It happened last time they went into town. After Anaïs’s knight pretended to read a newspaper and gave Lara the slip, she became extremely vigilant.

Since becoming Daphne’s personal maid, Lara had literally stuck to her like a shadow.

‘This is going to be difficult.’

Daphne placed her palm on the birdcage and tapped it with her index finger as she pondered.

The pigeon, looking particularly stupid today, tilted its head and cooed.

She had a truly important matter to attend to in a week. Naturally, Lara couldn’t know about it.

‘First, I need to distract her. That might create an opportunity.’

What better tool than “suspicion” for times like this?

Daphne casually cast her bait to Lara.

“Reconsider your claim about being his trusted knight.”

“There’s absolutely no room for doubt,” Lara shook her head firmly.

“Really?”

Daphne ostentatiously removed the tiny cylinder attached to the pigeon’s chest.

“If I’m so important that His Highness the Grand Duke personally assigned you to protect me, why would he commit such a discourtesy?”

Daphne mocked her before storming into her bedroom.

BANG!

Lara frowned as she stared at the door Daphne had slammed shut.

‘Wow, what a temper…..’

Honestly, she didn’t like Daphne.

Sunshine Smile?

The information she’d received before being dispatched to the Empire described someone whose smile was as pretty as her nickname suggested, with a bright personality to match.

But her first impression in person was of an imperial lady who had never experienced hardship.

‘Even noble ladies in the grand ducal territory know how to handle at least one weapon.’

They lived prepared for the worst-case scenario, where everyone without exception would be mobilized to fight monsters.

Thanks to the people of the grand ducal territory, the entire continent enjoyed peace. The Empire benefited the most from this arrangement.

Lara had left the grand ducal territory for the first time in her life to follow Kartun to the capital.

At first, her mouth had gaped open at the splendor, but it soon clamped shut in anger. To think they enjoyed so much thanks to the sacrifice and dedication of the grand ducal territory’s people. Yet the Empire constantly tried to reduce support for the grand ducal territory.

She’d heard things had improved somewhat since the new Emperor took power.

The older knights from the grand ducal territory would spit before reminiscing about the previous Emperor’s reign. Apparently, he had treated the grand ducal family almost as enemies, not only withholding support but extracting taxes under various pretexts until the knights lacked proper weap*ns.

Honestly, when she first heard this, she had simply accepted it. It also seemed somewhat crude. No matter what had happened, it didn’t seem honorable for a knight to speak ill of a deceased Emperor.

But after seeing how the nobles lived in the capital, she understood her senior knights.

‘It’s fortunate they don’t have to see this firsthand.’

It was enough to make all their lifelong efforts and sacrifices for knighthood feel futile.

Daphne was no different. When Lara received the mission to guard, monitor, and eliminate all spies following her, she had honestly sighed.

This lady with nothing more than a decent smile enjoyed far too much luxury. Her mansion, which took a full ten minutes by carriage from the main gate, was practically the size of a small hill, with only slight exaggeration.

It took well over an hour just to get dressed in the morning, and those layered dress skirts and high heels were nauseating just to look at.

‘Ah, I want to return to the grand ducal territory soon.’

She understood that Kartun was staying for his own reasons. Still, she couldn’t help missing home.

Lara entered the bedroom carrying a dress adorned with abundant organza frills.

“Miss, will you wear this dress today?”

However, the response she received had nothing to do with her question.

“Like many nobles in the Empire, I once knew His Highness the Grand Duke as a hero and always respected him.”

“……Was that so?”

“Of course! His Highness is not only an exemplar of knighthood but also someone who is upright and despises underhanded dealings…… That’s his reputation throughout the Empire.”

Lara showed no sign of doubt. To her, this assessment seemed completely natural.

But Daphne’s subsequent mutterings burrowed into her ears.

“Why would such a person steal a note? I simply can’t understand it. After all, it was just information I gathered to confront my cheating fiancé.”

Lara frowned suspiciously as she took out accessories to match the dress. Daphne blushed slightly in response.

“That’s my only goal. So why would he show interest in me? I clearly said I would quietly follow him to the grand ducal territory once the engagement was broken off.”

“The grand ducal territory?”

Lara couldn’t hide her surprise as she echoed the words.

“Oh my, you didn’t know?”

“No. I was simply ordered to protect you, Miss.”

“I shouldn’t have mentioned it. I didn’t realize it was something you weren’t supposed to know.”

Something she wasn’t supposed to know?

Lara’s eyes, which had firmly believed in her position as the Grand Duke’s trusted knight, wavered slightly.

“I know nothing about such matters, but wouldn’t it be more efficient to guard someone if you knew why? Think about it, Lara. Why did the Grand Duke assign me to you?”

Lara recalled something after hearing Daphne’s words.

It was when Margo and Kartun had left in the middle of their dinner. As Kartun’s trusted knight, Lara had been following closely as usual, without revealing herself.

The two had conversed inside the carriage, but with Lara’s highly developed senses, she had heard their entire conversation.

They had discussed taking Daphne with them.

At the time, she hadn’t speculated about where “there” might be. It was absolutely forbidden to presume what her lord didn’t explicitly state.

‘But it was the grand ducal territory! So that’s why Dame Margrit mentioned the empty position!’

And Kartun had said that empty position was beside him. If it was a position next to the Grand Duke….

‘Grand Duchess?’

Lara was so shocked that she exhaled forcefully through her nose like a bull.

Daphne turned away and smiled slyly when she saw the ribbon in Lara’s hand fluttering wildly. Judging by her reaction, she seemed to have seriously misunderstood something, but as long as it diverted her attention elsewhere, Daphne didn’t care.

⁕⁕⁕

After staying up all night worrying, Werner summoned Daphne as soon as dawn broke.

Upon entering his office, she immediately examined his expression. It seemed unusually troubled and dark, which felt ominous.

“You called for me?”

“Yes, sit down.”

Werner sat across from her and gazed at Daphne intently.

He felt a strange new sensation.

Her purple eyes, so similar to Christine’s, had deepened, and her once bright smile had faded. And somehow, her firmly closed lips reminded him of his own.

‘What am I thinking at this point?’

He had deliberately avoided scrutinizing her appearance since he first doubted her parentage. He feared finding no resemblance to himself. He had been afraid of discovering similarities between her and Christine’s first husband, whom he had only seen in portraits.

If he had found similarities with that man rather than himself, it would have been difficult to embrace her as his daughter. That’s why he had avoided looking too closely until now.

But now that she was leaving, all sorts of emotions stirred within him. At the same time, Daphne’s words pricked his conscience.

“Father was never really present.”

That’s when it began.

Deep regret washed over him like a tide. From small things to big, there were countless matters weighing on his mind.

It was the same now. To discover for the first time that his daughter resembled him.

‘Only now?’

He felt pathetic.

‘Even if she had been someone else’s daughter…… I should have treated her better.’

The broken engagement was just one example. It was bad enough that she had suffered such humiliation during his absence. But to think of how difficult it must have been for her, maintaining a long engagement and missing her prime marriage years…..

He felt too ashamed to look Daphne in the eye. Finally, unable to wait any longer, she called out to him.

“Father?”

“Y-yes. I was just thinking for a moment……”

When Werner hesitated again, Daphne, her patience exhausted, prompted him.

“I heard Her Majesty sent a messenger yesterday. Did you call me because of that?”

Werner neither confirmed nor denied, then brought up something that seemed unrelated to her question.

“It’s natural that you would eventually marry and leave this house. That’s how it should be.”

“Some people live alone. That’s natural too.”

“That won’t do. Especially for you….. I want you to live happily.”

“Being alone can bring happiness too. Especially if you’ve suffered among family members.”

Daphne’s blunt response left Werner speechless again.

Silence fell between them for a moment. Finding this more uncomfortable, Daphne asked:

“You called me because you have something to say, right?”

“……Yes. Her Majesty has permitted the dissolution of your engagement.”

The matter that he had been prepared to litigate was resolved too easily. But Daphne showed no sign of celebration. Instead, she tilted her head with a puzzled expression.

“I didn’t expect Her Majesty to intervene directly. Did you make some kind of deal?”

Hearing her words, Werner couldn’t respond for a while.