“While showing off a bit with borrowed authority might be overlooked as cute, trying to shake up the game I’ve set up is a threat.”

The head maid intentionally distorted the Duke of Ivanstein’s question and used it for her personal feelings of wanting to fire a subordinate. She dared to mention two people she shouldn’t touch from her position — the princess and the Duke.

“It’s a challenge to the authority held by nobles.”

There weren’t many superiors in the Ivanstein mansion to teach the head maid. There couldn’t be any blood relatives of the Ivanstein ducal family left here.

The head maid must have enjoyed power comparable to nobles here. So she didn’t think about her position and did something she should never have done.

“Is the Duke of Ivanstein someone who would tolerate that?”

“……No.”

The maid finally smiled slightly, pulling the corners of her mouth.

Words from her own mouth carry no weight. But the princess is different. The maid realized that the princess, smiling gently in front of her now, held the head maid’s lifeline.

“From now on, I’ll serve you as instructed. If you really need anything, I’ll always be nearby, so please let me know.”

“What should I call you?”

“My name is Céline. Just call me Lin. That’s what my family calls me.”

“It’s a pretty name.”

“Not as much as the princess.”

Mel and Lin smiled at each other. Mel liked Lin’s outgoing personality, and Lin felt comfortable with the princess’s gentle benevolence.

* * *

Mel, Lin, and the head maid might not have known, but there were two pairs of eyes watching them. Genoa, who had been observing everything from afar, bent forward at the waist, trying to hold back laughter that was like sobbing.

“My lord, you’ll be discovered if you keep that up.”

“……Haa, isn’t it too funny?”

Genoa was now wiping away tears that had gathered in the corners of his eyes.

He had come out of his office lightly, intending to take a walk, following the butler’s report that the head maid was causing a disturbance, and ended up witnessing an unexpected spectacle.

“Still, the princess is the princess. In many ways.”

“Indeed. She’s a really interesting woman.”

They intuitively understood that the strict and arrogant head maid couldn’t say anything to the princess who was merely a captured prisoner. While the princess’s display of dignity might have seemed natural to others, Genoa’s eyes caught the princess trying hard to hide her trembling hands.

But when she spoke sharply to the head maid, showing the dignity of a princess, Genoa was certain. That woman would definitely be helpful to his plans.

Dignified tone and elegant voice. From small gestures to the angle of the corners of her eyes and mouth, even the way she blinked her eyelids exuded the image of a princess. At that moment, she was truly the princess of Reibritton.

“We might have been seeing the princess too softly all this time.”

“You should be a bit tense. There’s a possibility that the princess has been deliberately showing a careless appearance until now.”

“Wouldn’t that be even better? It becomes more interesting.”

“My lord, you lack caution.”

To Bane’s concern, Genoa shrugged and said.

“Caution, I had plenty of that from there. So it’s about time I let it go a bit.”

That place where one had to be cautious even while breathing, with nerves on edge and vigilant about everything to survive. Genoa was the victor who ultimately survived there.

“Isn’t my severe insomnia also stemming from there?”

Bane’s brow furrowed as he watched Genoa speaking like that. Whenever Genoa mentioned that place, Bane looked like he wanted to die. Genoa quite enjoyed Bane’s face, which had become more taciturn and stubborn than before.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“But my lord, that place……”

“In the end, it’s just a place where my history of victory was written. However……”

Just thinking about that place where he competed for succession in the past naturally brought to mind a face. That child, forever ten years old in his mind.

Mel.

Since Mel ran away from him, that child’s face hadn’t been clearly visible in his mind. But when looking at the princess, seeing that face that seemed like the child had grown up, he no longer had to try hard to recall every corner of that young face.

“I wonder if it’s because of that that I’m able to sleep near the princess.”

Genoa muttered this while watching the princess walk away, talking with the maid.

Could the princess’s presence really replace Mel?

Genoa realized that while he had been considering the princess and Mel different, he had subconsciously been equating them.

‘Right. The princess is the princess.’

That young slave girl couldn’t possibly have such refined manners flowing from strict education. This was common sense.

He had been harboring unreasonable suspicions due to their abnormally similar faces. Coming to this conclusion, Genoa felt like his mind was clearing up.

“Let’s go.”

Genoa smiled and turned his back.

Bane looked at Genoa’s retreating figure for a long time. Then he too nodded and moved his feet without adding any words.

“I’m looking forward to tonight.”

With Genoa’s humming-like murmur, silence settled in the corridor.

* * *

Mel headed towards the Duke’s bedroom with heavy steps. The meal she had eaten earlier felt like it was suddenly stuck in her throat.

Unlike Mel, who couldn’t hide her dark mood, Lin wore a constant bright smile.

“The head maid said to tell you, ‘The Duke requests to see you.'”

Lin’s smile looked refreshingly cool as she recalled how the head maid’s expression couldn’t have been more docile at that time.

In fact, Mel had no intention of reporting this incident to the Duke. After all, Lin would still serve her, and the head maid had become obedient. She had gotten everything she wanted. In this situation, if she demanded punishment for the head maid, it could be misunderstood as Mel trying to seize power in the mansion. So it was right to let it go at this point.

“This is the Duke’s bedroom.”

Even though she had walked as slowly as possible, Mel had already arrived in front of Genoa’s bedroom. The butler was waiting for her in front of the bedroom. The butler asked in a polite voice.

“Shall I knock for you?”

Mel silently shook her head. The butler didn’t ask twice and neatly stepped back. Then he led the other servants, including Lin, away from the place. It was because the Duke had ordered to clear the surroundings when the princess came to the bedroom.

“Hah……”

Mel repeatedly grabbed and released the doorknob. She was deeply conflicted about whether to enter or not.

‘What if it was just a coincidence the last two times and the Duke can’t fall asleep this time?’

Having boldly proposed conditions, it was time for Mel to prove their effectiveness. However, as the moment to enter the Duke’s bedroom approached, she suddenly felt scared. Even for Mel, who had experienced many things, it was her first time seeing a case where a person could act as a sleeping pill.

‘Should I go in? Or not? Should I…?’

Her hand, which was about to knock, went up and down. If Lin or the butler had seen it, they would have stepped forward to knock on her behalf. It was that much of a hesitant gesture.

Just as Mel, who had been mulling over all sorts of worries in her head, finally mustered the courage to knock,

Bang. At that moment, the door suddenly opened from the inside and a large hand shot out.

“……Huh!”

That hand wrapped around Mel’s shoulder and pulled her into the bedroom. It happened so suddenly that Mel swallowed her scream and only opened her eyes wide. In her view, she saw Genoa’s silver thread-like hair shimmering.

“Are you trying to tease me, Princess?”

It was Genoa. He just reached out his hand behind Mel, who was blinking in surprise, and closed the bedroom door with a thud.

As they got close, Genoa’s unique cool and sweet scent lingered at the tip of her nose. Even when she was young, Genoa’s body had this scent.

Mel almost closed her eyes and felt that scent without realizing it. However, shaking her head to try to come to her senses, Mel pretended to be nonchalant and answered,

“I felt awkward because I don’t usually go to someone else’s bedroom at this hour.”

“As if I would do anything improper to the Princess.”

Genoa stepped back a few steps with a small laugh. At those words, Mel slightly pursed her lips and headed deeper into the bedroom as he guided.

“What would you use me for if you seduced me?”

Genoa didn’t remember, but Mel remembered that low baritone from that day. That day, Mel had almost been subjected to improper behavior by Genoa.