At seventeen, Siara headed down to the territory for summer vacation. After she had made excuses about being busy and not going home during last year’s summer break, an irritated Duke Light sent a carriage personally.

Everyone murmured at the sight of the carriage bearing the ducal family crest. Though Siara was an illegitimate child, the Light family was the only ducal house in the Stana Empire.

The butler, standing with his back perfectly straight, looked down at Siara with an arrogant face.

“Please get in.”

The butler opened the carriage door with a stern expression. Siara obediently entered, sensing he might drag her in if she didn’t comply immediately.

‘It would be best to humor the Duke until I turn twenty.’

The butler sat with the coachman, and soon the carriage began moving.

Siara opened the carriage window and looked toward the classroom. Though it was far away, her eyes met Diego’s as he watched from the window. She grinned and waved her hand.

It was a gesture saying she’d be back soon, but Diego turned away, looking displeased.

[Diego is angry because you so casually accepted engagement to another man.]

She remembered Ella’s words.

‘But what could I possibly do?’

If she were Siara of the Kingdom of Estain, she wouldn’t have faced this situation in the first place, but now she was in Annie’s body. If she interfered too much, who knew what would happen to Annie’s life.

‘I’m just quietly coming and going.’

She wouldn’t influence Annie’s life in any way. Though Diego was involved, they were destined to part anyway since she was an illegitimate child.

‘By the way, I came here with only ten years left, but what happened to the Kingdom of Estain? Has two years passed there as well?’

Every time she tried to perform dimensional transfer magic, she lacked sufficient magical power. She began to think she might never be able to return home.

‘No. I shouldn’t think negatively.’

Suddenly, the carriage tilted dramatically, perhaps catching a wheel on a rock.

“Ah…!”

Siara quickly levitated her body. Without magic, she might have been seriously injured.

Just as she opened the window to scold the coachman, she heard snickering from the coachman’s seat.

“Hehehe. I wish she’d broken an arm or something!”

“Hey now. She’s still of the Duke’s bloodline, how dare you…”

The butler reprimanded him, but his voice held no real anger. The coachman grumbled.

“If she’s been accepted as an illegitimate child and even given an education, she should be grateful to the Duke! How dare she ignore his orders to come home every vacation? This is why you shouldn’t take in black-haired beasts… There’s no one better than our Duke!”

“…The Duke is indeed a warm-hearted, good person. Well, the young lady has gone too far, so she can’t complain if she gets punished.”

“Exactly! She should be beaten until her arms and legs break!”

“Now, now. That won’t do. Even an illegitimate child needs to be physically intact for an engagement to proceed properly. Born that way, she should at least be useful. Tsk tsk. People shouldn’t try to escape their predetermined fate.”

“Hahah! Yes, of course!”

‘He really likes talking about fate.’

Who was this mere butler to speak about the fate of someone he served?

Feeling increasingly comfortable in this body, Siara began to sympathize with Annie.

A week passed. Having traveled only rough mountain roads during that time, Siara felt unwell.

When she opened the window, peasants waved at the carriage. They seemed to have arrived at the Duke’s territory.

‘Can I finally get out of this carriage? I thought I would die from motion sickness.’

Just then, someone threw a stone through the carriage window, hitting Siara on the forehead.

Blood trickled down from her forehead. The man who threw the stone pointed at Siara, giggling with others. The coachman and butler saw everything but did nothing to punish them.

“Hmm…”

Siara wiped her forehead with her sleeve. Even commoners seemed to despise the Duke’s illegitimate daughter. The coachman and butler were already insolent, and she couldn’t imagine how arrogant the servants at the Duke’s mansion would be.

‘…Well, whatever.’

She thought she should endure it since it wasn’t her problem.

Arriving at the ducal castle, she got out of the carriage. Seeing the vast territory and castle, it truly befitted a ducal family.

The butler ignored the blood flowing from Siara’s forehead.

“Shall we go to the Duke’s study first?”

“…No. I’m hungry.”

“Hmm. You should have a meal after meeting the Duke…”

“Give me food.”

The butler frowned and placed his hands on his waist.

“You don’t seem to understand, but the Duke has been waiting for you all this time!”

“I won’t move a step if you don’t feed me.”

Siara plopped down in front of the carriage. Seeing this, the butler grabbed the back of his neck in frustration.

“Young lady!”

“Food.”

In a place like this, they would probably starve her during meals too. Siara decided to eat first before seeing the Duke.

Just then, a woman in a red dress came down the stairs. Her face was so heavily made up that her original features were unrecognizable, and she wore a long dress in broad daylight with a maid holding up the hem behind her.

‘Who lacks such common sense?’

The woman had so many jewels attached to her body that they sparkled excessively in the sunlight.

The woman approached Siara and slapped her hard across the cheek. Her face turned sideways from the impact.

“…?”

The slap came so suddenly that she couldn’t defend herself.

The woman covered her face with a large fan and looked down at Siara.

“Why didn’t you come last year? Do you know how angry Marquis Marcel was because of you!”

Siara thought this person must be the Duchess.

“After feeding and raising you, you should know how to repay! He may have a soft heart and sent you to the school you wanted, but I don’t understand why an illegitimate child like you needs education. School is enough for Sophie, who will lead the family! Understand?”

“…Didn’t the Duchess receive education?”

“What?”

Siara touched her reddened cheek. The inside of her mouth seemed slightly cut.

“Seeing how you slap people without warning and speak so rudely, it seems you haven’t received proper education.”

“You wench!”

The woman raised her hand again. However, when a man in a neat suit called her name loudly, her hand stopped mid-air.

“Merry!”

“Rowan.”

The man called Rowan grabbed Siara’s arm and dragged her away. Merry followed slowly behind them. Apparently, he was Rowan Light, the Duke and Annie’s father.

Rowan took her to the study. The study was magnificent, but books were missing from several places on the shelves.

Duke Rowan released Siara upon reaching the study.

“…Sit down.”

Siara silently sat on the sofa, and the butler prepared tea, giving it only to Duke Rowan and the woman named Merry. Duke Rowan frowned at the butler and said:

“For Annie too.”

“…As you wish.”

Siara drank the tea that the butler reluctantly prepared. For a ducal family, the tea leaves weren’t premium quality.

Merry became angry.

“Rowan, make her quit school now and marry her off. What engagement? Marquis Marcel said he would pay a large sum. Who cares if women married to the Marquis live or die?”

“Merry, you’d better shut up.”

Duke Rowan sighed deeply.

Come to think of it, before coming to the second-floor study, she had noticed empty spaces where items should have been. She had thought they lived modestly, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“Annie.”

“…Yes.”

Siara looked at Rowan. Unlike the Duchess’s elaborate dress, his suit was old and plain.

“I’ve been trying to wait until your graduation as you asked. But as you know, our family’s debt… Sigh.”

Siara pointed at the Duchess.

“The debt could be resolved by selling the Duchess’s jewels, couldn’t it?”

“What!”

Merry’s face turned fierce. Her carefully applied makeup cracked, and hardened powder fell in clumps.

Duke Rowan shook his head. His dark circles hung heavily under his eyes.

“It can’t be solved with jewels. Yes, I won’t hide anything from you. I borrowed a large sum from Marquis Hart, using our territory as collateral. The Marquis plans to use that territory legitimately through a political marriage with you.”

Looking at the exhausted Duke Rowan, Siara shrugged her shoulders.

“Where is the large sum now?”

“That’s, well…”

When Duke Rowan couldn’t speak, the Duchess answered instead.

“Your father gambled it all away!”

“Oh my, Merry!”

“I told you not to associate with those people!”

“…Tsk. But if the stakes were high, I surely could have won.”

Duke Rowan clicked his tongue regretfully. Merry angrily said:

“Those scoundrels took everything valuable—ancestral paintings, books, anything worth money—and you still haven’t come to your senses?”

However, they apparently hadn’t taken the jewels on the Duchess’s dress.

Siara stomped her feet on the floor. When everyone’s attention turned to her, she smiled brightly and said:

“Why don’t you sell the mansion?”

At those words, the Duke, Duchess, and even the butler were all shocked.