“It’s been a while, Lity.” 

“Mother.”

Baroness Lawrence, Elicity’s mother, who had just entered the drawing room, raised an eyebrow.

“I always told you to greet guests with a smile. Why are you making that face?”

“……”

Because it’s you.

Fearing that the words lingering in her throat might escape, Elicity pressed her lips together tightly.

Seeing this, Baroness Lawrence clicked her tongue.

“You were always like this. You have a decent face, but you never knew how to charm a man, so you couldn’t even be sold off properly.”

“……”

“You’re lucky that His Grace was generous enough not to abandon you. He is your sky and your land. You must serve and obey him.”

Elicity was sick of hearing those words.

Ever since she had been married off to Alex as if she were being sold, and even more so after he became a duke, the Lawrence family had practically worshipped him.

And his family, who had given birth to and raised him, was no different.

“I heard you dared to speak rudely to your mother-in-law and sister-in-law?”

“Mother, that was……”

“Don’t talk back. How dare you defy your mother-in-law in the Kingdom of Madonia? She is the one who raised your husband, who is like the heavens.”

Her chest began to feel suffocated.

“And I heard you also dismissed Lady Felberson, Bella’s governess. Do you have any idea how prestigious that family is? Did you even get His Grace’s permission before taking such action?”

“……”

“If you couldn’t bear a son, you should at least raise your daughter well and marry her off to a distinguished family. Are you out of your mind?”

“Mother.”

Elicity clenched her fists tightly.

“Enough with the talk about sons! It’s bad enough that I have to hear it from my in-laws!”

“You……”

Baroness Lawrence’s eyes widened in shock.

She clearly hadn’t expected her usually obedient daughter to raise her voice.

“So you dared to speak as rudely to your in-laws as you do to me? Insolent girl.”

Her tone was vulgar. It was not the kind of language that should come from the lips of a beautifully dressed noblewoman who had stepped out in elegance.

However, the Lawrences had lived as fallen nobles for half their lives, practically as commoners. Now that they had reclaimed their family’s status, no amount of feigned refinement could hide their coarse speech and behavior.

Baroness Lawrence approached Elicity with a face like a vengeful spirit.

“Now that you’re a duchess, do you think you don’t have to recognize your own mother? I was too lenient with you. I should have beaten you more.”

For a moment, a memory flashed through Elicity’s mind—her calves, split open and bleeding profusely.

Unconsciously, she flinched and stepped back.

Seeing this, Baroness Lawrence clicked her tongue.

“They say the rod is the cure for a disobedient child… and you turned out to be the perfect example. Foolish girl.”

For Elicity, it was a terrible memory that had not faded even after decades. But for Baroness Lawrence, it was something to be justified.

Overcome with bitter anger, Elicity clenched her fists and spoke.

“You speak so proudly of beating your own child. And you only ever hit your daughter.”

“What!?”

Baroness Lawrence snapped her fan shut with a loud sound.

“Your brother, Calix, grew up just fine without needing a beating! Why are you bringing up Calix now?!”

“Grew up fine? That man later sold national secrets to another country……”

Elicity, speaking of events from her past life, quickly shut her mouth the moment Baroness Lawrence gave her a puzzled look.

Yes, that was something that had yet to happen.

As Elicity fell silent, stiff as a board, Baroness Lawrence placed her hands on her hips.

“What nonsense are you spouting……? This won’t do. I’ll have to stay at this ducal residence for a while and re-educate you properly.”

“Mother.”

“You need to prepare for the upcoming victory banquet, don’t you? Nobles always gossip about how you embarrass yourself at such events. That’s because you’re uneducated. I’ll help you.”

Elicity suddenly felt a heavy weight drop in her chest.

‘……Because I’m uneducated?’

It was true—Elicity had never received a proper education.

There had been no money to hire even a single competent governess.

But did her own mother really need to point out such a painful fact?

Elicity quietly bit her lip.

‘That’s why I wanted to give Isabella everything……’

Now that she had wealth and power, she had hired the most exceptional tutors and provided every education necessary to prepare Isabella to become queen.

But looking back, she had been too harsh.

Because she believed that a future queen’s tutors had to be flawless, she dismissed them mercilessly over the smallest faults. If Isabella ever struggled to keep up with her lessons, Elicity would yell and pressure her.

She had justified it as being for her daughter’s sake, but in truth, it had been for her own self-satisfaction.

By the time she realized this, it was already too late.

A wave of self-reproach washed over her again.

Elicity closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

She was old enough now. She was no longer a child who should be hurt by these things.

And she did not believe she even had the right to feel hurt.

Because she couldn’t say with certainty that her past self had been any better than the mother standing before her.

“Where is my proud son-in-law, His Grace? I also need to discuss the reduced maintenance allowance……”

Watching her mother muttering to herself, Elicity slowly walked toward the drawing room door.

“Mother. Go back.”

“…What?”

“I said, go back immediately.”

Elicity’s finger pointed toward the hallway leading outside. Her face was cold.

“You’re telling me to leave now?

“Yes, leave. And don’t ever come to my house again.”

For a moment, the lady’s face contorted with rage.

“How is this house yours? It’s my son-in-law’s house. And why shouldn’t I be able to come to the home of the daughter I gave birth to?”

“Because you don’t love me.”

“Love?”

“Yes.”

Baroness Lawrence laughed in disbelief.

“You’re almost thirty, yet you’re still talking about love? This is exactly why I can’t let go of you.”

“What’s wrong with love? I dearly love my daughter, Isabella. That’s why I want to do everything for her, to raise her happily without being hindered by anything. But…”

Elicity exhaled, as if exhausted.

“You don’t love me as your daughter. So you have no reason to stay in this house.”

“Hah. Why on earth do you think I don’t love you?”

Baroness Lawrence shook her head.

“I love you—that’s why I came all this way to give you advice about the banquet, to involve myself in my granddaughter’s education, and to ask after my son-in-law’s well-being. Do you think there’s another mother as great as me?”

“That’s not it. You love the Lawrence family. You want to raise your granddaughter well so she can bring prestige to the Lawrence name.”

“…!”

As Elicity laid out her argument, the lady bit her lip, momentarily flustered.

“I love Isabella, and I love the Lawrences, my dear. You are also a Lawrence, aren’t you? Elicity Lawrence. You have the responsibility and duty to bring honor to the Lawrences.”

“Me?”

“Of course. Didn’t the Lawrences feed and clothe you?”

Her mother’s tone softened infinitely, but that only made Elicity feel more hollow.

In truth, Elicity had already experienced a similar confrontation before her regression. She had fought, shedding tears of blood, asking if her mother had ever truly loved her.

But she had gained nothing from it.

‘Well, I’ve regressed, but Mother hasn’t, so why would anything change?’

Elicity let out a small laugh, then began to repeat the exact words she had spoken before her regression.

“No, the Lawrences have never done anything for me. Not even once.”

“What did you just say?”

Baroness Lawrence’s voice rose into something almost grotesque. But Elicity remained composed as she began to recount the past.

“Mother and Father only doted on my brother, Calix. If there was good food or fine clothing, you gave everything to him and nothing to me. If Olivia hadn’t been by my side, I would have grown up thinking I was a servant.”

The words flowed as smoothly as water. Her heart was calm, and her lips moved naturally.

“While you sat beside my brother, teaching him, I was doing chores. Since I had no money, I had to sew to earn some. I even did business at times. And in the end, you tried to sell me off to an old, wealthy man. When that failed, you threw me to some random man like I was a burden to be rid of.”

“…”

“And yet you say the Lawrences fed and clothed me? Put your hand on your heart and say it. Is that truly the truth?”

It was the second time she had spoken these words, but still, at the very end, Elicity wanted to scream until the drawing room shook.

As she spoke, her emotions surged within her.

But who knew when and where Bella might hear?

‘…My beloved daughter.’

Even if a thousand nails were driven into her heart, Bella must never see Elicity’s sadness. Because if she did, she would surely cry.

And Elicity’s heart ached too much when her daughter cried.

But the mother before her had been different. No matter how much Elicity wept, she had remained unmoved. Her chest felt hollow, like a barren wasteland.

“There is only one thing you did right, Mother. That ‘random man’ turned out to be Alex. I married him, and from that, I gave birth to Isabella.”

Perhaps she had not expected her daughter to be so resolute, for the baroness clenched her fists tightly.

“No, my dear. You’re still too young to understand a mother’s love. I truly loved you. I mean it.”

“…”

“If Calix succeeded, wouldn’t that have benefitted you as well? And isn’t it good for you and our family that you married a wealthy man? Do you really think I sent you to a rich household to harm you?”

“Mother.”

Elicity murmured calmly.

“They say that if you want to know a person’s true nature, observe them when they succeed.”

“What do you mean by that all of a sudden…?”

“If you had truly loved me, then once the Lawrence family had risen to a certain standing, you would have wanted to stop my suffering. But look at you.”

Elicity pointed to the letter in the baroness’s hand.

“You came here asking for more money.”

“Well, that’s, um…”

“To give you money, I would have to ask my husband for it. That would put me in a difficult position, and you knew that when you came. In the end, you don’t love me. You love my prosperity.”

“…”

At a loss for words, Baroness Lawrence simply stared at Elicity in a daze.