was making up an answer because she didn’t know.

Margo laughed awkwardly and quietly continued eating. Then Kartun, who had been silent throughout, casually remarked:

“She likes strudel filled with meat and topped with cream.”

Christine was flustered by his words, and Daphne was surprised.

Meat-filled strudel didn’t exist in the Empire. It was a cooking method unique to the grand duchy.

Not only Daphne but Margo also looked at Kartun with confusion. Only Christine hadn’t grasped the situation yet.

“Ah… I see. It’s an honor that Your Grace remembers even my child’s food preferences.”

Christine thought he knew this from living together when they were young and tried to continue the conversation.

“But does strudel contain meat? I thought it was a dessert bread usually made with fruit.”

“The Empire and the grand duchy have very different situations. When fighting monsters, we can’t even dream of desserts. But if you make the strudel dough tough and fill it with savory meat instead of fruit, it keeps quite well. That’s why we mainly use it as battle rations.”

With her unnecessary question, Christine had become an annoying imperial citizen enjoying lavish food while the grand duchy suffered from monsters.

Christine’s face reddened, but Kartun continued without concern:

“So knights of the grand duchy have a custom of pouring lots of cream on their strudel after battle as a celebration for surviving.”

Daphne from her past life did that too.

Even now, she could sometimes recall the taste—the salty meat and sweet fresh cream mingling in her mouth, giving her that sense of relief at being alive.

‘But how does he know that?’

Kartun slightly shrugged his shoulders as he watched Daphne’s pupils shake violently.

An awkward silence fell over the table.

Christine felt embarrassed, and Margo seemed uncomfortable with how she ignored her daughter and only mentioned her son.

Daphne was severely shocked, and only Kartun calmly enjoyed his meal.

After a while, Margo asked Christine:

“Yesterday’s incident was most regrettable.”

Christine tilted her head as if not understanding what she meant, then smiled bitterly. The topic she most wanted to avoid had come up.

“But I believe everything will work out well since the two families are close, and the young duke and my child have known each other for more than just a day or two.”

“Believe… Does that mean you haven’t sent word about how you’ll handle this yet?”

“It’s such a delicate matter. The Marquis is also at sea, so I thought he would take care of it when he returns. I’m hesitant to step in myself.”

After hearing Christine’s words, Margo quietly closed her mouth.

Christine felt like she was burning inside.

She had seized an opportunity that other nobles couldn’t even dream of, and she couldn’t let it slip away. After moistening her throat with a sip of water, she brought up another topic:

“Zenos’s mining device that he presented at the Founding Festival has secured an export contract with the Kingdom of Lucia. As you know, they’ve cut off exchanges with other countries. Some are hoping this deal might reopen channels for communication.”

Margo quietly put down her utensils and wiped her mouth with a napkin.

“Marchioness, I find this extremely uncomfortable.”