The Villainous Family is Against Independence - i_

“What’s wrong, Your Highness?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing.”

It doesn’t seem like nothing.

But since Adenmir quickly returned to his usual demeanor, I couldn’t ask further about what was going on.

Instead, I changed the subject to a different question.

“How is His Majesty the Emperor these days?”

“He’s healthy. Thanks to you.”

The Emperor was still concealing his recovered health and secluding himself in his chambers.

Every day, poisoning attempts were made, but each time he drank the antidote I sent, averting the crisis.

Fortunately, the Empress still seemed unaware that the Emperor had overcome the poisoning.

‘How long does he intend to stay hidden?’

The Emperor was a timid and indecisive person.

While he had his eye on the First Prince Adenmir as the next Emperor, he couldn’t bring himself to cast out the Second Prince Beltran.

If he had elevated the First Prince Adenmir to Crown Prince before his health deteriorated, the Empress wouldn’t have been able to strut around expanding her influence like she is now.

Unlike before, the Empress’s power has grown too much to remove her now.

Even if she were accused of being behind the Emperor’s poisoning, she would easily escape by sacrificing a scapegoat.

No, there was an even bigger reason why the Emperor wouldn’t touch the Empress.

‘The Emperor loves his wife, the Empress.’

What depth of emotion must it be to overlook the fact that she tried to poison him?

In the end, the Emperor failed to be either a good father or an excellent ruler.

I felt sorry for Adenmir, who grew up facing death threats under his father’s neglect in the name of ‘fairness’.

I now fully understood his circumstances, having to get engaged to me, known for my bad temper, to use Perdia’s power as a shield to build his own influence and escape attacks.

You’ve been through a lot, our handsome male protagonist.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Adenmir asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

It’s unfair. It was a gaze full of affection.

“Your Highness. Haven’t you heard anything else from His Majesty the Emperor? For instance, about His Grace Duke Severes……”

“Nothing.”

“Really?”

Do you mean he hasn’t given any hint even to Adenmir, whom he relies on the most right now?

‘His Majesty the Emperor is truly fair in the strangest ways.’

As if I didn’t already lack loyalty, my image of the Emperor only worsened.

He’ll find out soon anyway, so there’s no need to keep it a secret.

I moved closer to Adenmir, in case someone might be eavesdropping through the open balcony doors.

“I’m telling you this in advance in case you might feel upset later thinking I hid it from you.”

“What did you hide?”

“Actually, I have a secret about my birth.”

“……What?”

“You’ll find out soon, so don’t be too surprised.”

That’s all for now. It wouldn’t be fun if I told you everything.

I slipped out of the balcony, leaving Adenmir staring at me as if to say, “What nonsense are you talking about?”

***

Having returned alone, I wandered through the bustling crowd looking for Gretel.

However, perhaps due to the large number of people, finding Gretel was not easy.

“Should I check the lounge?”

Actually, I was used to and comfortable being alone. But Gretel was always among groups at parties, so having someone by her side would probably be reassuring.

I was about to reluctantly head towards the lounge when it happened.

“Who are you looking for?”

I turned my head at the gentle voice, and there was Dorothea Angellus smiling at me.

“It’s been a while, Miss Elodie.”

“Yes. It’s been a long time, Miss Dorothea.”

No sooner had I greeted Dorothea than Greed exclaimed as if pleased.

[Wow! This woman, isn’t she a stupid human with no learning ability?!]

[……Stupid?]

[Stupid. Her head must surely be a flowerpot for growing hair.]

[If she’s a stupid human…… we can kill her, right? Let’s kill her, kill her, kill her.]

Fortunately, Dorothea can’t hear the voices of sin. If she knew what kind of conversation the two sins were having about her, she would inevitably tremble with anger.

Dorothea was alone, having left Belissa somewhere, who had been with her until just now.

“I was looking for Miss Gretel. Have you seen her by any chance?”

“Miss Gretel? Ah, you mean Lady Sangpan. Well. Wouldn’t she be dancing somewhere with a handsome gentleman?”

I see, she means she doesn’t know where Gretel is.

“Then I’ll go look for Miss Gretel-.”

I tried to leave, not wanting to mingle words with Dorothea any further, but failed. It was because Dorothea grasped my hand with both of hers.

“I feel upset that Miss Elodie and I seem to have grown quite distant lately.”

“Ah, yes.”

I wondered why Dorothea was suddenly acting like this towards me.

‘We weren’t even close enough to grow distant, were we?’

She clearly had some ulterior motive. I thought it might be good to listen and see what she had to say.

“I’ve been staying at home lately because I wasn’t feeling well, but I’m much better now, so I could come to this party.”

“I see. That’s good.”

While smiling and responding, I carefully observed Dorothea. Her skin, which had been damaged, was now smooth as if nothing had happened. It seemed she had somehow obtained an antidote and treated herself.

‘It must not have been easy to neutralize the Duchess’s poison, impressive.’

Since it was presumed that Gabe Jenade had given Dorothea earrings with illusion magic before, it was highly likely that he had helped her get treatment.

I still thought that Dorothea might be being used by Gabe.

Even though I responded sporadically, Dorothea continued the conversation with a smile.

“Recently, Belissa, who was recuperating, has returned and we’ve been hanging out together. Oh, Belissa is His Grace Duke Kreundel’s sister. You’ve heard of her, right?”

“Yes. Though I’ve never met her directly.”

“She’s a very kind and gentle friend. I’d like to introduce her to you, Miss Elodie, but she went to meet her brother, the Duke.”

“I see.”

So that’s where Belissa went, she seemed to be with Leon.

I nodded indifferently, knowing that I could be introduced to Belissa anytime through Leon, even if I didn’t get along with Dorothea.

[Can’t you secretly give me something delicious? There’s so much tasty-looking stuff, just give me one!]

[When can we kill……]

The sins also started to get bored with the prolonged conversation with Dorothea.

I too was timing when to cut off the conversation, when finally, Dorothea got to the point.

“We’ve decided to start a book club with Her Majesty the Empress, would you like to join us, Miss Elodie? Actually, we were planning to accept only direct descendants of the four great families as members, but I said we must include you because you’re special, Miss Elodie.”

‘Oh, I see.’

So this was why she unnecessarily stopped me from talking.

She wanted to let me know that there was a class difference of bloodline between herself and me.

While she calls me “special”, in reality, the underlying meaning was to know my place as someone who’s not even a direct descendant.

Of course, I wasn’t one to be intimidated by such shallow social education of romance fantasy noble ladies.

I answered firmly with a smiling face.

“I appreciate your offer, Miss Dorothea, but I’ll have to decline.”

“Is that so? You might regret it later.”

“I find such gatherings burdensome, you see.”

“I understand how you feel. But I think you’re more than qualified as a member of Perdia, Miss Elodie. Have confidence in yourself, Miss Elodie……”

Dorothea was pretending to care for me while looking down on me inside. Well, she didn’t show it outwardly, but I could tell.

At that moment, I noticed the herald in the distance looking visibly tense.

‘They’ve finally arrived.’

The time for entertaining Dorothea was now over.

“-Miss Elodie. Are you listening?”

“As I said before, I’ll have to decline your offer.”

Looking at the opening doors of the hall, I added one more thing.

“By your logic of qualification, Miss Dorothea…… it means there’s no need for me to attend such a gathering.”

“What do you-.”

Before Dorothea could finish her sentence, the herald shouted loudly.

“His Grace Duke Perdia, his wife, and their two children are entering!”

All eyes in the room focused on the entrance.

As always, the appearance of the Perdia family was dazzlingly splendid.

As soon as Carlot, who entered alongside Jansi, made eye contact with me, he waved his hand excitedly like a puppy wagging its tail after meeting its owner after a long time.

As I waved back to Carlot, I heard people whispering.

“Come to think of it, Lady Perdia entered earlier.”

“Could it be true that she was kicked out of Perdia?”

As expected, there were people who found it strange that I had entered first.

As soon as the Perdia family entered, the herald immediately announced the next attendee.

“His Grace Duke Severes is entering!”

It was almost simultaneous with Perdia’s entrance.

As it was the first time Dad attended a social event like a party other than attending the imperial palace, all eyes were on him.

Moreover, today was also the day of the ‘successor announcement’, so people’s attention was even greater.

As soon as he entered the hall, Dad looked around and soon found me.

Dad walked towards me without hesitation. As Dad got closer, the murmuring of people grew louder.

Three steps, two steps.

And right in front.

Dad was right in front of me.

Amidst the deafening murmurs of people, I looked up at Dad and smiled.

“Why are you so late, Dad.”

“……!”

Along with the exclamations heard from here and there, the hall suddenly fell silent.

I turned to look at Dorothea, and she was staring with wide eyes as if she couldn’t believe it.

‘Heh, take that.’

It felt like downing a whole bottle of soda!

Actually, entering first was partly to create this dramatic situation.

Generally, dramatic situations tend to leave a strong impression on people’s minds.

I wanted to make it clear that I was Dad’s daughter.

Dad didn’t disappoint me.

A warm smile soon appeared on Dad’s previously expressionless face. Then, a large hand gently stroked my head.

“How could you enter first like that, Elodie. Couldn’t you have told me in advance?”

“Haha, I’m sorry.”

“Is the lady next to you a friend?”

“This is Miss Dorothea. Dorothea Angellus.”

“Angellus?”

Dad must have had some resentment towards Duke Angellus as well, as he frowned for a moment.

But he hid his feelings and greeted Dorothea.

“I didn’t know Duke Angellus had a daughter. I hope you’ll continue to get along well with my daughter, Lady Angellus.”

“Ah, uh…… Yes.”

Dorothea, still unable to grasp the situation, barely managed to nod.

The hall was so quiet that our conversation was practically being broadcast to everyone.

At that moment, a middle-aged man approached and bravely spoke to Dad.

“Duke Severes. Did you perhaps adopt Miss Elodie?”

It was a plausible guess. It would be difficult to think of me, who had grown up in Perdia since infancy, as Severes Duke’s biological child.

Looking down at the man, Dad answered firmly.

“No. Elodie is my biological daughter. Without a doubt.”

“Oh my……”

Following that, Dad also announced the successor of Severes.

“Moreover, this child will lead Severes after me.”

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