Looking at Noah who couldn’t say anything, I must have hit the nail right on the head.

‘But what can you do. This adult is right at the top of your head.’

Huhu.

After eating the chocolate Noah held out, I consoled him.

“How admirable that you showed courage despite being scared. Ah, I get it. You studied hard so you wouldn’t lose your chocolate?”

“……”

“Congratulations. You’re doing so well that next time you won’t have to feed me.”

Of course, that won’t happen. The study difficulty is bound to increase.

‘I’m a dirty adult, you see. Kekeke.’

Though there’s no way he could know my true intentions, Noah became serious as if deep in thought after getting his notebook back.

“……”

Then a moment later.

“Lady Calliphe.”

Noah called me in a voice that seemed to have reached some kind of decision.

“This one is wrong too.”

“Hm?”

Noah’s short finger pointed to a sentence I had circled.

It was the sentence ‘Let’s try using fists if words don’t work’…

‘Let’s try using fists if words don’t work.’

Looking again, the character for ‘fist’ was written incorrectly.

“Oh my. You’re right.”

Did I miss that?

Noah spoke in a hesitant but somehow firm tone.

“I’m not a fast learner. And also, I should receive more punishment for getting it wrong.”

“Well, since you were honest… I’ll let it slide this time.”

Though the sulky rice cake is cute, I might get disliked again if I tease too much.

But Noah shook his head.

“…No.”

“Eh?”

Noah, who had rejected my rejection, tried to feed me chocolate again with trembling hands.

“It’s okay, you eat it…”

“……”

What’s with these intense green eyes?

“Mm.”

Noah pushed the chocolate a bit closer as if urging me to hurry and eat it.

“……”

“Mmm.”

“……”

My goodness. Is he rushing me right now?

As I stood dazed with emotion, Noah’s expression gradually became dejected, as if the determination he had gathered was rapidly losing strength.

I quickly ate the chocolate.

“It’s delicious.”

“…I want to be punished next time too.”

Noah smiled shyly with a bright expression.

No, you shouldn’t enjoy being punished though.

‘Am I raising this child a bit strangely?’

Could this be why the filial piety stat is still at 0?

‘Filial piety quest, come out quickly.’

I’ll do anything, whether reading fairy tales with Noah or eating delicious food together.

‘Though it’s more like a reward for me.’

I cleaned up while having pleasant thoughts.

“Shall we head inside?”

Just then, someone approached us. Looking at that sturdy figure, it must be the muscular maid.

“Lady Calliphe! Look at this. A gift has arrived for you!”

The muscular maid set down some boxes on the table.

They were very luxurious gift boxes with even the ribbon decorated with jewels and flowers. Given that perfume had been sprayed on them, they seemed like something you’d send to a lover.

Why would they give this to me? Could it be misdelivered?

“My name is on it though. Who could have sent this?”

“Well, you know… Oh, you must know.”

The maid twisted her body shyly.

“Noah, close your eyes. It’s embarrassing.”

At my words, Noah covered both his eyes with his hands. Good boy.

“Heeng, how mean… But do you really not know? The rumors are already everywhere.”

“Rumors?”

“The rumor that you’ll be marrying Baron Dietrich Rotten soon.”

“Why would I marry someone I don’t even kn—”

As I spoke, Calliphe’s memories suddenly surfaced.

Dietrich Rotten.

A thug-turned-noble who had only money, enough to buy his title.

It was never revealed how he managed to gather enough money to buy a title despite his back-alley origins.

Though he now proudly declares himself a member of noble society, claiming he’s cleaned up his act, his thuggish behavior remains unchanged, earning him the nobles’ contempt.

He was also the one who dragged Calliphe’s reputation down to rock bottom.

‘Thanks to associating with Dietrich, she was able to get the illegal potion used on the servants who were bullying Noah.’

He did help Calliphe in ways like this a few times.

‘But he’s the type who would just use Calliphe and throw her away after marriage.’

Just as Calliphe had more than one death ending, her path in <Marino> had several variations.

The Calliphe I saw in my dream, falsely accused and imprisoned.

That was the fate that awaited Calliphe if she married Dietrich.

Originally, Calliphe didn’t want to keep Dietrich close.

But she couldn’t avoid it.

“My lady. If it helps with fixing your mana incompatibility, you shouldn’t refuse anything. Don’t worry. This man is one of my people, so he can be trusted.”

She couldn’t carelessly handle someone recommended by Young Marquis Caiman.

Rather, she endured his rudeness, worried that Dietrich might speak ill of her to the Young Marquis.

‘Before revealing his true colors, Young Marquis Caiman was the only person who was kind to Calliphe.’

She didn’t want to lose her only ally who treated her as a legitimate heir.

‘Though it was all a misunderstanding.’

I analyzed the information while comparing Calliphe’s memories with the original story.

Then I found an overlapping part.

‘Oh? Wait. If it’s Dietrich and Calliphe’s marriage… is that incident about to happen?’

I recalled the incident Dietrich caused in <Marino>.

‘It was definitely when Noah asked the silver-haired man in the original story.’

About how his eyes became blind.

At that time, the silver-haired man answered like this:

“…There was an unexpected accident at the party where Dietrich Rotten announced his marriage. While handling the accident, my eyes started hurting, but I couldn’t get treatment in time.”

“Didn’t anyone help you?”

“No one could help. Even the one thing that could have helped, I couldn’t obtain then. In the end, I think that accident accelerated my blindness.”

Yes, this is it.

The accident at the party. The silver-haired man was definitely there.

‘So if I go to Dietrich’s party, I’ll definitely meet the silver-haired man!’

Since it’s also my marriage announcement party, the meeting will feel natural too.

Who knew a thug like Dietrich would be helpful in this way.

Feeling better, I snorted with a more relaxed expression.

“I will get married, but not to Dietrich Rotten.”

“What? Then who… Could it be, you still haven’t given up on Duke Ortega?”

The maid questioned.

At that, Noah, who was still covering each eye with his hands, showed his curiosity by slightly spreading his fingers.

“Duke…?”

“Ah, yes. Lady Calliphe had someone she liked. Duke Ortega, he was her first love.”

Duke Ortega. First love.

As the two words connected, deeply buried memories came rushing up as if they’d been waiting.

For Calliphe, it might be memories of first love.

‘God, it’s such a cringy memory!’

I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling dizzy. My face felt hot all over.

“Th-that’s all in the past.”

Whether Duke Ortega or Dietrich, I’m not interested.

My target is the silver-haired man.

‘Because he’s the most reliable person to help maintain my position.’

The reasons are simple but powerful.

First. Being at least from a count’s family means Dietrich wouldn’t dare mess with him.

Second. The fact that he’s a Swordmaster.

‘While there are many aura users, officially announced Swordmasters who’ve reached the peak are so rare there aren’t even five in the empire.’

Also, the fact that he genuinely cared for Noah in <Marino>’s main story is a big plus.

As their meetings continued, he came to think of his nephew when looking at Noah.

Therefore, I absolutely had to attend Dietrich’s party.

Of course, it was also to look for other marriage candidates just in case.

“Anyway, the rumors going around the annex now are false. That’s all you need to know. Understand?”

“Ah…! Y-yes!”

Only then did the muscular maid bow her head repeatedly in panic.

“I’m sorry, my lady. Since everyone believed it, I got caught up thinking it was true too.”

“The rumors spread quite quickly.”

It means someone deliberately spread them. And it’s obvious who.

“But at least this place where I’m the master shouldn’t be swayed, right? Maid. You should control the gossip.”

“M-me? How could I?”

The maid trembled timidly.

Understandably so. As it turned out, the muscular maid was the lowest ranked among the annex maids.

Meaning my personal maid was actually the errand girl.

How dumbfounded I was when I found this out!

I pat-pat-patted the maid’s broad back.

“How can my person not be able to control the subordinates’ gossip? Hm?”

“What? I’m… your person, my lady?”

“Why do you think I’ve been calling only you all this time?”

“I thought… you just found me easy to push around.”

How sharp.

I shouted to hide my flinching reaction.

“Not at all! You’re my person, and from now on you’re the head maid of the annex.”

“Whaaaat?!”

“The head maid position has been vacant anyway since the sudden move. With you there, we won’t need to see the main building’s head maid’s face.”

“B-but!”

“What. You don’t want to?”

I quietly clenched my fist while asking. The muscular maid quickly shook her head.

“Someone like me might not be good enough… you might regret it.”

“……”

“If I become head maid, the other maids might look down on you too, my lady. I-I can’t let that happen.”

“Maid……”

I spoke with emotion.

“Then you’ll just have to work harder!”

Thump thump!

I hit—no, encouraged the maid’s back hard with my fist.

“Why think about being careful when you’ve been given position and power? Have some confidence!”

Grow up, confidence confidence!

“Don’t worry about what comes after and do your job as head maid. I’ll take responsibility for everything my person does.”

“M-my lady! Sniff.”

The maid’s eyes welled up with tears as she clutched her chest.

That’s when it happened.

[■■■ +1]

[■■■ +1]

[■■■ +1]

Every time I hit the maid, a system message with broken text appeared.

[System analyzing user’s performed actions……]

[Failed! This is information not present in previous records.]

Information not present in previous records…?