But this time, the problem was genuinely beyond her power to fix.

“My……”

Punish Rosemaria?

How, exactly?

Setting aside Rose’s lofty position as heir to the household, that is.

The basic law of survival in the Hailion Empire was the law of the jungle, regardless of age.

And Rose stood ten centimeters taller than Anne. Slender as she looked, she probably outweighed Anne by ten kilograms as well.

Her physical strength was likely ten times greater, at minimum. Without question. She was the owner of a monstrous power that even the Camelot savages, in all their brutishness, had raised both hands and admitted defeat before.

“Haah……”

Mid-sigh, Anne’s eyes met Rose’s fierce gaze from across the room, where Rose stood leaning against the wall watching, and Anne flinched.

Who in the world could possibly punish a girl like that!

Of course, Rose valued honor above anyone else in Ordo and held her parents in deep respect. She simply had a tendency to express that honor and filial devotion in a manner slightly different from everyone else.

Rose did not consider blind obedience to her parents to be honorable. She believed that true honor meant fighting and crushing any obstacle that clashed with her own sense of justice, even if that obstacle happened to be her parents.

So even Anne could not get the better of her daughter and regularly found herself seething under Rose’s pressure.

It was telling enough that Anne had bitten her tongue and said nothing when Rose refused Prince Julius’s invitation to spend more time together after the princess’s birthday celebration and insisted on coming home.

Rose herself seemed to genuinely believe she was a dutiful daughter……

“It sounds like you two were in the wrong this time.”

Anne opened her eyes slowly and spoke in a firm voice.

“Aunt!”

Anton and Piar wailed in protest.

“You were reckless. Fighting in His Majesty’s palace? Even your late uncle would have reprimanded you for that.”

“But Camelot’s lackeys walked past and started it first!”

“Those enemies insulted members of House Ordo! They talked behind our backs and said our men were short and walked in little scurrying steps like rat droppings!”

Honestly, how childish. Both of them are exactly the same.

Rose watched her two brothers loudly tattling and let out a quiet scoff. They let themselves get baited by a provocation a ten-year-old would use and grabbed someone by the collar?

On top of that, they hadn’t even known the youngest prince was staying in the enemy’s quarters, and charged into hostile territory without a shred of caution. The result: they were thoroughly beaten by imperial knights, not by Camelot or Rose, and chased out.

There was no greater disgrace to the family name.

“……Brothers.”

Rose, arms folded and gaze drifting out the window, opened her mouth slowly.

“You’re talking as though the black eyes you’re sporting are entirely my fault. I didn’t summon the imperial knights.”

Her cold retort made Anton and Piar flinch and exchange glances.

But the brothers widened their eyes, clearly unwilling to back down before their younger sister.

“W, whose side are you on, Rose!”

“Right! You went and apologized to our enemies, which made it look like we were in the wrong, and you’re saying that’s not your fault?”

“You don’t do that to family! You should have taken our side!”

Ha. Rose let out a short, dry laugh.

“What exactly are you wronged about? You two forced your way into someone else’s quarters and threw punches, and Camelot’s lackeys just stood there taking it. Of course we had to apologize.”

“They started it, we’re telling you!”

“They insulted us behind our backs!”

“So breaking into someone’s quarters with swords drawn was the right thing to do? Inside the imperial palace, no less?”

“If someone hits you, you hit them back!”

“Exactly! You have to get revenge!”

Rose looked at her brothers with a sideways glance, utterly at a loss.

“How is that in any way equivalent? Talking behind each other’s backs is something both sides do equally, and throwing punches at the drop of a hat is your thing, not theirs.”

“We hit them because they deserved it!”

“And we didn’t start it. They always provoke first.”

“……Let’s drop it. If we start arguing over who was wrong first, we’ll end up going back a hundred years.”

Rose turned her gaze back out the window, frustrated.

Trying to have a conversation with thick-skulled people who couldn’t be reasoned with was harder than solving advanced mathematics.

A debate on whether it was justified to answer verbal provocation with physical violence was the kind of discussion better held with more intellectually capable people.

Right. My real enemy isn’t Camelot. It’s this household.

“I thought you two would be grateful you didn’t end up in prison again.”

Rose muttered coolly, and Anton immediately turned to tattle to Anne.

“Can you believe her, Aunt! She’s scolding us when we haven’t done anything wrong!”

“Is this how the heir of Ordo should behave?”

“You should reconsider whether someone who won’t stand by her own family is fit to lead Ordo!”

“Hear, hear!”

“Everyone, quiet!”

Anne slapped the armrest of her chair with a sharp crack and raised her voice.

“How far do you intend to disappoint me, Anton, Piar!”

“A, Aunt……”

“Frankly, I couldn’t care less that you fought with those ill-bred gorillas. But watching you argue shamefully with your sister in front of everyone is deeply disappointing.”

“We’re sorry……”

Anton and Piar’s heads sank low. At least their filial piety was something worth keeping.

In a culture that placed domestic harmony as the foremost virtue, it was rare for any noble to openly defy that principle. When reprimanded for the failing of quarreling within the family, even members of the imperial family were expected to bow their heads, let alone a mere lordly house.

“Now settle down, both of you, and go visit the healing hot springs.”

“But Aunt……”

“It pains my heart to see it. Those handsome faces of yours, look at the state of them. Tsk, tsk.”

“Yes, Aunt……”

Anne alternated between the carrot and the stick until the brothers finally tucked their tails and retreated.

“Rose, start getting ready to go meet your father.”

“Yes, Mother.”

Rose exhaled and turned.

Right. After welcoming Father home, I should go to Hilude hot springs. Nothing beats a healing soak for stress.

She was composing herself with the thought of her favorite retreat when she was just about to step out of the sitting room.

“Hey! Where is Rose!”

A booming voice thundered from outside, carrying up through the walls all the way to the third floor.

The only man in Ordo whose build could rival Camelot’s, the lord of Melos.

“Get out here right noooow!”

The slurred, rolling syllables were as good as a signature from the household’s most dedicated drinker.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

Anne clicked her tongue and followed Rose out.

“Where has that man been drinking himself into the ground before crawling back home this time?”

“Roooose! Rose, the daughter made by the great and handsome Robert Ordo with all his might! Your father’s come home and you’re hiding somewhere like a cute little bean bug!”

Rose shook her head and kept walking.

“Coming, Father.”

This household.

“Rooooose! You came back alone again without bringing me a son-in-law! If that’s the case, don’t bother coming home at all! Give me a son-in-law, Rooooose! My daughter, born stealing every last bit of her father’s strength from her mother’s womb and coming out a hero among heroes, Roooooose!”

Truly, this household is my greatest enemy of all.

“I’ll handle Father’s drunk ranting on my own, Mother. You go tell Lady Wendy you have a guest and spend time with her.”

“Oh, yes. Thank you so much, Rose.”

Anne brightened and patted Rose’s arm.

“A mother really does need at least one sensible daughter. Sons just scurry around like rat droppings and cause trouble. Don’t you think?”

Rose agreed wholeheartedly on the inside but smiled with the most serene expression in the world.

“Mother, really. The brothers are good at dancing and putting on little shows to cheer you up when you’re feeling low, aren’t they? They say there’s no such thing as a useless creature in this world.”

“A wise girl with a generous heart on top of it? I live for you, I really do. Ho ho.”

“Roooooose! Your father is hoooome!”

“I’m coming, Father!”

She called back brightly and bounded down the stairs.

The thought of the long-winded tales of valor and endless nagging her father would unload after two weeks away on his regular inspection made the back of her head ache, but getting through a situation like this was nothing.