“It’s exactly as I said. The way the two of you acted as if you were in love was just so realistic.”

“Did it look that way to you as well?”

Beaming with satisfaction, I responded with delight. As my nanny gently brushed my hair, she spoke.

“Of course. Just today alone, I must have overheard more than ten times how the newly assigned servants in the east wing were amazed at how close the two of you seem to be.”

“That’s good to hear.”

If this rumor spreads throughout the Grand Duke’s castle, it will eventually reach Michael as well. Feeling pleased, I chuckled to myself.

“On top of that, they simply adore how kind and beautiful you are… Unlike those in Lure, the servants of Norhart are well-trained and have an eye for such things.”

“Oh, that…”

Here we go again. My nanny’s blind admiration.

‘I bet she can’t even imagine that the person who mistreated the servants in Lure and the one who was considerate toward the Norhart servants could be the same.’

Feeling slightly embarrassed, I rolled my eyes and glanced over at Dame Gwendolyn.

Dame Gwendolyn, ever the professional, was scribbling something in her journal as if she hadn’t heard a word.

“Dame.”

“Yes.”

“Cedrion is trying to avoid going to the royal capital as much as possible, but that’s probably going to be difficult, isn’t it?”

“That’s right. While it goes against tradition, the royal family’s will is what matters most. And besides, the two of you…”

I immediately understood what was left unsaid in Dame Gwendolyn’s trailing sentence.

The daughter of a traitor and the second in line to the throne, who even petitioned on behalf of that traitor—there was more than enough reason for the royal family to be suspicious.

Michael himself had already mentioned it as well.

“Originally, His Highness the Crown Prince wanted to travel together, but Cedrion managed to prevent that at least. Either way, we’ll be using teleportation magic, and since it was fine last time, it should be fine this time too, right?”

“That actually works out better. If you were to travel with His Highness, you would have to use the public teleportation circle, and that would have been too much for you. You struggled the moment you arrived in Meldorf, didn’t you?”

“That’s true. But when we came to Norhart, my lady showed no signs of exhaustion at all.”

The nanny’s voice was filled with satisfaction as she spoke. It was obvious she was trying to frame it as Cedrion being especially considerate of me because he cared.

‘Cedrion cares for me, huh…’

Even if that were true, the one he cherishes isn’t ‘me’ but the childhood Odelia.

The thought was both thrilling and sobering at the same time.

To steady my wavering emotions, I spoke to Dame Gwendolyn again. Since coming to Norhart, I had made a habit of being as honest as possible with her in order to rely on her judgment.

“Besides, Cedrion said that a gag order has been placed on any mention of me in Belvo.”

“A gag order, you say…?”

“The royal family has cast a spell so that no one can speak about me.”

I spoke as if it were nothing and watched Dame Gwendolyn’s expression. Beyond her glasses, her brows furrowed deeply.

“I was worried that the servants who used to work at my estate might spread rumors about me outside, but he assured me that wouldn’t happen. Thanks to that, no one in high society will be able to gossip about me either.”

After saying that, I turned and smiled at my nanny. Even she seemed to realize how serious this was, as her hands, which had been brushing my hair, had come to a halt.

“Thinking about it, if that’s really the case, wouldn’t it actually be fine for me to go to the royal capital? No one would be able to say anything about me even if they saw me, right?”

“But if you go to the royal capital… wouldn’t you end up meeting no one at all…?”

“I have no attachment to any connections in the capital anyway.”

I recalled the minor antagonists in Princess Flora Is Lovely—the ones who would chime in every time Odelia tormented Flora.

It wasn’t because I was a ‘Flora’s Mom’ that I didn’t want to see them.

Even though Lure had been caught up in a treasonous plot, not a single one of them had reached out to me or offered any help. That alone proved that our relationship had never been particularly strong.

‘The gag order only applies within the capital, so they could still come find me outside of it. They just can’t talk about me… but they could still send letters if they wanted.’

Odelia Lure, what a lonely life you must have led.

Thinking about the original owner of this body, whose whereabouts were unknown, left me feeling complicated.

“Anyway, what I’m trying to say is—there’s nothing for you to worry about, Nanny.”

“My lady…”

“Of course, it’s a little uncomfortable that I’ll have to keep running into Crown Prince Michael.”

Unaware that I had learned about my childhood, Nanny only wore a troubled expression.

“I just need to have an audience with His Majesty, get the engagement approved, and return right away—that’s all. I’m worried about the vegetable garden too, so I don’t want to stay away from Norhart for long. And…”

I trailed off, then flashed Nanny a reassuring grin.

“His Majesty was quite fond of me, so nothing much will happen at the royal castle. Right?”

“O-Of course…!”

In an instant, Nanny’s face lit up.

She was relieved by my words—and also pleased that I seemed to have regained some memories.

‘So my guess was right.’

The clue had come from what Michael had said to me this morning in the garden.

“Even if you have my brother as your backing, the one who will inherit Arcadia is me.”

It really seemed true that the king had been fond of this body—enough to make Michael wary.

‘That explains why everyone was so convinced Odelia was the Crown Princess-to-be, even though she acted so atrociously. Odelia must have had something to fall back on, too.’

Just how extreme had it been for Michael to cast strange magic on me as a child and still burn with inferiority to this day?

Of course, since the Marquis of Lure had been arrested for treason, the king’s favor must have ended as well.

‘I’ll understand everything once I meet the king. How intriguing.’

Honestly, I wasn’t that interested.

I just wanted everything to go smoothly—but since that was unlikely, I figured I might as well find some amusement in it.

***

“Miyaang… Nyaaang…”

“Yani! Ptyy!”

“Yaa, yaaang…”

The next morning, I woke to the sound of a cat crying.

After encountering Michael in the garden at dawn and then attending his welcome banquet in the evening, I had exhausted myself the entire day. That’s why I had slept in later than usual.

Fortunately, Mathias had agreed to take care of the vegetable garden until Michael left.

“Mma! Yani Ptyy!”

And Angie was once again clutching the calico cat tightly.

Was it just my imagination, or did the cat’s teal eyes seem filled with terror?

Slipping on my slippers, I walked over to Angie’s bed. She and the calico cat were tangled together so tightly that they looked like they were wrestling.

“Calico, did you come to see us again today?”

“Hweeeu.“

Angie pursed her lips and let out a deflating sigh. She kept developing more and more varieties of sighs.

“Do you like playing with Angie?”

“Nyak!“

The calico cat let out a sharp cry as if to say, Don’t say such horrifying things.

Even I had to admit it was an indifferent question. No matter how much Angie adored the cat, a baby’s grip—especially one that couldn’t control her strength—was bound to be painful.

But since the cat had come back again today, it seemed she did enjoy playing with Angie after all.

Well, of course. Our baby was so adorable—even to a cat!

With a satisfied smile, I scratched the cat’s neck and chest to comfort her. Angie had her pinned down quite securely.

“Noo, noo…”

As I stroked her, the calico cat began to purr contentedly, as if her stress from Angie’s grasp was melting away.

“Nooo!”

“Hm?”

“You, like noo!”

“You mean… you can’t like the cat?”

“Noo! likee!”

“The cat can’t like it?”

“Wung!”

Oh my goodness…! How could our baby be speaking so well already?

Angie was definitely the most eloquent baby under six months old in this world—or any other.

I didn’t pay much attention to her words, though, and instead checked her mouth. Her pink gums already had four little teeth growing on both the top and bottom.

“Oh dear, look at all of Angie’s teeth! Did they not hurt when they were coming in?”

“Noo.”

“That’s good, right? Since your teeth are growing fast, you’ll be able to eat lots of yummy things with your big sister.”

I wasn’t sure how fast babies normally grew teeth, but at the rate Angie was developing, she might have a couple of molars before winter arrived.

Once the sweet potatoes in the garden were ready for harvest, I could introduce her to boiled sweet potatoes and water kimchi. Water kimchi shouldn’t be too spicy for her.

‘Ah… By then, I really won’t have much time left…’

That thought brought my mood crashing down in an instant.

“Nyaa.”

While Angie was staring at me, the calico cat, watching her closely, cautiously approached and rubbed her cheek against my hand.

Knock, knock, knock.

“My lady, good morning. Did you rest well last night?”

The person who entered was Dame Greta.

She must have been utterly exhausted after preparing for last night’s banquet along with the rest of the aide’s office. Yet even at this early hour, she looked as composed as ever.

“Thanks to you. You worked so hard yesterday, Dame Greta.”

“It’s my duty.”

Greta gave a small smile, but she didn’t step inside the room.

Sensing there was a reason for that, I left Angie’s bedside and walked toward her.

“Is something wrong?”

“Well, His Grace…”

Lowering her voice, Greta pulled a letter from between the pages of her notebook.

Aside from Angie and the calico cat, there were only the two of us in the room, yet she was being unusually cautious.

Unfolding the unsealed letter, I saw Cedrion’s rigid handwriting.

[My beloved Odelia,

I hope you had a peaceful rest last night.]

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the memory of the letters he had sent back when he was relentlessly pursuing me.

Compared to those days, his tone now seemed far more restrained—almost endearingly so.

But as I continued reading, the content quickly lost its charm.