Zenos readily dismissed those he considered beneath him, but the problem was that he was a genius among geniuses. Consequently, he got along with almost no one.

Even someone like him never hit women. The issue was that to him, Daphne wasn’t a woman but a sister.

And he only treated her as a sister in situations like this. A little sister he’d bullied since childhood and occasionally struck.

The servants watching nearby didn’t know what to do when Zenos raised his hand. Given the circumstances, it was obvious he would be worse than usual.

A quick-witted maid ran off to call Anton. Anton had the Marquis’s complete trust, so even Zenos couldn’t act carelessly around him. Therefore, he was the only one who could intervene.

Zenos wasn’t completely oblivious, so he reluctantly lowered his hand. Instead, he gritted his teeth and barked at her.

“The Armin family’s servants are good people who have been loyal for generations. Don’t make wild assumptions!”

“Then it must have been Mother who told you.”

Daphne asked with an incredulous expression.

“She called for me since Father and our brother aren’t here. How pathetic. Is being the lady of the house that difficult? She should clean up after her daughter’s mess herself. Why push it onto me?”

He lumped Christine in with his contempt.

Daphne clicked her tongue briefly. She thought she had convinced her mother yesterday, but… Her mother had a remarkable talent for making things difficult in various ways.

Zenos still glared at her.

“So stay put at home. I’ll meet Leonhardt personally and apologize for your rudeness.”

“I wonder about that. Someone who spends all day locked in a laboratory tinkering with springs—what help could you be? Mother really…”

“What? Why you—!”

His hand rose again but stopped abruptly.

“Wait, how do you know about the springs?”

The Empire’s founding day celebration would be held in a few days. Among various events, Zenos was scheduled to showcase his new invention before foreign envoys and influential figures of the Empire.

In her past life, what Zenos presented was an intricate spring-powered clock.

It was so precise that it didn’t deviate by even a second, and every hour, figurines emerged from the clock to dance with such delicate movements that everyone was astounded.

The most remarkable aspect was that it operated solely on the power of gears.

But excellence often invites jealousy. Scholars disliked Zenos for being arrogantly intelligent and having a poor character.

They accused him of cleverly concealing the use of magic stones as an energy source for his clock.

Until 200 years ago, the Empire had suffered terribly from monsters. Only after a great knight sacrificed his life to kill the monster king did they finally find peace.

However, minor monsters still appeared regularly in the forest where the monster king had died, so they couldn’t let their guard down.

As a result, the Empire’s people detested anything related to monsters. Magic stones were no exception, and their use was strictly regulated to areas where conventional power sources were inadequate.

Therefore, if he had used them for something like a clock, it could have ended his career as a scholar.

Zenos disassembled the clock on the spot to prove his innocence, but those who had raised the issue continued to spread unfavorable rumors, still muttering about monster powers.

The Emperor ordered the clock destroyed and revoked Zenos’s professorship.

Eventually, the “youngest” title that Zenos had been so proud of vanished, and his reputation plummeted.

Daphne hesitated briefly.

‘Honestly, I don’t want to tell him.’

She would rather watch his downfall.

But to prepare for the greater collapse ahead, everyone in the Armin family needed to stand firm. Even this devil of a man.

‘He’s not the type to listen, but I’ll give him a chance. If he survives, I’ll pay him back slowly later.’

Daphne glanced at his hand still hovering near her cheek and answered.

“Well, perhaps I can see the future because of my hair color.”

There was a legend that the rose-gold hair, symbol of the Gael royal family, was a trace of the spirit that controlled monsters.

Daphne had inherited that exact color, causing concern for the Marquis’s family.

While it was revered as a sacred symbol in the Kingdom of Gael, the Empire detested anything related to monsters. Only because she was a child of the Armin family did people refrain from openly showing their disgust.

When this already sensitive topic came up, Zenos exploded in anger.

“I’ve told you repeatedly that it’s considered ominous here!”

“If they’re primitive enough to make such a fuss about natural hair color, what about a clock that works without power? That would be a delicious point of attack for those who hate you.”

Completely losing his temper, Zenos immediately grabbed Daphne’s hair.

“Y-young master.”

The maid and coachman waiting to accompany Daphne to town turned pale as they tried to stop him.

Their usually compliant young lady was talking back like this. It seemed this wouldn’t end with just a few slaps. Zenos was about to go berserk.

When the maid and coachman tried to intervene, Zenos lashed out at them.

“Get lost! I’m trying to correct this lowborn’s manners—what business is it of yours?”

The same man who had just been praising their loyalty now yelled furiously.

He shook Daphne’s hair back and forth before yanking her forcefully toward him.

“Uh, uh!”

Contrary to expectations that Daphne would struggle to break free, she lunged straight toward Zenos.

With the added force of his pulling, Daphne’s head struck Zenos’s philtrum with precision.

He fell backward without making a sound. Unfortunately, the floor was marble, and his head made a loud crack as it hit. Bl＊＊d immediately flowed from his split lip and nose.

Everyone froze with their mouths agape at the unbelievable scene. Only Daphne calmly smoothed her hair.

Growing up with her hair constantly pulled and her cheeks slapped until her mouth bled, she couldn’t control her strength in the moment.

Unconsciously, she had rammed into him with all her might. If she had been the Daphne from her past life, Zenos would have been critically injured. But with her current body, still that of a gently raised young lady, it ended at this level.

‘Whew, that’s fortunate. Killing him in a fit of anger would be disastrous.’

This life was hard-won; she couldn’t waste it rotting in prison for k＊lling someone like him.

Besides, he was going to invent something truly important for Daphne. Until he created that, Zenos needed to stay alive.

‘Anyway, I need to build up my body. Getting winded from taking down someone who spends all day in a laboratory…’

Daphne straightened her clothes and issued a warning.

“If you want to keep tinkering with your little springs, be careful. Try using violence against me one more time, and I’ll break your wrists.”

She started toward the carriage but stopped abruptly. After a moment of consideration, she turned back and quietly warned him.

“And stay away from the water. This isn’t for your sake, but be wary of those who suddenly call you out.”

Zenos lost consciousness as the sound of her footsteps faded away.

⁕⁕⁕

The carriage carrying Daphne headed toward a dress shop that served only a select few high-ranking nobles. When the carriage stopped, the shop manager personally came out to greet her respectfully.

“I’ve come without an appointment. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

“Not at all. It’s an honor that you’ve visited us.”

“I need a plain robe.”

Hearing this, the manager hesitated momentarily. It wasn’t the kind of order an innocent young lady would make.

But the manager quickly smiled and guided her to a fitting room. She brought a robe without any decorations, personally helped Daphne put it on, and then led her to the shop’s back door.

Daphne handed over a gold coin and hurriedly walked away. The manager gazed at her slender retreating figure.

Coming without an appointment and ordering a robe was an implicit arrangement to use this place for discreet movement. It was commonly used by noblewomen dealing with unsavory matters.

In contrast, Daphne Armin seemed far removed from such affairs.

She was known as “the Sunshine Smile.”

Judging her appearance objectively, she wasn’t a striking beauty. But when she smiled, everything changed instantly.

When her distinct, full lips parted, they revealed perfectly aligned, flawless teeth. They gleamed like the finest pearls.

Her eyes, folded into crescents, sparkled with vitality while the slight crease forming on her small, neat nose bridge was endearingly cute. Even her rose-gold hair color, considered ominous, enhanced her smile.

Daphne’s smile had the power to brighten everything around her, like the sun clearing away gray clouds.

No wonder the somewhat unbalanced Emperor summoned her whenever she felt depressed.

Had she not been Werner’s daughter, she would have brought her into the palace long ago—that’s how much she adored Daphne. It was the Emperor herself who gave her the nickname “Sunshine Smile.” Since “The Empire’s Sun” was an idiomatic expression referring to the Emperor, it also implied that Daphne belonged to her.

People whispered that the slightly eccentric Emperor was coveting a young lady who was already engaged. But when Daphne smiled brightly, they couldn’t help but admit that her behavior was understandable.