Thanks to me, the garden party ended in complete chaos.

Margrit turned deathly pale and couldn’t say or do anything, keeping her mouth tightly shut until the party finally ended.

‘Tsk, it would have been more entertaining if she’d kept her head high even in this situation. Perhaps she’s too shocked.’

But from my perspective, this was the lightest punishment possible.

She was the one who dragged out the apology because she didn’t want to give it.

What’s so hard about an apology?

Eventually, as evening approached, I leisurely left the marquis residence.

Margrit must have been quite shocked, as she didn’t even bother with the courtesy of seeing me off.

In the end, a butler came out to escort me, but I declined.

Afterward, neither Hasis nor Ilian said anything. Hasis merely gave me a casual glance, while Ilian maintained his smile.

“Here you are, miss.”

Upon reaching the carriage, Ilian extended his hand to me again. As I was about to take it and board, suddenly someone came running from a distance.

“Your Highness!”

The small figure running toward us was none other than Evelyn.

I could easily guess what she wanted. Sure enough, Evelyn hesitated before carefully opening her mouth.

“Um… thank you for helping me earlier.”

“Sure. That’s enough.”

At my response, I sensed Ilian smirking.

What are you smiling at? When I shot him a sharp look, Ilian simply shrugged.

But Evelyn seemed to have more to say, continuing to fidget while watching my reaction.

She probably wanted to become friends. If I were in her position, I too would want to grab this lifeline offered by a princess of such high status.

However, I had no such intentions.

I was turning my head away, seeing no need to listen further, when Evelyn’s voice reached me.

“Um, and… that doll.”

“…?”

“…it’s not cheap. I really wanted to be friends… so I carefully chose it as a gift.”

“…”

“I… I just didn’t want you to misunderstand.”

This was somewhat different from what I’d expected. Evelyn’s face was filled with fear.

‘Even at a time like this, that’s what she’s worried about?’

One thing was clear: she hadn’t come here out of fear of being disliked by the princess.

Whether I was a princess or not, the very thought of someone disliking her seemed to be a great fear for this child.

Realizing this gave me a strange feeling.

I lowered my gaze slightly to the ground. Then, looking back into Evelyn’s orange eyes, I smiled gently.

“I know.”

At my answer, Evelyn stared at me blankly.

Then her face turned bright red as she broke into a wide smile.

“Thank you. I’m really grateful for today.”

With her farewell, I climbed into the carriage.

Hasis placed the doll beside me.

I looked at the large-eared doll, and as the carriage began to move, I turned my head away.

To be honest, I don’t like dolls. It would be an obvious lie to say that past wounds can heal so easily.

I will forever hate the things I couldn’t have in my childhood.

Nevertheless.

“You seem to like the doll.”

“Not really.”

“Keep it by your pillow when you sleep.”

“You sleep with it yourself.”

I responded indifferently to Hasis’s words. I could feel Hasis chuckling at my reply. It was strange.

An inexplicable tickling sensation left me with mixed feelings.

* * *

As soon as we returned to the imperial palace, Rigan and Sela were waiting for me.

Signaling with my eyes for Rigan to come to my office, I said to Sela:

“Take care of that properly.”

Sela looked in the direction I was pointing. When she spotted the rabbit doll tucked under Hasis’s arm, she let out an exclamation.

“Oh my, what a cute doll! Did you receive it as a gift?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll wash it thoroughly and display it in your room. Actually, what about creating a separate doll room? There were many dolls among the gifts that arrived recently.”

“That’s unnecessary. What kind of doll room at my age? I’m not a child.”

But as I said this, I suddenly realized my slip and closed my mouth.

When I slightly raised my head to check Sela’s reaction, she chuckled softly and nodded.

“That’s right. Your Highness is all grown up now. Not a baby anymore.”

Why does this feel worse than having my true identity discovered?

Regardless, Sela took the doll from Hasis and left.

I felt strange, somehow genuinely treated like a child. But there was no point in arguing further.

“You’re back?”

As I was heading to my room, I stopped at Lerrhagen’s voice, coming from the window in front of my chamber.

‘What’s this about? Did he actually wait for me?’

Given Lerrhagen’s temperament, he wouldn’t actively wait for me unless something had happened.

I looked at him with curiosity.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was waiting for you.”

“Really? Did something happen?”

“Not particularly.”

What? So nothing happened.

While thinking this, I noticed Lerrhagen’s gaze fall on my wrist. Following his line of sight, I suddenly realized something and spoke up.

“Oh, I removed it myself. Nobody forced it off, so don’t worry. Though you probably weren’t worried anyway.”

Lerrhagen responded to my words with a long “hmm” as he exhaled.

“How was the Adler marquis residence?”

“Just ordinary. The eldest daughter, who was the host, came out to greet me. The head of the family was nowhere to be seen at first, then crawled out midway to say hello before disappearing again.”

“Did you learn anything?”

“Not really. I couldn’t sense any black magic energy, barely even magical power. Well, they’re not a mage family to begin with, so that’s to be expected.”

“I see.”

“Hmm.”

“Judging by your face, nothing major happened.”

“Nothing major… Oh, come to think of it, I did use your name a bit.”

“My name?”

“Someone was picking a childish fight, so I had to respond in kind. If the nobles act strangely, just ignore it. It might be annoying, but that’s your fate since you made a contract with me.”

At my words, Lerrhagen slightly furrowed his brow. But soon he curled up one corner of his mouth and let out a light chuckle.

I hesitated at that, and Lerrhagen murmured lightly.

“It seems nothing serious happened, thanks to you. That’s good enough.”

I felt somewhat surprised.

Is he worried about me?

But before I could voice that question, Lerrhagen vanished as usual.

I maintained an ambiguous expression while keeping my mouth shut.

What’s this? Strange.

I muttered inwardly as I returned to my room and immediately threw off my cape.

‘Ah, I’m tired.’

Though I hadn’t done anything particularly strenuous, a strange fatigue washed over me. As I climbed onto the bed to rest my eyes briefly, suddenly there was a knock at the door.

I naturally assumed it would be Sela, but the voice that followed belonged to someone else.

“Miss, are you there? May I come in?”

Ilian?

Since this was the first time he had come directly to my room, I immediately gave him a wary look.

Did he discover something at the Adler mansion today? I sat up and answered.

“Come in.”

As soon as I gave permission, Ilian appeared.

He hadn’t changed his clothes yet, still elegant in that white formal attire.

“What brings you here so suddenly? You’ve never come to my room before.”

“I have something I want to ask you.”

At his unexpected statement, I gave him a puzzled look.

What could he possibly want to ask me? Surely he’s not going to ask if he can go out again, saying I behaved well today so please let me leave?

If that’s the case, I was thinking I’d give him a smack to bring him to his senses, when Ilian gave a strange smile.

“What do you want to ask?”

“Did our miss want to hear an apology?”

“An apology?”

“You told that noble lady today. To apologize to her little sister.”

“…”

“So I wonder, did our miss want to hear an apology? From her older sisters and brothers?”

Only then did I realize what he was asking, and my face hardened.

He was bringing up stories from my childhood.

“You seem to be misunderstanding something. Just because I told you about my past doesn’t mean I want your pity—”

“I wanted one.”

Before I could finish my cold statement, Ilian tilted his head slightly and said this.

“I wanted one. From the bastard who killed my parents.”

“…”

“So I’m asking if you wanted one too.”

Killed his parents?

“Is that why you hate nobles…?”

“Tell me. Did you want an apology?”

Ilian was obsessing over apologies to an excessive degree. I didn’t understand it, but strangely, I felt a sense of empathy and bit my lip. Then I answered.

“What good would it do?”

“…”

“They’re all dead anyway.”

There was no direct answer to his question, but Ilian seemed to have already obtained what he wanted.

In his emerald eyes that gazed at me, there was a hint of joy and simultaneously a strange sadness.

I clicked my tongue at that.

What a pointless question. I shouldn’t have shared this information.

Thinking this, I was about to tell him to leave when Ilian suddenly spoke in a slightly subdued voice.

“Miss, you didn’t kill your father, did you?”

At that moment, the air in the room turned cold.

Like someone had thrown cold water, the room rapidly fell silent, and I froze my expression.

“What are you talking about?”